LIVE: Falcon 9 Flight 1 Maiden Flight - June 4, 2010

[Herb Schaltegger]

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.

That was my thought at first too - bits of cork insulation perhaps falling into the exhaust?  But first stage was rock-solid, no problems with the tail-off of 7 engines at shutdown, and clean staging and second stage ignition . . . all in all, I'm impressed.

[Hootz]

Good job Jim Give us the date on F9 #2!

[Space Pete]

EFFING AWESOME!!! WELL DONE, ELON!

Make no mistake, people: You just witnessed a significant moment in space history.

I predict big things for Falcon 9, especially in terms of resupplying the ISS!
I really do hope this is the start of something very great!

Elon is THE MAN!!!! How drunk do we reckon he's getting tonight?

[padrat]

Have to say, the crowd I was watching with stayed pretty quiet. But to give credit where credit is due, congrats Spacex.

[Ronsmytheiii]

I would like to remind everyone that the LV is only half the battle, the next is getting those supplies to station.

Great job though by SpaceX, the experience from Falcon I really did pay off today.

[mmeijeri]

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

Jim, do we get an official announcement from you yet: Falcon 9 is now a g....?

[stockman]

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

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

today is not about you Jim...

[JWag]

Great to see F9 fly at long last.  Congrats, SpaceX.

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.

I was wondering about that too.  Stage separation seemed to go well, but the feed I was watching glitched partway through, so it's hard to tell.

It looked like the roll-correction thruster/vernier/whatever in the foreground was working early in the stage 2 burn, then stopped working.

[mduncan36]

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

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

A call well made. Got any lottery numbers for me?

[Jim]

Falcon 9 is no longer a paper rocket

NASA just got a Delta II replacement.

[Herb Schaltegger]

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

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

Kudos.  Now tell me Saturday's Powerball numbers, please.

[Antares]

Very unprofessional woman in the launch control center screaming and shouting over the loop.

You've got to be kidding.

[Norm Hartnett]

Very unprofessional woman in the launch control center screaming and shouting over the loop.

Great wasn't it? Glad to see some passion, I cried myself and I'm not even involved.

[bolun]

Great day!

Congratulations SpaceX!

[iamlucky13]

Is this test over, is the capsule going to do anything in orbit ?

The capsule will stay attached to the 2nd stage, but they will probably test Merlin-Vac re-ignition. But I seem to recall reading that the 2nd stage/capsule was only going to stay in orbit for a few orbits.

I think the latest update (spacex.com seems to be down at the moment so I can't check), said it had a basic, battery-powered telemetry package on the capsule, which they expect to orbit for roughly 1 year and burn up on re-entry. Telemetry will probably cease due to drained batteries prior to that.

It seems only logical to attempt a second stage restart. There's nothing to lose that I can think of, and definitely something to be gained if that goes smoothly. I would only wonder if they might hold off a couple days to investigate the roll...assuming that wasn't nominal.

[ugordan]

Via Robert Pearlman: http://twitpic.com/1twaez/full

[stockman]

Very unprofessional woman in the launch control center screaming and shouting over the loop.

Great wasn't it? Glad to see some passion, I cried myself and I'm not even involved.

Agreed.. I love the enthusiasm as well.. shows some passion.... good for whoever that was screaming... Glad they had a great day after all their hard work.

[ChuckC]

Congratulations Space X. Way to go great first launch. So what do you naysayers have to say now?  They reached orbit on the first try great job Space X.

[zerm]

Just getting through the first stage would be considered a success on this one. Looks like they have a spectacular vehicle there. Now they need to do it again... and again, and again... Which is fine with me- I'm a real sucker for big clustered engines. Looked great.

[racshot65]

Very unprofessional woman in the launch control center screaming and shouting over the loop.

Great wasn't it? Glad to see some passion, I cried myself and I'm not even involved.

Totally agree with Norm

Loved hearing the team celebrating