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+--- Thread: Touch down! SpaceX has landed. (/showthread.php?tid=1945)
Touch down! SpaceX has landed. - Cray - 12-23-2015
SpaceX returned a Falcon 9 first stage to the launch site.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35157782
http://www.space.com/31444-spacex-falcon-rocket-landing-epic-photos.html
Vertical landings or recovery of spacecraft isn't new (shuttle, Apollo LEM, DCX, Blue Origins, etc.), but this was nice to see on top of a successful deployment of 11 satellites. And there was live coverage of the satellite deployment. I haven't seen that before.
I got to see the first couple minutes of the ascent with Mark One Eyeballs at a distance of 100km, but there were too many clouds to watch it for long. I switched to local news and the webcast for the rest. (Local news coverage seemed to stay a few minutes ahead of the webcasts, so it was amusing to watch Facebook light up a few minutes after the fact.)
Speaking of time delays, an accidental dramatic touch I liked was that Brighthouse 13 cameras were at a distance where the sonic boom hit almost simultaneously with the touchdown. It visibly rattled the cameras.
And night launches are just awesome all around.
RE: Touch down! SpaceX has landed. - Rynn - 12-23-2015
More than anything I like this for the sustainability of it. Hugely impressive feat in any case.