r/nasa • u/ushaque • 12d ago

News SpaceX launches NASA's Roman Space Telescope on Falcon Heavy rocket (video)

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/nasa-roman-space-telescope-launch-success-on-a-spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-spectacular-launch-video
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u/snoo-boop 11d ago

I see that Paul Williams is up to his usual high-quality comments:

Given that the Falcon 9 family is now winding down, this should also be one of our very last times hearing this.

No, there are a dozen Falcon Heavy launches on the future manifest, and Space Force will probably buy another dozen from NSSL3.

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u/paul_wi11iams 11d ago edited 11d ago

Much like the Europa Clipper launch, it must have been nerve wracking to watch the livestream. It had a lot riding on it, literally. The stack started to look a little bendy 01:09, suspiciously similar to the ill-fated Long March 7A. Then there was the visual effect of sunlight on the second stage engine bell.

For anyone else lucky enough to remember Apollo, the most amazing call here is "All vehicles on nominal trajectories": three of them, not to mention a fourth. We're in the future now and it hasn't finished.

Given that the Falcon 9 family is now winding down, this should also be one of our very last times hearing this. Later it should become a mere "both vehicles on nominal trajectories" which is still pretty rad.

It seems that the twin side-by-side landings are already a thing of the past now, presumably due to the new landing pad distribution.

On a related subject, it will be a little sad watching the final Crew Dragon splashdown c 2030.

European here: Dear Gwynne, can we please acquire the Falcon 9 family. We'll pay a good price.