Author Topic: LIVE: Falcon 9 Flight 1 Maiden Flight - June 4, 2010 (Read 499352 times)

psloss · « **Reply #620 on:** 06/04/2010 07:04 pm »

Interesting view and sustained rumble from the Visitor Complex after we saw it clear the tree line. Looked really good.

docmordrid · « **Reply #621 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

Senator Shelby et al should now just sit down and shut up. Paper rocket.....PFFFTTTTTT

edkyle99 · « **Reply #622 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

Quote from: GW_Simulations on 06/04/2010 06:59 pm

I'll reserve celebrations until third-party orbital elements are published.

Ditto, but even if orbit not achieved (and I'm not convinced quite yet), this was a no-doubt-about-it impressive test-flight achievement for SpaceX.

- Ed Kyle

Patchouli · « **Reply #623 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

Quote from: iamlucky13 on 06/04/2010 06:59 pm

Quote from: Nick L. on 06/04/2010 06:54 pm
Roll seems to be accelerating...

Accelerometer or gyro developed a bias maybe?

Very weird. Other than that it seemed very stable.

Regardless, huge congratulations. I don't think I took a breath for several seconds before the start of and several seconds after the finish of staging.

Yah I was wondering if that was intentional for this test or not.

If not they'll have it fixed on the next one.

I was really worried about that air start of the vac Merlin.

F9 is no longer a paper rocket.

Jim · « **Reply #624 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

Quote from: tigerade on 06/04/2010 07:03 pm

Commercial rockets are the real deal.

They have been around since the early 1990's

cixelsyD · « **Reply #625 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

The plume on that first stage is a sexy beast.

mduncan36 · « **Reply #626 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

At this point its a success even if it falls out of the sky before the first orbit. Yes, there will be things to sort out but damnation! What a great first effort! This is as significant as the Montgolfier brother's first balloon. A very good day for humanity at large and the gem of a new ocean, Falcon 9.

rcoppola · « **Reply #627 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

THIS...is the very best of days. What once took entire countries to do....now takes some imagination, a little capital and.....WAY TO GO SpaceX!!!!!

rumble · « **Reply #628 on:** 06/04/2010 07:05 pm »

Congrats, SpaceX!

deltaV · « **Reply #629 on:** 06/04/2010 07:06 pm »

Is there a circularization burn scheduled or did they go directly to a circular orbit?

neilh · « **Reply #630 on:** 06/04/2010 07:06 pm »

Congrats to all at SpaceX! Also, many thanks to everyone who posted updates/photos to the thread. That was quite useful, especially when the feeds were wonking out.

JimO · « **Reply #631 on:** 06/04/2010 07:06 pm »

Seemed to me there was a much larger than normal stream of sparks during initial climb-out. Insulation burn-off? Otherwise, perfectly exciting. Gotta get my heart rate back down, now.

fatdeeman · « **Reply #632 on:** 06/04/2010 07:06 pm »

Well I'm glad I made it to the feed just in time! Can't believe I nearly missed it after waiting so long, I blame the delays!

What a fantastic launch and achievement! They have come so far so quickly, the roll didn't look right but that's nothing really in the scheme of things, it looked awesome too, when watching the Falcon 1 launches I would think to myself those engines have great looking plumes, can't wait to see it multiplied on a Falcon 9 and I was right, it looked very cool as the plume expanded.

I think that's about as successful a test flight as anyone could have hoped for, certainly on par with the Ares test if not better.

renclod · « **Reply #633 on:** 06/04/2010 07:06 pm »

Congrats SpaceX, superb flight !

TexasRED · « **Reply #634 on:** 06/04/2010 07:07 pm »

Again from PAO

Quote

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 test rocket at 2:45 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex-40. SpaceX says its Dragon spacecraft now is in orbit.

Nick L. · « **Reply #635 on:** 06/04/2010 07:07 pm »

I hope we see a bunch of really awesome photos soon - the nine engines burning should look mighty impressive!

Fixer · « **Reply #636 on:** 06/04/2010 07:07 pm »

Congratulations to SpaceX! That was very intriguing launch

Jim · « **Reply #637 on:** 06/04/2010 07:07 pm »

So where are my kudos for predicting a June launch last January

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=18936.msg521188#msg521188

kkattula · « **Reply #638 on:** 06/04/2010 07:07 pm »

Quote from: Silmfeanor on 06/04/2010 07:01 pm

congrats to all spaceX
and indeed a stunning launch. I cant wait for the HD material.
Also, the roll definititly seemed to be increasing - I wonder what ( if anything ) happened there.

Early in second stage it looked like the turbo pump exhaust was gimballing for roll control. Maybe it got stuck?

Roll doesn't matter that much. A lot of vehicles are spin stabilized.

edkyle99 · « **Reply #639 on:** 06/04/2010 07:08 pm »

Quote from: deltaV on 06/04/2010 07:06 pm

Is there a circularization burn scheduled or did they go directly to a circular orbit?

The first Falcon 1 to make orbit performed a Kestrel restart as a bonus test objective. I would not be surprised to see a similar attempt for Falcon 9 - assuming it made orbit. I'm not sure we'll hear about the result.

- Ed Kyle