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A REUSED SPACEX rocket carried 10 satellites into orbit from California last night, leaving behind a trail of mystery as it soared into space.
The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying the latest batch of satellites for Iridium Communications.
The launch in the setting sun created a shining, billowing streak that was widely seen throughout Southern California and as far away as Phoenix.
Calls came in to TV stations as far afield as San Diego, more than 200 miles south of the launch site.
Cars stopped on roadways in Los Angeles so drivers and passengers could take pictures and video.
The Los Angeles Fire Department issued an advisory that the “mysterious light in the sky” was from the rocket launch.
Jimmy Golen, a sports writer for The Associated Press, said he and other tourists saw the long, glowing contrail while touring Warner Bros studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank.
“People were wondering if it had something to do with movies, or TV or a UFO,” he said.
It was very cool.
The same rocket carried Iridium satellites into orbit in June.
That time, the first stage landed on a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. This time, the rocket was allowed to plunge into the water.
It was the 18th and final launch of 2017 for SpaceX, which has contracted to replace Iridium’s system with 75 updated satellites. SpaceX has made four launches and expects to make several more to complete the job by mid-2018.
The satellites also carry payloads for global aircraft tracking and a ship-tracking service.
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Kids will be learning about Elon Musk in school in 200 years.
@FlyingDogThing: Eh, more likely we will be extinct
@Conrad Shields: no we wont. Renewable only taking off
This 7min vid captures the whole thing in HD from the launch as a tiny dot on the horizon, through to the formation of that strange contrail, until the trail finally disintegrates and its inside starts making its way down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE5C3O71Xqo
It’s worth watching the whole thing, at least I thought it was. :)
Not quite sure what seemingly gets trapped in the contrail, but I guess physicists, meteorologists and rocket scientists will be explaining it in the coming days.
@Mick Tobin: stunning , thank you
@Mick Tobin: probably the booster in the contrail
@Dave Thomas: I guess it can’t really be anything else. I was thinking either that or some sort of trapping of fuel, but doubted it was the booster as it seems to be all happening over a stretch of residential area.
But it’s clearly something that becomes well separated from the rocket within roughly a minute (between 3 & 4 mins).
@Mick Tobin: amazing footage. And to think the internet is on fire with conspiracies. So patethic they can’t just appreciate science and it’s possibilities
@Michael Geraghty: Indeed, but to be fair – judging from the overlay pic from the bottom video – it might actually be Jambu the killer whale from South Park happily returning to its real home on the moon. :)
All societies need these big ideas whether it is Newgrange, the British quest to find the solution to the longitude problem, the Russian and American space race and these things are linked together in different ways.
Yes it is important to deal with social issues however the achievements which mark a nation or always those which further human understanding of their surroundings on the planet and in space.
Our nation has the capabilities to enrich our own society and everyone else’s by facing challenges which were never addressed even though some of these decisions made technological achievement possible at the expense of astronomy and terrestrial sciences. Young people would expect to be both disciplined and creative with a courage to reason in the face of opposition by theorists but ultimately the world will have a clearer picture of our planet, its motions and cause and effect among many other things.
All the Fuss ! That’s just Santa checking out the new Jets !
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