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This is a single, 483 second exposure of the Falcon9 CRS9 rocket, launched (and landed!) at 12:45a on July 18, 2016 from CCAFS by Elon Musk and SpaceX. The streak to the left is the launch streak and then the straight line to the right shows the landing of the first stage of the Falcon9 rocket approximately 9 minutes after launch.
Most launch and landing streaks are a composite; this is a single image. Also, people ask why the clouds don't appear to have moved in the image, and the answer is simple: it's 12:45 in the morning, so with the exception of the moment that the rocket is passing through them, the clouds are not visible; it's night and therefore the sky is dark (the aperture setting is f22).
Also, this photo was chosen as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for July 21, 2016. More details on the launch available here: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160721.html
(Edited to add that this photo was published in the November, 2016 issue of National Geographic Magazine.)
Photo copyright Michael Seeley (me) / We Report Space.
A massive photo merge of 16 photos taken at Launch Complex 40 the morning of the #CRS8 #Falcon9 launch of the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.
Well done, #SpaceX. The #CRS14 #Falcon9 launch was successful, and incredible to watch, especially from the roof of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building.
(Shots by me aka Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
About an hour before the OA6 AtlasV would launch, I started a time lapse sequence with the intention of getting a star-trail sequence and then the streak of the rocket, but clouds started moving in, and effectively obscured most of the stars. However, during the sequence, at 10:45pm (20 minutes before launch) a very bright shooting star / meteor shot across the sky to the east of the pad (to the right of the image).
The streak of the meteor happened to be visible though the clouds and was captured by the time lapse.
This is a merge of two images. The first image is a 20 second exposure, one of the time lapse frames, and through a break in the clouds you can see the streak of the meteor. The second image is a 163 second exposure of the #AtlasV rocket carrying the #OA6 ISS resupply #Cygnus capsule, launched by United Launch Alliance for Orbital ATK from 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla..
From the pad: the fury of 9 Merlin engines, pushing the #SpaceX #CRS14 #Falcon9 into orbit.
(Pic: me / WeReportSpace)
The Force was strong with this one: The #SpaceX #CRS17 #Falcon9, launched and landed (!!!) as seen from the roof of the VAB.
Congrats, @elonmusk and team, #MayTheFourthBeWithYou!
This was supposed to be a Milky Way composite, but the moisture in the air combined with the rather bright lights around the Vehicle Assembly Building made the shot I had in mind an impossibility. The lights that illuminate the front of the VAB are very bright, so much so that you can see the VAB's shadow in the thin cloud above us (top left of the frame). You can see the cloud of the Milky Way, but it's very faint, and mostly washed out from all the surrounding light.
The main attraction is, of course, the launch and landing of the #CRS17 #Falcon9, creating streaks that cross mid-frame. At the top of the streak, you can faintly see the first stage as it turns around to head back to the Cape. The fuzziness in the frame is from the resulting plume, and it was really lovely -- I underexposed it in my tight shot, but Erik Kuna has a fantastic close-up of it.
Details: Composite, rocket streak frame was ISO100 and 519-seconds at f18, and the star frame was taken 12-minutes before the launch at ISO2500, 15-secs and f2.8.
I should also acknowledge Declan Murphy and his FlightClub.io tool, which was instrumental to planning this shot.
What do you do when you've got a 160+ image time lapse sequence that was invaded by clouds? You stack them anyway, obviously.
This "Frankenstein" of an image is the result of a sequence I started nearly immediately after arriving at the media viewing area. I let the sequence run until just before the launch of the #OA6 #AtlasV. (A quick note to thank the #NASASocial group standing near me for not bumping the tripod, and my apologies to all around me for the constant beeping of the shutter release as it counted the seconds...)
So the first shot was taken at 9:58pm (ET) and it ran (with only one or two breaks to check exposure - the moon was really bright) until 10:59pm, just 6 minutes before the rocket would launch (at the very start of the window - thank you ULA). Each shot is a 20 second exposure at ISO200 and f6.3.
I took 2 test shots at 11pm (not included) and then the last frame is the streak, shot at 11:05pm: a 163 second exposure of the AtlasV rocket carrying the OA-6 ISS resupply Cygnus capsule, launched by United Launch Alliance for Orbital/ATK.
Minimal adjustment to the images were done in Lightroom, and the stack was done in Photoshop.
The Force was strong with this one: The #SpaceX #CRS17 #Falcon9, launched and landed (!!!) as seen from the roof of the VAB.
Congrats, @elonmusk and team, #MayTheForthBeWithYou!
(Single 519-sec exposure by me / @WeReportSpace)
Wow.
Edit: Now that I'm at my computer, and the adrenaline has calmed (just a bit), I can properly describe this shot: this is a 277-second exposure of the #CRS15 #Faalcon9 rocket launched by #SpaceX at 5:42am this (Friday) morning. The plume was illuminated by the rising sun, and it was just amazing.
Details: ISO100, 277-seconds, f18 shot with a Canon 5D4 and a Rokinon 14mm lens.
(Field edit from the roof of the VAB, pic: me We Report Space)
This is the #SpaceX #CRS17 #Falcon9 launch of 2:48 am (ET) on Saturday, May the 4th (2019), captured on 35mm film. I was on the roof of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, 525 feet high. (In the bottom left of the frame you can see the top of one of the high bay door structures, sticking out of the side of the building.)
There are three streaks of particular note in this image; the main one shows the launch of the rocket. And then less obvious is the first of the landing burns, near the top of the arc (cutting across the launch streak), and the final landing burn is just to the right of the pad, capturing the first stage as it descends to the drone-ship "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned 16km or so off the coast. And then we have the special guest appearances: Jupiter (the white line to the right) and Vega (the bluish line just below the top of the streak).
For the most part, I've got the streak exposure figured out for 35mm film, but exposing the foreground continues to be a challenge. For this image, I opened the shutter at 2:38 am (10 minutes before launch) and let run for 20 minutes total, but it really could have run for at least another 10 minutes to bring out foreground detail. (I had intended to start it 20 minutes before the launch, but I was distracted by trying to capture an image of the Milky Way using one of my DSLRs; there was just too much light catching the moisture in the air for that.) But, as with my DSLR image, this is a tad underexposed.
On a happy note, I have found a lab that will indulge my impatience - normally I wait 5-7 days for slide film to be processed and scanned, but thanks to the Denver Digital Imaging Center, this image was processed and scanned the same day they received the film (today).
For a digital version of this image from the DSLR set up next to this camera, visit here:
Details: 20-minute exposure on Fuji Velvia 50 35mm film, shot at f16 with a Canon Elan7 and a Rokinon 12mm fish-eye lens. The Denver Digitial Imaging Center did the processing and scan. The only digital post-processing I did was to crop it slightly (in the original, I caught some red from one of the FAA lights on the top of the VAB).
At approximately 1:36am (ET) on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" returned to Port Canaveral and CCAFS carrying the successfully landed first stage of the #CRS8 #Falcon9 rocket. This is a close-up on the rocket, still on the barge, with people for scale.
Shots from the pad during the launch of the SpaceX Falcon9 CRS9 mission to resupply the International Space Station.
This is the view looking west from the Kennedy Space Center Press Site at 4:05 pm (ET), less than 2 hours before the scheduled launch of the #SpaceX #Falcon9 rocket carrying a #Dragon capsule carrying supplies for the International Space Station. These storms would bring lightning to the area, eventually resulting in a scrub of the launch. The next attempt to launch is set for Saturday, June 3 at 5:07 pm. (Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
Pictures of the launch and landing of the #CRS12 #Falcon9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule of #ISSCargo to the International Space Station, seen from the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The successful launch (and landing) took place at 12:31pm (ET) on August 14, 2017 from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. (Pictures by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo taken inside the International Space Station after a cargo delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables on Instagram with the caption, "#TuesdayTransformation Enjoying the fruits of labor, literally. #YearInSpace #zeroG #fresh #fruit #ISSCargo #HTV5 #spacefood #space".
This is the daytime streak shot I had in mind when I set my camera yesterday for the #SpaceX #CRS12 #Falcon9 launch. It is essentially the streak I've seen from Ben Cooper and Bill Ingalls, except my recollection is that they had their streaks terminating in the clouds. Yesterday, there were no clouds in the flight path and it just looked like the streak flew out of frame, so my initial reaction was to composite in the second frame for a longer streak.
But, after sleeping on it (and seeing Trevor Mahlmann's amazing close-up streak), I like this tighter crop of the single frame better than my composite.
Specs: ISO100, f18, 30-second exposure, shot through a 10-stop ND filter with a 17-40mm L-series lens on a full-frame Canon camera.
(Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
Shots from the pad during the launch of the SpaceX Falcon9 CRS9 mission to resupply the International Space Station.
At 5:07pm (ET) on June 3, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched the #CRS11 #Falcon9 rocket, carrying a previously flown #Dragon capsule to resupply the International Space Station. This was the 100th launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and the first time a previously flown (aka "flight-proven", per Elon Musk) capsule was used as the payload. (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
This is the #CRS10 #Falcon9 in the early hours of February 18, 2017, approximately 9 hours before SpaceX plans on launching the Dragon capsule to resupply the International Space Station. The image is a composite of over 400 images taken from 12:42 am to 1:04 am, thus creating the star trails above the pad.
The launch would later be aborted because of a technical issue. The next launch opportunity is Sunday, Feb 19 at 9:38 am (ET)
Specs: ISO800, 2.5 secs and f3.5. Images processed in Lightroom, and then stacked using StarStax, with finals edits done (again) in Lightroom.
This is a 20-second exposure of the #CRS13 #Falcon9 launch.
At 10:36 am on December 15, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched the #CRS13 payload atop a "flight-proven" Falcon9 booster. The Dragon capsule (also flight-proven) is bound for the International Space Station and contains scientific experiments and supplies for the astronauts onboard.
This launch was the debut of the renovated SLC-40, which has been undergoing repairs following a pad mishap on September 1, 2016.
Approximately 9 minutes later, the Falcon9 first stage would successfully land at SpaceX's "LZ1," treating the Space Coast of Florida to two sonic booms as the first stage descended.
These are the RD-180 rocket engines pushing the #OA6 #AtlasV #Cygnus rocket, launched by United Launch Alliance.
This was the pad shot I was hoping for: a wide view of the #SpaceX #CRS15 #Falcon9 rocket, with the very bright 98.5% illiminated (and one day post Full) Moon looking down on the scene.
What I hadn't counted on was the enormous LOX cloud blanketing the ground. Initially I was a disappointed by the lack of definition in the foreground, but now it's grown on me.
For reference, I used a cool, similar shot by Ben Cooper; this shot has certainly been done before, and Ben's shot is really great. Also of note, Bill Jelen did an amazing sequence, with the Moon marching toward the pad in 5-minute increments before the launch.
And, no, this is not a composite. I realize the Moon looks like it was placed in the frame after the shot, but it really was that bright at the time of launch.
(Photo me: We Report Space) — at Kennedy Space Center.
At approximately 1:36am (ET) on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" returned to Port Canaveral and CCAFS carrying the successfully landed first stage of the #CRS8 #Falcon9 rocket.
As of 11pm on Monday night (April 11), no one knew for sure when the #SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” carrying the #CRS8 #Falcon9 would arrive in port. Forums, Twitter, the SpaceX reddit page and Facebook were all full of theories that predicted arrivals as early as midnight and as late as mid-day Tuesday (April 12).
I arrived at Jetty Park at around 11:45pm and found a small group of people already assembled, including ever-talented (and always entertaining) colleagues Julian Leek, Jeff Seibert and Lane Hermann. It was a lovely night, so I set up a camera looking east down the channel and started shooting star trails. Someone had a marine band radio and at around 12:15am we heard the news we were all eagerly awaiting: the captain of the tugboat Elsbeth III told the port pilot boat that they expected to be at “the dogleg” at around 1:30am, after some personnel loading and unloading – this detail started the rumor that Elon Musk himself was being ferried out to the drone ship to inspect the rocket. (As best I know, Elon was not present.)
The tugboat captain also declared via radio that it was “the prettiest night in the history of the world”. While perhaps not the prettiest ever (in the history of the world), it was most certainly a great night to be standing under the stars, waiting for the first stage of a Falcon9 rocket to come home.
About this image: I started the time lapse at 1:02am and let it run until 1:49am. My settings through most of the lapse were ISO400, f4 with an exposure time of 30 seconds. The whole thing is shot through an EF17-40L lens, set to 17mm.
At this point I should also explain that there was one report on Reddit that the Falcon9 was lit, but we weren’t really sure if that was in fact true. (Everything you read on the interwebs, on Reddit in particular, that’s of course all true, right?) As we waited, Julian tested a flash that was so bright Jeff insisted Julian needed to shout “clear” before firing it. We also lined up our cars so they were facing the water so that if the rocket weren’t lit, we’d all turn on our headlights and hope that we could light the rocket.
So imagine our delight when, behind the buildings to the right of the frame (and east of us, toward the pier), we began to just make out the top of the rocket, creeping closer…and it was lit.
As the “OCISLY” carrying the Falcon9 entered the channel, I adjusted the settings to ISO1000 and an exposure of 6 seconds for the last frames in order to bring out just a bit of detail in the rocket – that’s the staggered white line curving around the entrance to the channel. I included one more frame, taken 2 minutes after I stopped the lapse (at 1:47am), to show the lit Falcon9 separate from the streak it created as it moved into the channel. The purple lights are from the tugboat Elsbeth III, and the green and white lines are from the pilot’s boat leaving the channel and there was at least one more tugboat that exited the channel before the rocket entered the port.
Pictures of the launch and landing of the #CRS12 #Falcon9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule of #ISSCargo to the International Space Station, seen from the roof of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The successful launch (and landing) took place at 12:31pm (ET) on August 14, 2017 from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. (Pictures by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
Three seconds: That's the time elapsed between the first and last frames in this series of photos taken of the #SpaceX #CRS14 #Falcon9 rocket as it leaves the pad.
For the sake of simplicity, I've applied the same crop to each frame. I'm tempted to edit so that the top frames will line up correctly, and I may revisit it at some point, but for now, here it is.
(Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
At 2:48am (ET) on May 4, 2019, SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. The capsule contains supplies and science experiemnts.
(Pic: me / We Report Space)
At 5:07pm (ET) on June 3, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched the #CRS11 #Falcon9 rocket, carrying a previously flown #Dragon capsule to resupply the International Space Station. This was the 100th launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and the first time a previously flown (aka "flight-proven", per Elon Musk) capsule was used as the payload. (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
Well done, #SpaceX. The #CRS14 #Falcon9 launch was successful, and incredible to watch, especially from the roof of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building.
(Shots by me aka Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
When we were setting up remote cameras about 6 hours before launch, the pad crew was testing the water supression system. Note the people, for scale.
Shots from the pad during the launch of the SpaceX Falcon9 CRS9 mission to resupply the International Space Station.
This is an ultra-high resoultion image of the CRS-14 Falcon9 SpaceX rocket taken during remote camera setup in the early morning of Monday, April 2, 2018. The rocket would later that day successfully launch supplies heading for the International Space Station. (Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
At 5:07pm (ET) on June 3, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched the #CRS11 #Falcon9 rocket, carrying a previously flown #Dragon capsule to resupply the International Space Station. This was the 100th launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and the first time a previously flown (aka "flight-proven", per Elon Musk) capsule was used as the payload. (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
From the pad: the fury of 9 Merlin engines, pushing the #SpaceX #CRS14 #Falcon9 into orbit.
(Pic: me / WeReportSpace)
At 10:36 am on December 15, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched the #CRS13 payload atop a "flight-proven" Falcon9 booster. The Dragon capsule (also flight-proven) is bound for the International Space Station and contains scientific experiments and supplies for the astronauts onboard.
This launch was the debut of the renovated SLC-40, which has been undergoing repairs following a pad mishap on September 1, 2016.
Approximately 9 minutes later, the Falcon9 first stage would successfully land at SpaceX's "LZ1," treating the Space Coast of Florida to two sonic booms as the first stage descended.
At approximately 1:36am (ET) on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" returned to Port Canaveral and CCAFS carrying the successfully landed first stage of the #CRS8 #Falcon9 rocket.
Remote/pad camera setup was scheduled very early this (Thursday, June 1) morning. When we arrived at the LC-39A, the #SpaceX #CRS11 #Falcon9 was still horizontal (I was going to try to weave in a "laying down on the job" or "still sleeping" joke here). Although not preferred for framing the remote shot, the horizontal rocket did allow for a cool photo angle.
This is a merge (a panorama, technically) of 3 tight shots of the rocket and payload, a "flight proven" Dragon capsule that was originally flown on the CRS-4 mission. You can see people working on the rocket (or maybe the payload), providing some scale, and also the view of the base (including the clamps that hold the rocket in place) is quite amazing.
And to tie the shot together, there are porta-potties in the foreground.
(Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
So this was a lucky shot, one of two taken by a sound-activated camera set at the pad approximately 12 hours before the #SpaceX #CRS15 #Falcon9 rocket would launch.
It was very rainy when we were setting up the cameras, which was a problem, but the biggest challenge (for me at least) was not knowing exactly where the rocket would be, as it was horizontal when we were there.
So, I pointed the zoom lens at where I thought the rocket would be and crossed my fingers. For the focus, I realized that I still had my focus ring taped from the last Falcon9 launch. Since I was setting the camera in approximately the same location, I just left the focus ring where it was.
Frankly, I'm surprised I had anything in the frame...
(Photo me / We Report Space) — at Kennedy Space Center.
This is a close-up of the "flight-proven" CRS-11 Dragon capsule.
(Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
At approximately 8am on June 1, 2017 the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket went upright with a previously-flown, flight tested Dragon capsule on top. Preparations are underway to launch the Dragon to the International Space Station at 5:55pm (ET). (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
This is the first stage of the #SpaceX #CRS8 #Falcon9 rocket that was successfully landed on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You", seen at 2:20pm on Saturday April 16, 2016. The landing legs have all been removed in preparation for moving the first stage to one of the SpaceX facilities at CCAFS for processing and analysis.