SpaceX (Vol. 2)
Discussion
GTO-3R said:
Tim Dodd released a clip of his upcoming interview with Elon where he talks about the "gap" in the fins and how it could be an issue on re-entry. Turns out he was right 
Would've been amazing if they could've recovered that flap and put it pride of place at SpaceX HQ!
They will have this nailed for the next flight which I hear could be in July
There shouldn't be a mishap report after this one, they have exemptions for the re-entry heatshield failures, engine failures during landing and loss of control during simulated landing (barring injury, loss of life etc). Would've been amazing if they could've recovered that flap and put it pride of place at SpaceX HQ!They will have this nailed for the next flight which I hear could be in July
So in theory, the license remains valid. They have permission for 5 flights from BC this year.
I think they will want the second tower built before the next launch, so they can test the Booster landing. (assuming it was accurate enough on IFT4).
What would be nice to see (for me) is if they could put it on a parabolic trajectory that would bring it in off the coast of Hawaii or California, where they could set up cameras to understand the heatshield state. But they're likely going to need Starship V2 to fix it.
Did you see that as the booster was doing its final descent, the catching arms on the tower were also closing as they simulated a capture? Kinda freaky.
Yes, they probably need that second tower ready, or close to it, as it'll probably not work initially and trash the place. Perhaps have one tower for catching and the other for launching for a while too.
They're doing the foundations of the second tower currently. Most of the tower sections are sat nearby already and the few parts remaining are about to be loading onto a barge in Cape Canaveral to be shipped round to Texas.
Catching the ship is a long way off. It has to come in from the west, overflying northern Mexico and part of the US to get back home. They'll need a few more successful flights before they're allowed to do that I imagine.
Yes, they probably need that second tower ready, or close to it, as it'll probably not work initially and trash the place. Perhaps have one tower for catching and the other for launching for a while too.
They're doing the foundations of the second tower currently. Most of the tower sections are sat nearby already and the few parts remaining are about to be loading onto a barge in Cape Canaveral to be shipped round to Texas.
Catching the ship is a long way off. It has to come in from the west, overflying northern Mexico and part of the US to get back home. They'll need a few more successful flights before they're allowed to do that I imagine.
louiechevy said:
Flippin' eck! I thought it looked pretty good from the live footage, but that looks absolutely perfect! It almost looks like you could have stood on a grid fin and not fallen off, it was that smooth and precise. They are going to be really happy with that. Especially given the engine failures they had.ETA, 6km off target, it seems. and I guess all the flames on the right are an engine undergoing rapid unscheduled disassembly. And yet it still made what looks like a perfect plopdown. That's like a splashdown but less splashy.
Edited by Zad on Saturday 8th June 18:02
Very impressive. Looks like the support ship GO America was in the area, so it was probably her who dropped off and collected the monitoring buoys.
They did the 60th launch of the year earlier today - a Falcon 9, which landed safely on a drone ship. The 244th straight landing in a row.
They did the 60th launch of the year earlier today - a Falcon 9, which landed safely on a drone ship. The 244th straight landing in a row.
Talksteer said:
Beati Dogu said:
Elon says that the left flap also got very hot, but was less damaged.
“Rear flaps seemed to be ok, based on their control authority, but probably lost some tiles”
Was NASA's Canberra watching the re-entry with an infrared camera?“Rear flaps seemed to be ok, based on their control authority, but probably lost some tiles”
I think that may have been the intention with IFT 1 & 2 where they planned to come in over Hawaii.
annodomini2 said:
Talksteer said:
Beati Dogu said:
Elon says that the left flap also got very hot, but was less damaged.
“Rear flaps seemed to be ok, based on their control authority, but probably lost some tiles”
Was NASA's Canberra watching the re-entry with an infrared camera?“Rear flaps seemed to be ok, based on their control authority, but probably lost some tiles”
I think that may have been the intention with IFT 1 & 2 where they planned to come in over Hawaii.
Probably the world's leading defence economics youtuber, Perun, has a look at space this week. Includes quite a lot on SpaceX's cost to orbit and share of the market.
https://youtu.be/effFp6AnCWo?feature=shared
https://youtu.be/effFp6AnCWo?feature=shared
Now here’s an interesting perspective of a Falcon 9 rocket launch: A couple of F-22 Raptors do a flyby of Cape Canaveral and decide to have some fun, light the afterburners and storm climb up to 18,000 feet after it.
Then they headed west for the Orlando air show.
The rocket was on a Starlink mission from Pad 40.
Then they headed west for the Orlando air show.
The rocket was on a Starlink mission from Pad 40.
They've taken that one down from SLC-40, as it needs to be inspected. It would have been the 16th flight of this booster (B1073).
It's now penciled in for Friday 21st June instead.
Instead they're going with the launch of the ASTRA 1P comms satellite on the evening of the 18th, from the same pad.
They've got a Starlink launch out of Vandenberg a bit before that as well.
I don't believe they can do Falcon 9 launches from Pad 39a currently, as they've converted the transporter erector for the Falcon Heavy. That launch is set for next Tuesday, 25th June and will launch the GOES-U weather satellite for NOAA. They're always fun. That's currently at 5.16 pm local time (10.16pm UK time).
It's now penciled in for Friday 21st June instead.
Instead they're going with the launch of the ASTRA 1P comms satellite on the evening of the 18th, from the same pad.
They've got a Starlink launch out of Vandenberg a bit before that as well.
I don't believe they can do Falcon 9 launches from Pad 39a currently, as they've converted the transporter erector for the Falcon Heavy. That launch is set for next Tuesday, 25th June and will launch the GOES-U weather satellite for NOAA. They're always fun. That's currently at 5.16 pm local time (10.16pm UK time).
The Vandenberg Starlink flight went up & down OK. The booster's 5th time and SpaceX's 250th drone ship landing overall.
The ASTRA 1P mission was delayed due to adverse weather in Florida. They'll try again on the 20th.
Meanwhile at Starbase, tower 2 begins to rise
Tropical Storm Alberto is lurking nearby, so that is making things interesting right now.
The ASTRA 1P mission was delayed due to adverse weather in Florida. They'll try again on the 20th.
Meanwhile at Starbase, tower 2 begins to rise
Tropical Storm Alberto is lurking nearby, so that is making things interesting right now.
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