We drove up to Lompoc yesterday to watch not just the launch, but the landing. We had clear skies for both events. When I saw the boosters land from the Falcon Heavy flight in Florida, I didn’t see them until they were almost down, but yesterday, we could see the deorbit burn, and then follow it all the way down to the pad. After entry, it dropped like a rock until it arrived near the pad, then rapidly decelerated and set down. We weren’t as close as we wanted to be, but it was on a hill by Vandenberg Village that gave us an unobstructed view. Despite the distance, the sonic boom of the booster coming in was impressive but, unlike the ones in Florida, where I was much closer and heard a pair of triple booms, I only heard a single one. I suspect the other two were too weak to carry as far.

[Update a while later]

Interestingly, this story doesn’t even mention the landing, even though it was historic. I think it was the first time they’ve landed there in the day time.

[Friday-afternoon update]

Here’s video of the landing.

[Bumped]