Latest news with #OfCourseIStillLoveYou
UPI
4 days ago
- Science
- UPI
SpaceX launches second mission in 2 days from same pad, breaks own record
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:26 a.m. EDT Saturday. Screenshot from SpaceX June 28 (UPI) -- SpaceX early Saturday launched another 27 Starlink satellites, breaking it's own record by preparing the launchpad for another liftoff two days after a launch from the same pad in Florida. The mission went off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:26 a.m. EDT. This was just two days, eight hours, 31 minutes and 10 seconds after the launch of a Starlink mission from the same pad, besting a previous SpaceX record set in March by 28 minutes. Watch Falcon 9 launch 27 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 28, 2025 SpaceX also uses a pad at nearby Kennedy Space Station. The launch occurred despite inclement weather that passed through Florida's Space Coast on Friday night. The first stage flew for a fifth time, which has included Starlink missions. About eight minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the droneship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 115th landing on the drone ship and 469th booster landing since, according to Spaceflight now. The first droneship landing was on April 8, 2016, on "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic, which is used in the Pacific Ocean. Ten years ago on June 28, a Falcon 9 that launched from the Cape Canaveral site broke apart in an explosion during a NASA resupply mission to the International Space Station. The first Falcon 9 launch was five years earlier on June 4, 2010, from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX's next launch is scheduled for Saturday afternoon from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 with 26 Starlink satellites is set to lift off at 10:13 a.m. PDT.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Stargazers in Europe spot a strange cloud from SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket treated stargazers in Europe to a surprise display on the night of June 23, when a plume of rocket propellant briefly became visible to the naked eye. SpaceX's Transporter 14 mission lifted off from California's Vanderberg Space Force Base earlier this week carrying 70 commercial payloads bound for low-Earth orbit aboard one of the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rockets. The June 23 launch saw the first stage of the reusable rocket make a controlled landing on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean, while the payload-bearing upper stage powered on to its target orbit. Transporter 14's upper stage proceeded to deploy its payloads and release a plume of rocket propellant prior to re-entering Earth's atmosphere, which quickly froze and reflected sunlight, becoming visible to eagle-eyed stargazers in Europe. Luckily, the Virtual Telescope Project's all sky camera captured the diffuse cloud of particles in the night sky above Manciano, Italy at 8:13 p.m. EDT on June 23 (0013 GMT June 24) alongside the softly glowing, dust choked band of the Milky Way. Oxfordshire-based astrophotographer and science communicator Mary McIntyre also recorded a number of time-lapse videos around the same time as the plume passed swiftly over the U.K., using meteor and aurora-hunting cameras. Similar plumes have been spotted in the wake of previous rideshare missions where a Falcon 9 upper stage has been ordered to perform a fuel purge. The orientation and movement of rocket upper stages have been known to create unique patterns and majestic swirls in the night sky, though on this occasion the propellant lacked any such defined structure. Some scientists believe that rocket propellant may play a part in the formation of high altitude 'night shining' noctilucent clouds - a phenomenon that is more common at northerly altitudes, but has been spotted manifesting closer to the equator in recent decades.
Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
‘Tadpole' shape fills California sky during SpaceX launch
By Sejal Mandal A glowing 'tadpole' formation lit up the night sky as SpaceX launched 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from California. The dazzling display came from a Falcon 9 rocket blasting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8.47 pm local time on Monday night (June 16). Known as the Starlink 15-9 mission, it marked the 200th orbital launch from the base's SLC-4E pad. The rocket's booster, B1093, made its third flight and successfully landed on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' stationed in the Pacific Ocean. The satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit and will contribute to SpaceX's growing Starlink internet constellation. The post 'Tadpole' shape fills California sky during SpaceX launch appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Meet Elon Musk's droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You' — which catches falling rockets, not hearts
It sounds like the chorus of a late-night emotional ballad, or maybe the name of a Taylor Swift album. But 'Of Course I Still Love You' isn't about heartbreak. It's about hardware. Flaming, billion-dollar hardware plummeting from space. This isn't a Nicholas Sparks movie—it's SpaceX 's most poetic piece of machinery: a robot barge designed to catch rockets with precision and flair.. No, this isn't a Nicholas Sparks sequel. It's the name of one of SpaceX's autonomous drone ships that literally catches rockets. Imagine a robot butler crossed with a landing pad, floating in the Pacific, whispering 'come home, baby' to tired Falcon 9 boosters. And the kicker? The name isn't Musk being melodramatic. It's a tribute to Iain M. Banks ' sci-fi novels, where sentient starships have names that sound like sarcastic tweets. One is even called "No More Mr. Nice Gaius." In a world where billionaires build rocket ships and quote sci-fi for fun, 'Of Course I Still Love You' is not a love song. It's an interplanetary punchline that lands rockets. What is Elon Musk's 'Of Course I Still Love You'? Despite its romantic name, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) is a giant floating landing pad, technically known as an Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS). It's a modified barge outfitted with robotic precision and steel arms of destiny that help recover Falcon 9 first-stage boosters after launch. Located off the West Coast at Long Beach, California, it's essentially the oceanic version of a space parking valet. The booster detaches from the rocket, flips itself mid-air like a gymnast, fires retro thrusters, and lands gently—on a ship that's floating. On water. While moving. In waves. It's like trying to land a skyscraper on a surfboard. Why Elon Musk gave this name to the droneship Elon Musk didn't just wake up one day and decide to name his drone ship like a Taylor Swift B-side. The name comes from the Culture series by author Iain M. Banks, where massive sentient spaceships have delightfully eccentric names like 'You Would If You Really Loved Me' and 'So Much for Subtlety.' Musk, a big Banks fan, borrowed 'Of Course I Still Love You' as a loving geek tribute. Because if you're going to catch space junk mid-air, might as well do it with emotional flair. Why does it catch rockets anyway? Because rocket boosters are expensive. Like, really expensive. Instead of tossing them into the ocean after every launch (as was standard practice for decades), SpaceX's whole business model thrives on reusability. By landing and reusing boosters, the company saves hundreds of millions of dollars and reduces waste—kind of like upcycling, but instead of mason jars, it's billion-dollar rocket stages. Plus, it looks awesome on livestreams. Nothing says 'future' like a 16-story rocket doing a slow, graceful ballet move onto a floating pad with a romantic name. Sibling ships and more sentiments pouring in OCISLY isn't alone. Its East Coast sibling is called 'Just Read the Instructions', also a Banks reference, because apparently even rocket landings need passive-aggressive reminders. These ships are part of the ASDS fleet and are key players in SpaceX's vision of rapid, cost-effective space travel. Just think your rocket takes off from Florida, launches a satellite, does a quick pirouette in the stratosphere, then lands back on a boat named like it just got out of therapy. When sci-fi becomes real science The sheer absurdity of naming high-tech rocket-catching machines after fictional spaceships with emotional baggage is peak Musk. But beneath the quirk lies serious innovation. These drone ships have helped SpaceX pull off over 270 booster landings and counting. They've turned what once looked like a Michael Bay explosion into a controlled, reusable, economically viable maneuver. In short: they make science fiction real. And do it with names that make engineers and English majors equally happy. So, next time you see a Falcon 9 rocket descend from space and land upright on a tiny square in the middle of the ocean, remember—it's not just landing. It's being welcomed by a giant, floating robot that says: Of Course I Still Love You. Because nothing says progress like marrying sci-fi references with real-world rocket science. Elon Musk didn't just build a space empire—he made it poetic, one oddly-named barge at a time.
Time of India
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘Of Course I Still Love You…': No, it's not a love song — it's Elon Musk's droneship that catches falling rockets
It sounds like something your lover might text you at 2 a.m., or maybe the name of a Taylor Swift album. But 'Of Course I Still Love You' isn't about heartbreak; it's about hardware. Big, flaming, hardware falling from space. No, this isn't a Nicholas Sparks sequel. It's the name of one of SpaceX 's autonomous drone ships that literally catches rockets. Imagine a robot butler crossed with a landing pad, floating in the Pacific, whispering 'come home, baby' to tired Falcon 9 boosters. And the kicker? The name isn't Musk being melodramatic. It's a tribute to Iain M. Banks' sci-fi novels, where sentient starships have names that sound like sarcastic tweets. One is even called "No More Mr. Nice Gaius." In a world where billionaires build rocket ships and quote sci-fi for fun, 'Of Course I Still Love You' is not a love song. It's an interplanetary punchline that lands rockets. Why Elon Musk gave this name to the rocket lander Elon Musk didn't just wake up one day and decide to name his drone ship like a Taylor Swift B-side. The name comes from the Culture series by author Iain M. Banks, where massive sentient spaceships have delightfully eccentric names like 'You Would If You Really Loved Me' and 'So Much for Subtlety.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like What She Did Mid-Air Left Passengers Speechless medalmerit Learn More Undo Musk, a big Banks fan, borrowed 'Of Course I Still Love You' as a loving geek tribute. Because if you're going to catch space junk mid-air, might as well do it with emotional flair. What exactly is ' Of Course I Still Love You '? Despite the dramatic name, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) is a giant floating landing pad, technically known as an Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS). It's a modified barge outfitted with robotic precision and steel arms of destiny that help recover Falcon 9 first-stage boosters after launch. Located off the West Coast at Long Beach, California, it's essentially the oceanic version of a space parking valet. The booster detaches from the rocket, flips itself mid-air like a gymnast, fires retro thrusters, and lands gently—on a ship that's floating. On water. While moving. In waves. It's like trying to land a skyscraper on a surfboard. Why catch rockets anyway? Because rocket boosters are expensive. Like, really expensive. Instead of tossing them into the ocean after every launch (as was standard practice for decades), SpaceX's whole business model thrives on reusability. By landing and reusing boosters, the company saves hundreds of millions of dollars and reduces waste—kind of like upcycling, but instead of mason jars, it's billion-dollar rocket stages. Plus, it looks awesome on livestreams. Nothing says 'future' like a 16-story rocket doing a slow, graceful ballet move onto a floating pad with a romantic name. Sibling ships and more sentiment OCISLY isn't alone. Its East Coast sibling is called 'Just Read the Instructions', also a Banks reference, because apparently even rocket landings need passive-aggressive reminders. These ships are part of the ASDS fleet and are key players in SpaceX's vision of rapid, cost-effective space travel. Imagine: your rocket takes off from Florida, launches a satellite, does a quick pirouette in the stratosphere, then lands back on a boat named like it just got out of therapy. When sci-fi becomes science fact The sheer absurdity of naming high-tech rocket-catching machines after fictional spaceships with emotional baggage is peak Musk. But beneath the quirk lies serious innovation. These drone ships have helped SpaceX pull off over 270 booster landings and counting. They've turned what once looked like a Michael Bay explosion into a controlled, reusable, economically viable maneuver. In short: they make science fiction real. And do it with names that make engineers and English majors equally happy. Love, rockets, and a whole lot of nerdiness So, next time you see a Falcon 9 rocket descend from space and land upright on a tiny square in the middle of the ocean, remember—it's not just landing. It's being welcomed by a giant, floating robot that says: Of Course I Still Love You. Because nothing says progress like marrying sci-fi references with real-world rocket science. Elon Musk didn't just build a space empire—he made it poetic, one oddly-named barge at a time.
