NET Oct 6, new California post-sunset Falcon-9 to freak out viewers

Final days and hours of countdown of another Falcon-9 launch from Cali that happens to be post-sunset, and will be the FIRST launch to fly the first stage all the way back to the launch site. If weather is clear, expect millions more to freak out like they did last Dec 22.

Current launch date oct 6, 7:21 pm local

Updates here = forum.nasaspaceflight.com...

background
observations of Dec 22, 2017 Falcon 9 VAFB launch
satobs.org...

observations of Nov 07, 2015 Trident SLBM launch off California
satobs.org...

a reply to: JimOberg

Can't wait....

Ohhh we saw the trail of the last one, it was so awesome! I hope conditions are right for another "alien" sighting lol!

a reply to: JimOberg

Another giant space sperm?

Launch is slipped to the 7th now.

Sonic boom warnings!

satobs.org...

You know it's going to happen here or someplace else..

Some awakened mind is going to claim its a ufo, angel, earthquake lights or some other silliness even though it's been called out prior to launch.

Photo by John Kraus.

Check out this timelapse video: www.facebook.com...

Wow!

I wonder what is the reddish exhaust partway through the video.

originally posted by: wildespace
I wonder what is the reddish exhaust partway through the video.

The launch was after sunset. The rocket rose high enough to be in sunlight again. As the sun rose above the rocket's horizon, its light (coming through the atmosphere) was the orange that we usually see at dawn or sunset. As it rose higher, the sunlight was no longer passing through the lower muck, and thus illuminated the exhaust with bright white light.

My colleague Marco Langbroek has documented how the Falcon-9 stage-2 deorbit burn was accidentally observed in Europe [Holland and Germany].
sattrackcam.blogspot.com...
Cloud-cover imagery suggests that some regions of Norway and Finland may have been able to see it directly overhead but no reports have come in yet.

A previous deorbit burn WAS observed in Norway, here
on Feb 19, 2018

satobs.org...

An hour after launch, the second stage made a brief rocket firing to deorbit, just off the coast of Norway. Reports have come in from Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany. POSSIBLE viewing areas pre-sunrise Monday include Finland, NW Russia, British Isles, Iceland, and commercial air traffic over the North Sea. The apparition would have been a bright cloud for about a minute followed by a 2-second burst ['headlight'] forward of its motion, then quickly fading. visibility capability??