Author Topic: SpaceX: Falcon 9 Hotfire Updates (Read 92665 times)

StuffOfInterest · « **Reply #60 on:** 03/09/2010 05:42 pm »

D***. Didn't see a thing on the KSC live stream.

braddock · « **Reply #61 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

Did they set something on fire?

PahTo · « **Reply #62 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

Wow, now THAT was an attempt, and did y'all notice the fire burning up the side of the booster after shotdown??

Lars_J · « **Reply #63 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

It certainly seemed less than 3 seconds... But perhaps not.

ugordan · « **Reply #64 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

This didn't look good, the 1st stage vented immediately at ignition, looked like an abort.

PahTo · « **Reply #65 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

er, shUtdown...

HarryM · « **Reply #66 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

Yeah, that didn't look right.

stockman · « **Reply #67 on:** 03/09/2010 05:43 pm »

getting quite smokey now...

Crap - I thought this was more of the venting.. Missed the test completely!! damn...

Herb Schaltegger · « **Reply #68 on:** 03/09/2010 05:44 pm »

That did not appear to be a full 3.5 second test, but the video streams aren't very detailed; it also appeared as if the venting started again before the flames died away.

Mark S · « **Reply #69 on:** 03/09/2010 05:44 pm »

Yeah, saw that flame, certainly not 3.5 seconds worth of ignition unless they have some way of hiding the smoke.

HammerD · « **Reply #70 on:** 03/09/2010 05:44 pm »

Quote from: HarryM on 03/09/2010 05:43 pm

Yeah, that didn't look right.

It looked like 1/2 a second...but I did see fire!

Harold KSC · « **Reply #71 on:** 03/09/2010 05:45 pm »

SFN don't know what's going on either. "A flash of fire and smoke was just observed at the base of the Falcon 9 rocket, possibly indicating ignition"

Herb Schaltegger · « **Reply #72 on:** 03/09/2010 05:45 pm »

And there is definite scorching around the base of the vehicle nearest to the SFN webcam.

Robson68 · « **Reply #73 on:** 03/09/2010 05:45 pm »

was that it?

PahTo · « **Reply #74 on:** 03/09/2010 05:46 pm »

Quote from: ugordan on 03/09/2010 05:43 pm

This didn't look good, the 1st stage vented immediately at ignition, looked like an abort.

Concur--I believe an abort. Too bad no audio. Hopefully the SpaceX folks learned from this, and the next one (and the first flight) work to plan! Rocket science indeed...

braddock · « **Reply #75 on:** 03/09/2010 05:46 pm »

Yes, there seems to be a vertical scorch mark on the base, about where I saw a lick of flame. I don't see it in the earlier posted frames, but the quality is pretty bad to say for sure.

ugordan · « **Reply #76 on:** 03/09/2010 05:46 pm »

Definitely not a full 3.5 s burn, that would blow the flame trench exit clean out.

Mike_1179 · « **Reply #77 on:** 03/09/2010 05:46 pm »

If you remember the Falcon 1 launches, the RP-1 was too cold due to the common bulkhead with the LOX tank inside the first stage. This cold RP-1 hit performance slightly and they aborted just after ignition. They were able to pump out the RP-1 and then re-tank with the now slightly warmer fuel. After that, the Falcon 1 launched.

I know it has a common bulkhead for RP-1 and LOX, could something similar happen here?

Mark S · « **Reply #78 on:** 03/09/2010 05:47 pm »

Well, at least it didn't blow up on the pad. Something was clearly amiss though.

marshallsplace · « **Reply #79 on:** 03/09/2010 05:47 pm »

Quote from: braddock on 03/09/2010 05:46 pm

Yes, there seems to be a vertical scorch mark on the base, about where I saw a lick of flame. I don't see it in the earlier posted frames, but the quality is pretty bad to say for sure.