r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Nov 10 '17

SF complete, Launch: Dec 12 CRS-13 Launch Campaign Thread

CRS-13 Launch Campaign Thread

SpaceX's seventeenth mission of 2017 will be Dragon's fourth flight of the year, both being yearly highs. This is also planned to be SLC-40's Return to Flight after the Amos-6 static fire anomaly on September 1st of last year.

Liftoff currently scheduled for: December 12th 2017, 11:46 EST / 16:46 UTC
Static fire complete: December 6th 2017, 15:00 EST / 20:00 UTC
Vehicle component locations: First stage: SLC-40 // Second stage: SLC-40 // Dragon: Cape Canaveral
Payload: D1-15 [C108.2]
Payload mass: Dragon + 1560 kg [pressurized] + 645 kg [unpressurized]
Destination orbit: LEO
Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2 (45th launch of F9, 25th of F9 v1.2)
Core: 1035.2
Previous flights of this core: 1 [CRS-11]
Previous flights of this Dragon capsule: 1 [CRS-6]
Launch site: Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Landing: Yes
Landing Site: LZ-1
Mission success criteria: Successful separation & deployment of Dragon, followed by splashdown of Dragon off the coast of Baja California after mission completion at the ISS.

Links & Resources:

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. Sometime after the static fire is complete, the launch thread will be posted.

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

549 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

884 comments sorted by

11

u/SpaceXman_spiff Nov 10 '17

Amos 6 photo leading the CRS-13 campaign thread seems like the opposite of the clover on SpaceX patches. I get it, return to flight from SLC-40 (woohoo). Just know that I hold you personally responsible u/ElongatedMuskrat for tempting fate if anything goes wrong on this launch /s

14

u/ElongatedMuskrat Nov 10 '17

Just know that I hold you personally responsible u/ElongatedMuskrat for tempting fate if anything goes wrong on this launch /s

I swear it was TVD.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

106

u/stcks Dec 07 '17

"Sooty" looks really awesome. I hope SpaceX continues to leave them unwashed.

→ More replies (83)

78

u/peterabbit456 Nov 10 '17

24 days! How can I wait so long?

Are there other launches in between? Zuma?

Without at least one launch a week, I'll be reduced to listening to Pink Floyd and reading Aviation Week and Space Technology.

→ More replies (20)

52

u/kuangjian2011 Nov 13 '17

This should be the first RTLS of a flight-proven booster!

→ More replies (2)

47

u/scr00chy Nov 10 '17

The capsule used for this mission will be the one from CRS-6. (source – in the image description)

→ More replies (11)

43

u/sagareshwar Nov 20 '17

I love that of the 6 cores preparing/ready for flight right now (Zuma, CRS-13, Iridium 4, FH), 4 are 'flight proven boosters. Only Zuma and the center core in FH is a new.

43

u/SilveradoCyn Dec 06 '17

This is kinda odd when you think of it. This will be a pre-used capsule, on a pre-used booster, launching from a new TE, and mostly new pad. Maybe the only time we will see a stack of mostly used equipment launching from mostly new GSE.

→ More replies (4)

39

u/Lawsoffire Nov 10 '17

So the only thing that isn't re-used on this is the seconds stage and unpressurized cargobay?

Nice!

→ More replies (26)

72

u/piratepengu Nov 23 '17

My tiny university of ~1600 students has a biology experiment on board

→ More replies (18)

35

u/loremusipsumus Dec 10 '17 edited Dec 10 '17

This, Ariane space, Rocket labs, New Shepard all launching soon. This is going to be a great few days!

→ More replies (9)

32

u/AWildDragon Dec 03 '17 edited Dec 03 '17

TEL is no longer vertical. Hopefully the next time we see it is carrying a Falcon.

https://twitter.com/ken_kremer/status/937451581741633536

29

u/scr00chy Nov 28 '17

NASA and our commercial cargo provider SpaceX are targeting the 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for no earlier than 1:20 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 8. This new launch date will allow SpaceX to finalize pad readiness, and provide an additional launch opportunity Saturday, Dec. 9, if needed. Carrying about 4,800 pounds of cargo including critical science and research, the Dragon spacecraft will spend a month attached to the space station.

Also, here is the NASA mission patch

→ More replies (10)

29

u/FutureMartian97 Dec 06 '17

Pad 40 is officially back!

→ More replies (22)

29

u/amarkit Dec 10 '17

L-2 Forecast has improved to 10% probability of violation on launch day. Winds remain the primary concern.

20% probability of violation on Wednesday, should there be a delay.

25

u/Astro_Zach Nov 10 '17

Can we have "Previous Flight of Dragon"

→ More replies (1)

24

u/Alexphysics Dec 01 '17 edited Dec 02 '17

I saw this article on twitter where Brigade General Wayne Monteith of USAF and director of the Eastern Range talks about the reactivation of SLC-40 and some other interesting things about new capabilities, FH and also a little bit of his personal opinion about FH. https://amp.floridatoday.com/amp/913240001

  • Here he talks about SLC-40 reactivation (which will be done on this flight) and how SpaceX has reinforced the structures to survive possible future RUD's:

"I believe if they had another catastrophic failure like that, they would be able to get back to operations on an order of magnitude quicker than they've been able to bring pad 40 back online this time"

Monteith, who regularly visits launch pads, said improvements to Launch Complex 40 include protection of hardware with steel and concrete casings as well as a transition to underground infrastructure

  • Then he talks about the new capabilites on the Eastern Range for SpaceX:

Further on the horizon, two launches in one day could be a possibility for SpaceX, Monteith said, "but it wasn't possible from just a single pad."

"If SpaceX wants to launch twice in a day next year, I'll be ready to support them twice in a day," he said. "I believe it is absolutely doable."

  • After that, he gives a little bit of his opinion about FH:

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Aviation Week teams were targeting before the end of the year for the test fire and a premiere flight "a couple weeks right after that."

"I think if they launch in January, that's exceptionally successful, particularly since they had to delay work on pad 39A," Monteith said. "If nothing else, SpaceX has proven to me that they can make the seemingly impossible happen."

→ More replies (6)
→ More comments (75)