OK, it might not be as exciting to you, but last night I watched the clear sky to view the launch of a communications satellite from the NASA space center at the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was easily visible from my front lawn in Port Charlotte and glowed red/yellow as streaked up and east in an arch over the Atlantic Ocean. When the first stage separated, there was a flame out that made the rocket disappear for a moment, then the second state ignited with a flash and the spacecraft faded into the night sky.

This was a relatively small rocket, an Atlas V which did not produce the stunning glow of a shuttle launch (which was breath-taking even in daytime), but with the shuttle a thing of the past, we can still enjoy a nighttime light show from 150 miles away.