SpaceX sticks the landing!

[Phoenix86]

Falcon 9 ready for reuse, already. That's some damned fast turn around considering it's the first. Simply amazing.

http://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-...sable-falcon-9-rocket-is-ready-to-fire-again/

 

[BarkingGhostar]

They landed a reusable rocket.

On the target.

From space.

Vertically.

From space.

And it didn't tip over.

I've seen lawn darts have a lot less accuracy.

I've seen people mowing their lawns with less accuracy.

 

[PottedMeat]

anyone know if they're going to try to land the jason 3 first stage at vandenberg on the 17th?

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/jason-3/

wikipedia says this was supposed to be the first return to land launch but was reordered after the CRS7 failure

 

[Ken g6]

Wikipedia also says this is the last launch of the Falcon 9 V1.1. So I have my doubts they want to recover the first stage. I'm also not sure if the trajectory from Vandenberg is favorable to recovery or not.

 

[JEDI]

so whats the big deal about landing the rocket?
why couldn't they just pick it up from the ocean and re-use it?

ie: parachute land softly in the water

 

[Ruptga]

so whats the big deal about reading the thread?
why can't I just enter a thread and know whats going on?

ie: ask dumb question after four pages

 

[lupi]

I only see one page.

 

[Jeff7]

so whats the big deal about landing the rocket?
why couldn't they just pick it up from the ocean and re-use it?

ie: parachute land softly in the water

- Recovery ship is needed to go out and get it.
- Salt water isn't good for metal or electronics.

 

[JEDI]

- Recovery ship is needed to go out and get it.
- Salt water isn't good for metal or electronics.

thx! :thumbsup:

 

[Jeff7]

That's great. I'm going to eat the face of the next person who tells me this is like launching a pencil over the Empire State building and then landing it in a shoe box. It was fine the first couple of hundred times but now I'm ready to eat faces. I'll probably spend most of my life in prison, but that won't uneat your face you fuck.

Like firing a dildo over the Burj Khalifa and landing it in your mom's........

:hmm:
No, maybe not that either. I'll have to get back to you later on that.





.

 

[Phoenix86]

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/16/spacex-successfully-fired-up-its-returned-falcon-9/

SpaceX successfully fired up its returned Falcon 9

The only way to know if your rocket is actually reusable is to test it.

 

[destrekor]

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/16/spacex-successfully-fired-up-its-returned-falcon-9/

SpaceX successfully fired up its returned Falcon 9

The only way to know if your rocket is actually reusable is to test it.

Cool!

Also another launch planned tomorrow at 1:42pm EST- SpaceX will be trying again for a landing on a floating platform (the droneship "Just Read The Instructions"). Musk says it's important they achieve that as well as land-based landings so that they can have the option based on mission parameters.

http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

It'll be awhile before they are confident about actually test-launching a returned rocket, and awhile before they actually can get a vessel to return with full integrity so that it can be launched again. Probably many years away from having valuable payloads - but it's a start, and it has to happen before any of those dreams can come true.


edit:
Ha, hadn't clicked on your link because I had already read about that earlier today. Turns out it also has the launch time and coverage in the article.

 

[Phoenix86]

I expect the floating platform landing would be preferred considering you don't need to retrograde burn (significant fuel/weight) as most launches are planned over water for safety reasons. Hopefully they stick that landing too.

I bet they will do a few more burn/test cycles on at least 3 returned rockets to get the data. Not sure it'll be years, but I guess it could be that far out. Depends on how often they can repeat the landing too. Hopefully they have it close to perfected. The first landing was soooo smooth.

 

[destrekor]

I expect the floating platform landing would be preferred considering you don't need to retrograde burn (significant fuel/weight) as most launches are planned over water for safety reasons. Hopefully they stick that landing too.

I bet they will do a few more burn/test cycles on at least 3 returned rockets to get the data. Not sure it'll be years, but I guess it could be that far out. Depends on how often they can repeat the landing too. Hopefully they have it close to perfected. The first landing was soooo smooth.

I just figure there have got to be not insignificant safety worries in regards to reusing a large first stage that just reentered atmosphere.

How many things can go wrong when it is fired up at full capacity and, beyond that, undergoes the stress of actual launch. Engines getting tested is one thing, but a full launch with payload is a whole different matter.

Maybe it won't be years, as SpaceX launches far more frequently it seems so they could get plenty of data. But I suspect it may be years before they ever put a man on a reused rocket. Wonder how long until they even have their first manned flight in the first place? It seems the dragon capsule is shaping up nicely, had a good abort test recently IIRC.

 

[Phoenix86]

I'd think the rocket firing up and performing correctly would be the bulk of the work as it's by far the most complex function. Weight is just stress testing, far easier by comparison.

The initial report of no major problems found was incredibly exciting, as we have never really seen a used rocket that didn't smack into the ground. Firing up this soon as well? Well slap my ass and call me sally.

They did find some fluctuations in it's performance, which is much better than I expected I figured it would need a fair amount of repair before firing and that doesn't seem to be the case. Still a ways to go, but amazing progress.

 

[PottedMeat]

nasa livestream

http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

it is really really foggy out there

can't even see the rocket on the pad

 

[11thHour]

nasa livestream

http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

it is really really foggy out there

can't even see the rocket on the pad

4 minutes to launch!

 

[PottedMeat]

4 minutes to launch!

wheeeeee

they using an IR camera?

 

[Ns1]

is SpaceX sponsored by Dell?


that's a pretty nice 3 monitor setup - what kind of monitor stand is that?

 

[PottedMeat]

aww one of the legs broke

 

[Ns1]

what the hell is going on right now?

 

[Phoenix86]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/688799901463883776

First stage on target at droneship but looks like hard landing; broke landing leg. Primary mission remains nominal

Sounds like it landed, broke a leg and tipped over.

 

[PottedMeat]

what the hell is going on right now?

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

said it came in on target, one of the landing legs broke

they'll be back in 30 mins for 2nd stage/jason-3 orbit thingie

 

[Phoenix86]

what the hell is going on right now?

Feed had issues during landing, not broadcasting anything but SpaceX mission control until the final orbit burn. I believe it's in parking orbit waiting for transfer window.

 

[Ns1]

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

said it came in on target, one of the landing legs broke

they'll be back in 30 mins for 2nd stage/jason-3 orbit thingie

oh that's way better than the nasa link.



this is awesome.