Rocket launch turns sky ghostly
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral just before dawn Friday, leaving behind a ghostly vapor trail. The rocket is carrying cargo and science experiments to the International Space Station.
A SpaceX rocket left a ghostly vapor trail across the Orlando sky early Friday as it carried supplies and a floating robot to the International Space Station.
The launch of the Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral was right on schedule at 5:42 a.m.; two minutes later, a wispy white contrail laced with yellow and blue formed above Central Florida as the spaceship raced into orbit.
SpaceX’s Jessica Jensen described the plume, illuminated against the dark sky, as “the space jellyfish that’s coming down after us.”
Early-morning liftoffs have created light shows in the sky before. In September 2015, the contrail of an Atlas V launched from the Cape could be seen as far south as Miami.
Soon after launch, the Dragon spacecraft, carrying 6,000 pounds of cargo, successfully detached itself from the Falcon 9 on its way toward the space station, which it is expected to reach by Monday morning.
About 12 minutes, 10 seconds into the launch, a solar array deployed, providing the Dragon with the power it will need to reach its destination.
The rocket ditched its firststage boosters about three minutes after launch. Unlike in previous missions, the booster was not recovered this time because it was the final flight of the company’s so-called “Block 4 configuration.”
The new Block 5 model will allow for greater reusability, one of SpaceX’s highest priority goals because it’s expected to make launching rockets less expensive. The company has said that the Block 5 will be able to be flown up to 10 times with minimal refurbishments.
“And there you saw we had a successful liftoff of Falcon 9,” a SpaceX broadcaster said on the company’s YouTube feed about one minute after launch.
The floating robot, a collaboration between Airbus and IBM, is an 11-pound device, roughly the size of a medicine ball.
Known as CIMON, the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion is designed to help astronauts conduct experiments.
Also included in the cargo were experiments that could eventually help cure cancer, simplify crop science and improve the performance of hightech medical devices like laser scalpels.
Groceries include ice cream bars, fresh blueberries from Texas, home to Mission Control, and 60 freeze-dried packets of super-caffeinated Death Wish Coffee.
“We like to keep our astronauts super-caffeinated because they work harder then,” joked NASA’s space station program manager, Kirk Shireman.