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Mid-air view of recovered/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from
Crew Dragon Demo-1 launch going airborne again at 125 PM ET, March 5, 2019 over mock Crew Dragon capsule after craning off the OCISLY drone ship to platform on land at Port Canaveral, FL – 3 days after liftoff from Launch Complex-39A on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 6 March
2019
PORT CANAVERAL/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – SpaceX demonstrated a dazzling display of
rocket recycling and commercial spaceflight as their first Falcon 9 booster to
launch their private Crew Dragon spacecraft on a test flight for NASA to the International
Space Station and make a precision landing on a drone ship at sea, sailed triumphantly
into Port Canaveral early Tuesday morning, March 5.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster (model
B1051) from the Demo-1 Crew Dragon mission launch was towed into Port Canaveral
standing proudly upright atop the “Of Course I Still Love You”
drone ship (OCISLY) upon which it soft landed at sea
about 9.5 minutes after liftoff and some 400 mi (640 km) off Florida’s east coast
in the Atlantic Ocean.
Enjoy our Space UpClose eyewitness galley of
imagery as I witnessed the booster return at Jetty Park Pier and Cape Canaveral
Beach. Click back as the gallery grows.
Be sure to check our earlier launch and launch
pad galleries as well.
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Recovered/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Crew Dragon
Demo-1 launch sails dramatically into Port Canaveral, FL under dismal skies on March 5, 2019 – 3 days after overnight liftoff from Launch Complex-39A on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 2. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
The Falcon 9 outfitted with four landing legs
and four grid fins successfully soft landed on the “Of
Course I Still Love You” drone ship (OCISLY) drone ship
at sea in the Atlantic Ocean about 9.5 minutes after liftoff on March 2 from pad
39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
on a delightful sea return show despite gloomy skies that was enjoyed by a variety
of veteran and first time spectators.
second one in less than two weeks following the booster that returned from the
PSN 6/Beresheet launch last week.
Channel around 8 a.m. EST towed by a tugboat and accompanied by several support
vessels after giving priority to other vessels and cruise ships and to minimize
any potential hazards.
robotic device nicknamed ‘octograbber’ – that is driven beneath on rollers soon
after touchdown and grabs onto the rockets base with multiple gripper arms.
the rocket and between the 4 landing legs by a team of SpaceX engineers
launch.
the Port Canaveral channel about a mile to the normal docking location on the north
side by a giant crane over the course of about an hour and pushed up to the
final berthing location with a pair of tugboats.
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Mid-air view of recovered/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from
Crew Dragon Demo-1 launch going airborne again at 125 PM ET, March 5, 2019 over mock Crew Dragon capsule after craning off the OCISLY drone ship (at left) to platform on land at Port Canaveral, FL – 3 days after liftoff from Launch Complex-39A on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
test flight dubbed Demo-1 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 2:49 a.m. EST (0749 GMT) Saturday, March 2 from historic Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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Water reflection launch view as SpaceX
Falcon 9 soars off Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday, March 2, 2019 carrying the company’s first commercially-built and operated Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit for docking with the International Space Station (ISS) – as seen from VAB roof. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Crew Dragon thus began a six day orbital mission
on a ferry flight bound for the International Space Station (ISS) and back.
port on the Harmony module node once used by visiting NASA Space shuttles.
March 8 at 2:31 a.m. EST from the docking port enhanced with a new IDA, or
International Docking Adapter.
of SpaceX Demo-1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center.
onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer
– email: ken at kenkremer.com
area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space
topics.
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Learn more about the upcoming/recent ULA Delta 4 WGS-10, SpaceX Demo-1, Falcon 9 Nusantara Satu launch, USAF GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-16 launch
to ISS, NASA missions, ULA Atlas &
Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville,
FL, evenings:
9/12: “ULA Delta 4 WGS-10
launch, SpaceX Falcon 9 Demo-1 and Nusantara Satu launch, Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX
Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX
Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX
Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity
and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space
Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings.
Photos for sale
upcoming talks:
Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.” 7 PM, Lawton C
Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming.
Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule
