Video of the 1e stage separation, re-entry, and landing of the Falcon 9, during the SpaceX launch mission of the NROL 76 For NRO on 01-05-2017. Live commentary of the mission. For the first time, there is also sharp close up footage of the rocket during the separation and re-entry stage of the flight.
Video transcript
0:03 And we have main engine cutoff.
0:07 And stage separation has been confirmed.
0:11 And you can see the first stage there flipping back.
0:16 You see nitrogen thrusters.
0:20 Side effect of the less fuel orbit
0:27 And landing at Cape is of course
0:30 That the first stage separation occurs much closer to Cape Canaveral.
0:34 And thus
0:36 At much lower speed and also of course
0:40 actual camera footage.
0:45 We use this to reorient the stage back to Cape Canaveral.
0:48 And fly back from all the fore velocity it had.
0:51 Over the Atlantic Ocean.
1:03 We also have an acceptable fairing separation of the second stage.
1:11 As we mentioned previously.
1:13 We will not be covering the remainder of the primary mission,
1:15 due to the nature of the classified payload onboard.
1:19 But we are covering our first stage
1:20 as it's making a landing attempt back at landing zone 1.
1:23 And that's what you're seeing on your screen right now.
1:26 On the right side is an onboard camera,
1:29 looking down from our inter-stage.
1:32 That stage itself is
1:34 12 feet in diameter.
1:37 And over 100 feet tall.
1:39 So you're looking down the length of that stage.
1:41 And those grid fins are also deployed.
1:43 These grid fins, guiding us back to Earths atmosphere.
1:46 On the left side of the screen
1:47 You're seeing our asset's on ground
1:49 tracking that rocket.
1:51 The first stage as it's making it's way back.
2:18 And that boost back burn was a three engine burn.
2:21 Coming up.
2:22 We gonna have our entry burn also with a three engine burn.
2:28 Entry burn will happen,
2:30 just at the seven-minute mark.
2:55 The fist stage has passed its apogee.
2:58 That's over 130 kilometers,
3:00 above the surface of the Earth.
3:04 Those white puffs you are seeing
3:05 are those nitrogen thrusters onboard.
3:09 That we also use for controlling the vehicle
3:11 on a guided descent back to landing zone 1.
3:38 Entry burn should be coming up
3:39 in about a minute from now.
3:42 You see three engine ignite at the base of the rocket.
3:46 We use that to slow down,
3:47 all of the vertical velocity.
3:49 As the rocket is now falling back to the Earth surface and accelerating.
4:23 If you're just tuning in,
4:25 we're watching the first stage, as it is falling back to Earth.
4:28 In a guided descent back to landing zone 1.
4:31 We have an entry burn coming up.
4:33 In about 15 seconds.
4:37 Three engine entry burn.
4:49 And we have entered the entry burn startup.
4:53 And we have ignition of the entry burn.
5:05 This is a 25-second burn.
5:18 And we have shutdown.
5:20 The first stage.
5:27 In about 45 seconds we'll have our landing burn begin.
5:31 That landing burn will last for about 30 seconds.
5:35 And we'll have touchdown of the vehicle.
5:40 That landing burn is taking us
5:41 from going about 1000 kilometers per hour
5:42 right down to zero on the surface of Earth.
5:46 Landing legs will deploy about 10 seconds before land landing.
6:05 Stage 1 just passed through the transonic region.
6:13 Landing burn startup.
6:14 And landing burn has hit startup and we have ignition.
6:25 About 10 seconds to landing.
6:43 And we have touchdown!
6:46 The first stage has landed back at landing zone 1.
6:49 Another good day for us SpaceX
6:51 beautiful site to see that.
6:52 That is the fourth land landing
6:54 of a Falcon 9 at landing zone 1.
7:01 That was pretty much a flawless landing.
7:03 And while not as difficult as a drone ship landing.
7:06 We did get closer footage.
7:10 It is a beautiful sight surely to bring back another first stage.
7:13 We will be put in that rocket through some inspections.
7:16 And then getting it ready
7:17 for another launch for a future mission.
7:19 Coming up in our very busy manifest
7:22 for the remainder of the year.
7:23 So with that, we like to thank the National Reconnaissance Office
7:26 The range, the FEA as well as you, the viewer
7:30 for tuning in watching us.
7:32 If you like to keep track of our future missions
7:34 as well of the progress of this mission.
7:36 Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
7:39 Or check out SpaceX.com.
7:41 And if you like to come up here and join the team,
7:43 and be part of a crew that makes all this happen.
7:45 Check SpaceX.com slash careers.
7:47 Thanks again for joining and we see you again soon.
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