[ad_1]
On October 7, 2018, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti captured this image of Falcon 9's panache over the lights of Los Angeles.
Credit: Mayor's Office / Eric Garcetti
All rocket launches are spectacular, but SpaceX pushed things to another level this weekend.
On Sunday evening (October 7), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the SAOCOM 1A Earth Observation satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California. And the first stage of the two-stage booster landed in Vandenberg less than 8 minutes after takeoff, earning SpaceX's first Terra-Firma touchdown on California soil.
Climbing into the sky, the Falcon 9 spawned a gigantic glowing cloud that impressed people throughout the Golden State. The twilight plume had a feeling of another world, so some observers insisted on emphasizing the terrestrial origin of the cloud. [In Photos: SpaceX’s Fantastic Nighttime Launch of SAOCOM-1 & Rocket Landing!]
On October 7, 2018, the plume generated by the launch of the Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California looked like something NASA's Hubble Space Telescope could spy on in the vast distances between the stars. Photo of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. Credit: Mayor's Office / Eric Garcetti
"No, certainly not aliens.What you are looking at is the first launch and landing of the @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the west coast.The rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Base at 19:21 and landed at back on Earth ", Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti tweeted Sunday night, with an amazing photo of the Falcon 9 cloud hanging over the city.
Skywatcher Doug Macmillan captured this image of the plume created by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched Argentina's SAOCOM-1A radar imagery satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on October 7, 2018. Macmillan was in the Del Cerro Park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, which is near Los Angeles.
Credit: Doug Macmillan
Another photo published by Garcetti captured the impulses of small first-order reaction thrusters, which carved into the sky a large Wi-Fi symbol. These thrusters fired to keep the booster on the course of its historic touch. (SpaceX has now made 30 first-floor landings, but all previous ones had been at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida, or robotic "drone ships" stationed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.)
The impulses triggered by Falcon 9's first-stage reaction control boosters as the reminder was heading towards Earth were engraving a Wi-Fi symbol in the sky, as shown by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Credit: Mayor's Office / Eric Garcetti
Astrophotographer Sean Parker watched the launch from Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California and was quite excited by the sky show.
"It was great FN, @elonmusk @SpaceX # falcon9," tweeted Parker (October 8), accompanied by a photo of himself exulting in the desert under the glowing cloud.
That was awesome FN awesome, @Elon Musk @SpaceX # falcon9 pic.twitter.com/UN1xeQv3UE
– Sean Parker (@seanparkerphoto) October 8, 2018
This photo shows the entire SpaceX action of October 7, 2018: a Falcon 9 rocket launching the SAOCOM-1A satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California; the plume created by the take-off; and the first leg of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg (small orange arc on the right).
Credit: SpaceX
And then there are the close-up views of the launch and the landing, which SpaceX has broken. These photos are spectacular in a different way, emphasizing power and precision rather than abstract and ephemeral beauty. But they are nevertheless spectacular.
On October 7, 2018, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the SAOCOM-1A satellite radar satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The first stage of the rocket returned to Earth for a landing at Vandenberg.
Credit: SpaceX
SAOCOM 1A has been developed by the Argentine National Space Agency. The satellite will observe the Earth under radar light from its perch at about 620 kilometers above the planet, mainly to measure the level of soil moisture. This information will help predict crop yields and will also help planners and emergency managers to monitor disasters such as floods and fires.
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made history with this landing in Vandenberg Air Force Station Landing Zone 4, California, on October 7, 2018. The touchdown marked the first landing of a Falcon 9 rocket on the west coast of SpaceX.
Credit: SpaceX
SAOCOM 1A has a twin, SAOCOM 1B, which will make similar observations. SAOCOM 1B will also be launched aboard a Falcon 9, perhaps as early as next year.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there" will be published on November 13th. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
[ad_2]
Source link
