TESS (Falcon 9) 18 April 2018 |
Space Launch Complex 40 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) at 6:51 p.m. on 18 April 2018 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Following stage separation, the Falcon 9's first stage successfully landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed a few hundred miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. An excerpt from the SpaceX press release about TESS: |
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Venting gaseous oxygen during fuel loading. |
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First stage shutdown. The following images show first stage separation and the beginnings of the maneuvers to land it on the droneship about 8 minutes after liftoff while TESS and the second stage continue on into orbit. |
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SLC-40 awaiting its next launch. |
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