SpaceX F9 - CRS NG-20 - SLC-40

[Grendal]

Launch Date: January 30
Launch Window: 12:07 PM EST (9:07 AM PST, 17:07 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
Booster Recovery: RTLS
Booster Type: B1077.10
Orbit: ISS in LEO
Mass: TBD
Yearly Launch Number: 10

First Cygnus flight on a Falcon 9. Northrop Grumman acquired three flights from SpaceX while a replacement engine is developed for its Antares rocket. The flight is the 17th mission by Northrup Grumman conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Cygnus NG-20 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Cygnus (spacecraft) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"SpaceX Falcon 9 1.1 Launch Sequence at Vandenberg AFB" by jurvetson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[Cosmacelf]

SpaceX seems to be getting into a habit of lofting up competitor’s payloads! Similar to how the Russians must have felt after the Space Shuttle retired.

 

[Grendal]

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1752382592769499613

https://twitter.com/x/status/1752383319961227757

 

[JB47394]

For anyone who didn't bother, watch this tracking shot from the Everyday Astronaut video. At the end of the reentry burn, you can see the booster flop onto its side to get as much cross-range distance as possible. Tim Dodd commented on the long boostback burn and then they did this aggressive RTLS maneuver. Cygnus is only 6.6 tons, so they weren't pushing the booster's basic performance, but I guess also getting an RTLS landing out of it was.

 

[Grendal]

 

[Grendal]

The short nozzle was used for this launch.

The NASA video is fantastic. Must see.

 

[ecarfan]

The NASA video is fantastic. Must see.

Hooray for the NASA tracking cameras! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a close up clear view of the final seconds before the booster finished its RTLS. And the angle the booster was at looked downright bizarre.

So what was this gas cloud? This is well after re-entry burn engine shutdown.

Landing burn.

 

[ICUDoc]

The short nozzle was used for this launch.

The NASA video is fantastic. Must see.

Agreed - some stunning shots of booster separation and its initial boost back as well as some crazy re-entry attitudes.
The last few seconds look like a faked movie scene as the grid fins deploy!

 

[ecarfan]

The last few seconds look like a faked movie scene as the grid fins deploy!

Exactly. Imagine we are watching that video segment just 15 years ago knowing it was all CGI in a science fiction movie. And now it’s reality!

 

[scaesare]

Wow, that really was one of the more acrobatic booster returns we've seen, and agreed... great camera tracking...

 

[scaesare]

Hooray for the NASA tracking cameras! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a close up clear view of the final seconds before the booster finished its RTLS. And the angle the booster was at looked downright bizarre.

So what was this gas cloud? This is well after re-entry burn engine shutdown.

View attachment 1013797

I watched that even a few times... As your screenshot shows, the entire engine area of the booster never seems obscured, and this shot, a few frames earlier seems to show a tiny puff on the top side (as the booster is oriented):

It's only there for 1 frame, then is gone for 2 more, then the large event seems to emanate from the same region, but interestingly also is visible on the sides... multiple vent locations?:

It also cuts off abruptly... which would seem to indicate a valve closure. I wonder if this is related to the relatively flat orientation of the booster...

 

[Grendal]

More cool visuals: