SpaceX rocket blasts off from Vandenberg. ‘Go Falcon! Go! Go!’
It was the perfect day for a rocket launch Wednesday as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The aerospace company launched its rocket at 12:27 p.m., carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. This was the NRO’s first mission of the year.
That launch was slightly delayed from the original launch window, though SpaceX did not disclose why the launch was pushed back.
It certainly wasn’t the weather: clear blue skies with nary a cloud nor that notorious Vandenberg fog in sight.
“Gorgeous conditions today,” a SpaceX announcer said during the company’s live broadcast of the launch.
The launch itself was just as picturesque.
As a blaze of fire and smoke shot from the tail and it lifted into the air, mission support could be heard yelling, “Go Falcon! Go! Go!”
A spiral of smoke and a tiny pinpoint of light could be seen across the Central Coast as the rocket shot toward the sky.
Though officials warned of a sonic boom following the rocket booster’s re-entry, no big bang was heard from San Luis Obispo as the booster returned to the launch pad around 12:35 p.m.
“A picture-perfect landing of this first-stage booster,” the announcer said during the live broadcast.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 11:47 AM.
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