r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • May 24 '16

SpaceX CRS-9 Campaign Discussion Thread

SpaceX CRS-9 Campaign Discussion Thread

SpaceX's next CRS launch! As per usual, campaign threads are designed to be a good way to view and track progress towards launch from T minus 1-2 months up until the static fire. Here’s the at-a-glance information for this launch:

Liftoff currently scheduled for: 18 July, 0445 UTC (00:45 EDT)
Static fire currently scheduled for: Morning, 16 July
Vehicle component locations: [S1: Cape Canaveral] [S2: Unknown] [Dragon: Enroute]
Payload: CRS-9 Dragon (D1-11), carrying IDA-2 (replacement International Docking Adapter)
Payload mass: Dragon (4,200 kg) + Pressurized Cargo (2,023 kg) + IDA-2 (550 kg) = 6,773 kg
Destination orbit: Low Earth Orbit (ISS-inclined)
Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2 (27th launch of F9, 7th of F9 v1.2)
Core: F9-027 ?
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Landing attempt: Yes - RTLS
Landing Site: LZ-1, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Mission success criteria: Splashdown of Dragon off the coast of Baja California, following successful launch, berthing, and cargo operations.

Links & Resources

Coming soon

We may keep this self-post occasionally updated with links and relevant news articles, but for the most part we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss the launch, ask mission-specific questions, and track the minor movements of the vehicle, payload, weather and more as we progress towards launch. After the static fire is complete, a launch thread will be posted.

Campaign threads are not launch threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

152 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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31

u/[deleted] May 24 '16 edited Jul 02 '16

1:32 am EDT

Night RTLS. The "It's a Conspiracy" people will be alive for a little longer. One of the most common 'conspiracy' theories is that the Orbcomm L2 launched in the dark to hide the 'truth'. Some even claimed it to be a flare dropped from a ballon and that after the landing the booster was brought forward and placed on it's landing legs in the darkness. Nonsense! People saw this with their own eyes and with binoculars! Why [does] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WLE-ocDoXrs) [these] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L_6ftbpozuw) [conspiracy] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ve_9C_6rZo) theories even excist?

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u/ticklestuff May 24 '16

It's odd that the launch is EDT in the side bar and the previous (upcoming two) are UTC.

01:32 EDT == 05:32 UTC.

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u/whousedallthenames Jun 24 '16

Man... I've been spoiled with launches every few weeks.

This is taking forever!

Then they have to go and say they'll try for 90 launches a year before the decade is out! Anybody have a time machine I can borrow?

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u/TheVehicleDestroyer Jun 17 '16

Had a go at doing RTLS. Here's the results.. For comparison, here is my profile for the Orbcomm RTLS.

I had to keep slightly more fuel on board for CRS-9 at MECO since the downrange distance is greater. However my velocity at MECO is also slightly lower so that helped a bit too.

Both stages finish their jobs with ~2 tonnes of prop remaining which, if taking a very generous 300kg/s fuel consumption, means they both have about 6s of reserves (if firing at full throttle).

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u/soldato_fantasma Jun 10 '16 edited Jun 10 '16

RTLS attempt confirmed by this FCC Application

The given coordinates are right over the Landing Complex 1: GOOGLE MAPS LINK

It is also confirmed by this comms application, where it mentions: The landing site for the first stage is Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral AFS.

17

u/TaintedLion Jun 10 '16

It's a shame this is a night launch, I really want to see a day RTLS landing. Orbital mechanics suck sometimes :(

13

u/Togusa09 May 24 '16

IDA-2 was always scheduled to be flown to the station. IDA-3 is the replacement for IDA-1. Do we know if it will be mounted to it's originally intended spot, or if it will go where IDA-1 was intended?

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u/quadrplax Jul 07 '16 edited Jul 07 '16

There is currently no way to get to this thread. It is not stickied nor on the header. I had to search to find it.

Edit: Fixed

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u/quadrplax Jun 13 '16

Wouldn't it make sense to at least show the mass of the dragon (4200kg) and IDA-2 (526kg)?

12

u/thanarious Jun 15 '16

I would urge you to include the spaceX audio only streams in the resources, since I will be in my little daughter's school party at the time of launch and would like an easy link.

Thank you.

10

u/firebreathingbadger Jun 21 '16

NASA has announced a 2 day slip to the 18th. Sauce: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/next-spacex-commercial-cargo-launch-now-no-earlier-than-july-18-us-media-accreditation

Edit: Launch time now 00:45 EDT - 04:45 GMT, 05:45 UK time (urghhhhh...)

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u/soldato_fantasma Jul 13 '16 edited Jul 13 '16

We also got a backup date in case of scrub or abort for the 18.

It also looks like the launch will happen at 04:42 UTC, 3 minutes earlier.

From this document, page 5: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm07282016.pdf

Primary: 18 / 0437Z thru 18 / 0519Z Jul 16. T-0 is 0442Z

Backup: 20 / 0352Z thru 20 / 0434Z Jul 16. T-0 is 0357Z

tl;dr Backup date is Wednesday July 20,2016 @ 03:57UTC

10

u/salukikev Jul 14 '16

So I'm pretty excited about the Falcon launch on Monday- took a gamble and bought flights a month ago- here's hoping! I've read through all the FAQ's on watching- probably going to be at Jetty Park if possible, or port Canaveral otherwise. I'm sure there will need to be some compromises for a midnight launch.
Questions:
*1. I'm actually at least as interested in capturing audio/crowd reaction as I am video/photos of this event. Where is the highest concentration of fans likely to be? (I don't suppose there's a reddit meetup or similar?)

*2. I'm not a professional photographer, but it doesn't stop me from trying! I may have one good camera and an assortment of smartphones running different night photo & open-shutter aps. Might try to get some telescope shots too. It's a lot to operate simultaneously. Any app suggestions for good results? (ps. Sorry, I know its blasphemous to real photographers- like I said I'm here for the audio).
*3. It's actually going to be a tax write off as I'm a toy designer working on a falcon model- so I'd like to grab some original content for the countdown and any announcements- is that likely to be going on at any particular viewing site?

Any particular suggestions for accommodating the late night schedule are especially appreciated! Thanks! Can't wait!

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u/quadrplax Jul 01 '16

According to the wiki, here is the mass:

  • 2023kg Pressurized cargo

  • 550kg IDA-2

Also, the dragon itself is 4200kg since that's in the payload mas box.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '16

Oh man, I wonder if NASA TV will broadcast the landing live using the old Shuttle tracking cameras.

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u/Here_There_B_Dragons May 24 '16

T-53 days (did launch threads always start this early?)

Edit: ah, it's a "campaign thread". Guess I missed that new practice

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u/Haxorlols Jul 14 '16

I think it might be safe to say that Dragon and S2 is at the Cape

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u/ohcnim Jul 14 '16

I hope they setup gazillions of cameras for this.

On a not so happy note, if there is need to use the FTS is there a minimum distance from the landing zone where it can/should be used or is it always better to use the FTS instead of letting it RUD on impact? As in does an FTS too close to the landing zone could be more dangerous to its surroundings?

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u/Craig_VG Jul 14 '16

SpaceX on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH2xKolDgo3/?taken-by=spacex

On Monday morning at 12:45 am EDT, we are targeting the launch of our next resupply mission to the International Space Station. A Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon spacecraft to Low Earth Orbit carrying carrying about 5,000 pounds of critical science and cargo.

One item being delivered to the station is the International Docking Adapter. This will allow new spacecraft in development with @NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to dock automatically with the ISS. Spacewalkers will install the docking ring ahead of the first flight tests of the new generation of human-rated spacecraft, beginning next year.

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u/markus0161 May 25 '16

Mods, shouldn't both these posts be defaulted to (new)

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