SpaceX Falcon 9 historic landing thread (1st landing attempt & most recent missions)

[georgegassaway]

Things are still on track for the CRS-7 launch Sunday morning at 10:21 AM, EDT.

The new ASDS barge, is now named "Of Course I Still Love You" (name from one of the space ships in an Iain M. Banks novel ). That was always supposed to be the name oft 2nd barge, but it was supposed to be for the West Coast. With the first ASDS "Just read The Instructions" (another ship name from Banks) being retired (was leased, returned to its owners, and SpaceX mods removed), this new 2nd ASDS barge is being used for the East Coast instead. While yet another ASDS barge recently went thru the Panama canal, for mods to be completed near Long Beach, hopefully in time to try to catch the Jason-3 flight from Vandenberg in August.

Anyway, newly released image of "OCISLY", in port and out at sea. Hopefully in less than 10.5 hours, it will have a Falcon-9 booster standing safely onboard.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Why does SpaceX always pick these inconvenient times? 7:21am on a Sunday morning? Really, SpaceX? Really? Orbital mechanics should take a back seat to civilized sleep patterns and work-life balance. How about some prime-time launches?

 

[ChrisAttebery]

What's the problem? I'll have been up for at least an hour by then.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

What's the problem? I'll have been up for at least an hour by then.

Can you give me a wake-up call at T-minus 3 minutes?

 

[ChrisAttebery]

Ok, you asked for it. ;^)

 

[georgegassaway]

Launch in 3 minutes.

Wind predicted 20 knots at landing site. Harder but still possible to land safe.

 

[BLKKROW]

Did someone wake Thirsty?

Uh oh, that isn't good.

 

[georgegassaway]

FAILED!

Shortly after Max-Q, sudden appearance of vapor, then some flame when there should not be, then parts falling. Slow to happen though, no instant explosion. So something screwy, then flames ad breakup.

Ugh...

 

[johnv2]

looks like it blowed up :{

they not talking

john

 

[timro]

FAILED!

Sudden appearance of vapor, then some flame when thereshold not be, then parts falling. Slow to happen though.

Ugh...

It looked like some anomalies in the burn in the minute or so before planned MECO, kept going like that for a bit. NASA tv saying "not clear from the data what happened".

 

[Mushtang]

This will obviously set back the schedule for any Crew Dragon launches, but I wonder how far?

 

[Winston]

It looked like some anomalies in the burn in the minute or so before planned MECO, kept going like that for a bit. NASA tv saying "not clear from the data what happened".

The plume from what looked like the forward part of the 1st stage looked like that seen during a staging event. I wonder if the second stage went through its ignition sequence prematurely or if that plume was caused by range destruct. Really sucks anyway. Just when they may have gotten the landing right.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Chris Attebery sent me a text at T minus 3, so I was able to see the launch and subsequent disaster. Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

It seems like the ISS is having trouble getting resupplied these days. At this rate, their supply of clean undies must be getting low --- time to start wearing the old ones backwards, and inside-out. Hopefully the food holds out and they don't have to resort to cannibalism.

 

[Zebedee]

Someone needs to file a MESS report...

 

[georgegassaway]

Failure begins at T+ 2:19

Seems like a major issue with the 2nd stage leaking massive amounts of fuel or structurally failing. First stage kept thrusting for quite awhile.

May be that the RSO blew the 1st stage after it was obvious there was a failure-of-mission problem (or if it was straying off course).

[video=youtube;PuNymhcTtSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNymhcTtSQ[/video]

 

[Winston]

Chris Attebery sent me a text at T minus 3, so I was able to see the launch and subsequent disaster. Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

It seems like the ISS is having trouble getting resupplied these days. At this rate, their supply of clean undies must be getting low --- time to start wearing the old ones backwards, and inside-out. Hopefully the food holds out and they don't have to resort to cannibalism.

Associated Press excerpts from prior to the failure:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida // SpaceX stands ready to launch a much-needed load of supplies to the International Space Station on the heels of a failed supply run by Russia.

Besides food and experiments, the Dragon cargo ship ordered up by NASA holds a new docking port, or parking place, for future commercial crew capsules.

This shipment is especially critical because the space station has lost two deliveries since the autumn.

A Russian supply ship spun out of control shortly after lift off in April and burned up on re-entry, losing its contents. In October, an Orbital Sciences Corp cargo carrier was destroyed in a Virginia launch explosion.

Nearly 2,400 kilograms of gear is packed for the trip, including replacements for science experiments lost in the Orbital launch accident, some of them designed by students.

Stored in the capsule’s unpressurised trunk is the first of two new docking rings for the station. Space walking astronauts will hook up the 526kg port built by Boeing later this summer.

The twin ports eventually will be used by astronauts arriving in new American-built capsules. NASA is paying billions of dollars to SpaceX and Boeing to develop the crew capsules. The SpaceX version is a souped-up Dragon. Boeing’s model is the CST-100, short for Crew Space Transportation; the 100 represents the beginning of space at 100 kilometres.

In both cases, manned flights are still at least two years off. Until then, Americans will continue to hitch rides to the space station on Russian rockets for tens of millions of dollars per seat.

The Russian Space Agency plans to take another stab at a station shipment from Kazakhstan next Friday. Russian space officials want to see how that goes before launching a new three-man crew to the station on July 22, two months late because of the April cargo ship mishap.

Three men currently are living at the space station, three fewer than usual because of the recent hold in Russian Soyuz launches.

 

[Winston]

[video=youtube;PuNymhcTtSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNymhcTtSQ[/video]

Wow, I'll never bother watching the NASA Public Ustream for SpaceX launches any more. That SpaceX stream via YouTube was vastly better in content. BTW, there's supposed to be a CRS-7 press conference on Ustream no earlier than 12:30 eastern:

https://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

 

[Zebedee]

Failure begins at T+ 2:19

Seems like a major issue with the 2nd stage leaking massive amounts of fuel or structurally failing. First stage kept thrusting for quite awhile.

Yeah - sure looks that way - here's the first frame I found that looks abnormal:

 

[RocketHunter]

[video=youtube;PuNymhcTtSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNymhcTtSQ[/video]

Anyone else notice the Dragon-shaped object falling back past the rocket @ 3:24 https://youtu.be/PuNymhcTtSQ?t=3m25s ?

 

[Leo]

Failure begins at T+ 2:19

Seems like a major issue with the 2nd stage leaking massive amounts of fuel or structurally failing. First stage kept thrusting for quite awhile.

Yes, it looks that way....

 

[georgegassaway]

Anyone else notice the Dragon-shaped object falling back past the rocket @ 3:24 https://youtu.be/PuNymhcTtSQ?t=3m25s ?

Yeah. On nasaspaceflight, it has been said that this uncrewed Dragon was not programmed to do a parachute recovery sequence during launch, so if true, it is apparently lost.

Wasn't set to do an abort since technically the abort system is still under R&D and it would greatly impact the launch schedule to have an abort-rated Dragon at this point, for all the CRS flights (especially given how overdue the Pad Abort test was, and the inflight abort test is way behind).

BTW- the last screenshot by Leo, apparently the flames are simply the leaking 2nd stage fuel burning due to the first stage flames igniting them. This seems to support the idea that the RSO destructed it later.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I did.

Did someone wake Thirsty?

Uh oh, that isn't good.

 

[Winston]

Failure begins at T+ 2:19

Seems like a major issue with the 2nd stage leaking massive amounts of fuel or structurally failing. First stage kept thrusting for quite awhile.

May be that the RSO blew the 1st stage after it was obvious there was a failure-of-mission problem (or if it was straying off course).

[video=youtube;PuNymhcTtSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNymhcTtSQ[/video]

Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk 10 minutes ago

There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Data suggests counterintuitive cause.

 

[Getmore]

This is bad for them. It will be harder now to get a manned flight approved.

 

[terryg]

So, if it had been a manned launch would a functioning Pad Abort system have saved them at that point in the flight?

 

[Winston]

So, if it had been a manned launch would a functioning Pad Abort system have saved them at that point in the flight?

Yes, that question was even asked in the press conference that is over but being rebroadcast right now:

https://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

 

[Mushtang]

This is SO annoying!!!

https://gizmodo.com/spacex-still-doesnt-know-why-its-falcon-9-rocket-blew-u-1714640353

An article like this reports, "This is the third such spacecraft that SpaceX has lost this year." It does go on to explain that the other two were issues with landing on the barge, it still makes it sound like SpaceX has three failed launch attempts this year.

Idiots!!

 

[boomtube-mk2]

When it comes to reducing the costs of putting payloads into space you can either increase the power/efficiency of the engines and or reduce the weight of the launch vehicle.

Are these recent launch failures a sign that we’ve reached the point of diminishing returns?

 

[NAR29996]

Three different launch systems have failed. I doubt there will be much, or any, commonality between them.

 

[Winston]

This is SO annoying!!!

https://gizmodo.com/spacex-still-doesnt-know-why-its-falcon-9-rocket-blew-u-1714640353

An article like this reports, "This is the third such spacecraft that SpaceX has lost this year." It does go on to explain that the other two were issues with landing on the barge, it still makes it sound like SpaceX has three failed launch attempts this year.

Idiots!!

Listen to this interview and you'll get even more miffed. The title alone should let you know what's coming. "Hey, let's ask a physicist because he's a 'scientist' so he might know about why the rocket blew up because we're just so totally clueless about those science things."

Physicist on latest Space X catastrophe

https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/physicist-on-latest-space-x-catastrophe/

On topics any more complicated than what celebrity did some stupid thing, the mainstream 24-hour "news" media is complete garbage.