Space.com editor-in-chief was in attendance at NASA's Wallops Flight Center for the first launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from US soil.
Credit: Space.com / Tariq Malik
Credit: Space.com / Tariq Malik
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Hey space fans, Tarek Malik with Space.com. I'm here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility
00:05where we're waiting for Rocket Lab's first U.S. launch of an Electron rocket.
00:09It's a gorgeous night. I'm not sure if you can see, but we're minutes away from launch.
00:13Whoa! There's the Moon and Jupiter and Venus.
00:18It's a little too early for Saturn, but we're just a few minutes away from the launch.
00:24And I'm here with Alex Mankovic. Is that Mankovic?
00:28On 43. Welcome to the inaugural Electron launch from U.S. soil.
00:33That's right. That's right. So we're just minutes away from this launch here.
00:37I'm going to stay out of his way because he's taking some awesome photos.
00:40And hopefully we're going to get a good show.
00:43It's been a very smooth countdown all night long.
00:47Gorgeous sunset launch. That's the rocket right over there.
00:52It's a little blurry in my video feed, but hopefully we're going to get a good shot.
00:58Oh, you can hear the rest of the media, folks. Let's see if I can get a shot.
01:03That's the reporters over here on top of the hill.
01:08There's a lot of wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere here.
01:11The jet stream.
01:12Right here.
01:12It's a Mankovic launch until today.
01:15So here we are tonight.
01:16It's about two miles behind me.
01:18And I'll let you get a...
01:19Here's the rest of the folks. There's an observatory dome there.
01:22We're looking forward to the moon.
01:27All right.
01:28So...
01:29It's been a very smooth...
01:34There was one issue...
01:36Oh, there it goes.
01:42Wow.
01:43Wow.
01:43Wow.
01:51Wow.
01:51Yeah.
01:52Wow.
02:05Wow.
02:05Wow.
02:05Wow.
02:06Wow.
02:06Wow.
02:06Wow.
02:08Oh, my God.
02:10It's a spectacular liftoff right there.
02:38It's so bright, and it was so loud.
02:46Oh, there's a plume.
02:49Wow.
02:53Look at that plume right there.
03:03Now, this is Rocket Labs.
03:12Virginia is for launch lovers.
03:13A spectacular liftoff you saw here from Rocket Labs brand new US launch site.
03:20Their first ever launch from US soil looks to be going real, real smooth.
03:27It's like there was a satellite way up above that just passed overhead.
03:34And you can see that moving dot, and you can still see it, wow.
03:46It's carrying three Hawkeye 360 radio reconnaissance satellites for Hawkeye 360.
03:53They're a Virginia-based company here in Virginia.
03:58Although, Rocket Lab is based up.
04:01Looks like we had an engine cutoff right there.
04:06And there's second stage ignition.
04:11So you just saw that wink out right there.
04:13That was stage separation.
04:16And you can still see it, wow.
04:18It is still going all the way up there.
04:24That is amazing launching right over Orion's shoulder as it lifted off there.
04:33You can still see in my camera phone, you can see the stars of Orion.
04:39That's the belt right there in the middle.
04:44That is stunning.
04:45Still visible as it's making its way to orbit.
04:51We'll see if we can see second engine cutoff in a minute.
04:58How'd it look to you, Alex?
04:59Well, I was a little late on the, yeah, but anyway, no, I was waiting for a 32nd announcement.
05:08Yeah.
05:09So, but, you know, I got some shots, and I'm within good exposure range, so.
05:18That's great.
05:19Wow, you can really see the plume now.
05:30Look at that exhaust plume, wow.
05:33Now it's crossing the shoulder of Orion.
05:36That's Betelgeuse right there.
05:42There it goes.
05:54Wow.
05:55That was stunning.
05:57And you can still see it.
06:00I guess so, yeah, we're seeing it right there.
06:05Wow.
06:06We have no idea how the plume we have, so we're playing with fire.
06:13You can see it, it's right here.
06:19Oop.
06:20That's the second stage still on its way up.
06:24Doing its thing.
06:26We'll see if we can keep seeing it.
06:35Now you can really see Orion.
06:37Those three stars of its belt, Betelgeuse to the central left there.
06:49Forgive me for the grainy quality of my camera phone.
07:06I can't believe we can still see it, Alex.
07:33Alright, it's getting a little hard to track now, so I think I'm going to sign off for
07:39now and we're going to see how it looks on the real feed, the video feed.
07:44We saw the rocket continue with orbit around the Earth.
07:48This mission is all about sending three different satellites.
07:52They're about the size of a microwave into Earth's orbit from the company Hawkeye 360.
07:57What those are going to do, those are going to monitor radio frequency as they orbit and blow.
08:02I can't believe it.
08:06I can't believe in you.
08:08I want to be able to monitor radio frequency as they orbit.