We experienced a beautiful +SpaceX launch of DSCOVR as the sun set behind us. It was my third trip to the ITL Causeway, 2nd for +Jen Kobrick (and #BabyK) and +Caley Burke. This was the 32nd launch since we moved to Florida (Sept 2012). The rocket jumped off the pad, gave a booming crackle, and had a long flight in perfect view on a clear evening. The most amazing part was seeing the first stage re-light just above the Delta IV launchpad in the far distance as SpaceX was practicing their landing maneuver out in open water, a critical step in rocket reusability (mostly to reuse the 9 engines). The seas were rough, so they didn't attempt to land on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (barge) newly named "Just Read the Instructions" as a sci-fi tribute. As per usual, I like to retell the story with photos:
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| Feb 8 - Scrub #1 - The plan: a romantic kiss on date night with the launch behind us. But a squishy nose scrub kiss is just as good. |
