I've converted this into a discussion thread, given most of it is now. I'll set up an update thread tomorrow. Very unlikely to be September 19, by the way. Oh and Nadreck, no official reason given and no official confirmation (but that's what I'm being told. When I know more - past the rumors - I'll use that too).
The reason of it discussed somewhere in the forum earlier is a core swapping between Asiasat and CRS - as I remember.
I dont know, according to this tweet they are still go for the 19thhttps://twitter.com/Leone_SN/status/506828054203990016
Quote from: MTom on 09/03/2014 10:26 pmThe reason of it discussed somewhere in the forum earlier is a core swapping between Asiasat and CRS - as I remember.If that's true, then they'd need another static fire. Or was it swapped long ago?
We've had two statements from SpaceX. Don't have references handy, but they were:"The next landing will be on a barge""We're done with water landings"
While they are slowly getting better, at launching rockets in quick succession, I don't think they are going to try and launch a CRS mission within less than two weeks from the Asiasat-6. It's not worth the risk.
Maybe there is nothing left to learn by putting the legs on, until they are ready for a hard-surface landing?
Quote from: Norm38 on 09/04/2014 03:38 amQuote from: MTom on 09/03/2014 10:26 pmThe reason of it discussed somewhere in the forum earlier is a core swapping between Asiasat and CRS - as I remember.If that's true, then they'd need another static fire. Or was it swapped long ago?A SpaceX employee mentioned the swap months ago.QuoteWe've had two statements from SpaceX. Don't have references handy, but they were:"The next landing will be on a barge""We're done with water landings"Those are not SpaceX statements, I think they are tweets from Rand Simberg, which happened to be wrong. SpaceX statement is http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/07/22/spacex-soft-lands-falcon-9-rocket-first-stage, which makes it clear CRS-4 is landing in water.
Ben Cooper is saying CRS-4 will be "around Sept 28 at the earliest".http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html
Quote from: Chris Bergin on 09/03/2014 10:40 pmI've converted this into a discussion thread, given most of it is now. I'll set up an update thread tomorrow. Very unlikely to be September 19, by the way. Oh and Nadreck, no official reason given and no official confirmation (but that's what I'm being told. When I know more - past the rumors - I'll use that too).I dont know, according to this tweet they are still go for the 19thhttps://twitter.com/Leone_SN/status/506828054203990016Care to elaborate why you feel it wont make the 19th? or is that restricted to L2 for now?
IIRC they needed the landing legs to control rotational rates - ie they act as "fins" on the way down as well as supports during landing (that was why the very first water landing attempt failed). It will be interesting if their guidance systems have developed to the point that they can pull off a soft water landing without legs.
Quote from: mikelepage on 09/04/2014 08:14 amIIRC they needed the landing legs to control rotational rates - ie they act as "fins" on the way down as well as supports during landing (that was why the very first water landing attempt failed). It will be interesting if their guidance systems have developed to the point that they can pull off a soft water landing without legs.That speculation turned out to be unfounded, as illustrated by the OG2 and CRS3 landing videos. They managed the roll through improved GN2 thrusters and additional N2, rather than using the legs, and are developing grid fins for that purpose as shown by the various recent photos F9R-Dev1.
Here's the full image, showing nice detail on the interior of the Dragon trunk
Quote from: bilbo on 09/04/2014 02:20 amQuote from: Chris Bergin on 09/03/2014 10:40 pmI've converted this into a discussion thread, given most of it is now. I'll set up an update thread tomorrow. Very unlikely to be September 19, by the way. Oh and Nadreck, no official reason given and no official confirmation (but that's what I'm being told. When I know more - past the rumors - I'll use that too).I dont know, according to this tweet they are still go for the 19thhttps://twitter.com/Leone_SN/status/506828054203990016Care to elaborate why you feel it wont make the 19th? or is that restricted to L2 for now?Is a pad turnaround time of 19th-7th = 12 days really conceivable yet?Assuming we sprinkle enough fairy dust on the four-leaf clovers, can the current pad infrastructure theoretically handle two launches 12 days apart?