THE SPACEX MISSION FROM CAPE CANAVERAL launched right on schedule—the revised schedule, that is. Yesterday’s launch was scrubbed due to atmospheric conditions but everything was A-OK this morning.
Three-minutes 'till Launch
We joined hundreds of Snowbirds and locals on the beach to watch the 10 AM lift-off of Transporter-1 launch, SpaceX’s first dedicated “SmallSat Rideshare Program” mission. On board were 133 commercial and government spacecraft and 10 Starlink satellites, the most ever deployed on a single mission. In the spirit of “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle,” the first-stage booster on the Falcon-9, which had been used four times previously, successfully landed on the droneship, aptly named Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Atlantic!
Falcon-9 Booster returns to "Of Course I Still Love You" (NASA pics)
You have to admire SpaceX. Can you imagine the stodgy NASA guys car-pooling and recycling, let alone using whimsical names?