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

[EE Scott]

Amateur iPhone video of launch with excellent sound. Those engines are throaty.

http://www.twitvid.com/E2JKU

That was great.  Love the sky - like a dream.  Looked like quite the lofted trajectory there. 

[TheFallen]

Whoa.... Cool Max Q picture:

http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/launch/falcon9sfn10.jpg

Hope it's not heresy to mention Ares here but that reminds me of the Ares I-X shockwave condensation photo!

Heh.. I was about to point out the same thing

[Orbiter]

Any word of 1st stage recovery?

Orbiter

[Halidon]

Amateur iPhone video of launch with excellent sound. Those engines are throaty.

http://www.twitvid.com/E2JKU

One nice vid for a cell phone cam

[corrodedNut]

The roll at liftoff has me the most concerned.  The engine bells could have hit the launch mount.   

I wonder if it was the roll to the launch azimuth and they forgot to put in a delay before it is performed.  Most vehicles just try to fly straight for a few hundred feet before started any maneuvers, such as the pitch and roll program.

Do you think it could be related to the wild umbilical disconect? Looks like it might have broke off like F1 flight2...

[ugordan]

The roll at liftoff has me the most concerned.  The engine bells could have hit the launch mount.

Same here, and I only saw it in the replay - couldn't bear to watch it live until I heard either "abort" or "liftoff". They were pretty lucky on that one, I think.

Looked like some roll was induced also at 2-engine throttle cutoff. Curiously, not as much during MECO.

[mazum01]

Anyone else think that the umbilical didn't release on time?  Could be the reason for the initial roll?

[Halidon]

I'm wondering if the hold-down let go early. It seemed to leave the pad at T-2

[nooneofconsequence]

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

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

Kudo's Jim - "Jim is always right", "Jim is aways right", "Jim is always right" ...
Does that do what you need 

And Space-X did a test flight the way it should be done - an all up test, very professionally done. Shareholders see a "gold star".

[Space Pete]

Can you believe the Wikipedia page is already updated with the successful launch?

Elon was probably there with his cursor poised over the "Save" button!

[jimvela]

I started timing the roll motion at about t+7min. It looked initially like 1rpm, but at around 8min became more like 2rpm.

2nd Ariane V flight came to my mind while watching this live. The puzzling thing is the roll control nozzle did compensate a couple of times and then it just kind of stopped.

I've seen a s/c with the controlls (software) backwards.  One of two t hings happens-

one, you were really really smart and detect if  your control inputs magnify the control excursion (in that case, you STOP and live with it as best you can- in a S/C you might be able to update FSW to fix it)

two, you weren't that smart, and you spin yourself silly until (hopefully) you trigger a safe mode event for rolling out of control.

[SpaceX_MS]

What a day, and it means a lot to us to see such a large amount of congratulations from this site. I was disgusted to hear about the "FAIL!!"  comments on another site with spaceflight in the name, but I'm glad to see the members here are true followers and supporters of launch vehicles.

[SpaceX_MS]

And wow! This thread has been "Read 122966 times" in seven hours! That is amazing levels of interest, thank you for the excellent coverage.

[kraisee]

Anyone else think that the umbilical didn't release on time?  Could be the reason for the initial roll?

It looks like a fairly typical "pull-away" umbilical to me, designed to be pulled off the vehicle as it lifts away.   So I don't think it failed to release on time, it looks "about right" to me.

However, it does look like the umbilical did contribute to a roll force on the vehicle.

The big question is whether that was an expected thing, or an unexpected one.   I guess we will hear from Space-X in the fullness of time.

But either way, the bit of roll which we saw at liftoff didn't seem to bother the guidance system, so I doubt its a major issue -- just one worth investigating fully to make sure.

Ross.

[tigerade]

SpaceX_MS, do you actually work for the company?  I see you're located in Hawthorne. 

If so, I offer my congratulations to everyone there.  It means a lot to us, as well, to see this happen to see that Falcon 9 is a SUCCESS.

[corrodedNut]

And wow! This thread has been "Read 122966 times" in seven hours! That is amazing levels of interest, thank you for the excellent coverage.

Great job SpaceX...now go get 'em!!

[Archibald]

Bravo to SpaceX. That's amazing.

[kttopdad]

And wow! This thread has been "Read 122966 times" in seven hours! That is amazing levels of interest, thank you for the excellent coverage.

Thank you for an excellent event to cover.

[mr_magoo]

Wow.  Congrats to SpaceX!

Good news at last.

[jimvela]

Falcon 9 is no longer a paper rocket

NASA just got a Delta II replacement.

That's high praze from you Jim, considering how much you loved Delta II

I'm right there with him.  A low-cost launcher in the D-II class is a boon for science missions aside from the ISS supply role.

I'm one hoping they continue to deliver...