"While SpaceX is clearly good at delivering satellites to orbit quickly and efficiently, they almost always put on a beautiful show for the locals and thousands of viewers watching online, and the latest launch of Falcon Heavy was no exception.
> For one, the reusable rocket had no landing legs installed, and all three boosters were expended during the mission, a deviation from their typical recovery protocol. Besides, the upper stage featured a gray band at the top crucial to the success of the launch.
Especially, the fairing's fiery re-entry is also the 'hottest' yet for SpaceX!
Why is there such a difference? How Elon Musk just pushes harder on Falcon Heavy?
All this and more in today's episode of Great SpaceX:
Launching at 8:26 PM ET last Sunday, the Falcon Heavy lifted off under dark skies.
The rocket ascended back into the sunlight about 3 minutes into the flight, which illuminated the exhaust plume into a beautiful orangeish color.
Following the side core booster separation, the center core of the Falcon Heavy continued putting on a show high in the upper atmosphere. The enormous exhaust plume was a brilliant white color, almost in the shape of a flower.
It’s only the sixth launch ever for the rocket but the second so far in 2023. Among active rockets, its power is only bested by NASA’s Space Launch System which has only flown once, and SpaceX’s in-development Starship, which exploded before reaching space during a test launch earlier in April.
It’s essentially three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together with 27 Merlin engines that produce 5.1 million pounds of thrust on liftoff.
However, unlike previous Falcon Heavy launches, SpaceX did not bring any of its three first-stage boosters back for a vertical landing."
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