Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION  (Read 384483 times)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #300 on: 04/30/2017 10:13 am »
NRO PAO.  NRO did not directly contract with SpaceX.  They contracted with a private company who secured the contract to launch NROL-76 on a Falcon 9.

Is this usual NRO practice? Given even NRO publicise this launch, not obvious to me why the indirection.

Offline vanoord

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #301 on: 04/30/2017 10:17 am »
Was the suggestion that Boeing built the satellite and contracted the launch?

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #302 on: 04/30/2017 10:36 am »
Was the suggestion that Boeing built the satellite and contracted the launch?

Ball Aerospace:

NRO PAO.  NRO did not directly contract with SpaceX.  They contracted with a private company who secured the contract to launch NROL-76 on a Falcon 9.

Quote
The SpaceX NROL-76 launch was not contracted to SpaceX directly by the NRO but through Ball Aerospace.

https://twitter.com/nova_road/status/858629314341896192

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #303 on: 04/30/2017 10:37 am »
NRO PAO.  NRO did not directly contract with SpaceX.  They contracted with a private company who secured the contract to launch NROL-76 on a Falcon 9.

Quote
The SpaceX NROL-76 launch was not contracted to SpaceX directly by the NRO but through Ball Aerospace.

https://twitter.com/nova_road/status/858629314341896192

This really sounds like Ball is the spacecraft contractor - and given what they does, points at the payload more likely to be LEO optical reconnaissance, no?
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Offline Mongo62

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #304 on: 04/30/2017 11:02 am »
I've been searching for a link to the webcast, without success. Is there one?

Offline Herb Schaltegger

Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #305 on: 04/30/2017 11:03 am »
I've been searching for a link to the webcast, without success. Is there one?

It was several pages back in the Updates thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvs4tJ3qegM&feature=youtu.be
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Offline Mongo62

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #306 on: 04/30/2017 11:03 am »
Thank you!

Offline vanoord

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #307 on: 04/30/2017 11:04 am »
I've been searching for a link to the webcast, without success. Is there one?

Just gone live

Offline M.E.T.

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #308 on: 04/30/2017 11:08 am »
No Technical Webcast for this launch?

Offline fatdeeman

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #309 on: 04/30/2017 11:10 am »
Hoping for some awesome footage today, we kind of got robbed last time when the launch was delayed, went from a beautiful day to a cloudy one!

Some gorgeous morning lighting at the moment too.

Offline fatdeeman

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #310 on: 04/30/2017 11:11 am »
No Technical Webcast for this launch?

I think they can cover everything with one webcast this time, they'll only be able to cover the landing after fairing sep anyway.

Offline jimbowman

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #311 on: 04/30/2017 11:14 am »
Should have just had the technical up and let this guy get some sleep.

Offline Rhyshaelkan

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #312 on: 04/30/2017 11:16 am »
Got here just in time to hear the hold hold hold. 24 hr cycle. Oh well.
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Offline M.E.T.

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #313 on: 04/30/2017 11:16 am »
Well that was disappointing.

Offline mlindner

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #314 on: 04/30/2017 11:18 am »
What's the toto sensor?

Probably unrelated, but I heard a lot of metal popping noises from thermal expansion in the video stream.
« Last Edit: 04/30/2017 11:19 am by mlindner »
LEO is the ocean, not an island (let alone a continent). We create cruise liners to ride the oceans, not artificial islands in the middle of them. We need a physical place, which has physical resources, to make our future out there.

Offline Earendil

Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #315 on: 04/30/2017 11:19 am »
Everything was going soo smoothly..

Damn, I was expecting a boring launch :)

Offline Tonioroffo

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #316 on: 04/30/2017 11:24 am »
SpaceX never seems to launch and RTLS when the weather is this pretty.

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Offline jcm

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #317 on: 04/30/2017 11:26 am »
Ball makes small sats. Its only moderately heavy payloads have been Worldview 2 and 3, with a mass of 2600 kg.
They've never made a 5000 kg sat, for example, unlike the major sat builders.

So I am speculating NROL-76 is quite small, under 3000 kg.

[Sorry, accidentally put this in updates originally]
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http://planet4589.org

Offline Lar

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #318 on: 04/30/2017 11:32 am »
If the entirety of your post is "darn it" it probably belongs in the party thread. (because that's where I put mine! :)

It will be interesting to see if we learn much more about what exactly the issue was. Since it was first stage, it's certainly a lot more likely than if it was the bird... :)
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Offline ChrisGebhardt

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Re: SpaceX Falcon 9 - NROL-76 - May 1, 2017 - DISCUSSION
« Reply #319 on: 04/30/2017 11:33 am »
SpaceX confirms that 7am is the current opening of window target time for 1 May (tomorrow).  No word on what cause the  15min adjustment this morning.

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