Another cargo delivery . . .

So, the SpaceX company's Falcon 9 rocket finally launched from Pad 40 on Dec 15th. After staging, the first stage returned for landing at Cape Canaveral Pad 13 (They call it landing zone 1, but we traditionalists call it by its original name). Here are some shots I took in sequence . . .

Launch, just clearing the tower

Going through "Max Q" . . .

After the re-entry burn, the stage falls straight down, still traveling supersonic . . .

Slowing . . .

Ahhh, the landing legs just beginning to extend . . .

And just before landing, the legs are down and locked, and the rocket is less than 100 feet from touchdown . . .

Cool sequence.

Seems like you have an awful lot of color noise for ISO 100 though.

Perhaps the noise is more prominent because of a heavy crop?

Exactly. Even though I can get "close" because of my job, "close" is still a relative term. The launch was 8.65 miles from my vantage point, while the landing was 3.68 miles away. These are more than 100% crops. I was using a 70-200 (at 200mm needless to say), and hand-held. Moving subject, and all . . .

Regardless. An awesome sequence. I didn’t know they were doing that kind of thing.

Jethr0 wrote in post #18519092
Regardless. An awesome sequence. I didn’t know they were doing that kind of thing.

Yes, it has become somewhat common (although spaceflight is never "routine"). SpaceX attempts to land and re-use their first stage whenever possible. Sometimes they need every ounce of fuel to hit desired orbits with heavy payloads, and when that happens, the booster is "expendable", which means it falls back and into the ocean like everybody else's launch. Sometimes they land on a barge at sea when the fuel-distance equation won't allow them to fly all the way back to launch site.

There is a new company out there, Blue Origins, that intends to start launching from Cape Canaveral perhaps as early as next year. They will also land their booster back and re-use it. They plan to use liquid natural gas (LNG) as their fuel, which will be a first (and very exciting too).

ULA is designing the Vulcan rocket, which, if they follow through, will have a very unique and amazing fly-back/re-use scheme. Too detailed for here, but very promising. Google can get you details on their scheme if you are interested . . .

Lovely stuff - thanks for posting... (waits patiently for Rocket Labs "still testing" to lift off from the Mahia peninsular, New Zealand.)

Phenomenal !