Supermoon, Rocket Launch: Weekend Weather for Mansfield

It's too soon to say if the skies will be clear enough as night falls Sunday for residents from Connecticut to see the rocket launch from Virginia or the supermoon from — well, space.

If the clouds forecast for Sunday night stay away until later, when it rises at 6:58 p.m. Sunday the moon will appear large and beautiful — what astrologers call a supermoon. The October full moon, which is also a hunter’s moon, is the first of three supermoons that will close out the year.

Later, a rocket launch should be visible up the East Coast, according to NASA officials preparing final preparations for the launch at the Wallops Flight Facility in coastal Virginia.

Supermoon is the unofficial term, coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle, to describe the point when the full moon cycle coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth during its oval-shaped orbit. The moon appears slightly larger than normal in the sky and can make for a spectacular view.

The technical term is full moon perigee. Perigee is when the moon is closest to the Earth, as opposed to apogee, which is when it’s the farthest.

The schedule for the launch will be dependent on final tests and weather conditions at the time.
The Antares rocket will be launching a Cygnus spacecraft with cargo bound for the International Space Station. This is commercial rocket provider Orbital ATK's sixth mission to the station, according to a NASA statement.

Launch time will be 8:03 p.m. EST Sunday. It can be viewed live on NASA Television and at the agency’s website. But those on the east coast with clear skies should be able to see the launch by stepping outside and looking up toward the southwest.

Cygnus' load includes 5,100 pounds of cargo for the space station crew. That includes dozens of experiments, according to NASA, including studies on fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms and collection of health-related data.

The cargo's arrival at the space station will also be streamed on NASA TV. The rendezvous with the International Space Station should be in the middle of the week.

It will be the first Antares rocket mission from Wallops Island since a rocket exploded on the launch pad in October 2014.

Here's the National Weather Service's weekend forecast for Connecticut:

Today
Sunny. Highs near 60. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight
Clear. Areas of frost after midnight. Lows in the low to mid 30s in interior sections to near 40 along the coast. North winds around 5 mph.

Saturday
Sunny. Areas of frost in the morning. Highs in the lower 60s. Northeast winds around 5 mph...becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Saturday Night
Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

Sunday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s.
READ MORE

• Rocket Launch Sunday Should Be Visible From Across East Coast
• What's a Supermoon? Oct. 16's Hunter's Moon Qualifies

Photo by Derek Keats via Flickr Commons
Written By Lanning Taliaferro (Patch Staff)
Patch Editors Greg Hambrick and Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.