SpaceX Falcon Heavy USSF-67 Launch from 130 miles away!
On January 15, 2023, SpaceX launched the USSF-67 Mission on a Falcon Heavy from historic launch complex 39A. The same launch pad from which the Apollo Moon missions and the Space Shuttle launched! Watch to the end for a stabilized (using Planetary Imaging PreProcessor, not the best choice but it worked) version of my view of the launch.
I was watching/listening to the @EverydayAstronaut coverage of the launch as I used my telescope, roughly 130 miles away to manually track the launch. It's always fun to hear his enthusiasm for the missions and how he interacts with his viewers. It will be awesome to see him when he goes on the SpaceX Starship DearMoon mission when that happens! On a side note, I'll attempt to video those launches, if I can and certainly will do my best to video as the orbit overhead! Now...back to this launch...
The really interesting part I thought was when the boosters were coming back. I got a sense of the speed at which they were falling. They were pretty steady and slow at first, at one point seeming to almost hover in the air. I didn't have to adjust the telescope much at all. However the closer they got to landing, the speed seemed to increase more and more. I was able to continue tracking until after the entry burn at which point I lost them. Though I did capture one of them as it created a condensation trail which was sort of cool!
I synced my footage up with the launch footage from SpaceX: • USSF-67 Mission
The sync isn't perfect, as the "jellyfish effect" started a little bit before it did from my view, but the entry burn for one of the boosters is synced up, as is the thruster firings. I find it fascinating to see the different events from such a far distance. One thing that I noticed is that while on one of their cameras, the rocket appeared to be going down, but from my vantage point it was still going up. Of course that could have been due to their camera orientation but still interesting.
While not a perfect track it turned out better than I thought. I may see about getting the rocket tracker that @Astronomy_Live has which should definitely help for the next time I have a chance to get somewhere with a clear view of a launch.
0:00:00 - SpaceX video launch
0:02:20 - Falcon Heavy visible behind the trees/transition to my telescope tracking
0:03:35 - BECO (Booster Engine Cutoff followed by boost back burn
0:05:05 - MECO (Main Engine Cuttoff) and stage separation
0:07:38 - Entry burn 1
0:07:45 - Entry burn 2 (seen in my video)
0:08:42 - Landing burn 1
0:08:50 - Landing burn 2
0:09:00 - Landing
0:10:00 - Stabilized telescope tracking of the launch
------------------
🔔 Subscribe for more https://www.youtube.com/@smassky?sub_...
------------------
Gear used:
📷 Camera: Canon EOS M50
🔭 Telescope: Celestron Nexstar 4SE
------------------
Support Sma's Sky!
Now on Patreon! / smassky
Merch available at: https://smassky.com/store
------------------
🎶 Music:
Into The Unkown by Scott Buckley
https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/
------------------
💫 Watch the International Space Station Transit of the moon:
• International Space Station Lunar Transit
🚀 Rocket launch playlist:
• Rocket Launches
#ussf67 #spacex #falconheavy #celestron #canonm50