Missile Meets Missile Sub: Departing USS Indiana Nuclear Submarine Zooms Past Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 in Chance Encounter at Port Canaveral: Photos

2 Marvels of Technology and ships passing at sea- Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 arriving and USS Indiana nuclear submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018.  Soaring to Space and Submerging at Sea. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –8 December 2018

PORT CANAVERAL, FL – Missile meets Missile Sub at Port Canaveral, Florida.  Two marvels of technology and ships at sea - namely a floating SpaceX Falcon 9 and the US Navy’s USS Indiana nuclear submarine - passed close by one another moving in opposite directions in a first of its kind encounter that almost certainly will also go down as a last of its kind encounter along the Florida Space Coast, Friday morning, Dec. 7. A truly unprecedented event!

In the unlikeliest of circumstances that could not have been foreseen even just days ago, the horizontally propelled USS Indiana nuclear powered fast attack submarine zoomed past the horizontally floating SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slowly towed by tugboats in an out-of-this-world chance encounter as the sub departed Port Canaveral, FL, shortly after sunrise Friday morning.

And it was truly the luckiest of circumstances for me because I’ve never seen a nuclear submarine afloat and underway on surface waters and a horizontally floating Falcon 9 has never sailed anywhere near any Port.

2 Marvels of Technology and ships passing at sea- Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 arriving and USS Indiana nuclear submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018.  Soaring to Space and Submerging at Sea. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Another coincidence is that this Falcon 9 is the most recently built and launched booster belonging to the most sophisticated Block 5 version model of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and the USS Indiana is the most modern and sophisticated attack submarine in the world from the US Navy’s Virginia-class. 

Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Enjoy our expanding Space UpClose eyewitness photo gallery as I watched these ships of sea and space leaving and entering Port Canaveral with a front row seat at Jetty Park Pier. 

Check back as the gallery grows. 

2 Marvels of Technology and ships passing at sea- Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 arriving and USS Indiana nuclear submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018.  Soaring to Space and Submerging at Sea. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Check our accompanying Space UpClose articles for further details about the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon launch and booster arrival back in Port Canaveral with many more photos.

2 Marvels of Technology and ships passing at sea- Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 arriving and USS Indiana nuclear submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018.  Soaring to Space and Submerging at Sea. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The USS Indiana (SSN-789) is a nuclear-powered United States Navy attack submarine belonging to the Virginia-class with an unlimited range. 

It is named for the State of Indiana, the 16^th of the Virginia class and sixth of the significantly redesigned Block III version. 

The US Navy says it redesigned approximately 20 percent of the boat to reduce acquisition costs. 

Up Close view of the Universal Modular Mast (UMM) that features two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms, satellite communications, radar and electronic warfare masts and more with crewmates standing outside atop hull of USS Indiana nuclear powered attack submarine as it departs Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018 where it soon passed close by floating SpaceX Falcon 9. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The unparalleled event all came to be by chance when a plummeting SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage, that had literally just launched and successfully delivered a Dragon cargo ship to orbit on a space station resupply mission for NASA, began spinning out of control during its  powered descent and made an unplanned water ditch landing in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Because the grid fins steering had malfunctioned failed due to a hydraulic pump failure in the autonomously guided booster, it was spinning and wobbling and had to abort its planned ground landing back at Cape Canaveral in favor of a water ‘touchdown’ just a mile or so off shore in the Atlantic Ocean at sea - thereby ensuring no danger to population centers or infrastructure.

SpaceX’s attempt to recover the first stage back at the Cape with a land landing 8 minutes later for eventual recycling and relaunch failed when the hydraulic pump in the grid fins used for steering malfunctioned and forced the first stage booster to land in the ocean safely instead just a mile or so offshore.

Falcon 9 1^st stage booster is spinning almost out of control during final descent until engines stabilize enough to regain control, deploy 4 landing legs and retarget for ocean landing just off shore from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, after Dec. 5, 2018 launch on SpaceX Dragon CRS-16 mission to the ISS for NASA.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The booster soft landed in the water and then tipped over and remained afloat horizontally. It was towed into Port Canaveral two days later on Friday, Dec. 7 and met up with the USS Indiana.

The USS Indiana was recently commissioned at Port Canaveral on Sept 29, 2018 and is temporarily based in the port at the NOTU (Naval Ordinance Testing Unit) facility. Its homeport is Groton, Connecticut.

Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

On Friday morning at about 8:30 a.m. EST the huge black vessel was guided out of NOTU and into the narrow channel of Port Canaveral by a pair of tugboats named Christine S and Elizabeth S, making for a very impressive sight.   

The rudder and Universal Modular Mast (UMM) sail (or conning tower) were above surface along with some two dozen crew mates to monitor the movements.

The massive submarine weighs 7,800 tons, measures 377 feet (114.9 m) in length, and has a beam of 34 feet (10.3 m).

After exiting the gated NOTU facility it turned eastwards and southwards and sped out quickly along Jetty Park Pier leaving the tugboats in its wake and watched by a few dozen spectators and fishermen.  

USS Indiana nuclear powered attack submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018 where it soon passed close by floating SpaceX Falcon 9. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Up Close view shows crewmates standing outside atop hull of USS Indiana nuclear powered attack submarine while passing incredibly close to sailboats and other vessels departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018 where it soon passed close by floating SpaceX Falcon 9. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The nuclear powered Indiana military vessel took precedence over the commercial Falcon 9 rocket departing the Port first.  The floating Falcon finally entered the port after 11 a.m. EST.

Pleasure craft, Cruise Ships, Cargo Vessels, Tankers and more of all shapes and sizes were sailing around in abundance during this magnificent parade of ships out and about Friday morning from sunrise to lunchtime. 

2 Marvels of Technology and ships passing at sea- Floating SpaceX Falcon 9 arriving and USS Indiana nuclear submarine departing Port Canaveral & Jetty Park Pier on 7 Dec. 2018.  Soaring to Space and Submerging at Sea. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

“In Virginia-class SSNs, traditional periscopes have been replaced by two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms, which are maneuvered by an Xbox controller,” says the Navy.

The USS Indiana departed NOTU to undergo sea trials and testing of all the submarine myriad of systems and subsystems including technical readiness examinations and quite likely missile test firings to confirm their capabilities and accuracy as well – coordinated with the Eastern Range and the 45^th Space Wing.

“As the most modern and sophisticated attack submarine in the world, the submarine can operate in both littoral and deep ocean environments, and presents combatant commanders with a broad and unique range of operational capabilities. Indiana is a flexible, multi-mission platform designed to carry out the seven core competencies of the submarine force: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, delivery of Special Operations Forces (SOF), strike warfare, irregular warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and mine warfare.”


The SSN-789 armament includes 24 MK48 ADCAP torpedoes fired from four torpedo tubes and a dozen advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from twelve VLS tubes (SSNs 774-783) or two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs) each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles (SSNs 784 and beyond including the Indiana), according to a US Navy fact sheet.

The subs crew size numbers approximately 132 - including 15 officers and 117 enlisted sailors.

Construction began in 2012. It was built at Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Newport News, Virginia.

“SSN-789 operates at more than 25 knots submerged. It is designed with a nuclear reactor plant that does not require refueling during the planned life of the ship, reducing lifecycle costs while increasing underway time.”

The SpaceX mission began with the flawless blastoff of the new Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon CRS-16 commercial cargo freighter right on time Wednesday afternoon December 5 as all nine first stage Merlin 1D engines roared to life and ignited with 1.8 million pounds of liftoff thrust at 1:16 p.m. EST (1816 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

A SpaceX Dragon CRS-16 spacecraft launches to the International Space Station at 1:16 p.m. EST Dec. 5, 2018, on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying more than 5,600 pounds of research equipment, cargo and supplies on the 16^th resupply mission for NASA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Dragon successfully arrived at the International Space Station three days later on Sat, Dec. 8. 

After about a five week stay Dragon is scheduled to depart the station around January 13, 2019 and return to Earth with more than 4,000 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies.

Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that can return large quantities of science samples and other hardware back to researchers for analysis and investigations here on Earth. 

Watch my commentary about the successful launch and ‘successful failure’ of the retargeted aborted  landing here at Fox 35 News Orlando, FL:

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/spacex-falcon-9-launch-scheduled-for-wednesday-afternoon

The prior CRS-15 resupply flight successfully flew in June from pad 40.

The two stage Falcon 9/Dragon rocket stands about 213-feet (65-meters) tall.

To date SpaceX has successfully landed 32 1^st stage rockets by land and by sea. And they have reused 17 of those 15 story tall boosters since the first relaunch in March 2017 relaunch for SES. 

CRS-16 marks the 20^th flight overall for SpaceX in 2018 and the 4^th ISS resupply mission for NASA in 2018. 

SpaceX was awarded a $3.04 Billion contract from NASA to launch 20 Dragon cargo missions to the orbiting outpost through 2019 under the Commercial Resupply  Services (CRS) agreement.  

SpaceX has been awarded at least six more cargo resupply missions through 2024 under NASA’s  Commercial Resupply  Services-2 (CRS-2) agreement.  

Watch for Ken’s continuing 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.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist, journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.

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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX Falcon 9/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: 

Dec 15/17: “SpaceX 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

Up Close view of the rudder of the USS Indiana departing Port Canaveral, FL on 7 Dec. 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com