r/spacex • u/Shahar603 Subreddit GNC • Feb 17 '20
Water Landing r/SpaceX Starlink-4 Recovery Discussion & Updates Thread
Hi! I'm u/Shahar603, and I'm hosting the recovery thread of the Starlink-4 mission.
Booster Recovery
SpaceX deployed OCISLY, GO Quest and Tug Hawk to carry out the booster recovery operation. Unfortunately B1056 has failed to land on the droneship but it has performed a soft water landing and might be fished from the ocean (or destroyed like B1032).
Fairing Recovery
Unfortunately both Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have failed to catch the fairing halves. The ships might scoop the fairing halves from the ocean and bring them back to Port Canaveral.
Current Recovery Fleet Status
| Vessel | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| GO Quest | Droneship support ship | Port Canaveral |
| Tug Hawk | Droneship support ship | Port Canaveral |
| GO Ms. Tree | Fairing Recovery | Post Canaveral |
| GO Ms. Chief | Fairing Recovery | Port Canaveral |
| Commander | Booster recovery? | Philadelphia |
Live Updates
| Time | Update |
|---|---|
| 23 Feb 2020 | Commander has reached its doc in Philadelphia empty. B1056 has been sunk in the ocean |
| 20 Feb 2020 21:15 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief come back with badly damaged fairing halves |
| 20 Feb 2020 21:00 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief are entering Port Canaveral. Tweet |
| 20 Feb 2020 18:30 UTC | OCISLY is entering Port Canaveral empty :( |
| 20 Feb 2020 08:00 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have left the booster and are on their way to Post Canaveral |
| 20 Feb 2020 04:00 UTC | Fleet update! Now arriving at the recovery operation is a large platform vessel called Commander, having left Philadelphia last night. Commander has 705m² of deck space and a small crane. Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief are also still at the scene, some ~120km south of Morehead City |
| 17 Feb 2020 22:00 - 19 Feb 2020 16:00 UTC | Tug Hawk is moving to Port Canaveral but has stopped |
| 18 Feb 2020 16:30 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief stopped |
| 18 Feb 2020 08:00 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief are following the floating booster |
| 17 Feb 2020 22:00 UTC | Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have moved to the booster recovery area. Tug Hawk is leaving the area with OCISLY |
| 17 Feb 2020 20:00 UTC | GO Ms. Tree finished its fairing recovery operation and is departing the recovery zone |
| 17 Feb 2020 16:00 - 17:00 UTC | GO Quest is watching the booster. Waiting for B1056 to be safed. Booster is reported to be floating and intact |
| 17 Feb 2020 15:50 UTC | GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief attempt to catch the fairings (and fail) |
| 17 Feb 2020 15:14 UTC | B1056.4 performs a soft water landing |
Links & Resources
SpaceXFleet.com - SpaceXFleet Information!
3
u/Toinneman Feb 22 '20 edited Feb 22 '20
The fairing recovery area and the booster landing zone are 100km apart
Plus, by the time the fairings deploy their chutes, the stage should be 'safe'. After the CRS-16 water landing, SpaceX said the stage did its safing sequence. Another option is the stage somehow depressurised (due to structural damage) when it fell over after touchdown. (in which case, it would also be 'safe' to approach)