The Falcon 9 remains healthy in advance of SpaceX and SES’s mission to deliver the SES-9 satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Out of an abundance of caution, the team opted to hold launch for today to ensure liquid oxygen temperatures are as cold as possible in an effort to maximize performance of the vehicle. SpaceX is now targeting tomorrow, Thursday Feb. 25, at 6:46pm ET for launch of SES-9.
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Scrub for today. Sounds like they were a bit behind on the liquid oxygen load from where they needed to be, and with the chilled propellants there was not a recycle opportunity within the window today.
Scrub for today. Sounds like they were a bit behind on the liquid oxygen load from where they needed to be, and with the chilled propellants there was not a recycle opportunity within the window today.
No next launch day yet known.
Will give my eye time to re-open. :-))
Yesterday's no show landed me own improvised rocket in it. Mon! Plastic film canister loaded with bicarb and vinegar. Finest launch I never saw :-)) Kids liked the timing - after how to make the little bast***s and a minute into safe launch recommendations. :-)
When SpaceX stayed put tonight, woosed-out and made a balloon and CD hover disc, instead. Heh heh.
Finally the SES-9 webcast page at SpaceX has a time to launch display.
the stated launch time for my time zone is a window opening at 4:46 p.m. MST and extending to 6:23 p.m. MST. MST is UTC-7, so the window opening is as 23:46 UTC on February 28, 2016 if I got it right.
SpaceX Stats describes "The first stage will attempt a high-velocity, no-boostback downrange landing on Of Course I Still Love You", which if I interpret correctly is a new manouevre type ?
Yup, they're going for the real energy saver here. Flip the first stage over after stage separation and go down from there. No room for much finesse here.
If you add this to the desired level of deep cryo that has delayed this launch, then I reckon they are testing the max throw they can get but still retrieve.
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
I reckon they are testing the max throw they can get but still retrieve.
Or quite possibly a bit beyond. Somewhere they have said rather specifically that they don't expect to make it this time.
I envision perhaps the stage getting within sight of the recovery barge and then running out of juice. Assuming the targetting is good, that might even give an impact on the barge at uncomfortably high rate, though I think it more likely it will impact within view but well aside. I wonder whether they have given any thought to implementing code intended intentionally to nudge the beast a bit off course if running out of fuel is deemed certain?
On the other hand the "Big Ocean theory"* might suggest the barge is not at much risk until the very end, by which time the impact is way down.
* by analogy to the "Big Sky theory" which holds that with no air traffic control aircraft would usually not hit each other.
Launch pushed back a day.
)
Launch pushed back a day. Windows opens 24 hours after the previous one.
Interesting rationale
)
Interesting rationale :
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Clear blue skies. Winds ~24.
)
Clear blue skies. Winds ~24. Hoping the winds will calm down by launch time. Otherwise it looks like a perfect day.
Scrub for today. Sounds like
)
Scrub for today. Sounds like they were a bit behind on the liquid oxygen load from where they needed to be, and with the chilled propellants there was not a recycle opportunity within the window today.
No next launch day yet known.
RE: Scrub for today.
)
Will give my eye time to re-open. :-))
Yesterday's no show landed me own improvised rocket in it. Mon! Plastic film canister loaded with bicarb and vinegar. Finest launch I never saw :-)) Kids liked the timing - after how to make the little bast***s and a minute into safe launch recommendations. :-)
When SpaceX stayed put tonight, woosed-out and made a balloon and CD hover disc, instead. Heh heh.
Multiple posts on the
)
Multiple posts on the NasaSpaceflight.com thread for this mission now say there are indications of a Sunday night launch with a Monday backup.
Finally the SES-9 webcast
)
Finally the SES-9 webcast page at SpaceX has a time to launch display.
the stated launch time for my time zone is a window opening at 4:46 p.m. MST and extending to 6:23 p.m. MST. MST is UTC-7, so the window opening is as 23:46 UTC on February 28, 2016 if I got it right.
RE: Multiple posts on the
)
Nice. :-) Thanks for the heads up,
SpaceX Stats describes "The
)
SpaceX Stats describes "The first stage will attempt a high-velocity, no-boostback downrange landing on Of Course I Still Love You", which if I interpret correctly is a new manouevre type ?
Yup, they're going for the real energy saver here. Flip the first stage over after stage separation and go down from there. No room for much finesse here.
If you add this to the desired level of deep cryo that has delayed this launch, then I reckon they are testing the max throw they can get but still retrieve.
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: I reckon they are
)
Or quite possibly a bit beyond. Somewhere they have said rather specifically that they don't expect to make it this time.
I envision perhaps the stage getting within sight of the recovery barge and then running out of juice. Assuming the targetting is good, that might even give an impact on the barge at uncomfortably high rate, though I think it more likely it will impact within view but well aside. I wonder whether they have given any thought to implementing code intended intentionally to nudge the beast a bit off course if running out of fuel is deemed certain?
On the other hand the "Big Ocean theory"* might suggest the barge is not at much risk until the very end, by which time the impact is way down.
* by analogy to the "Big Sky theory" which holds that with no air traffic control aircraft would usually not hit each other.