Interesting that the event happened 0.5 seconds before ignition. Many possibilities. Engine failure however is excluded. Assembly error some pipe fitting wasn't torqued down, internal valve failure, even the possibility that it was the drago system that dumped fuel onto an electric line to the super dragos so it popped off when the activation commands were being sent. Also possible is bad test protocol sending the wrong commands or at the wrong time. Having the telemetry frames will tell them a lot about what system or systems were changing state.
What I didn't hear was how fast he super dragos are supposed to light off in an actual launch abort. I would suspect that if there is any significant time involved that the ground launch sequence would have to arm them before main engine start so they could very rapidly fire to pull the spacecraft away from the fireball coming at it. I'd think it would have to operate faster than 0.5 seconds. A supersonic fireball would travel the length of the rocket by then. Remember there is enough energy in the first stage fuel tank to be a small nuke.
I realize that these things get somewhat repetitive, so I'll mention that new this time for the landing of the first stage on the barge:
1. Infrared photos from the side starting at T + 7:43
2. downward view from the stage looking at the landing barge clear down the touchdown and a bit beyond.
One or both of these may have been facilitated by the fact that the landing barge was quite near the Cape. This mission was intended to land the first stage on land, but the area was not available as part of the aftermath of the recent explosion which destroyed a Dragon during ground testing.
This is a launch of 60 (not a typo) communications satellites. The satellites are not at the full final intended production configuration for the planned SpaceX Low Earth Orbit enormous constellation, but far, far closer to production config than the two test satellites flown months ago as tag-along payload on a mission for another purpose.
SpaceX has provided this one photo showing the 60 satellites stacked up on the payload adaptor.
While the exact payload is not known, all indications are that this will be the heaviest orbital payload SpaceX has yet flown.
Notwithstanding the heavy payload, this mission is planned for barge landing of the first stage.
A well-placed source (Elon) has said that these satellites don't have a dispenser per se. So if made available, deployment video may be especially interesting in revealing much more than is currently known about the satellite configuration, and watching how they separate one at a time.
Sunset at Cape Canaveral today is at 8:06 p.m. EDT. The intended launch time of 10:30 p.m. EDT May 15 (02:30 UTC May 16) is probably far too long after sunset to support any pretty side-lighting effects.
Mr. Steven has lost her arms, and I think the whole idea of catching the fairing in nets before water impact is in abeyance. They do seem to be pushing forward on the idea of modifying the fairing to tolerate brief salt water immersion with some refurb procedure.
While the exact payload is not known, all indications are that this will be the heaviest orbital payload SpaceX has yet flown.
After I posted that comment, Elon tweeted that the payload is 18.5 tons, and affirmed it to be the heaviest SpaceX payload to date. He also mentioned that the solar arrays summed across the 60 satellites come to more power than ISS array total.
They pushed back the launch time by 30 minutes not long before propellant load. Then under 15 minutes before the revised launch time, they scrubbed for excessive upper-level winds.
The new launch window opens at 10:30 p.m. EDT tomorrow.
This is a launch of 60 (not a typo) communications satellites. The satellites are not at the full final intended production configuration for the planned SpaceX Low Earth Orbit enormous constellation, but far, far closer to production config than the two test satellites flown months ago as tag-along payload on a mission for another purpose.
SpaceX has provided this one photo showing the 60 satellites stacked up on the payload adaptor.
While the exact payload is not known, all indications are that this will be the heaviest orbital payload SpaceX has yet flown.
Notwithstanding the heavy payload, this mission is planned for barge landing of the first stage.
A well-placed source (Elon) has said that these satellites don't have a dispenser per se. So if made available, deployment video may be especially interesting in revealing much more than is currently known about the satellite configuration, and watching how they separate one at a time.
Sunset at Cape Canaveral today is at 8:06 p.m. EDT. The intended launch time of 10:30 p.m. EDT May 15 (02:30 UTC May 16) is probably far too long after sunset to support any pretty side-lighting effects.
Mr. Steven has lost her arms, and I think the whole idea of catching the fairing in nets before water impact is in abeyance. They do seem to be pushing forward on the idea of modifying the fairing to tolerate brief salt water immersion with some refurb procedure.
I agree. Observing the dispersal of these satellites would be most interesting.
First Atlantic storm of the season (Andrea) has formed off the Florida coast but does not appear to be a threat to land. Seems awfully early for this kind of activity.
A week has gone by, the Falcon 9 with the 60 Starlink satellites is again vertical on the pad, and weather and the vagaries of space launch permitting, launch should be a bit less than five hours from now.
Will carry the SpaceX webcast, starting about 10:15 p.m. EDT (launch window begins at 10:30 p.m.)
While Mr. Steven again has four arms, the ship is not out on the range, so any attempt at learning how to catch a fairing half in her net will have to wait for future launch.
Other than manifold possibilities for things gone wrong, I think the major opportunity for novel video on this launch will come if they share video of the sixty satellites deploying. Presumably to save cost and mass, they are not using a dispenser per se. Reading a little between the lines, it seems likely they will get the full stack rotating, and then release pairs of satellites at a moderate interval, relying on "centrifugal force" to get an orderly departure, and the Krypton (not the traditional Xenon) working fluid ion thrusters to get them out of the neighborhood and moving toward intended orbit.
A tip on launch delays--because the super-chilled propellants warm after loading, the possible launch time is quite narrowly constrained once propellant load begins. So if they are still saying 10:30 at 10:10, it is probably 10:30 on the dot, or another day.
Interesting that the event
)
Interesting that the event happened 0.5 seconds before ignition. Many possibilities. Engine failure however is excluded. Assembly error some pipe fitting wasn't torqued down, internal valve failure, even the possibility that it was the drago system that dumped fuel onto an electric line to the super dragos so it popped off when the activation commands were being sent. Also possible is bad test protocol sending the wrong commands or at the wrong time. Having the telemetry frames will tell them a lot about what system or systems were changing state.
What I didn't hear was how fast he super dragos are supposed to light off in an actual launch abort. I would suspect that if there is any significant time involved that the ground launch sequence would have to arm them before main engine start so they could very rapidly fire to pull the spacecraft away from the fireball coming at it. I'd think it would have to operate faster than 0.5 seconds. A supersonic fireball would travel the length of the rocket by then. Remember there is enough energy in the first stage fuel tank to be a small nuke.
The CRS-17 ISS resupply
)
The CRS-17 ISS resupply mission flew successfully on May 4 after a delay attributed to an electrical fault on the landing barge.
The webcast as provided by SpaceX is available at:
https://youtu.be/AQFhX5TvP0M
I realize that these things get somewhat repetitive, so I'll mention that new this time for the landing of the first stage on the barge:
1. Infrared photos from the side starting at T + 7:43
2. downward view from the stage looking at the landing barge clear down the touchdown and a bit beyond.
One or both of these may have been facilitated by the fact that the landing barge was quite near the Cape. This mission was intended to land the first stage on land, but the area was not available as part of the aftermath of the recent explosion which destroyed a Dragon during ground testing.
The infrared imaging was
)
The infrared imaging was fantastic as was the touch down imaging. Repetitive, yes. Boring, no.
SpaceX currently plans a
)
SpaceX currently plans a Falcon 9 launch from the Cape about seven hours from now.
Webcast link here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT366GiQkP0
Points of possible interest:
This is a launch of 60 (not a typo) communications satellites. The satellites are not at the full final intended production configuration for the planned SpaceX Low Earth Orbit enormous constellation, but far, far closer to production config than the two test satellites flown months ago as tag-along payload on a mission for another purpose.
SpaceX has provided
this one photo showing the 60 satellites stacked up on the payload adaptor.
While the exact payload is not known, all indications are that this will be the heaviest orbital payload SpaceX has yet flown.
Notwithstanding the heavy payload, this mission is planned for barge landing of the first stage.
A well-placed source (Elon) has said that these satellites don't have a dispenser per se. So if made available, deployment video may be especially interesting in revealing much more than is currently known about the satellite configuration, and watching how they separate one at a time.
Sunset at Cape Canaveral today is at 8:06 p.m. EDT. The intended launch time of 10:30 p.m. EDT May 15 (02:30 UTC May 16) is probably far too long after sunset to support any pretty side-lighting effects.
Mr. Steven has lost her arms, and I think the whole idea of catching the fairing in nets before water impact is in abeyance. They do seem to be pushing forward on the idea of modifying the fairing to tolerate brief salt water immersion with some refurb procedure.
archae86 wrote:While the
)
After I posted that comment, Elon tweeted that the payload is 18.5 tons, and affirmed it to be the heaviest SpaceX payload to date. He also mentioned that the solar arrays summed across the 60 satellites come to more power than ISS array total.
They pushed back the launch
)
They pushed back the launch time by 30 minutes not long before propellant load. Then under 15 minutes before the revised launch time, they scrubbed for excessive upper-level winds.
The new launch window opens at 10:30 p.m. EDT tomorrow.
archae86 wrote:SpaceX
)
I agree. Observing the dispersal of these satellites would be most interesting.
SpaceX never ceases to capture my attention.
archae86 wrote:Mr. Steven has
)
My thinking has been overtaken by facts. An alert observer on the Space Coast noticed arms being attached to Mr. Steven today.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7B6IK9XoAEiBEx.jpg
I imagine something got strengthened so that weather and waves somewhat worse than those which defeated the previous arrangement should be tolerated.
First Atlantic storm of the
)
First Atlantic storm of the season (Andrea) has formed off the Florida coast but does not appear to be a threat to land. Seems awfully early for this kind of activity.
A week has gone by, the
)
A week has gone by, the Falcon 9 with the 60 Starlink satellites is again vertical on the pad, and weather and the vagaries of space launch permitting, launch should be a bit less than five hours from now.
https://youtu.be/AfbIMknNWks
Will carry the SpaceX webcast, starting about 10:15 p.m. EDT (launch window begins at 10:30 p.m.)
While Mr. Steven again has four arms, the ship is not out on the range, so any attempt at learning how to catch a fairing half in her net will have to wait for future launch.
Other than manifold possibilities for things gone wrong, I think the major opportunity for novel video on this launch will come if they share video of the sixty satellites deploying. Presumably to save cost and mass, they are not using a dispenser per se. Reading a little between the lines, it seems likely they will get the full stack rotating, and then release pairs of satellites at a moderate interval, relying on "centrifugal force" to get an orderly departure, and the Krypton (not the traditional Xenon) working fluid ion thrusters to get them out of the neighborhood and moving toward intended orbit.
A tip on launch delays--because the super-chilled propellants warm after loading, the possible launch time is quite narrowly constrained once propellant load begins. So if they are still saying 10:30 at 10:10, it is probably 10:30 on the dot, or another day.