{"id":14113,"date":"2017-12-20T21:08:14","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T13:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/photos-falcon-9-lifts-off-from-cape-canaveral-returns-for-landing\/"},"modified":"2017-12-20T21:08:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T13:08:14","slug":"photos-falcon-9-lifts-off-from-cape-canaveral-returns-for-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/photos-falcon-9-lifts-off-from-cape-canaveral-returns-for-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Falcon 9 lifts off from Cape Canaveral, returns for landing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket closed out a busy 2017 Cape Canaveral launch schedule on Dec. 15 with a successful liftoff on a space station resupply mission. The Falcon 9\u2019s first stage booster, making its second launch, returned to Florida\u2019s Space Coast for an on-target landing.<\/p>\n<p>The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket lifted off at 10:36:09 a.m. EST (1536:09 GMT) Friday from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad, heading on a trajectory northeast over the Atlantic Ocean powered by 1.7 million pounds of thrust from nine Merlin 1D main engines.<\/p>\n<p>After shutting down and jettisoning from the Falcon 9\u2019s second stage, the first stage booster flipped around and returned to SpaceX\u2019s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for a pinpoint touchdown, using three restarts of a subset of its engines to slow its descent.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage that launched Dec. 15 made its first flight June 3 on a previous space station resupply mission. Unlike the company\u2019s previous reused rocket flights, SpaceX did not repaint the recovered booster for its second launch, leaving soot deposits and other markings from its last mission.<\/p>\n<p>Read our full story for details on the mission.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29244\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29244\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29244\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39043028652_a97cfbe2b3_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39043028652_a97cfbe2b3_k.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39043028652_a97cfbe2b3_k-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29244\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29245\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29245\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29245\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469662_058ba3bf31_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469662_058ba3bf31_k.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469662_058ba3bf31_k-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29245\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29246\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29246\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29246\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/25215551218_a36b52763d_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/25215551218_a36b52763d_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/25215551218_a36b52763d_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/25215551218_a36b52763d_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/25215551218_a36b52763d_k-678x452.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29246\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29247\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29247\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29247\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469812_9d8e72c48f_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469812_9d8e72c48f_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469812_9d8e72c48f_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469812_9d8e72c48f_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469812_9d8e72c48f_k-678x452.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29248\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29248\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29248\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38365591494_42653b5182_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38365591494_42653b5182_k.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38365591494_42653b5182_k-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29248\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: NASA\/Tony Gray and Sandra Joseph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29249\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29249\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29249\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_01.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_01-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29249\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29250\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29250\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29250\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38192332165_50980b1380_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38192332165_50980b1380_k.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/38192332165_50980b1380_k-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29250\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29251\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29251\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29251\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1-768x571.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1-678x504.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press1-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29252\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29252\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29252\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/27304331429_b1ebde43b6_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/27304331429_b1ebde43b6_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/27304331429_b1ebde43b6_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/27304331429_b1ebde43b6_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/27304331429_b1ebde43b6_k-678x452.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29252\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29253\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29253\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29253\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_02.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_02-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29254\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29254\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press2-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press2-768x492.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_press2-678x434.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29254\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29255\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29255\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29255\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"958\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_03.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_03-211x300.jpg 211w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29256\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29256\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29256\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_04.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_04-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29256\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29257\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29257\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29257\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"1013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_05.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_05-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29257\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29259\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29259\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29259\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_06.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_06-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_06-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/f9_crs13_06-678x454.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: James Murati<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29260\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29260\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-29260\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469552_a599bc443a_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469552_a599bc443a_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469552_a599bc443a_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469552_a599bc443a_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/39051469552_a599bc443a_k-678x452.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket closed out a busy 2017 Cape Canaveral launch schedule on Dec. 15 with a successful liftoff on a space station resupply mission. The Falcon 9\u2019s first stage booster, making its second launch, returned to Florida\u2019s Space Coast for an on-target landing. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket lifted off at 10:36:09 a.m. EST [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,1736,1395,479,717,1602,25,311],"class_list":["post-14113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-40","tag-dragon","tag-falcon-9","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss-cargo","tag-launch","tag-reusability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}