01-04-2018, 09:46 AM
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Master Modeler
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 6,507
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Zuma & FH launches
Hello All,
Tomorrow night (Friday, January 5th), the 2-hour launch window for the Falcon 9 carrying the mysterious Zuma satellite will open at 8:00 PM EST (that's 0100 GMT Saturday morning, for those living a few Time Zones east of Florida). Live coverage of the launch, from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, can be seen *here* (see: http://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/0...tatus-center-2/ ). Because of the "sensitive" payload, the normal video coverage is expected to cease at around staging, but because the first stage will--if all goes well--return to land at LZ-1 (Landing Zone-1) at the Cape, the coverage may just be switched to the first stage. The live launch webcast will begin tomorrow evening about 15 minutes before the launch, *and*:
SpaceX has released close-up photographs and video of their first Falcon Heavy vehicle on Pad 39A, which can be seen here: http://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/0...avys-pad-debut/ . A pre-launch, on-pad static firing test--of all 27 Merlin rocket engines of the core first stage and the two boosters--is planned for this month, with the launch expected to occur soon afterward. Both events will be spectacular to watch!
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