With little advanced warning, last night, many California residents looked up into the crisp autumn night sky to see a surreal sight. Many took to Facebook and Twitter to ask if this was the real life alien invasion we have been seeing in movies for decades. Aliens? No. Elon Musk? Yes.
In the early evening of October 7th, 2018, Musk’s company SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Argentine satellite SAOCOM 1A, into orbit. The rocket delivered the payload satellite into orbit 12 minutes after it launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles. If you saw Musk launched a Tesla carrying ‘Star Man’ towards Mars, you will remember that the coolest part of the launch was when the first stage boosters came back to earth and landed perfectly on the landing pad bullseyes. And last night was no different, as this launch marked the first time SpaceX has had a successful launch and return on the west coast. The return of the first stage is meant to help limit the cost of launching payloads into orbit, as the company can reuse them for future launches.
The timing is interesting, as the display the launch gave stargazes was nothing short of breathtaking. A daytime launch, a cloud covered night, or many other factors would have limited the awe that this launch provided. But less than an hour after sunset, during photographer’s dreamy ‘blue hour?’ Something tells us the timing and the show it provided was orchestrated from the brilliant and creative mind of Musk.
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