4 ms·

SpaceX successfully lands its Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg for the first time

108 points by aphextron 8y ago

keyle 8y ago
The twitter commenter's pics are incredible. Looks like a flare inside a nebula.
- aidenn0 8y ago
  I was visiting my in-laws in Arroyo Grande and we watched it; the pictures don't really do it justice. The night was amazingly clear, and it was very bright. It was even possible to see some of the longer firings of the maneuvering jets after the stage separation.
saagarjha 8y ago
Didn’t quite get to hear the sonic boom, but did get a muted rumbling from the booster in re-entry. Overall a very enjoyable experience!
wolf550e 8y ago
The video of the stage maneuvering is great (1 minute): https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1049130456157810689 https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/10491304561578106... Another longer video (8 minutes): https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c Official livestream with views from the rocket and some views from the ground (at the time the interesting things happen): https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148 https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148 What we see is the shutdown of the 9 engines of the first stage, separation of the the first stage from the second stage, ignition of the engine on the second stage, turn of the first stage to point engines-back, ignition of 3 engines on the first stage to boost back toward the launch site, separation of the two halves of the payload fairing from the second stage and them falling, the first stage maneuvering using cold gas thrusters to navigate to the launch site. The first stage eventually lands ~1400 feet (~420 meters) from the launch site. The second stage reaches 600x600km polar orbit [1], separates from the satellite payload and usually for LEO de-orbits to sink in the ocean. There was no attempt to recover the payload fairings this time because of waves, apparently. 1 - https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096 https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096
- flippyhead 8y ago
  I do not understand what's happening here but man it looks like an alien spacecraft doing something.
nkoren 8y ago
I was about 4.5 miles from the launch/landing site for this one. Incredible experience. The "nebula" overhead was one of the more beautiful things I've seen in my life.
- pferde 8y ago
  I'm envious a little bit - the "nebula puffs" were awesome to watch even just on the webcast, I can't imagine how beautiful it must have been seeing them with one's own eyes right above you. :)
  - SiVal 8y ago
    Then imagine what it was like for me, when I hadn't heard anything about it and just by coincidence happened to be out staring at the night sky when that crazy "nebula" erupted right in front of me. Incredible, glowing, rainbow-colored, great-nebula-in-orion-looking thing exploding outward, churning with stars or spacecraft or somethings shining spotlights here and there through clouds that rippled with shockwaves. What in the world...?! Jaw dropping.
    - nkoren 8y ago
      Man, that must've been something! I was fully forewarned that it would be crossing into sunlight and probably would be quite spectacular, and it still took my breath away. Can't imagine what it must've been like to be caught unawares.
  - nkoren 8y ago
    The podcast actually really underplayed how gorgeous it was. This photo does a pretty good job of capturing how it looked to the naked eye: https://twitter.com/somersalt67/status/1049130741303394305 https://twitter.com/somersalt67/status/1049130741303394305 There are amateur videos that do a better job of capturing it than the podcast, but none which fully replicate the experience.
    - pferde 8y ago
ranman 8y ago
View from my house: https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21 https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21
Waterluvian 8y ago
The waves caused by the RCS pulses were stunning. Heavenly. It was like a special effect.
dfee 8y ago
My son and I saw it when we were leaving Home Depot, and actually looking for parts for our rocket project. Is there a way to take a tour of, or get onto a base for a launch?

108 points by aphextron 8y ago

keyle 8y ago

The twitter commenter's pics are incredible. Looks like a flare inside a nebula.

aidenn0 8y ago
I was visiting my in-laws in Arroyo Grande and we watched it; the pictures don't really do it justice. The night was amazingly clear, and it was very bright. It was even possible to see some of the longer firings of the maneuvering jets after the stage separation.

saagarjha 8y ago

Didn’t quite get to hear the sonic boom, but did get a muted rumbling from the booster in re-entry. Overall a very enjoyable experience!

wolf550e 8y ago

The video of the stage maneuvering is great (1 minute): https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1049130456157810689 https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/10491304561578106... Another longer video (8 minutes): https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c Official livestream with views from the rocket and some views from the ground (at the time the interesting things happen): https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148 https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148 What we see is the shutdown of the 9 engines of the first stage, separation of the the first stage from the second stage, ignition of the engine on the second stage, turn of the first stage to point engines-back, ignition of 3 engines on the first stage to boost back toward the launch site, separation of the two halves of the payload fairing from the second stage and them falling, the first stage maneuvering using cold gas thrusters to navigate to the launch site. The first stage eventually lands ~1400 feet (~420 meters) from the launch site. The second stage reaches 600x600km polar orbit [1], separates from the satellite payload and usually for LEO de-orbits to sink in the ocean. There was no attempt to recover the payload fairings this time because of waves, apparently. 1 - https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096 https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096

flippyhead 8y ago
I do not understand what's happening here but man it looks like an alien spacecraft doing something.

nkoren 8y ago

I was about 4.5 miles from the launch/landing site for this one. Incredible experience. The "nebula" overhead was one of the more beautiful things I've seen in my life.

pferde 8y ago
I'm envious a little bit - the "nebula puffs" were awesome to watch even just on the webcast, I can't imagine how beautiful it must have been seeing them with one's own eyes right above you. :)
- SiVal 8y ago
  Then imagine what it was like for me, when I hadn't heard anything about it and just by coincidence happened to be out staring at the night sky when that crazy "nebula" erupted right in front of me. Incredible, glowing, rainbow-colored, great-nebula-in-orion-looking thing exploding outward, churning with stars or spacecraft or somethings shining spotlights here and there through clouds that rippled with shockwaves. What in the world...?! Jaw dropping.
  - nkoren 8y ago
    Man, that must've been something! I was fully forewarned that it would be crossing into sunlight and probably would be quite spectacular, and it still took my breath away. Can't imagine what it must've been like to be caught unawares.
- nkoren 8y ago
  The podcast actually really underplayed how gorgeous it was. This photo does a pretty good job of capturing how it looked to the naked eye: https://twitter.com/somersalt67/status/1049130741303394305 https://twitter.com/somersalt67/status/1049130741303394305 There are amateur videos that do a better job of capturing it than the podcast, but none which fully replicate the experience.
  - pferde 8y ago

ranman 8y ago

View from my house: https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21 https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21

Waterluvian 8y ago

The waves caused by the RCS pulses were stunning. Heavenly. It was like a special effect.

dfee 8y ago

My son and I saw it when we were leaving Home Depot, and actually looking for parts for our rocket project. Is there a way to take a tour of, or get onto a base for a launch?