Space Shot

[judway]

We watched the space shot that went off at 6:35 pm today. We are at Mannatee Hammock Campground for the weekend. It was a beautiful shot and we even saw the two returning rocket casings. There was quite a blast to slow the casings down for a landing. We just lucked out by last night's scrub.

 

[regval]

)
In a time far, far away... We watched launches from Cape Canaveral, lived in Kissimmee. Such a blast, no pun intended.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I was stuck watching online, but it was still a thrill to see SpaceX successfully land all three first stage rockets right on target!

 

[SeilerBird]

Every morning I stop by NASAs web site to see if there is a launch that day. When there is I set my timer on my cell phone. Last night I tuned into the web site that broadcasts the blast off and I watch it until it is up in the air then I go outside and watch it for a few minutes. Last night was challenging since the web site somehow became ten minutes late. I went outside at 6:35 and there it was looking as stunning as ever. All my neighbors were outside watching also. Then I go back inside and continue to watch the three spent rockets descend. Musk must be very proud. That is one heck of an accomplishment. That is your tax dollars he is saving. Next shot is 4/26/19 at 5:55 am.

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar?pageindex=1&categories=Rocket%20Launches

 

[PopPop51]

I couldn't make it to the Cape for this one, sadly, but had a decent view from my front yard. The live video was stunning.

For people in California, Virginia, and elsewhere, you aren't limited to Central Florida to see a spacecraft launch. SpaceFlightNow.com maintains this list of scheduled launches around the world: https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

It's surprising how much spaceflight activity is going on elsewhere. How many people have heard of Rocketlab? Yet they've put 25 satellites in low Earth orbit.

And spaceflight continues to be very, very difficult. On the same day that SpaceX made their incredible feat of a successful launch and safe recovery of three separate boosters look easy, SpaceIl's lander failed and crashed in the final minutes of its descent to the moon.

 

[NY_Dutch]

...
And spaceflight continues to be very, very difficult. On the same day that SpaceX made their incredible feat of a successful launch and safe recovery of three separate boosters look easy, SpaceIl's lander failed and crashed in the final minutes of its descent to the moon.

I think what SpaceIL did was still pretty amazing considering their modest budget that allowed for almost zero systems redundancy.

 

[John From Detroit]

I am amaze when the spent boosters return to point of origin.. I mean up till about last year that was SCIENCE FICTION.. Now it's history.

 

[Larry N.]

For anyone who missed it, SpaceX has a video recording of their live launch of Arabsat 6A, about an hour long, which shows impressive videos of all three boosters landing, in addition to the launch itself.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I am amaze when the spent boosters return to point of origin.. I mean up till about last year that was SCIENCE FICTION.. Now it's history.

SpaceX successfully landed a first stage rocket for the first time in December of 2015. That's when it stopped being science fiction...

 

[Rene T]

For anyone who missed it, SpaceX has a video recording of their live launch of Arabsat 6A, about an hour long, which shows impressive videos of all three boosters landing, in addition to the launch itself.

Amazing!!!!

 

[PopPop51]

I think what SpaceIL did was still pretty amazing considering their modest budget that allowed for almost zero systems redundancy.

Agreed. I believe the total budget for that mission was a mere $100Million, which makes it amazing that they accomplished so much. I hope they find funding to try again.

 

[J32952]

?SpaceX successfully landed a first stage rocket for the first time in December of 2015. That's when it stopped being science fiction...?.  And Blue Origin did it on test launches even before that.

Watched the Falcon launch from our backyard. Monster loud double sonic booms as the boosters returned. Amazing to watch the two land back on target (I think the third landed on a barge in the ocean).  Been watching shots on the Space Coast since the 70?s.  My kids & grandkids just accept these are normal, to me it?s still amazing. 

 

[cadee2c]

A bunch of years ago, I scheduled a Florida trip so that there would be a rocket launch while we were there. Unfortunately the launch was delayed a week and we couldnt stay around for it.  I did get to watch it on the internet though.

One year we took a tour of Cape Canaveral, just before they started demolishing the apollo launch pads. It was so amazing to hear all the details that went into getting people into space and back again in one piece. You wonder how they came up with the solutions to all the issues they had. Major brain work going into it all.

 

[SeilerBird]

You wonder how they came up with the solutions to all the issues they had. Major brain work going into it all.

There is literally an army of very smart engineers with a giant budget at their disposal. I know that because my sister worked writing code for Apollo 11.