Space-X Falcon Heavy Launches GOES-U Weather Satellite
The weather looked marginal for a launch. The forecast was calling for a 30% chance of success.
Just a few hours before, black clouds filled the sky.
I only live a few minutes from the river near the Kennedy Space Center. I waited till about 20 minutes before launch and drove over.
The county park was crowded but not packed. And as usual everybody was in a good mood. Most people on the Space Coast are pretty excited when anything launches. This was extra special because it was a Falcon heavy rocket.
Today’s mission was to launch the latest generation weather satellite, GOES-U. And if there’s one thing people in Florida love, it is weather satellites. You can never have enough information about hurricanes.
Quiet Before the Launch
Today’s mission launched from the historic pad 39 A. This is the launch site for Apollo and space shuttle missions.
Also, there’s the VAB building. That’s where they used to assemble rockets vertically. Now the rockets are generally assembled horizontally. So, there is less need for a tall building.
Lift Off
These pictures were taken 13 miles from the launch site.
It’s interesting because you see all this commotion in front of you. But it’ll be at least a minute before you hear it.
The tall tower to the right is going to be for future Starship launches.
Launch with the VAB building
The clouds cleared nicely, and the mission proceeded on schedule.
Falcon Heavy Side View
Shortly after launch, the rocket rotated so we were able to get a very nice side view showing all three Falcon 9 boosters.
Into the Clouds
While the storm clouds had departed, there were some lighter clouds moving in. Not enough to delay the launch, but enough to cause trouble for photographs. Right about this time you could start to hear and feel the rumble.
Entry Burns
Because of the clouds I couldn’t track the separation of the two side boosters.
But the many eyes looking skyward soon spotted the twin flames of the entry burns of the side boosters. These burns only last a few seconds.
Landing Burns
I saw the first Falcon heavy launch. Space-X launched a Tesla towards Mars.
This was the first time they were going to land the two side boosters simultaneously on land.
Their perfect synchronization looked very cool. But because they were very close side by side it just seemed like a bad idea.
So, in future landings, like today, they staggered the position of each side booster. Here you can see the first booster has already ignited its engine for the landing burn. But the second booster hasn’t ignited yet.
There’s some funny physics involved with this maneuver. It’s affectionately known as a hover slam. I mean that doesn’t sound like a problem waiting to happen.
FYI the blue and white building to the far right is the new Blue Origin manufacturing facility on Merritt Island.
Dual landings
Every now and then you get lucky. The Rockets in the foreground our esthetic display called the rocket garden. While they look close they actually are about 7 miles in the foreground of where the two side boosters actually landed. But it made for a great photo opportunity.
Summary
Space-X had another successful launch.
And I know I appreciate it.
Hopefully GOES-U will not have to track too many problematic hurricanes in the near future.
Everyone at the waterfront park had a great time.
But we had to leave quickly because the storm clouds were moving back in. Perfect timing for the launch.