April 8, 2016, was a historical day that marked a new milestone in humanity’s space adventure: after delivering CRS-8 cargo on its way to the International Space Station, SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 23, the third flight of the full thrust version landed vertically on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You over the Atlantic Ocean, 300 km (185 miles) from the Florida coastline, achieving a long-sought-after milestone for the SpaceX reusability development program.
Here are the videos of that historical moment:
Related: Falcon Heavy Test Flight (video)
The Sky Calls (1959 Russian Science Fiction Movie)
But, amazingly, we saw it before!
Nebo Zovyot (The Sky Beckons or The Heavens Beckon), also known as The Sky Calls is a 1959 Soviet science fiction feature film, produced by Aleksandr Kozyr and Mikhail Karyukov, and filmed at the Dovzhenko Film Studios.
The movie displays the Soviet perspective from the dawn of the space race! A pair of American astronauts visit the international space station (built by the Soviets) and learn of their plans for a trip to… guess where? Mars.
Ordered to get there first at any cost, the Americans take off without proper preparation and too soon, and of course, are headed straight to the Sun! It’s up to the fearless Cosmonauts to rescue the foolish Americans, sacrificing their own mission and teaching them a valuable lesson about friendship: a quite different type of propaganda than that was coming from Hollywood at the time.
Some lovely matte paintings and well done effects (for the 1950s) all in beautiful sov color make this very watchable.
“The Sky Calls” was released at a time when the Soviet Union was competing with the United States in the space race, and it reflects the Soviet Union’s interest in promoting science and technology through popular media. The film also reflects the cultural and political climate of the time, including the emphasis on international cooperation and the promotion of socialist values.
The film’s story does not explicitly state the years in which it takes place.
You can watch the full movie on youtube (the video below). See @1:06:35 – the rocket returns from its mission, and lands on a barge over the sea! It seems the Science-Fiction saw the future again.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 23
SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 23 was a mission launched on April 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. The primary objective of the mission was to launch the Dragon spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program.
After the separation of the Dragon spacecraft, the Falcon 9’s first stage attempted a controlled landing on a drone ship named “Of Course I Still Love You,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing was successful, marking the third time SpaceX had achieved a successful landing of the Falcon 9’s first stage on a drone ship.
The successful landing of the Falcon 9’s first stage was a significant milestone for SpaceX, as it demonstrated the company’s progress towards developing reusable rockets and reducing the cost of spaceflight.
Video: SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 23 landing in 360 degrees
This amazing interactive 360 degrees video below was published by the SpaceX aerospace company, and it covers the Falcon 9 Flight 23 landing from the deck of the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. Before you start playing the video, turn the volume UP. And since it is a 360° video, you can click or touch the screen and drag it around. Don’t forget to look up, while the rocket is approaching!
Sources
- Falcon 9 booster controlled descent and landing tests on Wikipedia
- Nebo Zovyot on Wikipedia
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