SpaceX pushes back target date for next Falcon 1 launch

[tblaxland]

SpaceX pushes back target date for next Falcon 1 launch:
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0806/23falcon1/

Also of interest - The ashes of Gordon Cooper and James Doohan will be onboard that flight:
http://www.celestisexplorersflight.com/about.html
http://www.spaceservicesinc.com/MemorialSpaceflights/memorial/explorers/cooper.asp
http://www.nameastarspacelaunch.com/doohan_message.asp

 

[n0mad23]

It's so cheap! We should pool our pocket change and send something up.

Falcon 1 Falcon 1e Price:
LEO Mass to Orbit (185 km circular):
420 kg - $7.9M 1010 kg - $9.1M Performance is based on a 185km circular orbit launched due east (9.1 deg) from SpaceX's Kwajalein Launch Facility.
Pricing reflects US dollars Paid-In-Full at Authority-to-Proceed, January 1, 2008.
SpaceX offers milestone-based financing at 5% APR.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Damn it, the govt had to know about SpaceX's attempted flight for months now! They knew they'd need that tracking stuff; this is a deliberate attempt by our pin headed idiots in washington to try to reduce nasa's competitors!

 

[tblaxland]

1010 kg - $9.1M

At that rate you could send a DVD containing Orbiter and your favourite addons up for only $150 . I see the Orbiter-Forum donations are still climbing - we just need someone to fill the other 1009.984kg of payload...

 

[Cosmos]

I'm worried that if they can't get the Falcon 1 launched right, how are they gonna get the Falcon 9 for Falcon 9 heavy right. I think they are pretty far in the development of the Falcon 9 and the heavy has 27 engines! Good luck! I'll settle for just 5 big engines....Bring back the Saturn V!

 

[Andy44]

I think the Falcon 1 will be just fine. The second launch almost made orbit, but for the fuel slosh problem, which should be an easy fix, they were looking pretty good. The fuel slosh can be fixed by adjusting the control feedback loop. The slosh was started, however, by the interstage structure striking the second stage engine nozzle upon staging. Hopefully they fixed that, too, since it seems pretty dangerous to me.

Compared to some major historical rockets, if they can get a successful orbit insertion on the third try I think they'll be in the pipe and good to go.

I can't wait to see the next launch.

 

[tblaxland]

The fuel slosh can be fixed by adjusting the control feedback loop. The slosh was started, however, by the interstage structure striking the second stage engine nozzle upon staging. Hopefully they fixed that, too, since it seems pretty dangerous to me.

I also read somewhere (I think SpaceX website) that they were going to add baffles to the tank to reduce sloshing and improve the controls to providing better active damping.

OK, found it here.

They also explain in there that the interstage/nozzle impact was due to excess rotation rates and they plan to throttle the main engine back prior to first stage shutdown to reduce the kick that shutdown gives the vehicle.

Falcon 1 also gets the new Merlin 1C engine on this flight IIRC.

 

[simonpro]

I also read somewhere (I think SpaceX website) that they were going to add baffles to the tank to reduce sloshing and improve the controls to providing better active damping.

Only been standard practice on launch vehicles for 30 years!


The Falcon 9 thing won't be a problem though, they will just delay that until Falcon-1 is gone, there's no point trying to launch a bigger rocket until you've successfully proven the technology with the smaller oen.

 

[Urwumpe]

Only been standard practice on launch vehicles for 30 years!

Yeah, but in theory, you can do without... problem is just, that your control system has to fit to the tank geometry, which often is not the case.

 

[Notebook]

Nice video of Blue Streak fuel slosh:-

It's often said that Blue Streak was entirely successful in all its launches - not quite. The very first launch cut out a few seconds early. The fuel in the nearly empty tanks began sloshing from side to side, and eventually the rocket tumbled. The clip shows the tumble - but the vehicle survived this roll intact!

http://www.spaceuk.org/videos/vid.htm

Also, a report on the flight, and a solution for the problem:-

http://www.spaceuk.org/bstreak/bs/f1.htm

Maybe SpaceX could have a read...

N.

 

[Master of Blades]

We just need someone to fill the other 1009.984kg of payload...

Hmm... What if we stuff.. say Tex.. with Branston Pickle 'till he got heavy enough?

Think about that, first private person in space, stuffed with Branston, we'd make history:lol:

 

[thomasantony]

SpaceX Conducts Static Test Firing of Next Falcon 1 Rocket

Hi,
I know there is another SpaceX thread going on, but this one just got me very excited!!. This really looks good . Musk may have just got it right this time. Too bad the launch got postponed. It will be treat to watch. :speakcool:

I just got this press release in my inbox.

http://spacex.com/press.php?page=43

Firing represents the final major event before launch to orbit.
Hawthorne CA – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) successfully conducted a full launch dress rehearsal and hold down firing of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle on June 25, 2008 (Marshall Island Time) on Omelek Island, SpaceX’s launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll. This test is the final step before launch of the Falcon 1 rocket.
This marks the first launch pad firing of SpaceX’s new Merlin 1C regeneratively cooled engine, which operated at full power with only the hold-down system restraining the rocket from flight. In the coming weeks, SpaceX will conduct a thorough review of all data prior to the opening of the launch window for flight, which runs from late July through early September.
“We are definitely not tied to the clock for this launch, and we are checking and crosschecking every aspect of the vehicle and ground systems to ensure a successful mission,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “Our primary concerns remain the safety and reliability of our vehicle, and the successful delivery of the Defense Department and NASA satellites to orbit.”

During launch, SpaceX will use the extensive range safety, tracking and telemetry services provided by the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at the United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific. RTS will be closed for the national Fourth of July holiday, and resumes operations on 24 July. The next launch window opens 29 July and runs through 6 August, followed by one from 29 August to 5 September.
The Falcon 1 will carry the Trailblazer satellite for the Jumpstart Program of the Department of Defense’s Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS). Additional secondary payloads include an adapter system developed by the government of Malaysia that holds two small NASA satellites.

SpaceX will provide complete launch day coverage and a live webcast of the launch and ascent into orbit.
Details will be announced as the launch date approaches via the SpaceX.com website.

Dress rehearsal hot firing of SpaceX's Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle on the launch pad at the SpaceX Omelek Island launch site, in the Kwajalein Atoll, located 2,500 miles southeast of Hawaii. Only the launch pad’s hold-down system restrains the rocket from flight.
​

~
Thomas
​

 

[simonpro]

I thought that after Flight-1 they'd decided it was unsafe to static-test the flight hardware?

 

[tblaxland]

Also, a report on the flight, and a solution for the problem:-

http://www.spaceuk.org/bstreak/bs/f1.htm

Maybe SpaceX could have a read...

N.

The SpaceX info says that they considered sloshing in their modelling but the controls were shown to be adequate for damping. What they didn't take into account was the additional motion imparted onto the upper stage by the interstage collision with the nozzle. Maybe SpaceX should have just read Murphy's Law...

The first stage always had anti-slosh baffles BTW, as per standard practice.

 

[Andy44]

Baffles = extra mass.

If your avionics can handle fuel slosh by just gimballing the nozzle a little bit, there' s no reason not to try it. "Standard practice for 30 years" is fine, but if you want to take advantage of new technology you've got to take some risks, and deal with the failures.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

I agree with what Andy's saying to a point. For a start-up company like SpaceX that hasn't successfully put something into orbit yet, risks aren't the best thing to take yet. Get into space, establish yourself as a worthy satellite lauch company, then start toying with new and cool stuff.
I remember Elon Musk stating that if this third flight fails, then the company might not be able to continue. Don't remember where exactly, but people will lose interest despite whether they can get a rocket into orbit on the fourth, fifth, or sixth try or whatever.

 

[Andy44]

...tracking and telemetry services provided by the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at the United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific.

You know, Reagan wasn't the worst president I've seen, but must we name everything after this frikkin' guy? What butt-kissedness is this?

 

[tblaxland]

For a start-up company like SpaceX that hasn't successfully put something into orbit yet, risks aren't the best thing to take yet.

Musk got to where is by taking risks and trying new things. Such is the nature of entrepreneurs. I consider myself a relatively conservative engineer (and that works for me) but I can tell you if my clients (generally property developers) were too risk averse I would not have a job for very long.

 

[Andy44]

Musk got to where is by taking risks and trying new things. Such is the nature of entrepreneurs. I consider myself a relatively conservative engineer (and that works for me) but I can tell you if my clients (generally property developers) were too risk averse I would not have a job for very long.

Exactly. Remember: SpaceX is a private start-up. Unlike NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center, they don't have unlimited funds to do the same old thing. If they want to make money, they have to take risks. This means they might fail! In a free market, failures happen, and the successes advance the technology.

I wish them luck, and wish I worked on the team. I'd love to put my job where my mouth is; the potential reward would be worth the risk to me.

 

[tblaxland]

Minute Defect Delays SpaceX's Falcon 1 Launch Again

An update:
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080627-spacex-thirdlaunch-update.html