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Fishing for a Falcon 9 in a bikini from a passing speed boat - locals appear unaware as SpaceX technicians craned the launched and landed
SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 mission 1st
stage off the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship in Port Canaveral, FL, Sunday
morning May 5, 2019 around 11 a.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Ken
Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 8 May 2019
PORT CANAVERAL, FL- The land launched and sea landed Falcon 9 1st stage was craned off the ‘Of
Course I Still Love You’ (OCISLY) droneship Sunday morning May 5 after arriving back
into Port Canaveral Saturday evening May 4 and just a day after blastoff from Cape Canaveral carrying a cargo freighter
to orbit for NASA on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Workers
craned the 156 foot tall booster off OCISLY starting around 11 a.m. EDT onto a ground pedestal
cradle holding the rocket upright over a
process that took about half an hour and still looks straight out of science fiction.
Enjoy
our belated Space UpClose gallery of imagery documenting all the thrilling action
from onsite at Port Canaveral as we witnessed all the exciting subsequent action
this week including the first ever fully successful landing leg retraction
operation and transport back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Check
back as the gallery grows.
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Passing speed boaters unaware as SpaceX technicians craned the
launched and landed SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 mission 1st stage off the ‘Of Course I
Still Love You’ droneship in Port Canaveral, FL, Sunday morning May 5, 2019
around 11 a.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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As
usual numerous speed and pleasure boats passed by the out of this world cutting
edge technology action – and they had not a clue or a care of what was unfolding so nearby as seen
in our photos.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully blasted off at 2:48 a.m. EDT (0648 GMT) Friday, May 4 with the unpiloted Dragon CRS-17 cargo ship from Space
Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida bound for the
ISS with almost 3 tons of science investigations
and supplies and included research into Earth’s carbon cycle, numerous biomedical
and physical sciences investigations and the formation of asteroids and comets.
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Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage
booster standing vertically on ground pedestal with 4 fully deployed landing legs
at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019, after craning off OCISLY droneship. From CRS-17
mission. Surrounded by two mockup SpaceX Crew Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage
booster standing vertically on ground pedestal with 4 fully deployed landing legs
at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019, after craning off OCISLY droneship. From CRS-17
mission. Surrounded by two mockup SpaceX Crew Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The CRS-17 booster model B1046 had safely touched down on OCISLY some eight minutes after launch May 4 at a spot located just a few miles offshore of the Florida Space Coast beaches for the first time ever.
The dramatic propulsive pinpoint
and upright first stage soft landing intact was easily visible given the
crystal clear night time skies under superb weather conditions.
The 1st stage
booster was grasped firmed by the arms of the rolling octagrabber to prevent it
from tipping over has happened with the Falcon Heavy core stage last month.
But they were temporarily forced to turnaround by 530 p.m. after a downpour of showers and thunder inundated the Port region.
The fleet resumed its entry after the storm passed and OCISLY was towed in later in the evening and berthed at the usual SpaceX slot.
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Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage
standing upright on OCISLY droneship grasped by octagrabber being towed into
Port Canaveral, FL Saturday afternoon May 4, 2019 around 5 p.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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By late Saturday afternoon
May 4, the SpaceX fleet had towed OCISILY to the mouth of Port Canaveral as two
cruise ships and many pleasure boats sped by.
But they were temporarily forced to turnaround by 530 p.m. after a downpour of showers and thunder inundated the Port region.
The fleet resumed its entry after the storm passed and OCISLY was towed in later in the evening and berthed at the usual SpaceX slot.
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Disney cruise ship cruises by launched
and landed SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 mission 1st stage standing upright on the ‘Of
Course I Still Love You’ droneship at the mouth of in Port Canaveral, FL, Saturday afternoon May
4, 2019 around 5 p.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The two stage Falcon 9/Dragon rocket stands
about 213-feet (65-meters) tall.
The next SpaceX Falcon 9 launch is tentatively targeted for May 15 at 10:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch my commentary at CBS Orlando WKMG about the SpaceX Cargo
and Crew Dragon mission in lead video:
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/space-news/spacex-go-for-overnight-launch-of-iss-resupply-mission-from-cape-canaveral
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/space-news/spacex-go-for-overnight-launch-of-iss-resupply-mission-from-cape-canaveral
Watch my commentary at Fox 35 TV News Orlando about the SpaceX
Crew Dragon testing failure here and the implications for delay in future Crew
Dragon test flights here:
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 and journalist based in the
KSC 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
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
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Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage
booster standing vertically on ground pedestal with 4 fully deployed landing legs
at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019, after craning off OCISLY droneship. From CRS-17
mission. Surrounded by two mockup SpaceX Crew Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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