Watch SpaceX Rocket Soar Into Space
Watch SpaceX Rocket Soar Into Space
From Brevard County Florida
I have lived on the Space Coast since 1982. It’s called the Space Coast because this is where all of the rockets blast off. Do you remember the Apollo launches or the Space Shuttle? They were all launched right here in Brevard County Florida.
Surrounded by swamp land, the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station are situated with several launchpads for launching rockets. A number of companies use the pads including SpaceX, NASA, and United Launch Alliance.
The countdown has started. The rocket has been fueled. Now it’s a waiting game as the engineers go through the options to lift off. Workers gather in their buildings at their computer workstations getting information about whether they can launch. They are surrounded by buttons galore. Who knows what all those buttons are for. There are engineers checking all of the telemetry in the firing room to figure out if they can fly. They have to check with the weather officers to make sure it is safe to fly. Whenever there is a rocket, they must make sure the area is clear of all aircraft and boaters. If a boater drifts into the launch area, it could mean a scrubbed launch if they can’t get them out of the way in time. The United States Coast Guard and United States Air Force are ready to intercept any wayward boaters or aircraft.
It never gets old. The powerful rocket lifts off in a blaze of glory. Smoke billowing from the engines boils over into the area around the launchpad. Sometimes on television, it blocks out the rocket. You can only see it when it clears the smoke. It’s exhilarating!
Rockets soar into space on a constant basis. Every few days one will be blasting off. Ever since SpaceX started operations, they have been sending payloads into space every few days. They’ll send 40 Starlink satellites at one time. They have sent hundreds of Starlink satellites into space. More people across the world will be able to access the Internet with these satellites in space.
SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk. He is a businessman and entrepreneur. On one of the earlier SpaceX launches, he sent one of his Tesla cars into space. It is now orbiting around earth.
SpaceX has two rockets: one is the Falcon 9 and the other is the Falcon Heavy. They also have the Dragon spacecraft and the Starship rocket. The rocket I am going to talk about is the Falcon 9. The Falcon 9, as of this writing, has 174 total launches, 134 total landings, and 113 total re-flights. Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is a reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. The rockets are reusable so it saves on cost. The Falcon 9 stands 229.6 feet tall, has a diameter of 12 feet, and has a mass of 1,207,920 lbs. It is propelled by nine Merlin engines and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks containing two gas propellants; liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene. It yields more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
The photo above was taken from my home office. I took it right through the window with my camera at 432mm. I only live 20 miles from the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
I have viewed the rockets from my balcony. I have gone outside to view the rockets too.
When I lived in my house, we used to go outside all the time to watch the rockets and the Space Shuttle.
Now living on the third floor, I have a unique perspective of viewing the rockets. I can see them ascend on the horizon. The rockets rise above the treeline. As they fly, they come just east of my condo building. I can watch them for a long time. I can see the rocket boosters falling away from the actual rocket when it is at its highest in the sky. As I use my binoculars, I can watch it forever. Once it disappears from the naked eye, I can still see it with my binoculars.
Normally, the rocket returns to a landing zone out in the ocean far off the coast. When it lands in the ocean, it lands on a drone ship with a unique name. These are the names of the drone ships: “Just Read the Instructions”, “Of Course I Still Love You”, and “A Shortfall of Gravitas”.
Sometimes, it comes back to land at the launchpad. Still looking out the home office window, I have seen the rocket landing back on land. As soon as it gets closer to landing, the engine will light up with the flame as it descends. Once I see that, with the naked eye, I can see the whole rocket coming down and then it lands behind the trees. It is amazing!
Until next time, happy reading.
-Matt
Have you seen a rocket blasting off? Did you see the Space Shuttle lifting off? Or have you seen one landing? Even if it was on television. Tell us your story in the comments section.