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SpaceX launch of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm, left), Mid-level (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level (6.2 µm, left) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 µm, left), Mid-level (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level (6.2 µm, left) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1922 UTC on 30 May 2020. 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) Lower-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images (above) showed the thermal signature of hot combustion byproducts (water vapor and carbon dioxide) in the wake of the Falcon 9 booster engines.

A larger-scale view of GOES-16 Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images (below) revealed a signature of the Stage 1 rocket re-entry burn farther offshore at 1930 UTC (the 1930 UTC image was from the other GOES-16 Mesoscale Domain Sector, which was positioned farther north).

GOES-16 Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, left), Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm, left) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, left), Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm, center) and Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm, left) images [click to play animation | MP4]

A thermal signature was also seen in GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared imagery (3.9 µm) imagery (above); a separate Shortwave Infrared animation with a different color enhancement is shown below. Note the initial appearance of a hot pixel over the launch site on the 19:22:50 UTC image, which was scanning that particular location at 19:23:20 UTC (shortly after the 19:22 UTC launch time).

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (credit: Tim Schmit, ASPB/CIMSS) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid are shown below — the rocket booster condensation cloud can be seen near the center of the images, beginning as a short linear feature then morphing into a more diffuse C-shaped feature as it drifted slowly eastward over the Atlantic Ocean.

GOES-16 True Color RGGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

Categories: GOES-16, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Rocket signatures