SpaceX Falcon 9 historic landing thread (1st landing attempt & most recent missions)
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I didn't get up in time to see the attempt. I knew something wasn't right when I saw the already recorded webcast was only 38 minutes long, should have been more like an hour longer than that. As the count neared zero with only a few minutes left in the recording...... I was HOPING it was scrubbed. Because if it lifted off that would have meant something really bad happened and they would have ended the webcast not long after, as they did not long after the in-flight explosion 2 years ago.
As I type this, the launch is set for tomorrow (Sunday the 19th) at 9:38 AM EST.
The following statement can be attributed to SpaceX:
—————
“Standing down to take a closer look at an engine actuator on the second stage. 9:38am ET tomorrow is our next earliest launch opportunity.”
————
Launching tomorrow would presume they fix the TVC problem in time or determine it wasn't a big enough problem. Which is not a given, just right now there's no update on the status of the problem being resolved by tomorrow or not.
But they did not say that the launch will be tomorrow, just the next opportunity it tomorrow (if they can resolve this in time).
STRANGE thing is, they were "green" for launch, and Musk himself decided to abort the count down at almost literally the last few seconds (I saw some info that in the last 10 seconds, no manual abort is possible, the count is 100% automated). As someone on NSF opined..... having all systems "green" and yet someone (who is not even the launch director) calling off a launch implies something's not quite right in the launch procedure (at the least then..... something was declared "green" that should not have been. Or lack of faith in the people responsible for giving it "GO").
BTW - TVC is Thrust Vector Control, nozzle gimbaling. An NSF post included this very old (2003) video of a SpaceX TVC gimbal test. Pretty interesting. Although that would have been for the engine and TVC used on the Falcon 1. The dummy cylinder representing an an engine weighed 1000 pounds. So it's really interesting to see how fast they ended up cycling that thing.
[video=youtube;Pigsq5rt-mY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pigsq5rt-mY[/video]
As I type this, the launch is set for tomorrow (Sunday the 19th) at 9:38 AM EST.
The following statement can be attributed to SpaceX:
—————
“Standing down to take a closer look at an engine actuator on the second stage. 9:38am ET tomorrow is our next earliest launch opportunity.”
————
Launching tomorrow would presume they fix the TVC problem in time or determine it wasn't a big enough problem. Which is not a given, just right now there's no update on the status of the problem being resolved by tomorrow or not.
But they did not say that the launch will be tomorrow, just the next opportunity it tomorrow (if they can resolve this in time).
STRANGE thing is, they were "green" for launch, and Musk himself decided to abort the count down at almost literally the last few seconds (I saw some info that in the last 10 seconds, no manual abort is possible, the count is 100% automated). As someone on NSF opined..... having all systems "green" and yet someone (who is not even the launch director) calling off a launch implies something's not quite right in the launch procedure (at the least then..... something was declared "green" that should not have been. Or lack of faith in the people responsible for giving it "GO").
BTW - TVC is Thrust Vector Control, nozzle gimbaling. An NSF post included this very old (2003) video of a SpaceX TVC gimbal test. Pretty interesting. Although that would have been for the engine and TVC used on the Falcon 1. The dummy cylinder representing an an engine weighed 1000 pounds. So it's really interesting to see how fast they ended up cycling that thing.
[video=youtube;Pigsq5rt-mY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pigsq5rt-mY[/video]
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Don't know how they can "fix" anything on the pad on the second stage motor in 23 hours.
Perhaps it's a sensor problem that they can somehow confirm and choose to ignore.
My guess is the rocket is going back to the barn.
Perhaps it's a sensor problem that they can somehow confirm and choose to ignore.
My guess is the rocket is going back to the barn.
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Well, in the past they've been able to lower the vehicle to horizontal, roll it back into the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), fix the problem, roll it back to the pad the next day, raise it up, and launch. And IIRC that was for a very similar TVC problem that was worked on.
Still, I was skeptical about the LACK of any indication of any progress on working the problem. But they did lower it horizontal and were reported to be working on it out in the open tonight at the pad, using cranes and a cherry-picker or two.
Most notable was the lack of new webcast links, until an hour ago. So the existence of the rescheduled launch webcast links seems to indicate they have resolved the problem and apparently do expect to launch Sunday morning.
[video=youtube;giNhaEzv_PI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giNhaEzv_PI[/video]
UPDATE - The original Youtube link for the Technical Webcast, it ended after 15 minutes, before launch. SpaceX reposted the Technical Webcast, the corrected link is below:
[video=youtube;rUDLxFUMC9c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUDLxFUMC9c[/video]
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Well.... I guess I'll set my alarm and have my iPad at my bedside with a headset already plugged in. 6:30 on Sunday morning is rather earlier than I usually get up 
.
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Well.... I guess I'll set my alarm and have my iPad at my bedside with a headset already plugged in. 6:30 on Sunday morning is rather earlier than I usually get up
It's always exciting to see the landings live. But not exciting enough for me to wake up early, since I can watch the recorded webcasts later like I did today.
ThirstyBarbarian
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A little CA. A spritz of accelerator. Boom. Done. Ready to fly.
Incongruent
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Boom as in...
Anyone having an issue with the tech webcast? Doesn't seem to be getting the usual feed
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Success! Orbit good, landing good.
Yeah the tech broadcast seemed to just cut off, but I just switched to the other feed and it watched it from there. Despite the overhead conditions it was a great launch, love watching the landing from the booster cam.
Did anyone dig up any more details as to what the specific issue was yesterday?
rocketgeek101
Well-Known Member
Great launch and landing!
Yeah, it was beautiful.
I was watching the feed on a non-smart tv via Blu-ray player using an awful web app, it kept dropping out more than the actual feed, we missed the landing.
I'll never do that again.
I was watching a NASA feed on my phone with an awful stream of twitter feeds, every now and then some (explicative)
denier pipes up about it's all fake, no moon landing....blah, blah, blah.
Where's Buzz Aldrin when you need him, he hands out knuckle sandwiches when the need arises!
I'll never do that again.
I was watching a NASA feed on my phone with an awful stream of twitter feeds, every now and then some (explicative)
denier pipes up about it's all fake, no moon landing....blah, blah, blah.
Where's Buzz Aldrin when you need him, he hands out knuckle sandwiches when the need arises!
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
The ball looking object? I wonder too.
There were actually two objects, one smaller and a larger one that was a bit chunky. To me they looked like they originated off the aft end of the rocket and kind of reminded me of the chunks of ice that form around the plumbing.
MaxQ
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davel
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There was one object that the second stage passed, and that they mentioned was the ejected nose cone of the Dragon. The object i am curious about was the one passed by the booster at t+ 6:30 - 6:32. This object was first seen well below the booster, so it wasn't something like ice that was just coming off the booster. It was there in space before the booster got there.
Charles_McG
Ciderwright
Did it seem like the landing burn was longer / slower than the ones at sea?
I wonder if the return to launch flights have enough reserve fuel to loiter in a slower descent.
I wonder if the return to launch flights have enough reserve fuel to loiter in a slower descent.
Here is another CRS-10 landing pic from SpaceX's Flickr site, they just published it along with a few more.
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Well, a bit disappointing the cloud view obscured the landing, no side view cameras And it would have been GREAT to have seen the on-board view being able to show the coastline of the Cape in view, getting larger and larger. But in any case, REALLY nice they have the technical ability to show the whole landing from onboard (two in a row now), and that was a great view.
Some notes:
At 2:34, rear view for 2nd stage, RCS thrusters pitching the booster right after stage sep.
Was so neat to see the booster staying in view, then the camera change to onboard the booster.
Seeing the booster ignite three engines for the boost back burn, and the little white dot at the upper left which was the 2nd stage (at about 2.55).
I’m pretty sure that is some sort of debris from the lower end of the booster, such as ice or something else (Three engines were about to start up right then, the pre-spin up of the turbines may have caused enough vibration to loosen up something). At about 6:29 or 6:30, you can see a smaller object moving by before you see the larger one. If the larger one was say a 6 inch piece of ice (or whatever), given the camera’s wide angle field of view makes even the lower end of the rocket look small. So anything coming off from down below would not even be noticeable at first, till it slid closer up to be “big” enough to see, as well as the motion making it more noticeable.
BTW - realize at that point it was not “in space”, it was re-entering the atmosphere (so, the very thin "air" would be pushing that debris from the bottom upwards towards the top). There could be no satellites there (and if there were, they’d be moving horizontally at 5 miles a second, a streak MAYBE visible in one frame). Yet too high up for there to be any weather balloons. And again, there were at least two pieces visible, one much smaller than the other but with the same relative motion which indicated they were the same distance away, one smaller, rather than two objects of the same size with the other farther away. So, those had to have come from the Falcon itself.
The truth is out there, and Occam’s Razor says it was most likely onboard debris.
Onwards….. SpaceX drone view of the landing:
[video=youtube;glEvogjdEVY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glEvogjdEVY[/video]
I suspect in a day or so they may release a video showing the landing from various other cameras, including one or more fixed ones at the landing pad.
Photos from the SpaceX Flickr account, cropped and/or resized:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/
The SpaceX Flickr launch and landing photos posted by Rocketgeek101 were probably taken by a photographer on top of the VAB, given the elevated view.
cropped closer view of the landing:
Some notes:
At 2:34, rear view for 2nd stage, RCS thrusters pitching the booster right after stage sep.
Was so neat to see the booster staying in view, then the camera change to onboard the booster.
Seeing the booster ignite three engines for the boost back burn, and the little white dot at the upper left which was the 2nd stage (at about 2.55).
I’m pretty sure that is some sort of debris from the lower end of the booster, such as ice or something else (Three engines were about to start up right then, the pre-spin up of the turbines may have caused enough vibration to loosen up something). At about 6:29 or 6:30, you can see a smaller object moving by before you see the larger one. If the larger one was say a 6 inch piece of ice (or whatever), given the camera’s wide angle field of view makes even the lower end of the rocket look small. So anything coming off from down below would not even be noticeable at first, till it slid closer up to be “big” enough to see, as well as the motion making it more noticeable.
BTW - realize at that point it was not “in space”, it was re-entering the atmosphere (so, the very thin "air" would be pushing that debris from the bottom upwards towards the top). There could be no satellites there (and if there were, they’d be moving horizontally at 5 miles a second, a streak MAYBE visible in one frame). Yet too high up for there to be any weather balloons. And again, there were at least two pieces visible, one much smaller than the other but with the same relative motion which indicated they were the same distance away, one smaller, rather than two objects of the same size with the other farther away. So, those had to have come from the Falcon itself.
The truth is out there, and Occam’s Razor says it was most likely onboard debris.
Onwards….. SpaceX drone view of the landing:
[video=youtube;glEvogjdEVY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glEvogjdEVY[/video]
I suspect in a day or so they may release a video showing the landing from various other cameras, including one or more fixed ones at the landing pad.
Photos from the SpaceX Flickr account, cropped and/or resized:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/
The SpaceX Flickr launch and landing photos posted by Rocketgeek101 were probably taken by a photographer on top of the VAB, given the elevated view.
cropped closer view of the landing:
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Winston
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Projected SpaceX firsts for 2017
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...e-the-start-of-an-annus-mirabilis-for-spacex/
Fly a used booster - as early as mid-March
Fly a used spacecraft - no sooner than early April
Launch a Falcon Heavy - late spring or summer
Debut the Dragon 2 - November
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...e-the-start-of-an-annus-mirabilis-for-spacex/
Fly a used booster - as early as mid-March
Fly a used spacecraft - no sooner than early April
Launch a Falcon Heavy - late spring or summer
Debut the Dragon 2 - November
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Well, I finally looked at the recording from the NASA Channel, which is also at this link:
[video=youtube;Eu5nOPOJtEs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5nOPOJtEs[/video]
A LOT of the video was SpaceX's TECHNICAL webcast, which for some reason was cut long before launch on the youtube link.
NASA did have a long range camera view of the rocket some time after launch, a break in the clouds for awhile.
Jumping to about 17:30 into the video, the landing about to begin. The SpaceX call "vehicle is transonic", which is an early indicator that the landing burn is about to begin soon after (hear this on the technical webcasts, rarely on the hosted ones). Can notice a slight wobbling during that phase, the Grid fins do not work as well in the transsonic range, but work well enough.
Technical webcast (On NASA channel) showed side by side the onboard and a ground camera side view of the landing. And JUST before touchdown..... the person in charge of the NASA video changed from the technical webcast to a far off live NASA camera view... AFTER it had landed! ARRGH!!!! Then switched back to the SpaceX Technical webcast, showing a ground view on the right of the booster sitting on the pad, while oddly on the left a delayed view of the onboard view of the landing seconds before landing (legs deploying and landing).
At a bit past 23 minutes, deployment of the solar arrays on the Dragon spacecraft. Scheduled to rendezvous and be "berthed" with ISS on the 22nd (It does not dock by itself. It gets close enough then a Canadarm grabs hold of it and moves it to a docking port for docking).
[video=youtube;Eu5nOPOJtEs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5nOPOJtEs[/video]
A LOT of the video was SpaceX's TECHNICAL webcast, which for some reason was cut long before launch on the youtube link.
NASA did have a long range camera view of the rocket some time after launch, a break in the clouds for awhile.
Jumping to about 17:30 into the video, the landing about to begin. The SpaceX call "vehicle is transonic", which is an early indicator that the landing burn is about to begin soon after (hear this on the technical webcasts, rarely on the hosted ones). Can notice a slight wobbling during that phase, the Grid fins do not work as well in the transsonic range, but work well enough.
Technical webcast (On NASA channel) showed side by side the onboard and a ground camera side view of the landing. And JUST before touchdown..... the person in charge of the NASA video changed from the technical webcast to a far off live NASA camera view... AFTER it had landed! ARRGH!!!! Then switched back to the SpaceX Technical webcast, showing a ground view on the right of the booster sitting on the pad, while oddly on the left a delayed view of the onboard view of the landing seconds before landing (legs deploying and landing).
At a bit past 23 minutes, deployment of the solar arrays on the Dragon spacecraft. Scheduled to rendezvous and be "berthed" with ISS on the 22nd (It does not dock by itself. It gets close enough then a Canadarm grabs hold of it and moves it to a docking port for docking).
SpaceManMat
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Looked to me like the the second stage had a leak the whole time it was firing. Looked like it was coming out from under the insulation with ice forming / collecting nearby. I don't recall seeing that in previous flights. Also at seco the insulation puffs up momentarily, definitely something venting lots of gas at that point.
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Don't know. I will note the 2nd stage fired 2 more times. One to circularize the orbit before releasing the Dragon spacecraft. Then a final one to re-enter so as not to add to space debris.
I think after as many landing successes they have figured out that quick return with minimal engine burn then a well controlled landing with landing legs deployed at the last seconds. That might be one of the quickest returns to the pad flights yet. Well orchestrated.
vcp
Well-Known Member
The part that impresses me is that they dropped that puppy on its side, pulled out a drip pan and socket set, and swapped out that actuator. In the driveway. Good to go the next day.
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