Prepare for Blastoff on Va.'s Eastern Shore

WHERE: Wallops Island, Va.

WHY: Rockets, man; star sightings; and avian flybys.

HOW FAR: About 170 miles, or 3 1/2 hours by car, from Washington.

Thank your lucky stars, because one of the busiest rocket-launch facilities on Earth doesn't require a flight suit -- just a pair of sturdy driving shoes.

Things blast off almost daily from the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Established in 1945, NASA's main station for suborbital research programs is one of the oldest launch sites in the world and one of the busiest, with more than 15,000 flight missions under its belt. Last year alone, 350 aero-events were conducted there, and on most mornings with clear weather, the launchpad is fueled up and ready to 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . .

The latest orbit-bound object, scheduled to be launched Monday, is a 69-foot-tall Minotaur 1 rocket that will place a satellite high above the atmosphere. (As of press time, all systems were go.) In coming months, look to the skies around Chincoteague, and you could very well see the send-off of an experimental unmanned aircraft or practice takeoffs and landings of Navy F-18 fighter jets. The next major event -- a two-stage suborbital rocket -- is set for October.

The best place to view a launch is on the second-floor observation deck atop the visitor center. (Don't forget to first tour the museum, which is crammed with such space-age esoterica as a moon rock and an astronaut suit.) The center is five miles north of the launch site, close enough that you can feel the rumble of the rocket but far enough to preserve your hearing.

And those with astronaut ambitions can get in on the action: On the first Saturday of each month, amateur rocketeers shoot their own models into space -- or at least into low-flying clouds.

See the Map (pdf)

-- Ben Chapman

NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center, Route 175 (Chincoteague Road), six miles east of Route 13, Wallops Island, Va. Free. 757-824-2298.http://www.wff.nasa.gov/vc.