Author Topic: FAILURE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2  (Read 339275 times)

Offline Chris Bergin

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has scheduled the launch of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 mission for Saturday, August 2nd. The launch window will open at 4:00 p.m. (PDT) / 7:00 p.m. (EDT) and remain open for five hours.

Live coverage thread.

Webcast available via http://www.spacex.com/

Build-up thread: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=13179.0

Preview article: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5482

Launch should be recorded (we'll see if our usual people can record off their stream).

Presser (well done to Tobi for finding it before the media were informed, on a PR Business Wire):

If launch is delayed for any reason, SpaceX has range availability to resume countdown through August 5.

Lift-off of the vehicle will occur from SpaceX's Falcon 1 launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, about 2500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Falcon 1 launch facilities are situated on Omelek Island, part of the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific.

Designed from the ground up by SpaceX at headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., Falcon 1 is a two-stage, liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene powered launch vehicle. The first stage is powered by a single SpaceX Merlin 1C Regenerative engine - flying for the first time on this Flight 3 mission. A "hold before liftoff" system enhances reliability by permitting all systems to be verified as functioning nominally before launch is initiated. The Falcon 1 second stage is powered by a single SpaceX Kestrel engine.

Falcon 1 is the first new orbital rocket in more than a decade. Merlin is the first new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in more than 40 years and only the second new American engine of any kind in more than a quarter century. After achieving orbit, Falcon 1 will be the first privately developed, liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

The primary customers for the Falcon 1 launch are the Department of Defense, Government of Malaysia and NASA. Falcon 1 is carrying a payload stack of three separating satellites that will orbit at an inclination of 9 degrees:

-- The Trailblazer satellite was developed by SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., for the Jumpstart Program of DoD's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, as a test platform to validate the hardware, software and processes of an accelerated microsatellite launch. Trailblazer is deployed from the Falcon 1 second stage shortly after the shut-down of the second stage engine, about 10 minutes into flight.

-- Deploying four to eight minutes later will be two NASA small satellites: PRESat, a micro laboratory from NASA's Ames Research Center, and then NanoSail-D, which will unfurl an ultra-thin solar sail, developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center.

-- The three separating satellites attach to the Falcon 1 second stage via the Secondary Payload Adaptor and Separation System, (SPASS), developed by ATSB, a company owned by the Government of Malaysia that develops and commercializes space technology. The SPASS was engineered by Space Access Technologies of Ashburn, Va.

SpaceX will provide live coverage of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 mission via webcast at: www.SpaceX.com. The webcast will begin 30 minutes prior to launch and will include mission briefings, live feeds and launch coverage from the launch site at the Kawjalein Atoll, as well as a special video tour of SpaceX facilities by Elon Musk, CEO and CTO.
« Last Edit: 08/04/2008 02:03 pm by Chris Bergin »
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Offline dunderwood

  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 158
  • Liked: 7
  • Likes Given: 6
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #1 on: 08/02/2008 06:15 pm »
Awesome!  Thanks for the heads up, Chris. 

Offline EE Scott

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1177
  • Liked: 74
  • Likes Given: 356
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #2 on: 08/02/2008 06:28 pm »
Second that!  My Saturday just got a whole lot more interesting....
 ;D

« Last Edit: 08/02/2008 06:28 pm by EE Scott »
Scott

Offline simonbp

  • Science Guy
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7138
  • Liked: 314
  • Likes Given: 183
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #3 on: 08/02/2008 06:29 pm »
Webcast specifically at: http://www.spacex.com/testcast.php

Simon ;)

Offline simonbp

  • Science Guy
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7138
  • Liked: 314
  • Likes Given: 183

Offline tobi453

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 250
  • Liked: 81
  • Likes Given: 15
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #5 on: 08/02/2008 06:35 pm »
The press release can now also be found here:
http://spacex.com/press.php?page=46

Offline tobi453

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 250
  • Liked: 81
  • Likes Given: 15

Offline James Lowe1

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 846
  • New York City
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #7 on: 08/02/2008 07:11 pm »
Good links. Note to all, this is a live coverage thread, and thus let's keep the cheerleading down to a minimum. It's going to get very busy near launch and new arrivals won't want to be trawling through 100 posts of "Go SpaceX" etc ;)

Offline kraisee

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10560
  • Liked: 807
  • Likes Given: 40
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #8 on: 08/02/2008 07:16 pm »
Any idea why Space-X held back the information until ~6 hours before the launch?

Have they been working some technical issue we haven't heard about yet and just solved it?

Ross.
"The meek shall inherit the Earth -- the rest of us will go to the stars"
-Robert A. Heinlein

Offline landofgrey

  • Recovering rocket scientist, currently media
  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 271
  • Living the dream in Cape Canaveral
  • KSC / CCAFS / Melbourne, FL
    • ARES Institute, Inc.
  • Liked: 0
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #9 on: 08/02/2008 07:36 pm »
It should be an interesting evening. I wouldn't call it a make or break mission, but it's definitely important. In the past Elon has said they could weather two or three "failures", but I really wonder what would happen if this mission isn't 100% success, public statements aside. SpaceX has so many contracts, Falcon 9 is far along in development, etc. I went to take a look at the CCAFS launch facilities and they're making good progress there too. SpaceX seems to be too far along on several fronts for another fakilure to bring them down, but I still wonder what the ramifications would be. For me, I'm looking forward to the first F9 delivery to the Cape and would hate to see that delayed. Heaven knows we need the launch business here.

A little off topic... Press releases, in general, that get sent out by companies to pr newswire get picked up by the press almost immediately since pr newswire is one of the main sources the news media uses for their press releases. Of course, the sender also sends them to specific news organizations at the same time, but when you're an outlet that has to monitor releases from hundreds, or more, organizations, it's a lot more efficient to go to a one-stop shop like pr newswire. This release ended up in my inbox about 5 minutes after pr got it. I'm just saying, in a slight defense of the media, the press was informed at the same time as the release hit pr newswire and it would be a mistake to think those in the media didn't get this release at or near the same time it was sent by SpaceX. But with the unfortuante news cycle, most news outlets won't have anything online until later in the afternoon. Sorry about the off-topic divergence, but sometimes when it seems the media is in the dark, slow, lazy or not caring, it's not really that at all.
Twitter: @spacearium; YouTube: spacearium

Offline Orbiter

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2995
  • Florida
  • Liked: 1548
  • Likes Given: 1385
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #10 on: 08/02/2008 07:38 pm »
Webcast to start at 6:30 PM EDT
KSC Engineer, astronomer, rocket photographer.

Offline Paul Adams

  • Veteran
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • United Kingdom and USA
  • Liked: 37
  • Likes Given: 26
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #11 on: 08/02/2008 07:41 pm »
With everything looking so very negative with Aries and the NASA program, this launch carries a lot of significance in my opinion.

To Elon and the rest of the SpaceX team - good luck. I wish you 100% success and a celabratory hang-over about 12 hours after the mission!

Paul
It's all in the data.


Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #13 on: 08/02/2008 07:47 pm »
Latest hi res image they've sent out:
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Offline Hunt101

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 271
  • ULA
  • Liked: 2271
  • Likes Given: 54
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #14 on: 08/02/2008 07:48 pm »
If they've had problems, they won't be letting anyone know. They sure didn't on the first Falcon 9 test which nearly became a massive failure.

Offline Orbiter

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2995
  • Florida
  • Liked: 1548
  • Likes Given: 1385
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #15 on: 08/02/2008 07:55 pm »
Latest hi res image they've sent out:

Interesting, done on the cheep and less complicated when compared to even an Atlas V.
KSC Engineer, astronomer, rocket photographer.

Offline Lee Jay

  • Elite Veteran
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8566
  • Liked: 3603
  • Likes Given: 327
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #16 on: 08/02/2008 07:56 pm »
Latest hi res image they've sent out:

I still find it odd that there are trees within 10-15 meters of the launch pad.

Offline jimvela

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1662
  • Liked: 900
  • Likes Given: 71
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #17 on: 08/02/2008 08:08 pm »
If they've had problems, they won't be letting anyone know. They sure didn't on the first Falcon 9 test which nearly became a massive failure.

Given the contents of your "Location", I'd say provide details- or that statement is FUD.


Offline William Barton

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3487
  • Liked: 8
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #18 on: 08/02/2008 08:20 pm »
Latest hi res image they've sent out:

I still find it odd that there are trees within 10-15 meters of the launch pad.

Is there a reason why they should cut them down? Trees in that environment aren't likely to catch fire and may make a decent windbreak for pad workers and the rocket.

Offline Lee Jay

  • Elite Veteran
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8566
  • Liked: 3603
  • Likes Given: 327
Re: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - August 2
« Reply #19 on: 08/02/2008 08:21 pm »
Latest hi res image they've sent out:

I still find it odd that there are trees within 10-15 meters of the launch pad.
Is there a reason why they should cut them down? Trees in that environment aren't likely to catch fire and may make a decent windbreak for pad workers and the rocket.
To prevent a forest fire in case of an on-pad accident/explosion?
« Last Edit: 08/02/2008 08:21 pm by Lee Jay »

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
1