Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon I Launch III - Build-up Thread (Read 177372 times)

otisbow · « **Reply #360 on:** 08/02/2008 12:52 am »

I just logged on. Is there a Falcon launch tonight?

otisbow · « **Reply #361 on:** 08/02/2008 01:14 am »

Thanks a million for the update. You folks are the number one place for launch info. Otis

landofgrey · « **Reply #362 on:** 08/02/2008 01:54 am »

9-engine test. Very nice. Hm.... maybe they forgot about that "other rocket" on the launch pad? lol

As above, in the absence of any official word of delays or some such stuff, one shouldn't assume that the planned launch was today but got pushed back, and maybe will be pushed back again. One shouldn't assume that everything is on track and on schedule merely because we haven't heard otherwise. Remember, there's no need to issue a press release about a launch delay if you haven't issued a release announcing a launch date first.

landofgrey · « **Reply #363 on:** 08/02/2008 02:00 am »

Quote from: Launch Fan on 08/02/2008 01:54 am

Ed Kyle, you missed Chris' post a few days ago, where he got word directly from Elon that it would be a 24 hour pre-empt. Spacedaily aren't exactly a reputable source, so Chris' info is obviously what to go on.

You're right. People may notice that most news and space news websites didn't do any writeups today about a launch who normally would have, as they did for the last two launches. That includes the ones I write for (dangling preposition). It should have been obvious along with Chris's post that at least some of the media got word from SpaceX (after asking) about the launch and were given the status.

I think most of us would have just been more comfortable with something "official" from SpaceX... since we're all so eager for the launch. I know I can't wait.

James Lowe1 · « **Reply #364 on:** 08/02/2008 02:01 am »

Ok everyone. Please use the test fire thread for the Falcon 9 test. This is for Falcon I only. http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=13931.0

Lots of speculation on here, and I've already warned that it is pointless, as Chris has already said he's spoken to Elon a few days ago and they will give a days notice of a launch.

I'm going to delete back some posts as it's confused some other people into linking things we already know - thus duplicates.

And done...a little less convoluted now.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #365 on:** 08/02/2008 11:39 am »

Looks like James locked this by accident - so unlocking.

Nothing from SpaceX, bar their F9 test fire...and we're about half a day from the opening of Saturday's window.

Hmmm!

Orbiter · « **Reply #366 on:** 08/02/2008 11:45 am »

Quote from: Chris Bergin on 08/02/2008 11:39 am

Looks like James locked this by accident - so unlocking.

Nothing from SpaceX, bar their F9 test fire...and we're about half a day from the opening of Saturday's window.

Hmmm!

Maybe Sunday? I would expect an announcement shortly.

cb6785 · « **Reply #367 on:** 08/02/2008 12:01 pm »

If they do launch within the next few days and if the launch is completly successful, what would this mean for flight 4? Any chance to launch around Aug 31st as originaly targeted? What minimum time is possible between two launches?

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #368 on:** 08/02/2008 12:31 pm »

Quote from: Orbiter on 08/02/2008 11:45 am

Maybe Sunday? I would expect an announcement shortly.

Not sure, I'd be guessing and I hate guessing

It's bed time over there now, I believe...so unless PAO have a Saturday launch announcement primed for 9am Eastern to target the US media - which is possible....

....right now this all doesn't seem hopeful for a Saturday attempt, would really have expected it last night.

Sunday would "conflict" with ET-127/SRB mate S0003 operations for STS-125 inside the VAB, annoyingly (SpaceX fans just spat out their coffee

)

Quote from: cb6785 on 08/02/2008 12:01 pm

If they do launch within the next few days and if the launch is completly successful, what would this mean for flight 4? Any chance to launch around Aug 31st as originaly targeted? What minimum time is possible between two launches?

NET September - already asked Elon about it a while ago:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=13507.0

So the hardware (vehicle) will already be there. I'm sure that would be doable.

Might of moved to the right a bit by now, we'll double check after this launch. Would be a big statement to get two F1s off in the space of a month.

cb6785 · « **Reply #369 on:** 08/02/2008 12:48 pm »

Quote from: Chris Bergin on 08/02/2008 12:31 pm

Might of moved to the right a bit by now, we'll double check after this launch. Would be a big statement to get two F1s off in the space of a month.

Thats exactly what I was thinking about...

Thanks Chris!

NUAETIUS · « **Reply #370 on:** 08/02/2008 03:36 pm »

The only caveat I would put on that is if the launch does not go absolutely 100% perfect there will be a significant delay. If the F1 for launch 4 is on site they will surely have to send it back to California for upgrading to handle whatever issues arise.

I remember reading somewhere that Mr. Musk had stated that over 90% of all systems had now been tested in fight. Besides recovery of the 1st stage what systems have yet to tested?

I think I read somewhere that after the video went out the upper stage of flight 3 did deploy the satellite.

William Graham · « **Reply #371 on:** 08/02/2008 04:20 pm »

MSDB is reporting that the launch will be late tonight/early tomorrow morning (window 23:00-04:00 GMT). I think that is the same as the 'unofficial' windows that were reported earlier in EDT.

milresol · « **Reply #372 on:** 08/02/2008 04:46 pm »

On a separate, but related, note: I saw on the SpaceX website that they've completed two full nine-engine firings (one on July 30 and the next on August 1) for the Falcon 9. I really question how serious NASA is about COTS, but I'm sure rooting for SpaceX and I'll be watching the webcast tonight and wishing the Falcon I Flight III all the best. We gotta get the private sector engaged the way SpaceX is and have to get more entrepreneurs to put their money where their mouths are the way Elon Musk (and some notable others) does.

Good luck and Godspeed to the whole SpaceX team with this launch!

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #373 on:** 08/02/2008 05:22 pm »

Not a peek out of SpaceX yet...the media *should* be first to hear about a launch date, so I'll be surprised if it's tonight. Will post as soon as we get the notification.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #374 on:** 08/02/2008 05:27 pm »

Quote from: milresol on 08/02/2008 04:46 pm

Good luck and Godspeed to the whole SpaceX team with this launch!

Indeed. Welcome to the site's forum

Carl G · « **Reply #375 on:** 08/02/2008 05:51 pm »

Will some media find out before others? How do the notify?

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #376 on:** 08/02/2008 05:54 pm »

Quote from: Carl G on 08/02/2008 05:51 pm

Will some media find out before others? How do the notify?

We'll all find out at the same time, as it'll be by e-mail to their media list, which will be 100 plus journalists. Was told it'll be advanced notice, and that should mean it'll be before they go with it on their official site.

It's about 7am over there though, isn't it?

tobi453 · « **Reply #377 on:** 08/02/2008 06:04 pm »

http://www.pr-inside.com/spacex-sets-august-2-for-falcon-r735413.htm

Today!!!

SpaceX Diane Murphy, 310-363-6714 (o) or 424-236-0884 (m) VP Marketing and Communications [email protected] 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. 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.

Post-launch, high resolution B-roll video footage and photos will be available for download by contacting: [email protected].

About SpaceX

SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by internally-developed Merlin engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions. SpaceX currently has 12 missions on its manifest, excluding the two previous Falcon 1 demonstration flights, plus indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts with NASA and the US Air Force.

As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX is in a position to help fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. Under the existing Agreement, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS. NASA also has an option to demonstrate crew services to the ISS using the Falcon 9 / Dragon system. SpaceX is the only COTS contender that has the capability to return pressurized cargo and crew to Earth. The first Falcon 9 will arrive at the SpaceX launch site (complex 40) at Cape Canaveral by the end of 2008 in preparation for its maiden flight.

Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers over 500, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with four additional locations: SpaceX's Texas Test Facility in McGregor near Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific.

tobi453 · « **Reply #378 on:** 08/02/2008 06:09 pm »

Sorry I posted the wrong link. Now fixed.

Hootz · « **Reply #379 on:** 08/02/2008 06:11 pm »

wOOt!! Kick the tires and light the fires!! Best of luck to everyone at Spacex for a successful mission. Go get 'em.....