by Ralph Doyle
Manhattan Beach photographer John Post photographed SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets that passed over the South Bay twice in the past week. The first time, on Tuesday, June 18, the sky was clear. The second time, on Sunday evening, June 23. The rocket appeared and disappeared in the clouds.
“I watched them lift off on TV, then went up to my rooftop patio to photograph the rockets rising over the mountains. Then I watched the boosters re-fire and head back to earth. They landed offshore of Ensenada on a barge named ‘Of Course I Love You.’ Rocket launches never get old,” Post said.
The Falcon 9s launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The Sunday launch was the reusable booster’s 11th trip into space. Its cargo of 20 satellites joined Starlinks “mega-constellation” of over 10,000 low earth orbit satellites. Hawthorne-based SpaceX has launched over 700 Falcon 9s from Vandenberg Air Space Base since the first Skylink launch of 60 satellites in 2019. ER
