Here in Central Florida, we’re used to weekly launches of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from the Cape, but Falcon Heavy is a different story and serves a different purpose. With five million pounds of thrust, experts say HEAVY. NASA’s SLS made its first test mission, aside from the Big Moon rocket. “It’s capable of putting satellites into orbits that no other rocket can get close to,” Platt said. Essentially, the HEAVY is three Falcon 9 boosters connected in series to each other. And it makes the rocket more complex to launch and control. “There’s a lot more machinery. There’s a lot more plumbing. But there’s a lot more software, there’s a lot more control mechanisms that are used to make sure the rocket stays on track. So in some aspects, it could be three times harder,” Blay said. One of those difficult aspects to watch is when the boosters also land in vertical landing zones. The main booster uses all its fuel to carry the payload further out. The reason Falcon Heavy is in a class by itself. Like the last mission in November, it will carry payloads for the US Space Force into deep geo orbit. .This is the fifth Falcon Heavy launch, and four more are planned for this year.What will make this launch even more spectacular is that it will take place minutes after sunset, and what will be the jellyfish effect? Let’s see. Once at high altitude, the rocket’s gas plume is illuminated by sunlight while it remains dark on the ground. The release window opens on Saturday at 5:55 p.m.
Here in Central Florida, we’re used to the weekly launches of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from the Cape, but Falcon Heavy is a different story and serves a different purpose.
With five million pounds of thrust, experts say the Heavy is the largest and most powerful rocket — aside from NASA’s SLS Big Moon rocket, which made its first test mission.
“It has the ability to put satellites into orbit that no other rocket can come close to,” Platt said.
Essentially, the HEAVY is three Falcon 9 boosters connected in series to each other. That makes the rocket more complex to launch and control.
“There are many more engines. There’s still a lot of plumbing. But there’s more software, different control mechanisms used to make sure the rocket stays on track. So in some respects, it can be more than three times harder,” Blay said.
One of those difficult aspects is one of the most spectacular to watch as the two side boosters land vertically on landing zones one and two a few seconds apart.
The core booster will use all its fuel to carry the payload further out. That’s part of the reason the Falcon Heavy is in a class by itself. Like the last mission in November, it will carry payloads for the US Space Force into deep GEO orbit. This is the fifth Falcon Heavy missile, and four more are planned for this year.
A few minutes after sunset is going to make this launch even more spectacular, let’s see what the jellyfish effect is.
Once at high altitude, the rocket’s gas plume is illuminated by sunlight while it remains dark on the ground.
The release window opens on Saturday at 5:55 p.m.
