There will be no static fire for the CRS-22 mission at the launch site, despite flying on a new booster. SpaceX's Sarah Walker explains that NASA and SpaceX determined that the static fire test in McGregor, Texas was enough.
An interesting - but expected - shift towards focusing the static fire testing of new boosters at McGregor.Remember, they fire them near-or-full duration at McGregor. Launch site Static Fire tests are just for a few seconds.
Quote from: Jarnis on 06/01/2021 09:00 amI would not be surprised if reducing ASDS recovery time is the prime driver here and we start seeing similar optimizations also in other launches - any spare first stage perf goes towards reducing the downrange distance even when there is not enough perf to do a land landing.There is no spare performance on Starlink launches. It is only external launches that have margins for contingency.The boostback is necessary to reduce landing weight, as the F9 does not dump fuel like as airliner. Reducing ASDS travel time is just an extra benefit. This is common on CRS launches.
I would not be surprised if reducing ASDS recovery time is the prime driver here and we start seeing similar optimizations also in other launches - any spare first stage perf goes towards reducing the downrange distance even when there is not enough perf to do a land landing.
Quote from: Jansen on 06/01/2021 09:19 amQuote from: Jarnis on 06/01/2021 09:00 amI would not be surprised if reducing ASDS recovery time is the prime driver here and we start seeing similar optimizations also in other launches - any spare first stage perf goes towards reducing the downrange distance even when there is not enough perf to do a land landing.There is no spare performance on Starlink launches. It is only external launches that have margins for contingency.The boostback is necessary to reduce landing weight, as the F9 does not dump fuel like as airliner. Reducing ASDS travel time is just an extra benefit. This is common on CRS launches.I don't think this is true
Demonstrably false since Starlink 5 had an engine out but still made orbit (and only failed landing due to another engine anomaly).
Quote from: niwax on 06/02/2021 08:45 pmDemonstrably false since Starlink 5 had an engine out but still made orbit (and only failed landing due to another engine anomaly).I was speaking specifically to fuel margins. Slightly increasing thrust from the additional engines to make up for the lost engine doesn’t use up significantly more fuel.
Mr. Musk also noted that the 60 starlink satellite count for this mission is not the maximum number of Starlinks SpaceX could have packed on board the Falcon 9. If SpaceX were to sacrifice recovery and reuse of the first stage of the Falcon 9, they could have added more Starlinks into the payload fairing.
SpaceX has skipped the static fire test before more than half of its Falcon 9 missions this year, but this mission marks the first time the company has not conducted the on-pad test-firing before a launch for NASA, or before a flight of a new booster.
Prelaunch conference has started:...
Q [submitted by Stephen Clark – Spaceflight Now]: What is the exact time with seconds for Thursday? What are the launch opportunities beyond Thursday and Friday?A [Sarah Walker - Director, Dragon Mission Management - SpaceX]: To the second, it is 1:29:15 p.m. EDT [17:29:15 UTC], and the backup is 1:03:33 p.m. EDT [17:03:33 UTC]. We will have the 3rd and the 4th. If we don't launch either of those opportunities, we'll stand down for a day and refresh a large amount of NASA cargo -- science samples -- and then we have another two opportunities the following pair ... 6th and 7th would be the next opportunity.
Q [followup by Stephen Clark]: With the Sirius XM launch this weekend [currently expected for 12:25-2:26 a.m. EDT (04:25-06:26 UTC), Sunday, June 6], could you do two launches in one day if necessary?A [Sarah Walker]: Yes. So we've definitely looked at all the various constraints that affect how close in time, even down to hours, we could launch two missions, and I think we've come pretty close on previous missions to this. Right now, if we launch on the 3rd or the 4th they won't be very close to one another, but certainly if we go on the 6th they will be within 24 hours.
Q: What will be the next mission for this new first-stage booster?A [Sarah Walker]: It's actually staying in the family for a little while, so right now it's allocated to the Crew-3 mission, the next crew mission coming up in the fall.
Q: How much time will Node 2 Forward be available for OFT-2, and is the schedule on OFT-2 dependent on the Russian MLM?A [Joel Montalbano- ISS Program Manager - NASA]: There's really no dependence between the Node 2 Forward and MLM. We like to make sure we don't have dynamic activities on back-to-back days, and we like a few days in between those. As far as duration, it will be a short mission on the order of four to eight days. It could be a little longer if we need to set up the right phasing for landing, but its a short mission.
We have a launch time of 1:29 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday. That sets us up for a docking early Saturday morning about 5 a.m. Eastern Time, and that will put us on the Node 2 Zenith port, so the docking port that's on top of Space Station. This mission will return in early July with approximately 4200 pounds of pressurized cargo.Another busy month in July. The Russians are launching a new module called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, or MLM, to the International Space Station, that's scheduled to launch on July 15th with the docking on July 23rd. We'll also have a port relocation where we'll put the crew members in the Crew Dragon and we'll move the vehicle from the Note 2 Forward port to the Node 2 Zenith port. That opens up the Forward port for the Boeing unmanned test mission scheduled for July 30.Fast forward into August, you have a Northrop Grumman-16 mission, another SpaceX mission [CRS-23, currently expected on 18 August], so again, we continue to be extremely busy on the International Space Station.
We'll have an early morning docking, about 5:13 a.m. on Saturday morning, Eastern time.And then lastly, I wanted to show you an amazing video -- if you could cue that up. This is actually footage from CRS-21, the last cargo mission that went to Space Station. This is what the ISS looks like from Dragon's eyes as it performs a series of maneuvers to gradually catch up, rendezvous, and eventually dock with International Space Station.
Again, liftoff is scheduled for tomorrow, June 3, at 1:29 p.m. Eastern Time. Launch coverage will begin 30 minutes prior, at about 1 p.m. Eastern Time and then will end about 20 minutes after that, but we will pick back coverage up again on Saturday, June 5, at 3:30 a.m. for docking to the Space Station around 5 a.m.
The SpaceX patch for CRS-22
It’s launch day in Florida! #SpaceX #Falcon9 #CRS22 Article: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/06/crs22-new-solar-arrays/Webcast: youtu.be/qKVmkvhheA4
