Falcon 9 rocket launch provides spectacular view in Bakersfield

well Dave the SpaceX Falcon 9 is going to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base and it's going to launch in just about a minute maybe a little less here and we should be able to see it right here in our night sky and what's going to be very cool is because the Sun isn't completely down on the west coast we should then see the Sun hit the rocket I'm going to gather way just in case this thing launches so that we can see it when it does it's scheduled to launch at 527 and 23 seconds right now I've got just shortly after 527 so we are waiting right now this should be coming up at any moment so we just have to keep our eyes on it this is part of the this is part of the Iridium 4 mission and so what this Falcon 9 is is it's a device rocket that they use to launch communication satellites into the air and to get those into space and these are really extraordinary because this particular type of rocket can actually take off and land and there it is you can see it right there that red flare off in the distance that is it going straight up that's all the way from Vandenberg that is extraordinary that we can see that from this far away just absolutely incredible right there and it's going to go pretty high watch it go and shortly we should see that Sun headed in just a bit you need to see it rising straight up from the horizon and there we go it started to tilt a little bit gosh what a sight to see and one of the few things that I guess we'd all be very happy to say that we saw right as the year was coming to a close and look at how just immensely bright it is and again all the way from Vandenberg so far away traveling so quickly through the night sky and with sunset not even complete just an absolute beautiful sight here and look and here's what we're going to see the Sun hit it as it gets high enough absolutely extraordinary it's like a shooting star in Reverse [Music] now I want to mention that this Falcon 9 is capable of actually carrying 10 satellites into space so this thing is massive in its own right and such a great thing to be watching and here we go now you see the Sun hit and you look at that really taking off now my goodness and now you'll see it continue to shine through the night sky as it hits another thrust set right there just see the trail that's leaving behind absolutely amazing and to describe it to you from you can see it but from the ground it almost looks as though it almost looks as though a cloud of smoke with its own mind is just shooting through the sky this is absolutely incredible [Applause] again you're watching the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base this visible from Bakersfield absolutely incredible [Applause] and at this point I couldn't I'd it looks amazing but at this point I really couldn't tell you what exactly is happening because space space travel isn't exactly my line of expertise so hold on to this shot for as long as you want but Dave Rochelle when you're ready to take it away please be my guest look at the vapor trail left behind by that just amazing and it's still you can still see it there it is still shining through I was an absolute treat that was uh that was a great way to end off the year I hope all you enjoyed it as much as we did here

Channel: KBAK - KBFX - Eyewitness News - BakersfieldNow

Views: 3,235,997

Keywords: Falcon 9, SpaceX, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Bakersfield

Id: JRzZl_nq6fk

Length: 5min 31sec (331 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/kuadratritakale]

That was breathtaking. When it reaches the sunlight, just beautiful!

[u/chunkykitty]

Whenever I watch spacex launches I want to drop everything and go to school for rocket science

[u/RiskyBrothers]

Holy shit. You can see the boostback stage. Space is so close.

[u/concretegirl87]

Saw this live in Yuma, AZ. It freaked a lot of locals out, they had no idea what it was. My favorite guess from someone was a Christmas Angel fart.