Fairing recovery vessel, aka Mr. Steven is at LA port.
Would it be possible to keep the first stage upright using the cold gas thrusters after soft splashdown for long enough to allow water to fill the RP-1 tank and act as ballast and vent the LOX tank so the stage doesn't pop?
GO Quest is the usual tracking vessel for ASDS landings. She was likely the "AOS" vessel standing by near the stage 1 splashdown zone.GO Searcher was likely near the expected fairing splashdown zone, farther downrange.
Go Quest is at the position of probable booster water landing (former droneship landing position) - it means probably to receive telemetry of booster water landing here and visual check.Go Searcher is at the position of probable fairing landing/splashdown – likely receive telemetry, try to recover the fairing or collect debris.
Quote from: mgeagon on 01/31/2018 04:23 pmYes, it appears a “toasty” landing might be successful. It seems SpaceX wishes to expend this booster. The reasons seem obvious, they are running out of room for stored boosters and have block 5s on the way. Why stick on the landing legs? Why are they cleaned? We are curious about the answer.There are probably surplus, old model legs they don't need and it would be a good chance to test some things, like deploying the legs earlier.
Yes, it appears a “toasty” landing might be successful. It seems SpaceX wishes to expend this booster. The reasons seem obvious, they are running out of room for stored boosters and have block 5s on the way. Why stick on the landing legs? Why are they cleaned? We are curious about the answer.
No.
Quote from: jak Kennedy on 01/31/2018 09:47 pmIsn't it likely the recovery ship was there to pick up the S1 after a successful splashdown. With empty tanks and a gentle touch down isn't there a good chance it is floating?Touchdown is gentle until the stage topples over and the pressurized tanks smack the water and rupture. And even if the stage remained intact, GO Quest isn't equipped to salvage it.
Isn't it likely the recovery ship was there to pick up the S1 after a successful splashdown. With empty tanks and a gentle touch down isn't there a good chance it is floating?
This rocket was meant to test very high retrothrust landing in water so it didn’t hurt the droneship, but amazingly it has survived. We will try to tow it back to shore.
Wow, update from Elon https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/958847818583584768QuoteThis rocket was meant to test very high retrothrust landing in water so it didn’t hurt the droneship, but amazingly it has survived. We will try to tow it back to shore.
9 engine landing burn? Was the mssion patch correct?
Quote from: Oberon_Command on 01/31/2018 10:19 pmWould it be possible to keep the first stage upright using the cold gas thrusters after soft splashdown for long enough to allow water to fill the RP-1 tank and act as ballast and vent the LOX tank so the stage doesn't pop?Funny you asked that. Earlier I was making some back of the nap calculations to figure the booster density to find out if would float. I guess we all know the answer to that too...Quote from: deruch on 01/31/2018 10:22 pmNo.
Nosferocket 👻
So they were testing a “high retrothrust” burn? 3 engine burn at 100% thrust or something like that? How would a high retrothrust burn help future recoveries?