
SpaceX successfully lands its Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg for the first time - aphextron
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/7/17947518/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launch-vandenberg-california-landing-watch-live
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wolf550e
The video of the stage maneuvering is great (1 minute):

[https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/10491304561578106...](https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1049130456157810689)

Another longer video (8 minutes):

[https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c](https://youtu.be/TVHAoxyHO9c)

Official livestream with views from the rocket and some views from the ground
(at the time the interesting things happen):

[https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148](https://youtu.be/vr_C6LQ7mHc?t=1148)

What we see is the shutdown of the 9 engines of the first stage, separation of
the the first stage from the second stage, ignition of the engine on the
second stage, turn of the first stage to point engines-back, ignition of 3
engines on the first stage to boost back toward the launch site, separation of
the two halves of the payload fairing from the second stage and them falling,
the first stage maneuvering using cold gas thrusters to navigate to the launch
site. The first stage eventually lands ~1400 feet (~420 meters) from the
launch site. The second stage reaches 600x600km polar orbit [1], separates
from the satellite payload and usually for LEO de-orbits to sink in the ocean.
There was no attempt to recover the payload fairings this time because of
waves, apparently.

1 -
[https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096](https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096)

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flippyhead
I do not understand what's happening here but man it looks like an alien
spacecraft doing something.

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nkoren
I was about 4.5 miles from the launch/landing site for this one. Incredible
experience. The "nebula" overhead was one of the more beautiful things I've
seen in my life.

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pferde
I'm envious a little bit - the "nebula puffs" were awesome to watch even just
on the webcast, I can't imagine how beautiful it must have been seeing them
with one's own eyes right above you. :)

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SiVal
Then imagine what it was like for me, when I hadn't heard anything about it
and just by coincidence happened to be out staring at the night sky when that
crazy "nebula" erupted right in front of me. Incredible, glowing, rainbow-
colored, great-nebula-in-orion-looking thing exploding outward, churning with
stars or spacecraft or somethings shining spotlights here and there through
clouds that rippled with shockwaves.

What in the world...?! Jaw dropping.

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nkoren
Man, that must've been something! I was fully forewarned that it would be
crossing into sunlight and probably would be quite spectacular, and it _still_
took my breath away. Can't imagine what it must've been like to be caught
unawares.

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ranman
View from my house:
[https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21](https://twitter.com/jrhunt/status/1049126465487269890?s=21)

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keyle
The twitter commenter's pics are incredible. Looks like a flare inside a
nebula.

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aidenn0
I was visiting my in-laws in Arroyo Grande and we watched it; the pictures
don't really do it justice. The night was amazingly clear, and it was very
bright. It was even possible to see some of the longer firings of the
maneuvering jets after the stage separation.

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Waterluvian
The waves caused by the RCS pulses were stunning. Heavenly. It was like a
special effect.

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dfee
My son and I saw it when we were leaving Home Depot, and actually looking for
parts for our rocket project.

Is there a way to take a tour of, or get onto a base for a launch?

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saagarjha
Didn’t quite get to hear the sonic boom, but did get a muted rumbling from the
booster in re-entry. Overall a very enjoyable experience!

