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

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These long exposure composite photos of the Falcon are always so cool.
 
FH Static Firing won't be today.

Pushed back to Thursday.

First they will do it as a Wet Dress Rehearsal. And if the WDR goes perfectly, then they will keep it fueled and move right on to doing a Static Firing. Firing duration may be 12 seconds, a lot longer than regular F9 static firings at the pad.


Nice photo of FH on the pad , from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7pc4ph/oc_hires_view_of_falcon_heavy_ahead_of_tomorrows/

64q7s9qk95901.jpg
 
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From Spaceflight Now (in reverse order as it appears on their webpage):

01/11/2018 12:56 Stephen Clark

The Falcon Heavy's static fire test has been scrubbed for the day after SpaceX's launch team loaded propellants into the heavy-lifter for the first time at pad 39A.


01/11/2018 12:48 Stephen Clark

The hotfire test is not expected to occur at the opening of today's window at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). No additional venting has appeared at pad 39A, suggesting fueling of the Falcon Heavy has stopped.


01/11/2018 12:22 Stephen Clark

Vapors are now visible coming from the Falcon Heavy rocket at pad 39A, an indication the cryogenic propellants are being pumped into the launch vehicle at this time.

Rocket-grade RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen will flow into the Falcon Heavy's three first stage boosters and second stage in advance of today's static fire attempt.

The exact time of the static fire has not been released, but today's window opens at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). The venting suggests the hold-down firing of the Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin main engines could occur at the start of the window, or soon after 1 p.m. EST.
 
FH Static Firing now set for 10 AM to 4 PM EST Friday.

I have mixed feelings about trying to catch this “live.” If there were some close-up cameras, absolutely. But individuals shooting from miles away, it’s mostly gun to be a blurry view of smoke and some orange-ish glow at the bottom. In other words, not a lot different for a far distance as a single F9 state firing. Won’t see the staggered ignition, from that far off it’ll seem more like it takes longer to get up to thrust.

So, it won’t look that unique, unless something goes terribly wrong. But I don’t “tune in” for that reason, any more than I watch car racing to see the wrecks.

Of course, part of the above was how I rationalized not being able to try to catch a live feed today (Thursday), because I had to be away during the timeframe it was supposed to happen.

And having typed the above, I’ll probably try to catch it live anyway. But I won’t stay at the computer just for that.

UPDATE - SpaceFlightNow.com will have live video, but for paying members only. And even then, camera very far away.

After doing some searching, Chris G. from NSF did a stream from his twitter account:
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF

So, check his Twitter feed Friday for a live stream of the firing, if there's no other source for a live stream.

The actual stream he did on Thursday, for what ended up as a WDR, is at this link: https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/951503676396490752

Below is a screenshot from that, which shows what I was referring to about not actually seeing much live when they do fire it up:

0HPf3Av.png


Pretty much what can be taken from seeing it live will be:

1 - It's finally started a Static Firing

2 - That it doesn't go boom (hopefully)

3 - If the burn is for 12 seconds, it basically went OK (pending review of data). If less than the planned 12 seconds, then some issue came up.

But the visual grandeur of 27 engines firing up, not gonna be very grandeur-ish with that kind of view. Hopefully SpaceX will release some close-up pad video later.

Ah, I forgot USLaunchReport. Here's a brief video they posted Jan 9th. Zoomed in tighter, better view angle, also very blurry due to the distance/atmospheric effects.

[video=youtube;ETCVaeaXYi8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETCVaeaXYi8[/video]


So, check their channel to see *IF* they have a live stream. If they do, then this may be the best option (for free).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5hWqb0u1eKgYmVryCEyJYA


Also check the latest on the NSF Falcon Heavy Demo updates thread as to the latest status.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44376.60
 
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[h=5]
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Spaceflight Now
[/h]The Falcon Heavy was lowered into the horizontal position overnight as engineers troubleshoot the issue that caused SpaceX to call off the first attempt to hot fire the powerful rocket.
The test firing has been tentatively rescheduled for 5-10pm EST (2200-0300 GMT) Saturday.
 
Static Test now pushed to Monday, window beginning at 4 PM EST.

One of the reasons for the delay is one of the eight hold-down clamps had some sort of issue. They lowered, then later re-raised FH at 39A, before deciding to give up on Saturday & go to Monday. Most likely they'll be rolling it back inside the HIF, where they'll have better access and more suitable work conditions.
 
I'd bet 3-2-3... Basically putting thrm where they fit.

Sent from my LGL44VL using Tapatalk

Truth. The holddowns are below the intersection of two legs, which makes a 3-2-3 pattern the way the heavy is strapped together.

Thats where I remember them being at least. There may even be a picture of them earlier in the thread.
 
So, FH Static Test still scheduled for Monday.

Window opens at 4 PM EST but word is they may fire it up right at 4 PM. Yes, like a launch. But Static Firings often are "whenever we get our stuff together, anytime during the window" kind of thing. So, if they can hold to that, anyone who wants to see it "live" probably should be checking the net for a live feed by 3:50 PM EST.

A recent pic of FH on the pad:

26730737_1816298268415351_911372635544496353_n.jpg



Meanwhile, off the coast of California earlier Saturday, the Dragon spacecraft for CRS-13 landed, after a very successful mission to ISS.

26756566_10155377409653107_4638017776145282584_o.jpg
 
Static Firing has slipped to Tuesday.

From: https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/952716498841284608

The engine test firing for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket has slipped until Tuesday, with the opening of the window set for 4pm (2100 GMT)

They keep adding updates to the beginning of this article:

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/09/falcon-heavy-demo-flight-preparations/

Well, partly as a joke, and partly because it might end up being so close to true, for the time being I’m reviving my “Feb 4th” FH Launch Date guesstimate. :)

9FuYswT.jpg
 
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From Spaceflightnow.com:

Updated: 01/16/2018 13:57

The static fire test of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is not expected today, and we have not received a new target date for the hold-down firing at pad 39A.
SpaceX's launch team continues to work through testing of the Falcon Heavy ahead of the first static fire at pad 39A.
Meanwhile, launch preps at nearby pad 41 are underway for an Atlas 5 mission scheduled for liftoff Thursday evening, with rollout of the rocket to the launch pad scheduled for tomorrow. A Falcon Heavy static fire at pad 39A is not expected to occur during the Atlas 5 countdown, a ULA official said today, due to shared safety, security and ground infrastructure between the two adjacent pads.
Based on that, the Falcon Heavy static fire is expected no earlier than Friday, but the target date for the hold-down engine firing remains uncertain, and we'll share information as we confirm it.

 
Now NET Friday. This may be selfish but at this point i hope it pushed the launch back into the week of Feb. 10th... Then I'll get to see it in person.
 
Now NET Friday. This may be selfish but at this point i hope it pushed the launch back into the week of Feb. 10th... Then I'll get to see it in person.
ME TOO!!! I'll be in Orlando the entire week of Feb 12th, so that would be nice if I got to "call in sick" one of those days and head to the Cape!!
 
Pretty good article on Teslarati.com:

"What’s causing SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy delays?"

https://www.teslarati.com/whats-causing-spacex-falcon-heavy-delays/



And the photo below, from this tweet: https://twitter.com/wsm1/status/953099809803485184

Shows FH on Pad 39A, taken from a commercial photography satellite.

DToXOOiVMAAF42M.jpg



That rectangular thing at the bottom, at the perimeter of 39A, is the HIF (Horizontal Integration Facility), where the Falcons are assembled (& stored) before being rolled out to the pad.

I knew it was close, and telephoto images can make things look closer than real, but boy does that image show how close it is to the pad. There's reasons why the VAB was 3.5 miles from 39A. Google Map's Measure Distance feature shows about 1360 feet from the center of 39A where the Falcon sits, to the front door of the HIF.

720_500669_82aea0c989-ab0920c0b5c68e3a.jpg
 
Atlas-5 launch planned for Thursday night was scrubbed. A 24 hour delay, at least, pushing the FH Static Firing back, to an unknown date.

Unless the Atlas-5 is quickly delayed further to another day, leaving Friday open. But the FH crew may not be THAT flexible in on-again, off-again firing status for the same day (FH was apparently lowered to horizontal, not known if it was rolled back into the HIF. I mean, if say at 10 AM Friday, the Atlas had an announced delay to Saturday, I do not think the FH crew will be on standby ready to jump into action to begin to load and static fire FH a few hours later on Friday. In theory, yes, but.....

Sigh. This may go into Monday before they schedule a Static Firing again.... maybe. My Feb 4th launch Dartboard guesstimate is looking like it'll be wrong, in the bad direction (later). :( And I did not realize the 4th was Super Bowl Sunday, so that's a date SpaceX probably would want to avoid in any case.
 
Static Firing window moved to Saturday, 2:45 PM EST.

From: https://twitter.com/EmreKelly/status/954321496872235008

SpaceX #FalconHeavy status update: As suspected, test fire at pad 39A has moved to Saturday; six-hour window opens at 1445 ET (1945 UTC).

ULA, meanwhile, targeting 1948 ET (0048 UTC) tonight for #AtlasV launch with #SBIRS from nearby LC 41.

If the Atlas launch gets delayed one day again, then that'll delay the FH Firing again. If Atlas is delayed more than one day, no effect on the firing Saturday
 
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Per Emre Kelly tweet:

SpaceX still targeting Saturday for #FalconHeavy test fire at pad 39A, but timing has shifted: Six-hour window opens at 1730 ET (2230 UTC).


Update, Kelly now indicating fuel load test only today.
 
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I am thinking that "Static Fire in the next 1-2 days" is the new "FH will launch in 6 months".

So, uh, AFAIK, the Static Test is 2 days from now..... Monday.

Image from Wet Dress Rehearsal / Fueling test late Saturday:

DUBsK_BVoAY30Pm.jpg
 
Well, NO STATIC FIRE in the predictable future.

Government shutdown has affected the 45th Space Wing, so no launches and no static firings until the shutdown is over. This would seem to hold true for Vandenberg and Wallops as well, but they don't have nearly as many launches as the Cape does. If Altas-V had not launched Friday night, it apparently would be stuck too.

From: https://twitter.com/gpallone13/status/955118574988865536

NO LAUNCHES: per @45thSpaceWing key members of civilian workforce are removed due to govt shutdown. 45th cannot support @SpaceX commerical static fire tests @NASAKennedy or launch operations @MyNews13

Technically, Static Firing still set for Monday, but realistically, shutdown does not seem like it'll be over soon.

NO POLITICS or anti-gubmint potshots in this thread. This is news as to why no static firing, and why no likely date is listed. Start your own thread for any rants, if you want to risk it and pretend you can't read TRF rules. No reason to hash out that crap on TRF.

SpaceX can still do WDR's as much as they want, and try to work out all of the bugs and issues that do not involve igniting the engines. Just as they did on Saturday.

Even for a Static Firing, the range has to be cleared, and safety/emergency/security personnel in place (An example, when AMOS-6 blew on the pad shortly before a planned firing, people had been cleared and emergency teams were in place to respond). Without them on duty, no firings and no launches.
 
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Well, NO STATIC FIRE in the predictable future.

Government shutdown has affected the 45th Space Wing, so no launches and no static firings until the shutdown is over.
.....................

Even for a Static Firing, the range has to be cleared, and safety/emergency/security personnel in place (And example, when AMOS-6 blew on the pad shortly before a planned firing, people had been cleared and emergency teams were in place to respond). Without them on duty, no firings and no launches.

*sigh*
 
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