Author Topic: LIVE: SpaceX/Falcon 1 - 23rd March: launch coverage thread (Read 118871 times)

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #180 on:** 03/24/2006 08:43 pm »

T-60 minutes and counting.

Winds decreasing:

Current Conditions
Temp: 82.2°F (27.9°C)
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: 72.1°F (22.3°C)
Wind: NE at 17 MPH
Sky: overcast

braddock · « **Reply #181 on:** 03/24/2006 08:43 pm »

Gwynn: "I don't think they strayed into the zone. I think there was a miscommunication about what zone they could be in and what zone they could not be in."
New commercial boat, new commercial venture, the other boat was out for maintenance.
"The range said he was absolutely in the wrong place. There was confusion, possibly on SpaceX's part. There are a number of elipses for the zones. We were staying out of the most narrow. Apparently we were supposed to stay out of the TWO most narrow.... to my understanding it was really miscommunication."

braddock · « **Reply #182 on:** 03/24/2006 08:46 pm »

Q about lessions learned and how they might apply to Vandenberg flight later on.

Gwynn: "There is no question that we have learned alot about the operation of this vehicle." "Our countdown procedures have been revised on every attempt. They have gotten better on every attempt." "LOX clearly became an issue early on to us. I think we've changed not only our procedures, but the blanketing of the vehicle. We will probalby be doing that at Vandenberg as well, even though Vandenberg is a cooler place to launch from."

"It's less expensive for us to go back and requalify our system. So we will continue to make improvements to our vehicle, particularly from a reliability perspective"

amon · « **Reply #183 on:** 03/24/2006 08:48 pm »

Since they have tanked up with LOX, does anyone know how long the scrub time would be if they cannot fly today? Do they have a faster scrub turn around than the old fashioned boosters?

nacnud · « **Reply #184 on:** 03/24/2006 08:49 pm »

Thanks for these update braddock ^_^

braddock · « **Reply #185 on:** 03/24/2006 08:49 pm »

My question: "What is the state of Falcon 9 production?"

"I wouldn't call Falcon 9 in production. I would call it in development. To me production is when we start building these many at a time. Falcon 9 is in development. We do have hardware on the floor. I would say our engine is in production.

We are building tank barrel sections with our friction stir machine. We will be friction stirring our barrel sections together in the [next few weeks].

We will be doing A stage hold-down test in Texas in early Q3 of this year.

The Falcon 9 engine is an upgrade to the Merlin 1A. The Falcon 9 engine is regeneratively cooled, while the Merlin 1A is ablatively cooled.

braddock · « **Reply #186 on:** 03/24/2006 08:51 pm »

Malaysians have pushed back the third planned Falcon I launch. I'll transcribe more in a minute...

mong' · « **Reply #187 on:** 03/24/2006 08:53 pm »

I don't know about you guys but i am starting to get excited here !

Looking at that rocket sitting on the pad. it's got a Mercury feeling to it

DaveS · « **Reply #188 on:** 03/24/2006 08:55 pm »

Pad crew have arrived safely in the fallback area on the Meck island.

Tap-Sa · « **Reply #189 on:** 03/24/2006 08:56 pm »

The velcro blanket thingie worries me a bit. Moist sea air + LOX means ice will form there, hopefully not too much to jam the attach points.

amon · « **Reply #190 on:** 03/24/2006 08:58 pm »

I wouldn't want to see a LOX valve freezeup. Everyone seems to get that on the first try...

braddock · « **Reply #191 on:** 03/24/2006 08:59 pm »

Gwynn: We are on step 107 in the countdown. There are 174 steps in teh countdown. Right now we are in th emiddle of checking out flight termination system with the range safety office. We are at about 75% loading LOX and about 25% loading RP. There are about 4500 people watching the web cast right now.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #192 on:** 03/24/2006 09:02 pm »

T-40 minutes and counting.

braddock · « **Reply #193 on:** 03/24/2006 09:05 pm »

Q: You had talked about how the countdown had evolved through it's different incarnations. Could you amplify a little more.
Gwynn: There is a lot of detail in the chnages, and I'm not sure I can do that justice. Let me pick off a couple that I do know for sure. We decided to automate the water deluge turn on based on one of our attempts. We turned it on a little later in one of our test fires. While it does not matter for this mission, there are some payloads which are sensitive to heat and vibration...
"I believe that the issue we had in the december attempt, which was the tank pressurization issue, I believe we changed around some steps there which made the offloading of the propellent a little more robust."

gladiator1332 · « **Reply #194 on:** 03/24/2006 09:05 pm »

Real exciting stuff going on!

Too bad im stuck with dial up...hoping that CNN might find this interesting and cut away from the blood and gutts for a little while.

Avron · « **Reply #195 on:** 03/24/2006 09:06 pm »

Vehicle release enabled... nice

braddock · « **Reply #196 on:** 03/24/2006 09:08 pm »

Alan Boyle: [With SeaLaunch president coming over, any chance of a sea-based launch for SpaceX?]
Gwynn: I think we had considered looking at an ocean-based launch site at one point, but logistics are tough to do for launches, and [even a Kwaj, where they ahve a full setup, it was difficult]. I think if we put a launch on a platform things would get even tougher.

Gwynn: I will guarantee that we will go to the Cape. That isn't a question of if, that is a question of when. Something pretty dramatic would have to happen for us not to build a site there.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #197 on:** 03/24/2006 09:11 pm »

T-30 minutes and counting.

All looks hopeful:

Current Conditions
Temp: 82.2°F (27.9°C)
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: 72.1°F (22.3°C)
Wind: NE at 17 MPH
Sky: overcast

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #198 on:** 03/24/2006 09:12 pm »

Tanks almost full. Recovery ship is now at a safe distance - Elon.

DaveS · « **Reply #199 on:** 03/24/2006 09:13 pm »

Quote

Chris Bergin - 24/3/2006 11:11 PM

T-30 minutes and counting.

All looks hopeful:

Current Conditions
Temp: 82.2°F (27.9°C)
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: 72.1°F (22.3°C)
Wind: NE at 17 MPH
Sky: overcast

Yes, the weather has been very stable today.