Watching a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from my front yard…

Posted by A Middle Aged Geek on

I swore I wasn’t going to do another column this month as my wife and I prepare to celebrate our silver anniversary this week (yay, us!), but something extraordinary happened last night. Vandenberg Air Force Base (some 200 miles/320 km away from me, near the cities of Lompoc and Santa Maria) launched another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit, carrying a large (record) payload of Starlink satellites. A real-life bit of science fiction, happening right before our eyes…

An earlier SpaceX evening launch, taken a bit late, on April 1st of this year (around 7:50 pm).
I was literally putting the trash cans to the curb for pickup the following morning when I caught this pic–that’s how routine space launches are becoming in my state.

Vandenberg space launches are not an unprecedented sight if one lives in Southern California, of course (Vandenberg has been launching rockets off and on since the late 1950s), but this SpaceX launch happened at a perfect time of the evening (8:47 pm, shortly after sunset on the Pacific coast of the United States); which gave the launch contrail some spectacular backlighting. Even my terrible old eyes could clearly make it out.

Pulling up a couple of camp chairs and recording the event with our iPhones, my wife and I even saw what appeared to be sizable chunks of flaming debris falling from the second stage of the rocket, though I’ve not been able to confirm if this was ‘normal’ or not. Apparently the first stage completed its planned vertical landing at Vandenberg without incident, and the satellites successfully entered orbit, so I assume everything went okay (?).

Image of the Falcon 9 rocket launch, with a record payload of Starlink satellites, from SpaceflightNow.com

Rather than go on in minute detail (I still have to pack for our anniversary trip), I’ll just let my photos—and my clever wife’s excellent 4-minute video—do the talking. Enjoy the views:

Shortly after the 8:47 pm launch, you can faintly see the circular outline of the Falcon 9 rocket’s main engine nozzle, but barely (Vandenberg AFB is some 200 miles/320 km away after all, so…yeah, there’s that)
The first stage of the rocket continues its ascent…
Stage 1 separation, as the second stage fires the Starlink satellite package into orbit; the reusable first stage made it back to Vandenberg for a successful vertical landing.
As the second stage fired, its plume got progressively brighter, as well.
Once again, this was a truly spectacular sight to which my photos barely do justice.
Second stage continues its ascent…
The second stage’s contrail plumes outward, almost like a monstrous comet; if you look carefully you can see a bright smudge within the contrail; this was one of at least two small ‘chunks’ we saw break away from the rocket. This concerned me, but apparently everything went okay. If the rocket were carrying a manned Dragon capsule, I’d be worried.
Once again, the ‘monster comet’ roars overhead–you could even hear a very faint noise in its general direction. If we were closer, we would’ve heard that same rumble, but at an ear-splitting 136 decibels.
To paraphrase 1956’s “Forbidden Planet”: “Meanwhile, this ship arranges its own comets.”
The second stage exhaust plume begins to dissipate as it enters the upper atmosphere, a few minutes after launch.
This was shortly before the rocket became nothing more than a star or planet-sized speck in the summer skies above SoCal.

My wife’s full four-minute video:

My wife took a video of the whole thing, because, well, she’s just smarter than I am. No other explanation needed. You can also see the falling ‘chunks’ from the rocket a lot better than in the photos.

Whatever one’s opinion on SpaceX’s capricious cofounder, Elon Musk (I’d prefer not to get into that; suffice it to say I’ve voluntarily closed my accounts on X/Twitter), there’s no denying that seeing almost routine SpaceX rocket launches from the comfort of camp chairs in one’s front yard is an incredible experience, and it’s an experience I was eager to share with all of the skywatching fellow sci-fi fans who read this column (and to whom I’m very grateful). 



Still waiting on those moon bases, flying cars and robot maids, but for now, I’ll settle with watching space launches from my front yard, thanks…

It is moments like these—apart from watching movies and TV shows on my iPhone—which serve to remind me that I am indeed living in the future; despite the lack of moon bases, flying cars and robot maids…

To those who live in the SoCal area? Here is a link to the schedule of all future Vandenberg space launches: Space Launch Schedule.com. Pro-tip? Evening/night launches are not only more spectacular, but they’re also much easier to see without external aid or even binoculars.

Take care, and to quote Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): “Watch the skies, please…”

Images: Author, Author’s brilliant wife of 25 years, MGM-Sony, SpaceflightNow.com

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Dave Williams says:
    June 25, 2024 at 3:29 am

    Really cool that you got to see this!

    Reply
    1. A Middle Aged Geek says:
      June 25, 2024 at 9:03 am

      Didn’t even have to get my car keys. 😉

      Reply

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