SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off carrying the Hera probe on October 7, 2024 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Ever the masters of threading the weather needle, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 on its way to orbit and the Hera probe on its way to the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by NASA’s DART probe on September 26, 2022.
Falcon 9 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral in August 2024. Photo: Charle Boyer / Florida Media Now
FAA clears one-off license for Falcon 9 for this launch only
SpaceX and the European Space Agency are planning to launch ESA’s Hera probe from Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, October 7th. The launch window extends from 10:52 AM – 11:27 AM EDT.
MX Racer with his head in the clouds! | Photo: TJ Waller, FMN
“He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease…” was the first thing that came to my mind when I arrived, but I wasn’t at the circus. I was at the Orlando MX Park in Bithlo, Florida, one of the premier motocross tracks in Florida!
Debris from the left SRB nozzle is visible in this “engine shot” by Chris Leymarie / FMN
United Launch Alliances’s CERT-2 flight launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:25 AM EDT this morning. Almost immediately from the point of launch, observers noticed that something didn’t look quite right as Vulcan booster rose from the pad.
A cargo ship awaits unloading in PortMiami Photo: US Customs
At a time when America can least afford it, the International Longshoremen’s Association has gone on strike. Coming on the heels of high inflation, a major storm, and a potential Middle East War, the strike could have massive consequences on Main Street America.
ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
United Launch Alliance is planning to launch its second Vulcan rocket early tomorrow morning from Space Launch Complex 41. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 06:00 AM EDT, with a launch window that extends to 09:00 AM EDT the same day.
The launch is planned for about 75 minutes before sunrise, and if liftoff occurs before the sun peeks over the horizon, the expanding gases of the second stage may produce a spectacular display.
Polaris AX-1 launching on September 24, 1958 from Cape Canaveral Photo: US Navy archives
On September 24, 1958, the first Polaris AX propulsion test vehicle was launched from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 25. What happened next quickly became a part of local lore, with residents referring to the event for many years later as “The Banana River Ballistic Missile.”
