Wesley's Tool-Box

Nuri, Korea's indigenous rocket also known as KSLV-2, took off from Naro Space Center for the first time in 2 and a half years at 1:13 AM today. This launch was the 4th overall, and also the first ever nighttime launch. I wasn't sure how well the photos and videos would turn out since all the rocket launches I've been to happened during the day. But I came in prepared and got the results I wanted.

For the equipment, I brought my well-trusted Nikon P1000 for the superzoom and my new iPhone 17 Pro Max as the back-up, relatively wide angle shot. Both were fortunately sensitive enough for capturing the visuals during this clear and dark night.

After observing the ISS last year, I was waiting for some interesting changes on board the space station. And this came in the form of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft docking on June 6 as a part of the Crew Flight Test. This test was originally planned to last about a week, but thruster issues kept preventing its return to Earth. This meant that when I finally got the opportunity to make an observation in Daejeon after the monsoon season was over, I could photograph it with the ISS.

Weather in August was still unstable, and forecast for August 15 was cloudy with a chance of rain in many places. But outlook for Daejeon was clear, so drove my car there to make an attempt. And as forecasted, I could see the Sun onobstructed and was able to make a satisfactory observation, as you can see in the composite photo above. The docked Starliner is easily visible as a bump on the left-hand side of the space station's main modules. You can also see the large sunspot named AR3784 near the center of the Sun.

For those who are not familiar with the space station's structure, here's an enlarged photo showing where the Boeing Starliner is currently located within the space station. It's docked to the IDA-2 at Harmony module's forward port. SpaceX Dragon spacecrafts have docked at this location before, so some of my previous observations show that at the same spot instead.

Device: Nikon P1000
Settings: 3000mm - ISO 125 - 1/2000s - f/8
Filters: ICE N100000 (Neutral Density 16.5 Stop)
Time: 2024-08-15 14:20 KST
Location: Daejeon, Korea
17 photos processed with Pixelmator 3.6.6, RegiStax 6.1.0.8, and PIPP 2.5.9

After returning mostly empty-handed the day before due to the scrubbed launch, I set out to Nangdo again on May 25, 2023, to watch the second attempt of the third launch of the Nuri rocket, a.k.a. KSLV-II. The weather was much better than during the first attempt, so I was able to get a mostly clear view of the launchpad and the rocket itself. However, being an evening launch with heavy clouds above still posed some challenges for getting good shots with my Nikon P1000. Fortunately, it worked out well for the most part and I could grab a nice still of the lift-off as you can see here.

The rocket soared through the sky mostly uneventfully while showing off the flames nicely as you can see here. Then Nuri disappeared into the clouds a mere minute later, so it wasn't possible to witness the stage separation. Still, people were happy to see a good, successful launch in person. I uploaded the recordings of the launch here.

Device: Nikon P1000
Settings: 3000mm - ISO 200 - 1/40s - f/8
Filters: Hoya Fusion Antistatic CIR-PL
Time: 2023-05-25 18:24 KST
Location: Yeosu, Korea
Photos processed with Pixelmator 3.3.3