Today Andrew and I went on a little off-Friday adventure up to Port Canaveral to see B1058. B1058 was first used to launch the Crew Dragon Demo-2 capsule, which carried Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the Space Station in May (See my previous blog story). More recently, it carried the South Korean ANASIS-II satellite to orbit. B1058.2 (the “.2” indicates its second flight) earned a place in the history books for having the fastest turnaround between launches of any space vehicle; a record previously held by Space Shuttle Atlantis, of 54 days.
Early this morning, B1058 arrived back in the port on the drone ship Just Read The Instructions. When we arrived, the workers were preparing to install the lifting cap, lift the landing legs, and move the booster to the transport vehicle.
The park we were in was strangely empty of the typical SpaceX fans. As the day stretched on, we saw a familiar face show up. We were certain who he was because he started Tweeting and posting pictures on Twitter. We walked by and said “Hello” and told him we knew him from Twitter. He then asked, “Who do you think I am?” We answered correctly and he commented that he is sometimes mistaken for one of the several other SpaceX supporters who Tweet.
It was after 1:00 and we were pretty hungry. We walked a short distance to Rusty’s and ordered a Chicken Fingers Basket to go. When we returned, we got to see the crew lift B1058.2 off the drone ship and swing it over the dock to its mount. As the crane rotated it around, we all caught a glimpse of the NASA "Worm" logo and "meatball", still visible under two layers of return-to-Earth grime.
Around 4:00, we decided to go home. Although we didn’t get to see the crew lift the landing legs, it was still a good day at the Port.
Below is a video that Andrew created of B1058.2
Below is a video that Andrew created of B1058.1 returning to the Port on June 2, 2020.
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