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

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to sound like SpaceSex, and the X is for its rating.

 

[KennB]

Didn't it derive the name from being part of the X Prize competition?

The Tesla group is the one with the hidden message in their naming; Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. Put them all together and they sort of spell S3XY.

 

[Marc_G]

Nice Easter egg!

 

[Funkworks]

The Tesla group is the one with the hidden message in their naming; Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. Put them all together and they sort of spell S3XY.

And each time Tesla presents the 4 cars together, they're lined up in that order.

https://shop.tesla.com/product/s3xy-hoodie?sku=8764613-00-A

 

[boomtube-mk2]

I had never seen the landing drone ship from this angle. Isn't that clever: "X marks the spot", and "from space to X", and there's the SpaceX brand. Sigh. Wondering for years how the name "Space X" came about, while it was in my face the whole time. Not to mention what the second syllable sounds like on its own.

Space X is all about reusability, which is entirely represented by a landing spot called "X".

Let's just hope that nobody figures out how to "Paint" their company's logo on the nearside of the moon.

The Man Who Sold the Moon

Robert A Heinlein

 

[Marc_G]

Let's just hope that nobody figures out how to "Paint" their company's logo on the nearside of the moon.

The Man Who Sold the Moon

Robert A Heinlein

"Just Do It"

 

[manixFan]

Didn't it derive the name from being part of the X Prize competition?

The Tesla group is the one with the hidden message in their naming; Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. Put them all together and they sort of spell S3XY.

SpaceX never competed in the XPrize competition. The competition started in 1996 and SpaceX wasn't founded until 2002. My guess is it was named very much after the model of 'Federal Express – FedEx'. The longer name of Space Exploration Technologies sounds more serious and forward looking, while SpaceX is great for marketing. Musk had already been through PayPal, so I'm sure he understood the value of a short, easy to spell and type, brand name.


Tony

 

[Funkworks]

...Musk had already been through PayPal, so I'm sure he understood the value of a short, easy to spell and type, brand name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.com
Hopefully I don't sound like a fanboy. With my hobbies being rockets and EVs, I'm sort of caught in a loop.

 

[boomtube-mk2]

Hopefully I don't sound like a fanboy. With my hobbies being rockets and EVs, I'm sort of caught in a loop.

Is that one of those time-loopy things like in Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow?
Those can be so annoying.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

And don’t forget The Boning Company.

 

[CalebJ]

And don’t forget The Boning Company.

Boring?

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Boring?

Maybe the way you do it!

 

[Funkworks]

Is that one of those time-loopy things like in Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow?
Those can be so annoying.

Sort of. See, I'm the one with a hoodie:

 

[georgegassaway]

From the Transporter-3 mission.

A really really REALLY cool video of the Falcon booster staging, after staging, doing the boost back burn.

In the background is the voice narration from the SpaceX live stream.

Lots of thruster firings as it coasts back towards KSC (cold gas nitrogen thrusters)

Then later, the best view I can recall of the re-entry burn. You can really see how the center engine fires first, then a few seconds later two outer engines ignite and the exhaust flame gets to be like a very wide rounded rectangle. Then the outer two burn out, followed by the center.

A very nice close-up of the booster coming in to land. The actual last 50 feet of the landing behind trees. Then.... BOOM! (in a good way)

 

[manixFan]

From the Transporter-3 mission.

A really really REALLY cool video of the Falcon booster staging, after staging, doing the boost back burn.

In the background is the voice narration from the SpaceX live stream.

Lots of thruster firings as it coasts back towards KSC (cold gas nitrogen thrusters)

Then later, the best view I can recall of the re-entry burn. You can really see how the center engine fires first, then a few seconds later two outer engines ignite and the exhaust flame gets to be like a very wide rounded rectangle. Then the outer two burn out, followed by the center.

A very nice close-up of the booster coming in to land. The actual last 50 feet of the landing behind trees. Then.... BOOM! (in a good way)

Wow, that's a great video. The last shot was my favorite, the 1500mm lens. it was in sharp focus at the end, so you could clearly see the landing legs as they deployed. It's crazy how they don't release until literally the last second. Thanks for that link.


Tony

 

[Huxter]

Cool new view angles for the booster - from the ground. There were alot of cool looking cold gas thruster activity - many in unison and combos!

"Today's attempt will be a land landing" - isn't that why it's called a "Land"ing? As opposed to a "Watering" at sea? Just sounded funny.

Thanks for the video link

 

[les]

Amazing views - and thankfully a very clear sky!

 

[Huxter]

More great ground views from the Italian COSMO-SkyMed satellite launch, and beautiful sunset landing at LZ-1.

 

[Mushtang]

Launch scheduled for less than an hour, 12:18 PST (3:18 EST), from Vandenburg Cali. Booster to land back on land.

 

[Huxter]

Thank you!

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, February 2 for Falcon 9’s launch of NROL-87 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The instantaneous launch window is at 12:18 p.m. PST (20:18 UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on February 3 at 12:18 p.m. PST (20:18 UTC). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

 

[georgegassaway]

So, here is a video from Tuesday's launch of CSG-2. It is VERY noteworthy because not only was this an RTLS landing, but that it was pretty dark, but the sunlight really illuminated the rocket and it's plumes brightly later in the launch, during staging, and landing. The commentary and camera on this were mostly by NASA Spaceflight.com (not NASA) and amateur/pro cameras that followed the booster constantly. So not only do you see the staging plumes where the 1st and 2nd stage plumes interacted, but also the cold-gas Nitrogen thrusters firing to keep it positioned for re-entry.

(Photo by FloridaToday: https://tinyurl.com/29ne855m)

 

[Marc_G]

Beautiful landing!

 

[OverTheTop]

Nice flight and footage.

Did find it a bit odd that one of the legs was a bit slow getting fully extended.

 

[Huxter]

We were forbidden to see much of the second stage, which meant we got full screen shots from the booster. Clear skies, and great video - we got to see the launch site from orbit down to the ground! Wahoo!

 

[Peartree]

Today's Headline:
"Elon Musk's SpaceX says a geomagnetic storm wiped out 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites it launched into orbit last week"

Elon Musk's SpaceX said it has lost up to 40 Starlink satellites that it launched into orbit last week because of a geomagnetic storm.

The aerospace company sent 49 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit on Thursday via a Falcon 9 rocket.

Around 80% of those satellites were "significantly impacted" by a geomagnetic storm Friday, SpaceX announced in a statement Tuesday.

Geomagnetic storms are triggered by disturbances between the Earth's magnetic field and charged particles from the sun, known as solar wind, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

The speed and intensity of the storm caused the "atmospheric drag" to climb to levels 50% higher than previous launches, SpaceX said in the statement, making it harder for satellites to reach their orbital position.

Full article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musks-spacex-says-geomagnetic-110639310.html

 

[Huxter]

No passes

 

[manixFan]

Lifting the Starship sustainer to stack onto the booster! Using the chopsticks. Very cool.

Tony

PS: Timelapse of the final mating:

 

[RocketGeekInFL]

Maybe we should start a separate feed for this, but here goes...... Polaris!!!!

Polaris missions

Three more flights planned for Jared Issacman who will be fully funding the flights.

 

[RocketGeekInFL]

How are they going to do a space walk out of a Dragon? They are going to have everyone suit up, and open the hatch for the walk like was done in the early days of NASA. It also appears that there will be two on the EVA.

 

[rharshberger]

How are they going to do a space walk out of a Dragon? Would they have everyone suit up, and open the hatch during the walk like was done in the early days of NASA?

Thats what the article says.