Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : Iridium NEXT Flight 4 : December 22/23, 2017 - UPDATES  (Read 100241 times)

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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SECO.

NOMINAL ORBIT INSERTION!

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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Stage 1 has "Splashed down."

Offline RocketLover0119

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Stage 1 splashdown, farewell B1036.2!
"The Starship has landed"

Offline Lar

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S1 splashdown, S2 good orbit
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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T+9 minutes.

Shutdown and good orbit.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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T+10 minutes.

Upcoming events.

00:51:54 2nd stage engine restarts
00:52:05 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:57:05 Iridium NEXT satellites begin deployment
01:12:00 Iridium NEXT satellites end deployment
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline RocketLover0119

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Into about an hour coast phase
"The Starship has landed"

Offline Space Ghost 1962

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Observed launch from 100 miles out with 4" telescope. Saw perfect first stage burn, staging, F9US ignition, fairing sep.

Booster did not appear to passivate/vent after staging, but reoriented and appeared to reignite, which surprised.

Fairing halves didn't tumble but kept orientation for minutes after seperation.

Clouds obscured further downrange.

Note: Centaur uses a lot more props on engine start than F9US - sequencing was a lot faster.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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T+20 minutes. Over the Pacific Ocean.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Michael Baylor

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Absolutely incredible. OMG!!! Launch was sensational. Then the sun lit up the plume. WOW. But it was just getting started. Stage sep and boostback had the usual amazing effects at night. However, the sun lit up the fairings. I could see both for over two minutes. One all the way through reentry. Eventually the hills blocked it. Then there was the first stage. The sun lit it up against a black backdrop. I saw that the whole way until the hill got in the way. Nitrogen thrusters visible, but the entry burn from a couple hundred miles away was the highlight of the night. WOW WOW WOW!! Never expected to see that today. Speechless.

Words cannot do this justice.

--

(Edit: I'm letting this stay on updates, just because.... - Chris)
« Last Edit: 03/27/2018 11:01 pm by Michael Baylor »

Online Jim_LAX

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The view from Los Angeles.
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Online Chris Bergin

Keep it on update guys! Mission still going on!
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Offline Steven Pietrobon

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T+30 minutes. Heading towards Antarctica.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Troll AOS.

*Corrected name of ground station from Thule (which is in Greenland) to Troll.
« Last Edit: 12/23/2017 01:47 am by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Online psionedge

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A few pics from my vantage point.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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T+40 minutes. Over Antarctica.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Five minutes to second ignition.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Mauritius AOS.

Two minutes to second ignition.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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One minute to second ignition.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Lar

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coverage restart
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

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