That's what I was doing at 10 AM this morning: watching the Dragon that had blazed off of Earth two days ago as it neared the International Space Station.
My first niece had texted a photo of it as it flew past her home in Hinesville.
That photo was sent to me at 7:46 AM.
The Falcon 9 rocket is over on the right, flames still shooting out, as that 'space jellyfish' of hot vapors spread across the early morning sky.
Apparently, it was visible all up the Eastern seaboard of the USA.
According to the NASA site, this was the 35th supply mission to ISS.
This one was carrying 6300 pounds (that's 3 tons) of scientific experiments, cargo with new foodstuffs, and two more solar arrays.
Wow.
As soon as I read that I could watch the Dragon dock, that's what I wanted to see, that's what I wanted to witness.
What great progress has been made in these missions!
This particular Dragon has made this trip back and forth to the ISS three times.
Three times!!!
These are not the one-and-done rockets of the past.
Oh, no.
They are recovered from their landings into the ocean and returned to space, to repeat that successful journey multiple times.
Wow!
I learned that from watching the video of its third docking to ISS.
I advise fast-forwarding to the 1 hour 10 minute mark, as things don't really get interesting until then.
I was absolutely enthralled!
That was one of the most interesting, and impressive, actions I've witnessed in a long while.
My many thanks to my first niece for igniting that spark within me...
I do so love you, Christina Ann.
You really do 'get' me.
No comments:
Post a Comment