I was not able to be present at Cape Canaveral for the actual launch of Starliner due to prior commitments and the two previous scrubs of the flight moving the schedule into the middle of another long-planned trip. Disappointing, but things happen. I was, however, able to capture a lot of the prelaunch activities:
SpaceX placed another twenty-three Starlink Mini V2 satellites in orbit after successfully launching the Starlink 6-58 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this evening.
Liftoff was at 08:53 PM EDT. Around 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster used for the mission, tail number B1073, touched down safely on ASDS ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. About roughly an hour after liftoff, the satellites were deployed in their intended orbits and the mission deemed a success.
While Crew-8’s Falcon 9 sits on Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center this morning waiting for weather to improve along its launch corridor, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying 23 more Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites to low-Earth orbit from its other launch pad on the Eastern Range at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Liftoff at 10:30 AM EST under almost-overcast skies, with the rocket completely disappearing 10-15 seconds after liftoff when it entered the cloud deck and rose towards orbit. About 8.5 minutes later, Booster B1076 completed its 12th mission and landed safely offshore on the company’s autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) Just Read The Instructions.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 today from Pad SLC-40 and sent another twenty-four Starlink satellites to orbit. Liftoff occurred at 5:06 PM EST on what might best be described as a “travel brochure day” — crystal clear skies, with a light breeze and temperatures in the high 60s. In other words, the sort of winter day in Florida draws many tourists because the weather is darn near perfect.
After two delays due to high winds, SpaceX launched the PACE Earth-observing satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral this morning. Seven and one half minutes later, Booster 1081 announced its return to the Space Coast with a sonic boom moments after safely touching down, completing its fourth flight.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Northrup Grumman NG-20 mission towards ISS this afternoon. The launch was at 12:07 PM EST from the company’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and once it had completed its part of the mission, Booster 1077 completed its tenth flight when it safely touched down at Landing Zone 1, about 5.6 miles to the south of where it launched a little more than eight minutes earlier.
Rather than just capturing yet another streak shot of a night launch, I recorded video of it from the Bennett Causeway off of FL-528 in Cape Canaveral. Turns out video is hard and I have a lot to learn. That’s okay, it’s fun to learn and improve.
Falcon 9 carried dual-band, six-ton mobile communications relay station Inmarsat I-6 F2 to orbit for Inmarsat, a British company.
The launch was at 10:59pm local time at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s SLC-40 complex. It was a cloudy, muggy evening as a cold front approached, but the weather was deemed good enough for the successful launch.
Unfortunately, due to some bad luck and lack of a backup plan, these photos were taken through the trees on the banks of the Indian River. The low cloud deck made the show a very brief one after liftoff, though from time to time the rocket glared through a gap in the clouds.
SpaceX launched 54 Starlink satellites this morning from Cape Canaveral, closing out the 2022 launch schedule for Florida. It was yet another picture-perfect launch.
Skies were clear enough this morning to where we could see the second stage for six-ish minutes. There’s a small gap between the end of the first stage’s powered ascent and the ignition of the second stage. My aim in this photo was to capture as much as possible of the second stage, and it succeeded from that perspective.
Quite a number of my family members have worked in the space program at various points in their careers, and for some of them, it was their career. I’ve known for a long time that my late Mom had a relatively brief stint out at Kennedy Space Center / Cape Canaveral Air Force Station working as a nurse for TWA, who was contracted to provide medical services for the facility, but it’s rare to find any pictures of her working there.
I found one today in a pile of my Dad’s papers. I was looking for a report he had written about the state of Pad LC-39B after Apollo 10 launched, and came across this photo. My mother is the one on the right.
“STAND BY RESCUE UNITS AWAITING STATIC FIRING OF S/C #3 AT CRYO. BLDG.
L-R:: Mr. A. Mair, Mr. Harold Moore, Mr. Thain, Miss Penelon, Mrs. Dismukes, MILA”
Photo: NASA: 104-KSC-65C-880 / 1-15-65
At the time, she was still married (and soon to be divorced) from my biological father, hence the name Dismukes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.