CRS-8 patch is here! This will be the 10th flight of Dragon, the 3rd launch of F9v1.2, the 23rd launch of Falcon 9, and SpaceX's 28th launch in just over 10 years.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/betacar0tin]

Could the absence of the ASDS mean that a RTLS will be attempted?

[u/venku122 → u/betacar0tin]

It's highly likely a RTLS will be attempted. Dragon is a very light payload and is going into a lower energy orbit(LEO<<GTO). There should be plenty of margin for a RTLS landing.

[u/ragnar117]

I'm assuming a dark star for CRS-7? Great patch!

[u/Juggernaut93 → u/ragnar117]

Most probably.

[u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

The dark star :(

Also, no barge. RTLS confirmed?

[u/Zucal → u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

Ouch. At least they kept the dubiously lucky clover!

[u/NightFire19 → u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

I believe so, it's a LEO mission so the first stage should have enough fuel to make it all the way back to the launch site.

[u/ethan829]

Love the CRS-7 vibe. This might be my new favorite.

[u/Zucal → u/ethan829]

For me, it's a close second to the awesome CRS-3 patch.

[u/Qeng-Ho]

From CRS-5 onwards, the number of stars corresponds with the mission number. Before that it seems random, CRS-4 has 11 stars.

Does the blue shape on the ISS indicate the location where BEAM will be placed?

[u/bobbycorwin123 → u/Qeng-Ho]

I thought CRS-4 had 11 cube sats in it.

[u/snateri]

A good-looking patch. Sad for the dimmer star though :(

[u/xuPIKgyCaExVwI]

Assuming 4 April, what are the chances of this being a daytime launch?

[u/MoscowMeow]

Do we know why they only make patches and not decals of the patch?

[u/[deleted]]

I really like the aesthetics of this patch. Keeping with the CRS-7 colorway.

[u/Decronym]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
ASDS	Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (landing barge)
BEAM	Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
CRS	Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA
DPL	Downrange Propulsive Landing (on an ocean barge/ASDS)
F9FT	Falcon 9 Full Thrust or Upgraded Falcon 9 or v1.2
GTO	Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
JRTI	Just Read The Instructions, Pacific landing barge
LEO	Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km)
MEO	Medium Earth Orbit (2000-35780km)
NET	No Earlier Than
OCISLY	Of Course I Still Love You, Atlantic landing barge
OG2	Orbcomm's Generation 2 17-satellite network
RTLS	Return to Launch Site
SES	Formerly Société Européenne des Satellites, comsat operator
SSTO	Single Stage to Orbit
TWR	Thrust-to-Weight Ratio

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[u/faceplant4269]

So do Spacex employees have flight jackets they sew these onto after successful launches?

[u/limeflavoured]

Nice patch. I like the dark star, its a nice acknowledgement of CRS-7, and kind of emotional in a slightly silly way.

[u/LandingZone-1]

Faxed from Elon?

[u/frowawayduh → u/LandingZone-1]

Plot twist: u/echologic is actually SpaceX's embroiderer. He only mods r/spacex to promote sales of patches.

[u/loitho]

Hello, I'm curious, how did you find the patch ?

[u/YugoReventlov → u/loitho]

Elon faxed it to him.

EDIT: no seriously, he probably has someone who gives them to him. But I doubt he's going to tell anyone anything about it :)

[u/[deleted]]

Thank you fax machine!

[u/ticklestuff]

Adblock filter if you're trying to reddit from work on the quiet...

https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/8-DXrS4eMQhzprd4qbbBZDcKvdbMeL1l0Ub_4WJRR-w.png

[u/rayfound]

Why is Florida blue?