SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lights up skies over Puerto Rico with impressive trail

Falcon 9 rocket from the company SpaceXIt lit up the skies of Puerto Rico on Sunday, leaving an impressive trail of light as it ascended into orbit, confirmed Eddie Irizarry RoblesPresident of the Scientific Dissemination of the Caribbean Astronomical Society Astronomy Society of the Caribbean (SAC), To new day

The rocket will initially take off from Cape Canaveral FloridaAt 5:30 pm, however, its launch was postponed to 6:35 pm, a time which, according to Irizarry Robles, proved to be the perfect moment for an even more extraordinary sighting than on other occasions.

“Since the takeoff was very close to dusk, we had the advantage that the rocket trail was always going to be illuminated, not only by the propellant, but also because, at the height at which the rocket was going to rocket. , was going to receive sunlight, so then for us The trail was to be lit more.”The scientific communicator explained.

At the time it was seen by Puerto Ricans, the rocket was approximately 112 miles above Puerto Rico. Their appearance seemed very close and, in part, that’s because of a curious fact that Irizarry Robles shares.

Earlier, the SpaceX company launched its rockets towards the Atlantic Ocean. However, starting in early 2020, the company started launching them to Puerto Rico. According to the former president of SAC, this not only allowed them to place the satellites in the desired orbit, but also gave them an advantage: recovering the first stage of the rocket.

Irizarry Robles explained that, during this phase, the rocket appears to be landing in reverse, so a robotic boat or platform must be placed to receive it. In the past, these ships were located in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean towards the northeast.

However, when SpaceX decided to launch in the direction of Puerto Rico, it calculated that, if they located this platform in calm waters in the direction of the Bahamas Islands, the robotic boat would be more established, so there would be. More likely to recover the first stage of the rocket.

Falcon 9 will carry 23 additional Starlink satellites into space as part of a suite of satellites to provide Internet.

For their part, citizens did not take to social networks to share their excitement after seeing the bright trail of light, a product of the Falcon 9’s launch.