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05/02/2023 – Ephemeris – SpaceX finally launched its Super Heavy/Starship rocket
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 8:48, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:30. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:37 tomorrow morning.
On April 20th SpaceX finally launched their Starship atop the Super Heavy, which is the booster for the Starship for an attempted orbital test flight, from Star Base at Boca Chica, Texas. As we all know, it did not reach orbit. It made it about 36 kilometers up or about 22 miles before it lost control and had to be destroyed, however what it did to the launchpad and its surroundings is rather disheartening Elon Musk thought he could get away with not having a flame diverter underneath the launch mount. The Super heavy, which is undoubtedly the most powerful rocket in the world, dug a hole underneath the launch mount and threw big chunks of concrete all over the place damaging their launch infrastructure, and raining debris on a neighboring town. SpaceX will have to make lots of changes before they can launch again.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Super Heavy and Starship, beginning to climb amid clouds of dust and debris. Screen grab from Sky News video.
02/26/2018 – Ephemeris – The Falcon Heavy, a game changer
Ephemeris for Monday, February 26th. The Sun will rise at 7:25. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 1 minute, setting at 6:26. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 5:52 tomorrow morning.
It’s been 20 days since SpaceX launched their massive Falcon Heavy rocket. Basically three Falcon 9’s strapped together, it’s now the most powerful rocket now in service, whose payload mass to orbit was only exceeded by the Saturn V Moon rocket of the Apollo days. Where the Saturn 5 was more than a billion dollars to launch and the Space Launch System (SLS) now being built with a similar price tag, a Falcon Heavy launch is supposed to be less than 100 million dollars. The next version of the Falcon 9, Block 5, should be powerful enough to launch astronauts to the space station, the original task for the Falcon Heavy. This may mean that the Falcon Heavy may have a short life span. This is because the next rocket is coming off the drawing boards, or rather CAD programs, the BFR, the Mars rocket will be even more powerful and reusable. However the low price tag of a Falcon Heavy launch may be too inexpensive to pass up, even for NASA for heavy satellites of deep solar system missions
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Test launch of the Falcon Heavy, as it clears the tower on February 6, 2018. Click on the image to enlarge. Credit: SpaceX.
The side boosters landing back at the Cape. Click on the image to enlarge. Credit: SpaceX.
04/04/2017 – Ephemeris – First relaunch and recovery of a rocket booster
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 4th. The Sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 8:14. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:24 tomorrow morning.
Last Thursday SpaceX launched a communications satellite, SES-10 toward geostationary orbit using a used Falcon 9 first stage booster, that landed last April. To them it’s not a used rocket but a flight proven booster. Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO is not going to try launch this booster a third time, but will give it to the Cape Kennedy Visitors Center. Re-usability is the key, according to Musk to his plans to get to Mars and to possibly reduce the cost of getting payloads into orbit by as much as 30% than his already lowest prices in the industry. Besides landing the booster on their automated drone ship, they were able to recover the two halves of the fairing that protects a satellite as it ascends through the atmosphere.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The second launching of this particular booster with the SES-10 satellite. Credit SpaceX video feed.
The video feed cut out during the landing of the booster, but the next shot was of the booster standing upright on the drone ship. Credit SpaceX video feed.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 