Falcon 9 rocket launch provides spectacular view in Bakersfield

KBAK - KBFX - Eyewitness News - BakersfieldNow · December 23, 2017 · 5:31 · English · Launch

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Video from the channel KBAK - KBFX - Eyewitness News - BakersfieldNow about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 5:31. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

The mission

A reporter from a local television station in Bakersfield, California, provides live narration of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, on the coast. This is the Iridium 4 mission, intended to place communications satellites into orbit. According to the commentary, this launch vehicle can carry ten satellites and its first stage is designed to lift off and land again.

Sequence

Liftoff was scheduled for 5:27:23 p.m. Shortly after, a reddish flash appears on the horizon, rising vertically and then beginning to tilt. Since the sun had not yet fully set on the West Coast, as the rocket gains altitude its exhaust gases are lit by sunlight, tracing a bright trail across the dusk sky, visible from far beyond the base.

Outcome

The footage follows the ascent and the vapor trail the rocket leaves behind, still visible several minutes later. The reporter admits he cannot detail the flight phases, so the video mainly documents the visual spectacle of the launch as seen from Bakersfield and offers no information on the outcome of the mission.