As a Florida resident, it is one of my privileges to watch space ships leave Earth’s gravity behind and journey into space. Seeing the space shuttle light up the sky was amazing, and the sonic boom of an orbiter landing would shake windows.
Now we watch SpaceX send up Falcon 9 rockets almost weekly. As of this post SpaceX has sent up 49 Falcon 9 rockets. Some were from California, but most left the Florida space coast. During daytime launches, you can see a bright light streak across the sky with a tail of smoke behind it until Main Engine Cut Off (MECO). Night launches are a unique experience entirely.
When the sun goes down and a rocket goes up the horizon looks like it’s on fire. Out of that glow emerges a plume of fire shooting into the sky. Then there is the rare dusk launch and the smoke trail catches the last rays of the setting sun and it creates a surreal lighting effect in the sky.
As a science fiction junky, it excites the imagination to think of how close we are to making space travel accessible to more people. With the reusable nature of the Falcon 9, the advancements of ULA’s Vulcan, and the anticipation of Starship’s first launch, it isn’t difficult to believe space travel will become as common as commercial flights.
Currently scheduled for November 1st, we will get to see the first launch of a Falcon Heavy in three years. Seeing a single Falcon 9 go up is impressive, and when you strap three of them together, the view is breathtaking.
Having a Falcon Heavy launch scheduled on the same day that National Novel Writing Month has got to be a good omen for us science fiction writers. I might have to put in some extra words to commemorate the occasion. Be sure to follow me on Twitter to see my daily word count updates. You can also follow @SpaceX to see some amazing photos they post, and get updates on their launch schedule.
For those on my Insider Updates newsletter, you receive that today. I will am announcing my planned writing project for NaNoWriMo, and you won’t want to miss out on being the first to hear about it. That is all for this post, thank you for reading, and have a great day.
Random Thoughts 