The inclination of the second stage NOTAM should indicate a dogleg during launch. Can someone check that?
Got my days mixed up, thought Saturday was the 30th. Yes, Sunday Morning. So the live feed should be on by 7AM Eastern Sunday morning or a little earlier.
Quote from: Semmel on 04/27/2017 03:41 pmThe inclination of the second stage NOTAM should indicate a dogleg during launch. Can someone check that?A dog-leg would be a rather silly waste of fuel, since the vehicle *could* launch directly into an orbit with an inclination between 57 and 62 degrees, if a higher inclination were desired.
I wonder if they will wipe the speed indicators from webcast. The speedometer readily provides acceleration, which in turn provides a pretty good estimate of payload mass.
Just looked at the NROL-76 press kit.The MECO time is, to my knowledge, the earliest for a Falcon 9 mission. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after launch. This gives the first stage more fuel than the CRS-9, CRS-10, and Orbcomm-2 flights.
Quote from: ZachS09 on 04/27/2017 09:28 pmJust looked at the NROL-76 press kit.The MECO time is, to my knowledge, the earliest for a Falcon 9 mission. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after launch. This gives the first stage more fuel than the CRS-9, CRS-10, and Orbcomm-2 flights.Max-Q also happens sooner than ever, maybe this is the first block 4 core, with higher trust. If I remember correctly this core did a full duration burn at Mcgregor. I don't recall if anyone ever gave a good explanation for the longer burn.
Quote from: André Carmel on 04/27/2017 09:48 pmQuote from: ZachS09 on 04/27/2017 09:28 pmJust looked at the NROL-76 press kit.The MECO time is, to my knowledge, the earliest for a Falcon 9 mission. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after launch. This gives the first stage more fuel than the CRS-9, CRS-10, and Orbcomm-2 flights.Max-Q also happens sooner than ever, maybe this is the first block 4 core, with higher trust. If I remember correctly this core did a full duration burn at Mcgregor. I don't recall if anyone ever gave a good explanation for the longer burn.Or the sat could be extremely light, or maybe even both.
...but per NRO request, live commentary and tracking of 2nd stage will cutoff at payload fairing jettison. Live feed will then transition to discuss only the first stage as it attempts an RTLS landing back at CCAFS.
Quote from: IanThePineapple on 04/27/2017 09:52 pmQuote from: André Carmel on 04/27/2017 09:48 pmQuote from: ZachS09 on 04/27/2017 09:28 pmJust looked at the NROL-76 press kit.The MECO time is, to my knowledge, the earliest for a Falcon 9 mission. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after launch. This gives the first stage more fuel than the CRS-9, CRS-10, and Orbcomm-2 flights.Max-Q also happens sooner than ever, maybe this is the first block 4 core, with higher trust. If I remember correctly this core did a full duration burn at Mcgregor. I don't recall if anyone ever gave a good explanation for the longer burn.Or the sat could be extremely light, or maybe even both.The impact of spacecraft mass on the tie of Max-Q has to be very small, while a change in total thrust has a very large impact. Higher thrust means higher acceleration means higher velocity at a given altitude and going supersonic in denser air. Our skilled contributors can verify this or dispute it quantitatively.
Quote from: Comga on 04/27/2017 11:18 pmQuote from: IanThePineapple on 04/27/2017 09:52 pmQuote from: André Carmel on 04/27/2017 09:48 pmQuote from: ZachS09 on 04/27/2017 09:28 pmJust looked at the NROL-76 press kit.The MECO time is, to my knowledge, the earliest for a Falcon 9 mission. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after launch. This gives the first stage more fuel than the CRS-9, CRS-10, and Orbcomm-2 flights.Max-Q also happens sooner than ever, maybe this is the first block 4 core, with higher trust. If I remember correctly this core did a full duration burn at Mcgregor. I don't recall if anyone ever gave a good explanation for the longer burn.Or the sat could be extremely light, or maybe even both.The impact of spacecraft mass on the tie of Max-Q has to be very small, while a change in total thrust has a very large impact. Higher thrust means higher acceleration means higher velocity at a given altitude and going supersonic in denser air. Our skilled contributors can verify this or dispute it quantitatively.Faster acceleration and earlier MECO means less gravity loss, sooner boost back and less downrange distance to make up. The fuel saving should more than make up for higher friction at Max-Q.
Could this be a NRO validation flight? So no real payload but some dummy satellite. The purpose would be to establish and validate all the NRO requirements on SpaceX. Can SpaceX actually guarantee the secrecy required for an NRO mission or is there some leak?
Quote from: Semmel on 04/28/2017 06:17 amCould this be a NRO validation flight? So no real payload but some dummy satellite. The purpose would be to establish and validate all the NRO requirements on SpaceX. Can SpaceX actually guarantee the secrecy required for an NRO mission or is there some leak?I doubt even NRO has the money to just send up a dummy payload.An experimental payload - high risk, low price - is far more likely. So, a real payload but something that doesn't matter that much if something goes wrong (or leaks). Checking out SpaceX procedures "for reals" in preparation of future missions? Maybe a secondary objective.