Author Topic: LIVE: Falcon 9 Flight 1 Maiden Flight - June 4, 2010 (Read 499360 times)

landofgrey · « **Reply #940 on:** 06/05/2010 01:53 am »

Well, I don't know if this should go in the video forum, but anyway. I was fortunate enough to shoot the launch from the KSC VAB roof. Since there were issues with the webcast, I figured I'd upload the two videos I took to YouTube and then share them with everyone who might not have been able to see the actual launch. (In the KSC Newsroom, the webcast and internal network were so overloaded, even the SpaceX rep. didn't get to watch it). Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys:

SpaceX Falcon 9 First Launch As Viewed From The KSC VAB Roof (Tight Shot)

and SpaceX Falcon 9 First Launch From KSC VAB Roof (ZOOMED OUT View)

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #941 on:** 06/05/2010 01:54 am »

Good on this thread Matt, nicely done!!

stockman · « **Reply #942 on:** 06/05/2010 01:59 am »

Quote from: landofgrey on 06/05/2010 01:53 am

Well, I don't know if this should go in the video forum, but anyway. I was fortunate enough to shoot the launch from the KSC VAB roof.

Great videos... thank you for sharing them

Longhorn John · « **Reply #943 on:** 06/05/2010 01:59 am »

Quote from: landofgrey on 06/05/2010 01:53 am

Well, I don't know if this should go in the video forum, but anyway. I was fortunate enough to shoot the launch from the KSC VAB roof. Since there were issues with the webcast, I figured I'd upload the two videos I took to YouTube and then share them with everyone who might not have been able to see the actual launch. (In the KSC Newsroom, the webcast and internal network were so overloaded, even the Spa

Webcast was ok, and this site stayed up too. Shame there was a problem at KSC, but at least you got the rumble.

nooneofconsequence · « **Reply #944 on:** 06/05/2010 02:01 am »

Quote from: alexw on 06/05/2010 12:31 am

Quote from: gladiator1332 on 06/05/2010 12:18 am
Quote
CNN reported that NASA in conjuction with SpaceX launched the first private jet Falcon 9 on Friday, June 4. I'm going with CNN, since NASA does have contracts in place with SpaceX. I also used Wikipedia Falcon 9 as an information resource and previous interviews I personally observed with Elon Musk.
CNN reported it, so it HAS to be true.
Someone should probably let Dassault know about their new product line!
-Alex

Obviously journalism no longer up to high standards ...

landofgrey · « **Reply #945 on:** 06/05/2010 02:11 am »

Hopefully, we'll see many more launches of Falcon 9. It's going to be so important in the coming years. I will say one thing, the SpaceX media representatives treated us all fantastically today. Snacks and water for the hot day, answered questions as best as they could under the circumstances and were just great. I know SpaceX has taken some heat from the media regarding PA stuff, from myself included, but today was great. They even gave us Flight 1 patches. Actually, though, the thing that struck me the most is it seemed everyone was under or around 40 years old. A very young energetic company. It was an interesting comparison to Boeing/Lockheed/etc. Anyway, I'm glad people like the video. I'm going to try to do more in the future.

Antares · « **Reply #946 on:** 06/05/2010 04:15 am »

Quote from: butters on 06/05/2010 12:38 am

I was also impressed by the plume convergence on the first stage. From the long-range tracking cameras one could hardly tell there were multiple engines firing.

You're impressed with turbulence?

Yegor · « **Reply #947 on:** 06/05/2010 04:24 am »

Congratulations to SpaceX and to Elon Musk personally! Fantastic!!!

lsullivan411 · « **Reply #948 on:** 06/05/2010 04:26 am »

Don't want to start a new thread for a couple pictures, so I'll just put these here. I wasn't able to make it to the launch today due to last minute family problem, but these were provided to me and permission given for posting by Alan Walters - Photograher, visit his website for some other fantastic space shots.

http://awaltersphoto.com/

spacester · « **Reply #949 on:** 06/05/2010 04:29 am »

Quote from: mdo on 06/04/2010 10:57 pm

The semi-major axis goes through the center of the Earth (250+6378 km).

The error is therefore <<1 %, both in distance and energy terms.

D'oh!

I is stupid.

josh_simonson · « **Reply #950 on:** 06/05/2010 04:32 am »

Any word on recovering the first stage from the ocean?

Nevermind, I found a report that the parachutes failed and the ship found a debris field.

Lars_J · « **Reply #951 on:** 06/05/2010 04:35 am »

Quote from: josh_simonson on 06/05/2010 04:32 am

Any word on recovering the first stage from the ocean?

According to SpaceX the first stage broke up into multiple pieces (during reentry?), but the are trying to recover individual pieces that impacted the ocean for analysis.

Multivac · « **Reply #952 on:** 06/05/2010 04:45 am »

It appears that Falcon 9 may have been visible over eastern Australia in the pre-draw sky as a rotating spiral while on its way to completing its first orbit.

The times of the sightings, direction and speed of travel, etc, all seem to correlate nicely between eyewitness reports and the predicted position of Falcon 9 (see below).

Orbital Elements:
DRAGON/FALCON 9 R/B
1 36595U 10026A 10155.91803255 .00078673 32520-5 10000-3 0 41
2 36595 34.4959 40.7086 0023426 215.5471 255.2519 16.05715940 20

Pass for Sydney, Australia:
Location: Sydney (151.1949° E, 33.8883° S)
Time zone: UTC

Time Satellite Azm Elv Mag Range S.Azm S.Elv
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010-06-05 19:40:45 DRAGON/FALCON 9 R/B 290.7 15.0 ecl 823 72.5 -14.9
2010-06-05 19:42:06 DRAGON/FALCON 9 R/B 339.2 24.5 ? 580 72.4 -14.7
2010-06-05 19:43:27 DRAGON/FALCON 9 R/B 27.6 15.1 ? 824 72.2 -14.4

Here is a link to ABC New article of the sighting (included photos):
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/05/2919095.htm

Armature video of the sighting can be found here:
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201006/r579024_3626764.asx

Perhaps the "spiral" appearance may offer some clues to the reason rotation / roll observed late in the flight?

Congratulations SpaceX on what appears to be a very successful test flight.

jcm · « **Reply #953 on:** 06/05/2010 04:47 am »

Quote from: spacester on 06/05/2010 04:29 am

Quote from: mdo on 06/04/2010 10:57 pm

The semi-major axis goes through the center of the Earth (250+6378 km).

The error is therefore <<1 %, both in distance and energy terms.

D'oh!
I is stupid.

Also, one has to be careful when comparing numbers from different sources as people use different Earth models to quote the heights and inclinations (spherical Earth, ellipsoidal Earth, J2000 equator, equator-of-date, etc.) My rule of thumb is that a 10 km discrepancy is probably not significant if you are comparing figures from different sources.

jcm · « **Reply #954 on:** 06/05/2010 04:50 am »

More TLEs on Space-Track. Looks like the orbit is now 243 x 273 km (mean elements relative to 6378 km sphere) and there was a burn at the end of the first orbit, around 2025 UTC. This 'burp' (per Elon) gave about 5m/s orbit change so was probably
about 0.1 seconds in duration for a propellant consumption of around 14 kg.

Has SpaceX made any statement about the mass in orbit of the combined Dragon/Second Stage? I am guessing around 7500 kg or so.

robertross · « **Reply #955 on:** 06/05/2010 05:01 am »

Quote from: landofgrey on 06/05/2010 01:53 am

Well, I don't know if this should go in the video forum, but anyway. I was fortunate enough to shoot the launch from the KSC VAB roof. Since there were issues with the webcast, I figured I'd upload the two videos I took to YouTube and then share them with everyone who might not have been able to see the actual launch. (In the KSC Newsroom, the webcast and internal network were so overloaded, even the SpaceX rep. didn't get to watch it). Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys:

SpaceX Falcon 9 First Launch As Viewed From The KSC VAB Roof (Tight Shot)

Thanks!
I was surprised by the flame from the umbilical...do they not (or aren't they) supposed to purge that line?

robertross · « **Reply #956 on:** 06/05/2010 05:04 am »

Quote from: lsullivan411 on 06/05/2010 04:26 am

Don't want to start a new thread for a couple pictures, so I'll just put these here. I wasn't able to make it to the launch today due to last minute family problem, but these were provided to me and permission given for posting by Alan Walters - Photograher, visit his website for some other fantastic space shots.

http://awaltersphoto.com/

Great pictures Larry...thanks!

gladiator1332 · « **Reply #957 on:** 06/05/2010 05:20 am »

Quote from: lsullivan411 on 06/05/2010 04:26 am

Don't want to start a new thread for a couple pictures, so I'll just put these here. I wasn't able to make it to the launch today due to last minute family problem, but these were provided to me and permission given for posting by Alan Walters - Photograher, visit his website for some other fantastic space shots.

http://awaltersphoto.com/

Thanks, currently have one of those as my desktop!

Nick L. · « **Reply #958 on:** 06/05/2010 05:44 am »

Did SpaceX let photographers put remote cameras on the pad? I'd really like to see how it looked up close.

MKremer · « **Reply #959 on:** 06/05/2010 06:29 am »

Quote from: Nick L. on 06/05/2010 05:44 am

Did SpaceX let photographers put remote cameras on the pad? I'd really like to see how it looked up close.

I'd guess that any equipment would have been collected by now and the photos already uploaded to the net. None have appeared, so apparently not. Unless only a SpaceX photographer was allowed, in which case we may have to wait for new updates on their web site.