Posted on 04/12/2019 3:42:51 AM PDT by C19fan
paceX's Falcon Heavy rocket successfully took its second flight ever on Thursday afternoon, when it lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying Lockheed Martin's Arabsat 6A communications satellite. As if that weren't exciting enough, SpaceX also managed to make history by landing three boosters back on Earth for the first time. Just minutes into the launch, the giant rocket's central core landed safely on SpaceX's offshore barge in the Atlantic Ocean, dubbed 'Of Course I Still Love You,' while the two side boosters landed back on pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1 and 2. 'We have landed the center core for the first time,' a SpaceX announcer said. 'Three for three boosters today for the Falcon Heavy.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I saw it from St. Augustine easy. If it had been dark, could have seen them landing the boosters too.
Incredible!
If I was getting a do-over, I’d go to school for aerospace engineering. What a time to be in that field!!
The Brazilian Alcântara Launch Center may become available to American space launch companies. SpaceX could find this advantageous, if they gain access to the equatorial launch facility. At the present time, U.S. based launch facilities are shared by multiple parties, and the scheduling will become increasingly tight in coming years.
The SpaceX launch plan to place a constellation of thousands of communications satellites in low orbit commences this spring. The launch license agreement for the StarLink service imposes a requirement to place over two thousand units in orbit by 2024.
Current SpaceX rockets fuel with RP-1 and Lox, which are a staple fuel mix combination widely available. The transition to a Natural gas derived methane plus Lox combination might require additional fuel logistics with Brazil.
Blue Origin is following a similar development path—will be the next U.S. launch company to benefit from developments which initially favor SpaceX endeavors.
My kid graduated as an Astronautical Engineer a couple weeks before Trump announced Space Force.
He works at NASA “driving” satellites. His mission has made some headlines recently in the science press.
It’s very lucrative and exciting for him. He didn’t have a ton of debt but he paid off his student loans in 7 months.
I wish there were a camera on a chase vessel near the landing drone ship, but other than that, wowzo. And this three-landing success is on their second try — the FH test flight “only” got two of them.
Thanks! I love Manley videos. Uh, that doesn’t sound right...
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