Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Another Spectacular SoCal Light Show by SpaceX...

Falcon 9's twin payload fairings and first stage booster are visible falling away from the second stage engine in this Google Pixel 4A photo of SpaceX's Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

A few hours ago, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 new Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. This is the first time since early April, and fifth time overall since 2018, that I watched a Falcon 9 launch dazzle the evening sky from here in Los Angeles County!

Liftoff occurred at 8:40 PM, PDT...which was the ideal time for SpaceX to conduct a launch since the sky was dark enough for the Falcon 9's contrail to glow brilliantly above the landscape. Not only did the contrail shine above Southern California, but so did the Falcon 9's twin payload fairings and first stage booster (shown above) as they were absolutely visible during their return to Earth to be recovered by SpaceX vessels (including the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the case of the first stage booster) waiting off the SoCal coastline in the Pacific Ocean.

I'll never get tired of seeing these spectacular light shows put on by SpaceX! I've read online that United Launch Alliance will launch its brand-new Vulcan Centaur rocket from Vandenberg sometime next year... What are the chances that Vulcan lifts off at dusk and follows the same flight trajectory as Falcon 9 so that rocket geeks like me can photograph it (using my Google Pixel 4A phone and Nikon D3300 DSLR camera, like I did tonight) in all its liquid methane and liquid oxygen-fueled glory?

We'll see!

As seen with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera from Pomona, CA, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 new Starlink satellites heads toward low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base over 200 miles away...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

As seen with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera from Pomona, CA, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 new Starlink satellites heads toward low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base over 200 miles away...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

As seen with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera from Pomona, CA, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 new Starlink satellites heads toward low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base over 200 miles away...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

The contrail created by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that carried 20 new Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit...as seen with my Google Pixel 4A smartphone from Pomona, CA, on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

The contrail created by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that carried 20 new Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit...as seen with my Google Pixel 4A smartphone from Pomona, CA, on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

Falcon 9's twin payload fairings and first stage booster are visible falling away from the second stage engine in this Google Pixel 4A photo of SpaceX's Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par

The Falcon 9 second stage engine, carrying 20 new Starlink satellites, is about to pass underneath the Moon in this Google Pixel 4A photo that was taken in Pomona, CA...on June 18, 2024.
Richard T. Par


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