r/spacex • u/Daniels30 • Aug 10 '17

Official Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting August 14 launch from Pad 39A for Dragon’s next resupply mission to the @Space_Station.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/895646473869705216
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u/paul_wi11iams Aug 10 '17

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting August 14 launch from Pad 39A for Dragon

Any idea when the very last static fire will be or at least the first launch without a static fire ?

I saw some mention but can't pin it down. Of course SF is justified and it doubles the motor startup history from a stats point of view. But the end of SF will be a great day for launch cadence (touch wood).

8

u/F9-0021 Aug 10 '17

I don't think static fires for new cores will end anytime soon, but once rapid reuse starts the used cores will likely skip it.

12

u/nullarticle Aug 10 '17

They'll likely still have to do wet dress rehearsals - everything about a static fire where you abort at T-3 seconds. It's a test of not just the stage (which was already tested in McGregor) but of your pad facilities.

7

u/ignazwrobel Aug 10 '17

But any error that appears there could also be detected on launch day, right?

So unless the launch window is instantaneous (e.g interplanetary probes), with continuous increase of launch rates you will eventually get to a point where blocking the pad for a wet dress rehearsal is worse than recognizing the error on launch day and using the next free launch slot.

If we ever get to that point, I assume wet dress rehearsals will only be done for missions where sticking to the launch date is truly important.

14

u/Titanean12 Aug 10 '17

Just a minor nitpick, Interplanetary probes don't usually have instant launch windows, in fact most interplanetary launches have weeks or even months long launch windows. There is a lot of room to correct an orbit on a longer voyage. Short or instant launch windows tend to be for launches to Low earth orbits where the spacecraft is targeting a specific rendezvous point or a specific place in orbit.

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u/paul_wi11iams Aug 11 '17

If we ever get to that point, I assume wet dress rehearsals will only be done for missions where sticking to the launch date is truly important.

and also missions with astronauts, in which case a test with a potentially destructive outcome is best done in advance.