SpaceX Launches US Space Force GPS Satellite

This afternoon SpaceX launched a US Space Force GPS satellite on top of a first-flight SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. The launch occurred at 4:10 PM local time. I was on the beach at Jetty Park with my family as it lifted off. I shot a series of photos as fast as my camera could process. I will eventually combine them into a short video. Here’s a picture of the rocket passing through the area of maximum dynamic pressure.

US Space Force launch atop SpaceX Falcon 9

This launch was special for another reason. During the countdown, I was listening to a "celebration of life" for a former coworker who won his battle against cancer, but was taken by pneumonia. I will miss you, Kyle.

Thought of the Day

One of the problems with working from home... Andrew is getting all revved up for our Utah vacation. He is looking at trail maps, investigating tours that must be booked in advance, and figuring out which National Parks have restrictions. And when I say "He", I mean "We" because he is keeping me informed of all of his findings. I can't work under these conditions!

As an example, he discovered that the Vermillion Cliffs Trail requires a permit. There's a lottery and only 4.3% of applicants get a permit. The lottery for September ended on June 1. BUT, they also offer next-day permits. One must show up the day before and enter another lottery. Only 10 a day are offered.

SpaceX Starlink 8 Launch

This morning was the launch of the SpaceX Starlink 8 mission. Unlike other recent launches, this one was truly spectacular. It was a pre-dawn launch and the sky was mostly clear. The rocket quickly flew through the thin clouds, lighting them bright orange. After main engine cutoff, the falling fairing halves were clearly visible, lit be the morning sun that still hadn’t risen over the horizon. We could see the first stage fire its entry burn and eventually disappear below the horizon. But the most impressive part was the cloud generated by the second stage. Like I said, it was truly spectacular.

Pre-dawn launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 with Starlink satellites

 

SLS Booster Segment Arrival

Today, Andrew and I drove up to St. Augustine to see “NASA 12” drive by carrying the 10 SLS rocket boosters and the 2 Omega boosters. The train had left the Northrop Grumman facility north of Salt Lake City, Utah, early in the week and spent Thursday night in Bowden yard, south of Jacksonville. We found a nice spot along the marsh to get the perfect drone shot, then waited. While waiting, Andrew started setting up the drone for flight and realized that we were in a no-drone zone, so being good drone flying citizens, we packed up and moved about a mile south; just outside the zone. After the train passed, we packed up the drone and headed south to a spot near Ormond Beach. Again, we set up and again Andrew determined that we were in a no-drone zone and again we moved to a new location. This time, our new location was gated, so we drove like mad to get back to where we just left. Within a minute, we saw the lights as “NASA 12” approached.

“NASA 12” passing near Ormond Beach

Our next planned stop was the yard in New Smyrna. While on the way, Andrew checked, and again, a no-drone zone. We passed the yard and stopped in Edgewater instead. This time, time was tight so we left the drone in the car.

SLS boosters on “NASA 12” passing Edgewater

Our final stop was at the Y near Titusville. At this point, there’s a Y in the tracks that leads to the Kennedy Space Center. As we approached the best viewing area, we were turned back by the Sheriff. So, we drove south to Chain of Lakes Park and walked as far East as we could. We were pleasantly surprised to actually hear “NASA 12” on the other side of the trees. This time, we were NOT in a no-drone zone, so Andrew was able to fly over the trees and get some great shots of the train pushing the boosters into a siding on the causeway.

America’s Return to Manned Space Flight

After nearly a decade, NASA once again launches American astronauts into orbit on an American spacecraft from American soil. The last time this happened was July 8, 2011 when NASA launched the final Space Shuttle mission (STS-135). NASA contracted SpaceX to launch the Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 booster from the Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A. The mission, SpaceX Demo Mission 2, carried Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. The launch occurred at 3:22 PM.

The weather today was not ideal, but better than it was on May 27, when the first attempt to launch was scrubbed with less than 17 minutes left on the clock. Even so, the range was go for launch. We decided to stay home and watch the launch from the back yard and on YouTube. When the clock reached T-30 seconds, we ran outside and waited for the glow. We briefly saw the rocket before it disappeared into the clouds.

NASA/SpaceX Demo Mission 2 crew patch

For the next 24 hours, we watched the live broadcast. At one point Bob and Doug were talking and said that, as the first crew aboard the Crew Dragon, they had the privilege to name the capsule. They chose “Endeavour” in honor of the retired Space Shuttle on which they both had their first space flights. After several tests, the Crew Dragon docked with the Space Station. They were greeted by the three astronauts who were currently on board.

The most memorable parts of the experience for me were the words of congratulations from various politicians, government employees, and members of the commercial space industry and the discussions about the NASA logo. Nearly all of them said basically the same phrase, which I repeated in the first paragraph: “…launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil…” Meanwhile, the commentators discussed which NASA logo they preferred; the "meatball" or the "worm". They asked social media users for their input and someone came up with a hybrid combination of the two logos.

Falcon 9 booster with the NASA "worm" logo

For more details, see the Wikipedia or the NASA web site.

Every time I hear the names “Bob and Doug”, I think of Bob and Doug McKenzie, who voiced the moose characters in the Disney movie, Brother Bear. Here is a clip from the movie.

SpaceX Starlink Chain

Tonight was my first sighting of a chain of SpaceX Starlink satellites. At 9:00 PM a series of fast moving dots appeared in the Northwest sky over Melbourne. The dots were travelling faster than airplanes, but much slower than “shooting stars”.

SpaceX Starlink satellites; photo by Andrew

SpaceX currently has over 400 Starlink satellites in orbit with plans to add thousands more over the next few years. The end goal is to provide world wide, low latency Internet connections. SpaceX launches Starlink satellites in groups of up to 60 at a time. The satellites are deployed all at once and slowly separate as they move to their final individual orbits. They are sometimes visible before dawn or after dusk. There are several web pages available with location-based information about when they may be visible, for example: SpaceX Starlink Satellites Tracker

For more information, check out the SpaceX Starlink site.

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music

One of my goals this year is to be able to run a 5 km race without stopping. The help reach that goal, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 245 Music smart watch. The watch arrived today and I’m looking forward to using it to improve my health and fitness.

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music