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DFC Talk, Weather, Rocket Launch

Posted: 29 September 2025

Late Wednesday afternoon, 10 September 2025, a very brief rainshower occurred (0.04").

I was the special guest speaker at the 9/11 meeting of the Tucson Chapter of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society. I do not have a DFC so I was honored to be asked to be their speaker. I talked about my Air Force experiences and my successes and failures. I discussed how the teaching, program management, and leadership skills I learned while in the military helped me succeed in my later roles at a large aerospace company and then as a Dark Sky Advocate and TV Market Area Reform Advocate.

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There was a brief thundershower late Thursday afternoon, 11 September (0.14"). Had three brief thundershowers (total 0.16") on Friday, 12 September. Before sunset there was this nice double rainbow.

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On Tuesday, 16 September, had a couple of brief rains (0.08"). Thursday mid-day, 18 September, had a brief rain. That night a nice thunderstorm came through with continous lightning, followed by a second storm. Total rain for the day was 0.24".

On Saturday, 20 September, I attended a star party at Oracle State Park, a DarkSky International "International Dark Sky Park" since 2014.

Sunday, 21 September, had several thunderstorms come through (0.65").

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Thursday, 25 September, had some thundershowers (0.19"). Saturday afternoon, 27 September, another round of thundershowers came through (0.14").

Sunday night, 28 September, there was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. 1812 MST: Sunset. 1904 MST: Launch. Here are handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max photos taken with the Camera app (Night Mode, 3 seconds). Later photos show the 1st stage boostback burn and then the re-entry burn (red glow just above the horizon).

190718 MST: 1st stage contrail (2X lens)
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190729 MST: 1st and 2nd stage contrails (2X lens)
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190747 MST: 1st and 2nd stage contrails (2X lens)
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190757 MST: 1st and 2nd stage contrails (2X lens)
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190847 MST: 1st and 2nd stage contrails (5X lens)
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190921 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage (5X lens)
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190947 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage (2X lens)
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191016 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage boostback burn (2X lens)
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191033 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage boostback burn (5X lens)
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191103 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage entry burn (1X lens)
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191113 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage entry burn (1X lens)
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191121 MST: 2nd stage contrail and 1st stage entry burn (2X lens)
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191156 MST: contrails (0.5X lens)
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