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SpaceX shares striking Earth views from Falcon 9
SpaceX posted a 19-second video of Earth filmed from Falcon 9's second stage during a recent Starlink mission from Vandenberg.
Image: iXBT
SpaceX has published a 19-second video shot by a camera on the second stage of a Falcon 9 during a recent Starlink mission. The footage shows Earth, with white cloud bands over blue oceans, set against the blackness of space.
According to the source, the video was recorded after first-stage separation, as the second stage continued carrying its payload toward its assigned orbit. That phase of flight captured the most dramatic views of the planet.
The article also points to an earlier Falcon 9 launch on July 21 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. On that mission, the rocket successfully delivered Northrop Grumman’s MRV-MEP to geostationary transfer orbit for servicing satellites in geostationary orbit.
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Particular attention went to the rocket’s first stage, which completed its 32nd and, at the same time, final flight. Earlier, Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch, recounted the story of one of the company’s most unusual Falcon 9 boosters — Booster 1069 — calling it the “original shaky rocket.” The booster underwent a full engine replacement and then went on to complete 31 more flights.
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Dan is our resident futurist, covering electric mobility, space exploration, and the smart home. He's interested in atoms just as much as bits. Whether it's a new battery chemistry, a reusable rocket, or a protocol that finally makes IoT devices talk to each other, Dan breaks down the engineering that pushes humanity forward.
via iXBT
