SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
They static fired the Falcon 9 for a second time, after changing an engine valve.
It could potentially launch on Tuesday, but there's no official word on that, so it's highly unlikely.
ULA have an Atlas V due off on Thursday 8th (from 5:44 am local time) at the neighbouring pad, with the next day reserved too.
The range needs 48 hours to reset, so SpaceX will most likely launch on Saturday at the earliest.
UPDATE: Well they seem to be going for a Tuesday launch after all.
The window opens at 6.53 pm local time (11.53 pm in the UK) and will run for about 90 minutes.
The fairing recover ship, GO Ms.Tree, is already about 600 miles out to sea.
https://www.spacex.com/webcast
It could potentially launch on Tuesday, but there's no official word on that, so it's highly unlikely.
ULA have an Atlas V due off on Thursday 8th (from 5:44 am local time) at the neighbouring pad, with the next day reserved too.
The range needs 48 hours to reset, so SpaceX will most likely launch on Saturday at the earliest.
UPDATE: Well they seem to be going for a Tuesday launch after all.
The window opens at 6.53 pm local time (11.53 pm in the UK) and will run for about 90 minutes.
The fairing recover ship, GO Ms.Tree, is already about 600 miles out to sea.
https://www.spacex.com/webcast
Edited by Beati Dogu on Tuesday 6th August 01:36
MartG said:
Scott Manley video looking at the draft environmental impact report for Starship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKSH221uy4
Big plans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKSH221uy4
I want to see the vessel the Starship Boosters are going to land on.
It's comparable in size to the Saturn V's first & second stage.Surely too big for the usual landing ships. They'd capsize it.
Hopefully more detail will be revealed later this month, when Musk is supposed to give a presentation.
Here's some drone footage of Blue Origin's landing ship being converted for New Glenn landings.
https://twitter.com/dakotaastrowolf/status/1145111...
Also, SpaceX's Pacific recovery ship , Just Read the Instructions, is currently being towed round to Florida via the Panama canal.
They're supposed to be having a 3rd ship built/converted as well - "A Shortfall of Gravitas"
Edited by Beati Dogu on Tuesday 6th August 01:43
E-mail just arrived...
"SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, August 6 for launch of AMOS-17 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch window opens at 6:53 p.m. EDT, or 22:53 UTC, and closes at 8:21 p.m. EDT, or 00:21 UTC on August 7. The satellite will be deployed approximately 31 minutes after liftoff.
Falcon 9’s first stage for the AMOS-17 mission previously supported the Telstar-19 VANTAGE mission in July 2018 and the Es’hail-2 mission in November 2018. SpaceX's live launch coverage will begin about 15 minutes before liftoff.
"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZh82-WcCuo
"SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, August 6 for launch of AMOS-17 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch window opens at 6:53 p.m. EDT, or 22:53 UTC, and closes at 8:21 p.m. EDT, or 00:21 UTC on August 7. The satellite will be deployed approximately 31 minutes after liftoff.
Falcon 9’s first stage for the AMOS-17 mission previously supported the Telstar-19 VANTAGE mission in July 2018 and the Es’hail-2 mission in November 2018. SpaceX's live launch coverage will begin about 15 minutes before liftoff.
"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZh82-WcCuo
Great launch and brill that they caught one half of the fairing.
It's strange though, it wasn't long ago that ticket launches were such an occasion. Now space X have mastered the reusable model these launches are now considered business as usual. Still spectacular and I'm not detracting from the amount of effort and engineering is astonishing.
Onto starship!
It's strange though, it wasn't long ago that ticket launches were such an occasion. Now space X have mastered the reusable model these launches are now considered business as usual. Still spectacular and I'm not detracting from the amount of effort and engineering is astonishing.
Onto starship!
I suppose potentially they could. I just assumed they were trying to perfect it before commiting to a second boat. At $3 million per half, there's a nice incentive to get it right.
These fairings are pretty big - some 43 ft long by 17 ft wide; So I wouldn't have thought they'd be able to have two fairings in the same net, as they'd potentially slide together and damage themselves.
They'd probably need to quickly lower the first one to the deck first. I'm not sure how you'd lower two without them colliding.
Then there's the time gap between the two fairings floating down. Might not be enough time to set up again for it.
It'll be interesting to see what they do. It's all pioneering stuff.
These fairings are pretty big - some 43 ft long by 17 ft wide; So I wouldn't have thought they'd be able to have two fairings in the same net, as they'd potentially slide together and damage themselves.
They'd probably need to quickly lower the first one to the deck first. I'm not sure how you'd lower two without them colliding.
Then there's the time gap between the two fairings floating down. Might not be enough time to set up again for it.
It'll be interesting to see what they do. It's all pioneering stuff.
Amazing that they can catch the fairings now, it doesn't seem that long ago that it all appeared to be a bit hopeless, with the arms breaking and so forth.
Just the second stage to figure out. I think they gave up on the idea of bringing it back as it was just too fast and too high. But with the way the SpaceX guys think laterally, and the fact that a Falcon Heavy launch doesn't cost much more (with full reuse) than a regular Falcon launch, I wonder if they may do something outlandish like pushing the second stages into a parking orbit for later use as fuel depots?
Just the second stage to figure out. I think they gave up on the idea of bringing it back as it was just too fast and too high. But with the way the SpaceX guys think laterally, and the fact that a Falcon Heavy launch doesn't cost much more (with full reuse) than a regular Falcon launch, I wonder if they may do something outlandish like pushing the second stages into a parking orbit for later use as fuel depots?
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