{"id":18003,"date":"2019-06-25T20:55:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T12:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-puts-a-solar-sail-and-scads-of-other-experiments-in-orbit\/"},"modified":"2019-06-25T20:55:26","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T12:55:26","slug":"spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-puts-a-solar-sail-and-scads-of-other-experiments-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-puts-a-solar-sail-and-scads-of-other-experiments-in-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy rocket puts a solar sail and scads of other experiments in orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Launch pad video shows the Falcon Heavy liftoff from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. (SpaceX via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy rocket had its first night launch tonight, sending 24 different spacecraft toward three different types of orbit to test a wide range of technologies.<\/p>\n

The triple-barreled rocket rose into the sky from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center at 2:30 a.m. ET Tuesday (11:30 p.m. PT Monday), kicking off the Defense Department\u2019s Space Test Program-2 mission, or STP-2.<\/p>\n

Minutes after launch, the Falcon Heavy\u2019s two side boosters separated and flew themselves to two landing pads set up at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, not far from the launch pad. The twin touchdowns were greeted with raucous cheers from SpaceX employees watching the webcast at the company\u2019s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.<\/p>\n

Once the Falcon Heavy\u2019s upper stage separated and headed spaceward, the center-core booster made its own supersonic descent toward a drone ship called \u201cOf Course I Still Love You,\u201d stationed hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n