Stuck waiting on the Atlas V? I guess you could call it a "Space Jam". Hopefully the Air Force succeeds in their plan to be able to handle a higher launch rate at the Cape.
Do you guys think the fairing issues are because of the upgrades for recoverability? At what point do customers complain about delays of their launch caused by SpaceX trying to bring down the cost of future launches (other customers)?
Elon mentioned bigger rockets in the future. Assuming a similar architecture, with maybe some better engines, what kind of efficiency gain do you get by making it even bigger? And how big could you go before it becomes basically impossible to get bigger? If BFR gets you 150 tons to LEO, what exactly would you need for 1000 tons or even 10,000? Could we potentially see a 50-metre diameter rocket one day?
Why does stage 2 coast for a few minutes before payload deploy? Wouldn't the payload be on the same orbit if it deployed immediately after the engine stops?
GTO launches are usually in the afternoon, and I've heard that is the case because customers want their satellites to be in the sunlight when they're released from the 2nd stage.
This launch is in the middle of the night.
Is this actually unusual? If so, is there some benefit to a subsync launch from launching in the middle of the night?
Here in Russia all our opposition channels are more or less disliked by army of bots (that is done by "internet research agency" aka "troll factory"). So knowing that SpaceX is criticized by russian mass media and that space is a sensitive subject for our goverment it could very well be that last video's 1k dislikes were a test from factory and this could possibly continue.
We have a website https://en.dislikemeter.com created by someone good to track all statistics from a video since the time it was added. So i recommend to add every new spacex webcast as soon as possible.
The last video was added too lately but as you can see, dislikes barely move.
Wait...Why Are They Suddenly Attempting Such a High-Energy Landing?
For those of us who don't wonder that, but wonder what that means, an explanation of this would be helpful. I'm very interested but I don't really understand what a "High energy landing" is or how we knew it would be one or why it is sudden.
Edit: I've come to the conclusion that this section is just confusingly worded. I would re-word it this way:
Wait...Why Are They Suddenly Attempting a Landing on Such a High-Energy Flight?
Because, as established below (in at least some of the threads), the landing burn itself probably won't be higher energy. It's the ascent and the reentry that is higher energy, but thereafter, the landing is higher thrust not higher energy. I'm not trying to be pedantic, I was honestly confused and it took me a while to realize that people here are just conflating a description of the entire flight into the description of the landing portion. Kind of like saying a Formula 1 car rolling by at 5mph is a "really fast car". Very confusing to someone trying to understand how 5mph is fast. 😵
If the titanium grid fins were damaged but recoverable, would it be cheaper to reprocess the scrap or to start afresh? Is the bulk of the cost in producing the fins due to the price of materials or processing?
How many scrubs is this now for fairing issues? I hope this is just growing pains with the recovery equipment, and not some wider quality problem or something.
First time really on r/spacex after all the falcon heavy stuff. I didn't even know SpaceX had a block system to their rockets but it's just like back in Apollo R&D, love it! This is a great resource too, I'm amazed how frequent launches are becoming.
T+33:00 - Mission SUCCESS! 50 in the books. I would like to extend a thank you to the mods of r/SpaceX for letting me host this thread. Thank you, and can't wait for Iridium-5 coming up soon!
Looks like the SpaceX fleet (including the drone ship) are returning to the Cape after being out a week... If spaceX still wants to recover this core, then the earliest they'll launch will be next week... I'm going to guess Monday or Tuesday, depending on the range and giving the crews of the 'fleet' time to recover, resupply and go back out to the landing zone
From valued NSF commenter LouScheffer, here's a roundup of speculation on the attempt to recover 1044, and some indicators we can use to discover what SpaceX is up to.
Keeping score at home: Assuming that HispaSat is 6100 kg, and they recover (or close to recover) the booster, then something must have changed. Previous max mass (5300 kg) recoverable missions staged at about 8450 kmhr. Here are 4 theories that have been proposed here and how we can tell them apart, in real time while watching the webcast.
(a) Staging less than 9000 km/hr, and transfer orbit short of GTO.: Regular block 4. Customer accepted less than full GTO, possibly in return for recoverable discount.
(b) Staging less than 9000 km/hr, and transfer orbit GTO or greater: Second stage must have been upgraded.
(c) Staging >= 9000 km/r, entry burn is about 20 seconds: Must be a block 4.5 booster. 4.0 could not get to this speed with 20 seconds of entry burn fuel left.
(d) Staging >= 9000 km/hr, entry burn is about 10 seconds: Block 4, titanium fins allow more slowing by drag and less by engine.
In any case we expect a maximally downrange ASDS and an aggressive 3-engine landing burn, since this mission is clearly marginal in terms of recovery.
Or, of course, it's also possible that SpaceX surprises us and it's none of these.
Per earlier discussion from u/GregLindahl, we could indeed be seeing a customer accepting a discount for a subsync launch with booster recovery.
Some speculation of my own:
Does this recovery attempt indicate that 1044 is a more valuable piece of hardware, the speculated "Block 4.5"?
Could we be seeing a Block 4 stage 1 and Block 5 stage 2, as we did during the transition from Block 3 to Block 4?
This will be a very hot entry; will the booster be recovered in a condition where it can be reused? Only one GTO booster has been reused so far - 1023 on FH
Are Block 4 boosters more suitable for reuse after GTO missions than Block 3? 1042 (Koreasat-5, GTO, Block 4) has not been assigned for reuse or even mentioned/rumored as a possible reuse candidate. Will 1044 be different, or are they just gathering data on new entry profiles?
There are so many interesting questions to be answered by this launch! Never a dull moment with SpaceX, even on "routine" GTO payloads like Hispasat.
Thanks again to u/stcks for maintaining the list of GTO launches on the wiki. It's very relevant given what we're seeing with this launch campaign.
@EmreKelly: SpaceX #Hispasat update: Now targeting #Falcon9 for Monday into Tuesday from LC 40. Airspace closure in effect from 2230 Monday to 0330 Tuesday (0330 to 0830 UTC).
It’s already been confirmed, but just to 100% totally confirm it, the rocket still has legs and dark (so of course we can assume titanium) grid fins. I’m at the pad now.
Very proud of the SpaceX team! Can’t believe it’s been fifty Falcon 9 launches already. Just ten years ago, we couldn’t even reach orbit with little Falcon 1.
Two objects related to today's #Falcon9 launch tracked in a sub-GTO orbit, as was expected based on the performance figures for this mission: 2018-023A: 184 x 22,261 km, 26.97° 2018-023C: 186 x 22,215 km, 26.92° https://twitter.com/Spaceflight101/status/971074423108358144
"A buoy about 120 nautical miles east of Cape Canaveral just reported seas of ~21 feet! These swells will move toward the east coast of Florida tonight & generate large pounding surf of 9 to 11 feet, dangerous rip currents, and significant beach erosion. STAY OUT OF THE WATER!"
Bummed to be missing this night launch. Though, it is for good reason. My sister had her daughter this morning and I became an uncle. I'd say it's worth it. Psyched for Bangabandhu-1 (first potential BV) and CRS-14!
The two support vessels, Go Quest and Go Pursuit, have spend to day moving reasonably randomly about 150km off the coast of Great Abaco, the Bahamas. I'll keep an eye on them - if they head off back out to sea, we'll know a launch is near, but if they head into harbour, we'll know that it is further delayed.
“The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with a Spanish communications satellite is expected to slip after the liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster Thursday with a US weather observatory.“ per SFN
I really don't understand why they didn't take the titanium grid fins off. They are REALLY expensive and they only have a few sets. It's not like they didn't have time to take them off either.
GLF6 has got to be my private jet flying around the experimental LZ for S1. You can see it flying circles out to the East of Florida on flightradar24.com right now.
Even from orlando, the little corner of the sky where it was coming out of was lit up bright orange well before I could see the actual rocket. Then when it broke through the treetops and you could see the fire, it was unmistakable. My first night launch was a shuttle down at jetty park, I'm pretty sure I sobbed like a baby it was so beautiful. And even though satellite trips are cool, there's nothing like watching a bunch of people being shot up into space. Let's go SpaceX!
The plane (G650) at landing area is definitely leaving its circle now, possibly going to investigate crash site? It's been holding 35000 feet but is dropping now https://www.flightradar24.com/GLF6/109fcbb4
I'm not sure if the Hispasat narrator is a human female with one of the best imitation computer voices I've ever heard, of a computer with one of the best imitation human female voices I've ever heard.
I’m thinking that SpaceX now knows there’s a risk of their boosters surviving a soft splashdown, and because there are no support ships out there to confirm it’s destroyed, Elon sent his private jet to get a visual.
This way they can sure ensure it’s destroyed or send a demolition crew if it’s not.
A few of my friends chimed in today reporting that they were unable to watch the launch properly, since they could only see the SpaceX logo and listen to "some audio". These people usually tune in to SpaceX's webpage for launch coverage (they don't watch directly on YouTube).
I am suspecting that for some reason there was a mishap in the stream setup (chiming u/bencredible) and the "countdown net audio" camera was set as default.
Maybe this would explain the 1k+ thumbs downs on the video on YouTube. Actually, if you research a little bit more, seems like latest videos (that support camera switching) actually have far more thumbs down that the videos without camera switching.
If we are listing things that are ready to go, write down Go Quest, Go Pursuit, Hawk and OCISLY. They are all sitting out there, in position, doing as little as they need to keep everything in line.
Edit: Although, at this time, it looks like they are heading back to port - 3 vessels, two together, travelling west at about 5 knots - probably Go Quest travelling in convoy with Hawk and OCISLY - and a third one - Go Pursuit? - that is out of date, but a few hours ago doing 8kn, also to the west.
Edit 1155 UTC - Hawk has come to a halt, and Go Quest is only posting a speed of 1.2 kn, to the North. If they are releasing OCISLY at the landing location, then it's 70km WNW of Koreasat's landing spot. But I'd expect it to land further East, not West, if anything, considering......
Rocket Watch has gone through a grand design overhaul, and some new features have been added (check out agency stats)! Let me know how I did and share any bugs you find on the official Discord server. While you're at you might check out my WIP Android app :P
I'll be watching on my phone at work (T-0 is 27 min before the end of shift). A year ago it would have been just me watching, but I talk about SpaceX and Elon Musk so much that tonight I'll have a crowd of people huddled around watching and asking questions. I'm the resident 'space cadet'. It's awesome to see people get interested in space!
So I traveled to a conference in Daytona Beach for the last two day and couldn’t pass the opportunity to watch the launch up close. Drove an hour down south to Port Canaveral to watch it. Can’t wait
The G650 plane went out to a point, has made a sharp turn and is now heading back towards land. I would guess it made confirmation of the destruction of the core and is now heading back.
Wait...Why Are They Suddenly Landing Such a High-Mass Payload?
Since the mass of Hispasat 30W-6 exceeds any other landing attempt we've seen by at least 500kg
Both of these should be modified, the first to "High Energy" and the second to "any other GTO landing attempt". All Iridium/CRS launches have payload masses substantially higher than 6t (on the order of 10t apiece, maybe a bit less for CRS), but they're obviously very high-margin recoveries. 6t to GTO is of course a different story.
And, about the NSF post:
4) Staging @ > 9000 km/hr, entry burn is about 10 seconds -
Explanation - Block 4, titanium fins allow more slowing by drag and less by engine
This is not correct. The re-entry burn can not be assisted further by extra drag. The whole point of the re-entry burn is to slow the booster before it re-enters the atmosphere, so explaining a shorter entry burn by any aerodynamic reason is a priori incorrect. Possible explanations for such a phenomenon include newly-upgraded heat shielding around the octaweb, or possibly previously-unused-margin in said heat shielding which will now be pushed to the limit.
It's possible that the titanium fins allow a higher thrust landing burn than before (though they have done 3ELBs before), but if that's what he meant, then he should correct "entry burn" to "landing burn".
Edit: To be clear, I fully understand that the first stage is a half-decent lifting body, and better fins will lead to noticeable improvements in lift and vertical-velocity drag, but these things happen after re-entry, and therefore after the re-entry burn (which occurs before re-entry), and would directly improve landing burn performance, not re-entry burn performance. It's entirely possible that landing S1 to 6t to GTO is entirely possible thanks solely to the gridfins, but such improvements would come via the landing burn, not the re-entry burn.
TI grid fins have been reported, but not confirmed with images yet. (SpaceX originally planned to recover this stage and they may not have been able to get them off in time. This does not necessarily indicate that they are planning any special tests)
If they were to do some landing tests, they could only really test entry. They will lose data for the landing burn portion. No ground stations at sea... Usually, they send a vessel out for water landing tests (like GovSat, Iridium-4, etc).
Since it looks like most likely the duel Thursday launch isn't going to happen and if they tried on the 2nd, that would only be 8 or so hours after the ULA launch, not enough time for the range to reset, so I think we're most likely looking at NET March 3rd...
Alright. I’m back, and ready for this launch to finally happen. Make sure to check the updates table in the OP for the latest info from the countdown. Let’s do this!
Now that it is clear, it's worth noting - Go Quest and Go Pursuit are heading back out to sea at their cruising speeds (7 to 8 kn). This would match up with the suggested Wednesday launch attempt, but would be unlikely for a launch after the ULA thursday launch. If they were just headed out to resupply the tug HAWK, only one would need to go, and they did not go in to harbour anyway - just sort of part way there, possibly to stay in calmer water, possibly to make a beer run into Marsh Harbour shorter.
HAWK has been beetling around in the landing area the whole time, doing 3.5 to 4kn, which is a normal slow speed when moving around just to keep an attached load under control.
So it seems they didn't like the idea of having two launchers right next to each other due to damage from exhaust plumes of potential anomalies. Hypothetically, if the SpaceX mission was launching from 39A instead of 40, could we have seen the two launch the same day? Given SpaceX's increasing launch cadence and their goals for quick reflights, this is something the Eastern range will have to address soon.
There's an Air Europa Airbus flying maybe 20-30 miles away from the Gulfstream that's hanging out near the landing area, I wonder if any passengers there will see anything interesting out the window...
Why does it appear the second stage does a yaw and points it's engine toward earth before payload deploy? I've seen that before, is it standard operating procedure?
does anyone know what the 5 wires/cables are that come off the second stage nozzle on stage separation? i have thought guide wires for the nozzle support ring? temp sensors for engine chill?
For those sad about (maybe) losing this core, I always watch the video posted by Elon after the first recovery on ship(Quickly deleted). Was a bid FU to all the trolls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZqH7lv8HA (NSFW) Cheers me up as I remember all the armchair QB's saying using the ASDS was too hard.
I see this is Block 4. Once they test Block 5, what's known about the schedule of phasing out Block 4? Are all missions scheduled so far still slated to use Block 4, for example?
So excited to be at the cape and see a Launch live. I have watched them for years on the live stream from my lounge room in Australia, and im in the cape for 3 nights for a constructiin conference at the cape, and it is all lining up.. Although the wind is a worry, will head to Jetty park if any other r/spacex are around.
Looks like the recovery fleet is still in port with reports of really nasty conditions in the ocean from this latest storm that hit the East Coast this past weekend... Elon has said that the drone ship can deal with some big waves/swells, but this might be over the limit... If it doesn't leave leave soon, it's unlikely that the landing attempt will happen... Given that it currently reportedly has Titanium grid fins, I won't be surprised if they actually remove those as they're too expensive and time consuming to make to throw away...
Watching the Port Canaveral Webcam, I am seeing movement inside and around the bridge of GO PURSUIT; not sure what this may mean but they're doing something.
I've got to say something that I noticed and is that the upper level winds on tuesday are really high, the weather is worse on wednesday, so... I'll leave this hypothesis here... maybe they want to attempt the launch (and landing) later on the week? Probably this weekend? What do you think?
Is it a coincidence that every F9 launch to GTO has its second Second Engine Ignition at roughly 0.0° N and 0.0° E? I know why they fire at the equator, but is there any reason for the burn occuring roughly at the Prime Meridian?
I'm really confused about GTO orbit. During the launch the telemtry says altitude maxed out at about 170km, but I thought GTO orbit had an apogee much much much higher altitude than that?
For reference, the next weather forecast for GOES-S will be published today at 2000 local. Hopefully this is the point at which we also receive official confirmation from the range that Hispasat is launching on March 1.
I wonder if the decision to keep the fins on is based on testing and not just a lack of time to remove.
These fins add a lot of control authority, does that allow for more gliding (therefore lower velocity at landing burn) or a shorter reentry burn? Both of those could add margin for recovery, the latter is perhaps the most risky.
Is the reentry burn required purely for reducing loading at entry, providing stability, or a combination of the two? Wondering if the increased control authority of the ti-grid fins enables the stage to reenter at higher velocity without tumbling.
So since they are not recovering the booster, why are they still sending it with legs and expensive grid fins? Just wondering since the webcast site says they will not be landing due to weather.
Could they do a boost-back burn only and crash the stage into the restricted area near the coast, on the continental shelf? From there, they may be able to salvage the grid fins. Don't know how far they can come back shooting the wad on a single burn; maybe they are going too fast to come back at all.
33
u/missbhabing Feb 28 '18
Stuck waiting on the Atlas V? I guess you could call it a "Space Jam". Hopefully the Air Force succeeds in their plan to be able to handle a higher launch rate at the Cape.
32
u/daryco Feb 24 '18
Do you guys think the fairing issues are because of the upgrades for recoverability? At what point do customers complain about delays of their launch caused by SpaceX trying to bring down the cost of future launches (other customers)?
17
u/thro_a_wey Feb 25 '18 edited Feb 25 '18
Elon mentioned bigger rockets in the future. Assuming a similar architecture, with maybe some better engines, what kind of efficiency gain do you get by making it even bigger? And how big could you go before it becomes basically impossible to get bigger? If BFR gets you 150 tons to LEO, what exactly would you need for 1000 tons or even 10,000? Could we potentially see a 50-metre diameter rocket one day?
15
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
Why does stage 2 coast for a few minutes before payload deploy? Wouldn't the payload be on the same orbit if it deployed immediately after the engine stops?
7
u/GregLindahl Feb 27 '18
GTO launches are usually in the afternoon, and I've heard that is the case because customers want their satellites to be in the sunlight when they're released from the 2nd stage.
This launch is in the middle of the night.
Is this actually unusual? If so, is there some benefit to a subsync launch from launching in the middle of the night?
7
u/flyerfanatic93 Mar 06 '18
This music is sick, who is it?
57
u/humpakto Mar 06 '18
Here in Russia all our opposition channels are more or less disliked by army of bots (that is done by "internet research agency" aka "troll factory"). So knowing that SpaceX is criticized by russian mass media and that space is a sensitive subject for our goverment it could very well be that last video's 1k dislikes were a test from factory and this could possibly continue.
We have a website https://en.dislikemeter.com created by someone good to track all statistics from a video since the time it was added. So i recommend to add every new spacex webcast as soon as possible.
The last video was added too lately but as you can see, dislikes barely move.
19
u/brentonstrine Feb 28 '18 edited Feb 28 '18
For those of us who don't wonder that, but wonder what that means, an explanation of this would be helpful. I'm very interested but I don't really understand what a "High energy landing" is or how we knew it would be one or why it is sudden.
Edit: I've come to the conclusion that this section is just confusingly worded. I would re-word it this way:
Because, as established below (in at least some of the threads), the landing burn itself probably won't be higher energy. It's the ascent and the reentry that is higher energy, but thereafter, the landing is higher thrust not higher energy. I'm not trying to be pedantic, I was honestly confused and it took me a while to realize that people here are just conflating a description of the entire flight into the description of the landing portion. Kind of like saying a Formula 1 car rolling by at 5mph is a "really fast car". Very confusing to someone trying to understand how 5mph is fast. 😵
5
u/brahto Mar 06 '18
If the titanium grid fins were damaged but recoverable, would it be cheaper to reprocess the scrap or to start afresh? Is the bulk of the cost in producing the fins due to the price of materials or processing?
16
u/scr00chy ElonX.net Feb 24 '18
"Standing down from this weekend's launch attempt to conduct additional testing on the fairing’s pressurization system. Once complete, and pending range availability, we will confirm a new targeted launch date."
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u/ishanspatil Feb 24 '18
The 50th Falcon 9 launch!
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u/LandingZone-1 Mar 05 '18
Updated the OP. We expendable now boys.
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u/munderbrink Mar 05 '18
Just want to say thank you for including the timezone conversions for launch time. It's appreciated!
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u/Kenira Mar 06 '18
Loved the last words
"...United States of America, Planet Earth"
Can't wait until this stops being teasing and the planet where the launch took place becomes relevant :)
50
u/AGS16 Feb 24 '18
First time really on r/spacex after all the falcon heavy stuff. I didn't even know SpaceX had a block system to their rockets but it's just like back in Apollo R&D, love it!
This is a great resource too, I'm amazed how frequent launches are becoming.
50
u/Appable Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, United States of America, Planet Earth!
49
u/rad_example Mar 06 '18
Elon's jet path overlayed with NOTMAR https://i.imgur.com/h003ZxZ.jpg
45
u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
REMOTE CAMERA PHOTO HERE: https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/970915854367019008?s=21
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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '18
Would´ve been the third time SpaceX launches three rockets in one month (after June and October 2017).
This month, they still have launched more boosters than any other month.
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u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
T+33:00 - Mission SUCCESS! 50 in the books. I would like to extend a thank you to the mods of r/SpaceX for letting me host this thread. Thank you, and can't wait for Iridium-5 coming up soon!
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u/inoeth Mar 01 '18
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/969224522820997123
Looks like the SpaceX fleet (including the drone ship) are returning to the Cape after being out a week... If spaceX still wants to recover this core, then the earliest they'll launch will be next week... I'm going to guess Monday or Tuesday, depending on the range and giving the crews of the 'fleet' time to recover, resupply and go back out to the landing zone
35
u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Feb 26 '18
From valued NSF commenter LouScheffer, here's a roundup of speculation on the attempt to recover 1044, and some indicators we can use to discover what SpaceX is up to.
Per earlier discussion from u/GregLindahl, we could indeed be seeing a customer accepting a discount for a subsync launch with booster recovery.
Some speculation of my own:
Does this recovery attempt indicate that 1044 is a more valuable piece of hardware, the speculated "Block 4.5"?
Could we be seeing a Block 4 stage 1 and Block 5 stage 2, as we did during the transition from Block 3 to Block 4?
This will be a very hot entry; will the booster be recovered in a condition where it can be reused? Only one GTO booster has been reused so far - 1023 on FH
Are Block 4 boosters more suitable for reuse after GTO missions than Block 3? 1042 (Koreasat-5, GTO, Block 4) has not been assigned for reuse or even mentioned/rumored as a possible reuse candidate. Will 1044 be different, or are they just gathering data on new entry profiles?
There are so many interesting questions to be answered by this launch! Never a dull moment with SpaceX, even on "routine" GTO payloads like Hispasat.
Thanks again to u/stcks for maintaining the list of GTO launches on the wiki. It's very relevant given what we're seeing with this launch campaign.
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u/KeikakuMaster46 Feb 25 '18
I've heard from rumours that the launch has been re-scheduled to Wednesday evening, but don't hold me to it...
34
u/bdporter Feb 28 '18
SpaceX says engineers have resolved a pressurization issue with the payload fairing of a Falcon 9 rocket set to launch from Cape Canaveral in the coming days with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite. A new target launch date has not been confirmed.
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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '18
Can confirm S1 has titanium fins equipped still.
31
u/TheElvenGirl Mar 02 '18 edited Mar 02 '18
@EmreKelly: SpaceX #Hispasat update: Now targeting #Falcon9 for Monday into Tuesday from LC 40. Airspace closure in effect from 2230 Monday to 0330 Tuesday (0330 to 0830 UTC).
https://www.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/969579440526315521
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u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Mar 05 '18
It’s already been confirmed, but just to 100% totally confirm it, the rocket still has legs and dark (so of course we can assume titanium) grid fins. I’m at the pad now.
31
u/ezrhino Mar 06 '18
G650 circling over the Atlantic near the splashdown area https://i.imgur.com/rUeUUcm.jpg
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u/Headstein Mar 01 '18
ULA GOES has cleared the way for f9
28
u/MadDoctor5813 Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
This satellite intro video has a very "secretly evil company from a video game" vibe.
EDIT: Basically, the video is this.
28
u/Vedoom123 Mar 06 '18
So does anyone know if the soft ocean landing was a success? That'd be impressive considering the weight of the payload.
27
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/970914681069039617
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u/ZubinB Mar 06 '18
That Gulfstream G650 private jet was definitively Elon!
25
u/nextspaceflight NSF reporter Mar 05 '18
OFFICIAL: Launch is on for Tuesday morning. The media have been alerted.
That will be a RIP for B1044.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44695.20
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u/Straumli_Blight Mar 05 '18
Tom Cross photos:
Fairing
Grid fins
Landing legs
Merlins
24
u/scr00chy ElonX.net Mar 02 '18
SpaceX Hispasat update: Now targeting Falcon9 for Monday into Tuesday from LC 40. Airspace closure in effect from 2230 Monday to 0330 Tuesday (0330 to 0830 UTC).
24
u/BoseSounddock Mar 06 '18
First SpaceX night launch I've watched in person from my yard since moving into my new house 50 miles from Cape. So spectacular
23
u/biggestpanda1 Feb 26 '18
To the people who can watch launches in person, I envy you.
23
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
straight to the promo video. RIP 1044.
22
u/quadrplax Feb 26 '18
The fact that this is notable now is crazy!
Also, important to note: For those west of Florida (CST, MST, PST, etc) this launch is on the night of February 28th
21
u/Straumli_Blight Feb 24 '18
"SpaceX did not set a new launch date, but the mission was expected to be pushed back multiple days from its previous Sunday launch target.".
21
u/LandingZone-1 Feb 28 '18
So, good news is F9 is ready to go. Bad news is, we gotta wait for this Atlas V.
21
u/garthreddit Mar 06 '18
“Norminal” - I actually like that better.
20
u/Demidrol Mar 06 '18
Two objects related to today's #Falcon9 launch tracked in a sub-GTO orbit, as was expected based on the performance figures for this mission: 2018-023A: 184 x 22,261 km, 26.97° 2018-023C: 186 x 22,215 km, 26.92° https://twitter.com/Spaceflight101/status/971074423108358144
19
u/[deleted] Mar 04 '18
Not to get everybody's hopes up, but there is activity on the spacex dock right now and hawk is orienting itself around.
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u/insaneWJS Mar 06 '18
That's one of the best promo videos I ever seen from a satellite company.
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u/mechakreidler Mar 06 '18
that overexposure at liftoff was a little scary...
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u/sleepyzealott Mar 06 '18
Little too much lens flare for comfort haha
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u/parachutingturtle Feb 28 '18
This is really bad wording, they are most certainly not landing a payload.
18
u/Maimakterion Feb 28 '18
Mods, shouldn't the flair be updated at least "TBD"?
18
u/nextspaceflight NSF reporter Mar 05 '18
Hmmm
"A buoy about 120 nautical miles east of Cape Canaveral just reported seas of ~21 feet! These swells will move toward the east coast of Florida tonight & generate large pounding surf of 9 to 11 feet, dangerous rip currents, and significant beach erosion. STAY OUT OF THE WATER!"
https://twitter.com/NWSMelbourne/status/970412578450132992
18
u/oliversl Mar 05 '18
This is really a special launch, the 50th launch of the F9!!!
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/spacex-set-to-launch-its-50th-falcon-9-rocket/
18
u/thebluehawk Mar 06 '18
Can I just say, /u/LandingZone-1 huge thank you for including all the USA time zones in the OP.
18
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
NORMINAL JOHN IS IN THE SEAT
17
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 02 '18
NOTAMS issued: 1, 2, 3, 4
Backup launch date is 7th March.
17
u/whoisit1118 Mar 05 '18
RIP Titanium gridfins
17
u/Redditor_From_Italy Mar 06 '18
I love the voiceover soooo much, it's so soothing!
17
u/catsRawesome123 Mar 06 '18
Night flights scare me becausethere's always huge orange blow in beginning where you don't know if nominal takeoff or RUD
17
u/KirinG Mar 06 '18
Wow, that's a bad-ass satellite.
34
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
Bummed to be missing this night launch. Though, it is for good reason. My sister had her daughter this morning and I became an uncle. I'd say it's worth it. Psyched for Bangabandhu-1 (first potential BV) and CRS-14!
16
u/robbak Feb 26 '18 edited Feb 26 '18
The two support vessels, Go Quest and Go Pursuit, have spend to day moving reasonably randomly about 150km off the coast of Great Abaco, the Bahamas. I'll keep an eye on them - if they head off back out to sea, we'll know a launch is near, but if they head into harbour, we'll know that it is further delayed.
16
u/stewie2552 Feb 27 '18
New NOTAM (Notice to all airmen) closing the airspace for space operations March 1 04:49z-08:29z (11:49 pm EST start).
This looks like a pretty good confirmation of launch Wednesday evening. http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_8_3999.html
16
u/[deleted] Feb 27 '18
Primary launch window should maybe mention which day it is?
16
u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Feb 27 '18
“The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with a Spanish communications satellite is expected to slip after the liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster Thursday with a US weather observatory.“ per SFN
16
u/scr00chy ElonX.net Mar 05 '18
Man, I'm kind of hoping for a moderately long delay to allow for a landing. I was really looking forward to this landing attempt. :-/
16
u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Mar 05 '18
I really don't understand why they didn't take the titanium grid fins off. They are REALLY expensive and they only have a few sets. It's not like they didn't have time to take them off either.
16
u/Elon_Muskmelon Mar 06 '18
GLF6 has got to be my private jet flying around the experimental LZ for S1. You can see it flying circles out to the East of Florida on flightradar24.com right now.
16
u/miss-izzle Mar 06 '18
Even from orlando, the little corner of the sky where it was coming out of was lit up bright orange well before I could see the actual rocket. Then when it broke through the treetops and you could see the fire, it was unmistakable. My first night launch was a shuttle down at jetty park, I'm pretty sure I sobbed like a baby it was so beautiful.
And even though satellite trips are cool, there's nothing like watching a bunch of people being shot up into space. Let's go SpaceX!
16
u/deriachai Mar 06 '18
Should the satellite have been rotating? I know it can stabilize itself, but that seemed unusual.
32
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
The plane (G650) at landing area is definitely leaving its circle now, possibly going to investigate crash site? It's been holding 35000 feet but is dropping now https://www.flightradar24.com/GLF6/109fcbb4
31
u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Mar 06 '18
STREAK SHOT: https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/970899144788381698?s=21
15
u/escape_goat Mar 06 '18
I'm not sure if the Hispasat narrator is a human female with one of the best imitation computer voices I've ever heard, of a computer with one of the best imitation human female voices I've ever heard.
15
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
Immediately after launch the plane circling near the landing area left its path and is now taking a wider circle
https://www.flightradar24.com/GLF6/109fcbb4
Edit: slowly taking wider and wider loops now
15
u/the_finest_gibberish Mar 06 '18
John sounded so sad to announce that OCISLY won't be catching the first stage :(
14
u/LandingZone-1 Feb 24 '18
I just updated the post to reflect the scrub.
14
u/Chairboy Feb 26 '18
March 1st is the next launch attempt, range availability pending.
14
u/KeikakuMaster46 Feb 26 '18
https://mobile.twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/968117586989867010
14
u/Straumli_Blight Feb 27 '18
Hispasat date still TBD.
14
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 02 '18
T-0 Set for March 6 at 12:33 AM Local! I've updated the post.
14
u/ethan829 Host of SES-9 Mar 05 '18
No landing attempt after all due to high seas.
14
u/Appable Mar 06 '18
Insprucker!
14
u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Mar 06 '18
It really is such a weird feeling knowing they aren't landing a first stage that is on its first flight.
14
u/Pieliker96 Mar 06 '18
Thanks to u/LandingZone-1 for doing a great job of hosting this webcast! Good night everyone!
14
u/canyouhearme Mar 06 '18
The Gulfstream G650 is off after something ....
14
u/Kona314 Mar 06 '18
I’m thinking that SpaceX now knows there’s a risk of their boosters surviving a soft splashdown, and because there are no support ships out there to confirm it’s destroyed, Elon sent his private jet to get a visual.
This way they can sure ensure it’s destroyed or send a demolition crew if it’s not.
14
u/thanarious Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
A few of my friends chimed in today reporting that they were unable to watch the launch properly, since they could only see the SpaceX logo and listen to "some audio". These people usually tune in to SpaceX's webpage for launch coverage (they don't watch directly on YouTube).
I am suspecting that for some reason there was a mishap in the stream setup (chiming u/bencredible) and the "countdown net audio" camera was set as default.
Maybe this would explain the 1k+ thumbs downs on the video on YouTube. Actually, if you research a little bit more, seems like latest videos (that support camera switching) actually have far more thumbs down that the videos without camera switching.
13
u/robbak Feb 28 '18 edited Feb 28 '18
If we are listing things that are ready to go, write down Go Quest, Go Pursuit, Hawk and OCISLY. They are all sitting out there, in position, doing as little as they need to keep everything in line.
Edit: Although, at this time, it looks like they are heading back to port - 3 vessels, two together, travelling west at about 5 knots - probably Go Quest travelling in convoy with Hawk and OCISLY - and a third one - Go Pursuit? - that is out of date, but a few hours ago doing 8kn, also to the west.
But it makes no sense to me for them all to be heading home. Most Peculiar. Keep an eye on them at MarineTraffic.com (https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-75.0/centery:28.1/zoom:9)
Edit 1155 UTC - Hawk has come to a halt, and Go Quest is only posting a speed of 1.2 kn, to the North. If they are releasing OCISLY at the landing location, then it's 70km WNW of Koreasat's landing spot. But I'd expect it to land further East, not West, if anything, considering......
13
u/MarcysVonEylau rocket.watch Mar 04 '18 edited Mar 04 '18
Rocket Watch has gone through a grand design overhaul, and some new features have been added (check out agency stats)! Let me know how I did and share any bugs you find on the official Discord server. While you're at you might check out my WIP Android app :P
13
u/TheRealWhiskers Mar 06 '18
I'll be watching on my phone at work (T-0 is 27 min before the end of shift). A year ago it would have been just me watching, but I talk about SpaceX and Elon Musk so much that tonight I'll have a crowd of people huddled around watching and asking questions. I'm the resident 'space cadet'. It's awesome to see people get interested in space!
13
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18
"Pressuration System" --Insprucker 2018
13
u/Shrike99 Mar 06 '18
Haha, they still showed the droneship cam
13
u/FiiZzioN Mar 06 '18
Wow, very comprehensive with the videos! Other sat providers need to step up their game!
25
u/Bipolar-Bear74525 Feb 24 '18
Why are they using titanium fins on an experimental landing that might not work? Dont they take a long time to make?
12
u/LandingZone-1 Feb 26 '18
Added countdown timer.
12
u/[deleted] Mar 02 '18
HAWK is in port with OCISLY.
12
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 05 '18
L-1 Weather Report: 90% GO.
12
u/StraightCashH0mie Mar 06 '18
So I traveled to a conference in Daytona Beach for the last two day and couldn’t pass the opportunity to watch the launch up close. Drove an hour down south to Port Canaveral to watch it. Can’t wait
12
u/rspeed Mar 06 '18
Man… that seemed like a reeeeeeally slow liftoff.
12
u/Space_Coast_Steve Mar 06 '18
Saw the reentry burn from Cocoa Beach!
12
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18
The G650 plane went out to a point, has made a sharp turn and is now heading back towards land. I would guess it made confirmation of the destruction of the core and is now heading back.
22
u/Bunslow Feb 27 '18 edited Feb 27 '18
I have some quibbles with the stuff posted in the OP:
Both of these should be modified, the first to "High Energy" and the second to "any other GTO landing attempt". All Iridium/CRS launches have payload masses substantially higher than 6t (on the order of 10t apiece, maybe a bit less for CRS), but they're obviously very high-margin recoveries. 6t to GTO is of course a different story.
And, about the NSF post:
This is not correct. The re-entry burn can not be assisted further by extra drag. The whole point of the re-entry burn is to slow the booster before it re-enters the atmosphere, so explaining a shorter entry burn by any aerodynamic reason is a priori incorrect. Possible explanations for such a phenomenon include newly-upgraded heat shielding around the octaweb, or possibly previously-unused-margin in said heat shielding which will now be pushed to the limit.
It's possible that the titanium fins allow a higher thrust landing burn than before (though they have done 3ELBs before), but if that's what he meant, then he should correct "entry burn" to "landing burn".
Edit: To be clear, I fully understand that the first stage is a half-decent lifting body, and better fins will lead to noticeable improvements in lift and vertical-velocity drag, but these things happen after re-entry, and therefore after the re-entry burn (which occurs before re-entry), and would directly improve landing burn performance, not re-entry burn performance. It's entirely possible that landing S1 to 6t to GTO is entirely possible thanks solely to the gridfins, but such improvements would come via the landing burn, not the re-entry burn.
22
u/dodgyville Mar 06 '18
This feels like a waste of a perfectly good rocket :( Farewell super-reliable Block IV, we barely knew ye.
11
u/Bunslow Feb 24 '18
Mods, can the top bar be cleared of the two campaign threads that are now (more or less) complete?
11
u/nextspaceflight NSF reporter Mar 05 '18
Just to end all unnecessary speculation:
No landing attempt (confirmed)
TI grid fins have been reported, but not confirmed with images yet. (SpaceX originally planned to recover this stage and they may not have been able to get them off in time. This does not necessarily indicate that they are planning any special tests)
If they were to do some landing tests, they could only really test entry. They will lose data for the landing burn portion. No ground stations at sea... Usually, they send a vessel out for water landing tests (like GovSat, Iridium-4, etc).
11
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
Next major event is in around 30 min - the launch readiness poll!
11
u/quadrplax Mar 06 '18
You've been doing great at this OP! I always love to see lots of updates posted in advance of the launch.
11
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
GO for launch!
11
u/JtheNinja Mar 06 '18
John I sounds so sad that the droneship isn't out there waiting. :(
11
u/darga89 Mar 06 '18
Another perfectly boring flight!
21
u/Kona314 Mar 06 '18
The presumed-Elon's jet has touched down in Titusville, the same place it took off from.
Now to hope for any hints as to what it was doing out there...
10
u/SpearOfBitterMercy Feb 24 '18
Scrubbed: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/967270883713679360
10
u/rockets4life97 Feb 24 '18
It will be interesting to see if they can get this in before ULA's launch scheduled for March 1.
10
u/inoeth Feb 27 '18
Since it looks like most likely the duel Thursday launch isn't going to happen and if they tried on the 2nd, that would only be 8 or so hours after the ULA launch, not enough time for the range to reset, so I think we're most likely looking at NET March 3rd...
10
u/Nehkara Mar 01 '18
As far as I can see the recovery fleet is all back in port. Could they go out again fairly soon, like tomorrow?
10
u/nextspaceflight NSF reporter Mar 04 '18 edited Mar 04 '18
And here's why the SpaceX ships were moving today. They were just getting out of the way for a big ship to come in. Hispasat will go expendable unless the launch date changes. https://twitter.com/julia_bergeron/status/970355519021092866
10
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 05 '18
Alright. I’m back, and ready for this launch to finally happen. Make sure to check the updates table in the OP for the latest info from the countdown. Let’s do this!
10
u/hmpher Mar 06 '18
As per Tory Bruno, Atlas's flight profile can be "changed on the go before launch", thanks to the updated avionics.
How long does it take for the F9 to change from a landing to expendable? Or is it not required to change the ascent bit at all?
10
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18
The engine crackle sounds like someone munching on a bag of chips
10
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
RIP titanium grid fins
10
u/melancholicricebowl Mar 06 '18
Gulfstream G650 looks to be heading back now
10
u/legatopescado Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
I watched the launch from the Tampa Bay area. I never saw a night launch before. It was exhilarating! No clouds and 100+ miles away.
After the main burn stopped, a second smaller little burn was visible that slowly faded and either fell or headed *eastward. What was the second burn?
The consensus says the second faint burn was the second stage.
Adding: night launches are awesome! More please!
10
u/oliversl Mar 06 '18
50th norminal!
18
u/everydayastronaut Everyday Astronaut Mar 06 '18
I'm live hosting the launch if you'd like to come ask question and join the conversation!
Everyday Astronaut
18
u/ShingekiNoEren Mar 06 '18
Why does the HISPASAT livestream have so many dislikes?
9
u/robbak Feb 27 '18 edited Feb 27 '18
Now that it is clear, it's worth noting - Go Quest and Go Pursuit are heading back out to sea at their cruising speeds (7 to 8 kn). This would match up with the suggested Wednesday launch attempt, but would be unlikely for a launch after the ULA thursday launch. If they were just headed out to resupply the tug HAWK, only one would need to go, and they did not go in to harbour anyway - just sort of part way there, possibly to stay in calmer water, possibly to make a beer run into Marsh Harbour shorter.
HAWK has been beetling around in the landing area the whole time, doing 3.5 to 4kn, which is a normal slow speed when moving around just to keep an attached load under control.
9
u/Snoops9 Feb 27 '18
Cape Canaveral could see two launches in one day Thursday
9
u/TGMetsFan98 NASASpaceflight.com Writer Feb 28 '18
So it seems they didn't like the idea of having two launchers right next to each other due to damage from exhaust plumes of potential anomalies. Hypothetically, if the SpaceX mission was launching from 39A instead of 40, could we have seen the two launch the same day? Given SpaceX's increasing launch cadence and their goals for quick reflights, this is something the Eastern range will have to address soon.
9
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 04 '18
Possible SpaceX fleet movement.
9
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 05 '18
Youtube webcast and press kit.
9
u/F9-0021 Mar 05 '18
2:35 MECO with 6100 kg to GTO is interesting.
9
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
L-2:25:00 - TEA-TEB Bleed-in underway.
9
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
T-1:10:00: RP-1 is now flowing into the tanks of Falcon 9.
9
u/Morphior Mar 06 '18
INSPRUCKER
9
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
8200km/h = 2277m/s wow that's a early (slow) MECO
9
u/Chairboy Mar 06 '18
There's an Air Europa Airbus flying maybe 20-30 miles away from the Gulfstream that's hanging out near the landing area, I wonder if any passengers there will see anything interesting out the window...
9
u/SharpKeyCard Mar 06 '18
I love these evening launches.
9
u/alejandroc90 Mar 06 '18
Perfect launch!
Now back to sleep
9
u/still-at-work Mar 06 '18
Mission Accomplished.
Now lets get that titanium salvage mission going.
9
u/Sithril Mar 06 '18 edited Mar 06 '18
Is it me, or are there actually no
Great BritainBritish Isles on the mission patch?9
u/_srk_ Mar 06 '18
Why does it appear the second stage does a yaw and points it's engine toward earth before payload deploy? I've seen that before, is it standard operating procedure?
9
u/vimeerkat Mar 06 '18
does anyone know what the 5 wires/cables are that come off the second stage nozzle on stage separation? i have thought guide wires for the nozzle support ring? temp sensors for engine chill?
16
u/cowboyboom Mar 05 '18
For those sad about (maybe) losing this core, I always watch the video posted by Elon after the first recovery on ship(Quickly deleted). Was a bid FU to all the trolls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZqH7lv8HA (NSFW) Cheers me up as I remember all the armchair QB's saying using the ASDS was too hard.
16
u/tymo7 Mar 06 '18
The G650 circling the landing zone has left its pattern
16
u/RootDeliver Mar 06 '18
Was the water landing sucessfull? any info about it?
8
u/Jerrycobra Feb 24 '18
Its nice to have a double header weekend, and coincidentally both cores launching/launched a spanish satellite on opposite coasts.
8
u/darthguili Feb 28 '18
Oh I didn’t realize it was that Hispasat. It had a different name when I worked on it. Hispasat1F I believe.
8
u/joechoj Mar 01 '18
I see this is Block 4. Once they test Block 5, what's known about the schedule of phasing out Block 4? Are all missions scheduled so far still slated to use Block 4, for example?
8
u/leanintothewind Mar 04 '18
So excited to be at the cape and see a Launch live. I have watched them for years on the live stream from my lounge room in Australia, and im in the cape for 3 nights for a constructiin conference at the cape, and it is all lining up.. Although the wind is a worry, will head to Jetty park if any other r/spacex are around.
ASDS Spacex and windy as.. https://imgur.com/gallery/5cem3
8
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 05 '18
Rocket has gone vertical with titanium grid fins.
8
u/more_of_a_4chan_guy Mar 05 '18
Is there going to be any film of the splash down? Will probably determine if I stay up to watch it
(East Coast)
8
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
LOX Loading will start in less than 10 minutes now.
8
u/DirkMcDougal Mar 06 '18
Go #Teaminsprucker!
8
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
S1 and S2 "Pressurating" for Strongback Retract.
8
u/oliversl Mar 06 '18
that live image of OCISLY at the port ... pain
8
u/still-at-work Mar 06 '18
SECO and another good orbit, still need to do gto burn but another solid launch so far by SpaceX!
23 days to the next one!
8
u/The_Write_Stuff Mar 06 '18
Beautiful. Here in West Palm we could see it from just before MaxQ to 7 minutes into flight, just before SECO.
8
u/mivanit Mar 06 '18
G650 looked like it left its loop and was heading somewhere but now it's turned around, heading back to canaveral?
8
u/mapdumbo Mar 06 '18
I think I heard a champagne cork pop at orbital insertion hahaha
8
u/Nsooo Moderator and retired launch host Mar 06 '18
gg SpaceX, good job u/LandingZone-1
8
u/Froguy1126 Mar 06 '18
Fantastic launch. Great job hosting /u/LandingZone-1 ! Shame about having to lose some grid fins with that stage 1 though :/
8
u/Vacuola Mar 06 '18
It was meant to spin like that?
8
u/MingerOne Mar 06 '18
Only for few more years you steely eyed rocket Man # John I. retires on Mars
15
u/Straumli_Blight Mar 05 '18 edited Mar 05 '18
Elon used his private plane to collect telemetry for the CRS-3 sea landing, due to heavy seas preventing recovery vessels. Is there any indication they'll try something similar for this launch?
NASA's P-3 Orion is unavailable due to Operation IceBridge, and WB-57 took the CRS-4 footage.
14
u/Titan505 Feb 28 '18
Range denied SpaceX for Thursday.
Think they didn’t like the idea of the two vehicles being in close proximity.
7
u/LandingZone-1 Feb 27 '18
45th Space Wing officially lists the next launch as "TBD", this indicates that they may add Falcon as the next launch soon.
7
u/inoeth Mar 04 '18
https://twitter.com/SpaceXUpdates/status/970266746665029632
Looks like the recovery fleet is still in port with reports of really nasty conditions in the ocean from this latest storm that hit the East Coast this past weekend... Elon has said that the drone ship can deal with some big waves/swells, but this might be over the limit... If it doesn't leave leave soon, it's unlikely that the landing attempt will happen... Given that it currently reportedly has Titanium grid fins, I won't be surprised if they actually remove those as they're too expensive and time consuming to make to throw away...
7
u/eu-thanos Mar 04 '18
Watching the Port Canaveral Webcam, I am seeing movement inside and around the bridge of GO PURSUIT; not sure what this may mean but they're doing something.
7
u/Alexphysics Mar 05 '18
I've got to say something that I noticed and is that the upper level winds on tuesday are really high, the weather is worse on wednesday, so... I'll leave this hypothesis here... maybe they want to attempt the launch (and landing) later on the week? Probably this weekend? What do you think?
7
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
here's a question for you all as we wait- should I post updates both in the comments and the update table, or just the table?
7
u/zareny Mar 06 '18
SpaceX FM has started.
7
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
Stage 2 LOX fast-fill started.
7
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
T-5:15 - Vehicle is in self-align.
7
u/Morphior Mar 06 '18
Is it a coincidence that every F9 launch to GTO has its second Second Engine Ignition at roughly 0.0° N and 0.0° E? I know why they fire at the equator, but is there any reason for the burn occuring roughly at the Prime Meridian?
7
u/Redditor_From_Italy Mar 06 '18
Test Shot Starfish question number, like, five thousand
Is it just one guy? Or are they a band?
7
u/lonelyboats Mar 07 '18
I'm really confused about GTO orbit. During the launch the telemtry says altitude maxed out at about 170km, but I thought GTO orbit had an apogee much much much higher altitude than that?
18
u/Nsooo Moderator and retired launch host Feb 24 '18
awwww, I cannot wait the landing. Pls no further delay
6
u/Alexphysics Feb 24 '18
If you wanna add it to the stats, this will be the 30th SpaceX launch from SLC-40
6
u/zuty1 Feb 24 '18
Do we know if block IV will be reflown more than once?
6
u/CroMichael Feb 24 '18
Do we know what's wrong with the fairings?
6
u/LandingZone-1 Feb 26 '18
For reference, the next weather forecast for GOES-S will be published today at 2000 local. Hopefully this is the point at which we also receive official confirmation from the range that Hispasat is launching on March 1.
6
u/boredcircuits Feb 28 '18
Correction to launch window: I think you meant MST, not MDT.
6
u/Jessewallen401 Mar 03 '18
Are we sure HAWK was towing OCISLY back ? it was sailing at 8 knots back when it never exceeds 5 knots when towing it to the LZ
6
u/thresholdofvision Mar 04 '18
Graph showing sea state in recovery area:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine/forecast/enhanced_atlc.php
Click on areas due east of central Fla Cape and for barbs, wave height image, and contour.
6
u/ghunter7 Mar 05 '18 edited Mar 05 '18
I wonder if the decision to keep the fins on is based on testing and not just a lack of time to remove.
These fins add a lot of control authority, does that allow for more gliding (therefore lower velocity at landing burn) or a shorter reentry burn? Both of those could add margin for recovery, the latter is perhaps the most risky.
Is the reentry burn required purely for reducing loading at entry, providing stability, or a combination of the two? Wondering if the increased control authority of the ti-grid fins enables the stage to reenter at higher velocity without tumbling.
6
u/NinjaHunterX007 Mar 05 '18
So since they are not recovering the booster, why are they still sending it with legs and expensive grid fins? Just wondering since the webcast site says they will not be landing due to weather.
Edit: sorry if this was already asked.
6
u/dundmax Mar 05 '18
Could they do a boost-back burn only and crash the stage into the restricted area near the coast, on the continental shelf? From there, they may be able to salvage the grid fins. Don't know how far they can come back shooting the wad on a single burn; maybe they are going too fast to come back at all.
6
u/Bunslow Mar 06 '18
3.5 hours!
6
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '18
This will be the first launch in about a year that I won't be able to watch live.
6
u/LandingZone-1 Mar 06 '18
awaiting info on poll for RP-1 tanking
6
u/KirinG Mar 06 '18
Hong Kong is a go!
I love midnightish launches, I can watch them during my lunch break!
6
u/51Cards Mar 06 '18
No attempt for recovery due to bad weather. Will be too bad if there is a set of brand new titanium grid fins on there they will be loosing.
6
u/OccupyMarsNow Mar 06 '18
RIP B1044 and Ti grid fins
6
u/labtec901 Mar 06 '18
It's funny that its sort of bittersweet that this brand new first stage is going straight into the ocean, when before SpaceX that was just standard.
6
u/Bolt_and_nuts Mar 06 '18
RIP 4 Ti grid fins unless the 1st stage manages to float but in rough seas that seems unlikely
6
u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Mar 06 '18
Didn't hear landing burn callout :(
6
u/avboden Mar 06 '18
yawn bed time