Launch News SpaceX Falcon 9 F4 CRS SpX-1 Updates

[Hlynkacg]

*just rolled out my Delta Glider in 5 minutes and being ready for launch from the SLF*
So, that's not possible?

NASA should use a 24-hour-system like anyone, besides they could abolish that nautical miles too...

agreed on the 24 hour clock.

But the creators of the metric system were idiots when they created Kilometers that did not divide evenly into degrees of Latitude.

Thus Knots and Nautical miles are here to stay.

 

[Codz]

Sun setting over the Cape. I can tell you there is nothing more beautiful than seeing a sunrise/set over a fueled rocket while sitting out on the pier.

I fully agree with that! It wasn't fueled, but I remember watching the sun set from the Project Mercury memorial on the Atlas V RBSP back in August.

EDIT: Added quote for context.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Launch weather now 80% GO - no rain on the Floridian east coast.

 

[Kyle]

20% chance of violation now, good news!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I'm watching the feed from SpaceX, some dude keeps hammering on something that's getting picked up on the audio. Kind of funny.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

No Mohawk guy here, but how about a "SpaceX girl"? :rofl:

 

[SpaceShuttleFan]

I'm lucky I'm even watching it... SpaceX.com, SpaceflightNow, and Space.com were all swamped with traffic. At least the public is interested...

 

[orb]

I'm lucky I'm even watching it... SpaceX.com, SpaceflightNow, and Space.com were all swamped with traffic. At least the public is interested...

You can go directly to Livestream or Ustream where you shouldn't have problems watching it.

 

[MattBaker]

This one: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html still works fine, besides >10,000 viewers. Sleeping from 1800 to 0200 just for viewing a rocket launch, sometimes you wonder...

 

[SpaceShuttleFan]

LIFTOFF!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

WooHoo! Go GO SpaceX!

 

[Codz]

Looks like a great launch. No launch day delays either, I'm impressed.

---------- Post added at 12:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 AM ----------

Orbit achieved!

---------- Post added at 12:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 AM ----------

Spacecraft separation and array deployment!

 

[Kyle]

Awesome!!! Welcome back to space Dragon!!

 

[kerlix]

Solar arrays are deployed.

 

[SpaceShuttleFan]

Now we wait.

 

[Kyle]

NSG sources at the Cape says there seems to be some issue with the second stage with regards to the Orbcomm satellite deployment.

 

[tl8]

But the creators of the metric system were idiots when they created Kilometers that did not divide evenly into degrees of Latitude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre#Meridional_definition

The other approach suggested defining the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of the Earth's meridian along a quadrant; that is, the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1791, the French Academy of Sciences selected the meridional definition over the pendular definition because the force of gravity varies slightly over the surface of the Earth, which affects the period of a pendulum.

 

[Unstung]

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Engine Failure!?

Something happened at T+1:20 after liftoff:

Live video shows that something big shredded off the rocket right at the time of MaxQ (see 5:21 at

and 1:51 at

), and it looks like one of the engines (or at least something close to it) has exploded. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell later confirms that there was an anomaly with engine no.1 during launch.

That's two consecutive launches with engine problems that did not affect mission outcome. Surely that's not a sign of failures for the next few launches? :shifty: (lemme see.... Soyuz 2-1b/Galileo (return to flight since RD-0124 failure 2011-12-23), Proton-M/Intelsat 23 (return to flight since Briz-M failure 2012-08-06), Soyuz TMA-06M (manned flight), Atlas V/X-37B (look out for the RD-180), KSLV-1 take three (two failures in 2009 and 2010)...)

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Something happened at T+1:20 after liftoff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6zsZiVa998

Live video shows that something big shredded off the rocket right at the time of MaxQ (see 5:21 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kGaKsSFS6E and 1:51 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgkb6U1McOE), and it looks like one of the engines (or at least something close to it) has exploded. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell later confirms that there was an anomaly with engine no.1 during launch.

That's two consecutive launches with engine problems that did not affect mission outcome. Surely that's not a sign of failures for the next few launches? :shifty: (lemme see.... Soyuz 2-1b/Galileo (return to flight since RD-0124 failure 2011-12-23), Proton-M/Intelsat 23 (return to flight since Briz-M failure 2012-08-06), Soyuz TMA-06M (manned flight), Atlas V/X-37B (look out for the RD-180), KSLV-1 take three (two failures in 2009 and 2010)...)

From Spaceflight Now:

SpaceX says Engine No. 1 on the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage experienced some sort of anomaly about 80 seconds into the launch.
Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, said the engine was shut down by the rocket's on-board computers.

"Falcon 9 detected an anomaly on one of the nine engines and shut it down," Musk wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now. "As designed, the flight computer then recomputed a new ascent profile in realtime to reach the target orbit, which is why the burn times were a bit longer."

The first stage burned nearly 30 seconds longer than planned.

Nine Merlin 1C engines power the Falcon 9's first stage, generating nearly a million pounds of thrust. The kerosene-fueled engines are built by SpaceX at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

Engine No. 1, positioned on one of the corners of the tic-tac-toe pattern of first stage engines, was shut down earlier than planned, according to Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president.

Shotwell said she was not sure of the cause of the problem, but the engine was turned off.

"Like the Saturn 5, which experienced engine loss on two flights, the Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine flameout and still complete its mission," Musk said. "I believe Falcon 9 is the only rocket flying today that, like a modern airliner, is capable of completing a flight successfully even after losing an engine. There was no effect on Dragon or the space station resupply mission."