Author Topic: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon 9 (Flight 2) - COTS-1 - Launch Updates - December 8, 2010 (Read 546761 times)

Mapperuo · « **Reply #280 on:** 12/08/2010 03:04 pm »

Certainly an explosion in the tower here:

randomly · « **Reply #281 on:** 12/08/2010 03:04 pm »

Disregard the earlier comment, I was watching a replay and they mentioned jettisoning the stiffening ring.

Bubbinski · « **Reply #282 on:** 12/08/2010 03:04 pm »

Great job SpaceX. Hoping for a successful reentry and splashdown (and live coverage of that).

I tried to watch the SpaceX webcast and only got audio with blank screen. Clongton or others who couldn't watch that webcast, did you get the same issues? I ended up watching on my iPad with the Buzz Aldrin app then had to switch to the NASA app as the screen went blank. Also had some issues with the NASA TV streams - maybe because there were too many users?

Kabloona · « **Reply #283 on:** 12/08/2010 03:05 pm »

Quote from: antonioe on 12/08/2010 03:02 pm

Good operation, good recovery from anomalies, smooth flight. That's how things are done!

Congratulations.

- Antonio Elias

And you guys are up next, Antonio! Good luck with Taurus II.

echalone · « **Reply #284 on:** 12/08/2010 03:05 pm »

Quote from: clongton on 12/08/2010 03:01 pm

Chris - any confirmation of Dragon recovery operations timetable?

"The Dragon spacecraft will now be put through on-orbit testing for two or three orbits and will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in ~3 hours." from twcspacewx twitterpage

MarsInMyLifetime · « **Reply #285 on:** 12/08/2010 03:06 pm »

Puzzling white bits kept falling onto the 2nd stage nozzle flange, melted too slowly for ice on Hell's doorstep, I thought. But all in all, a beautiful launch with a great view of the Cape for quite awhile. Wish we could see first stage recovery!

beancounter · « **Reply #286 on:** 12/08/2010 03:06 pm »

Could the reduced orbit be due to the cutdown nozzle on the MVac or was the performance change insignificant?

jan_carlo_bascu · « **Reply #287 on:** 12/08/2010 03:06 pm »

What was exactly that explosion?

Namechange User · « **Reply #288 on:** 12/08/2010 03:07 pm »

Congratualtions to SpaceX for a successful launch! Looked like a relatively clean jump off the pad and a very smooth ascent.

Looking forward to seeing how Dragon performs through the day!

corrodedNut · « **Reply #289 on:** 12/08/2010 03:07 pm »

Quote from: randomly on 12/08/2010 03:01 pm

I wonder if the reason they cut so much off the bell because if they cut anything off, the stiffening rings would no longer fit and they would have to fabricate new ones. So they just shortened it to the point where it wouldn't need a stiffening ring.

I heard them call out: "stiffening ring jettison" and "nose cap jettison" but I didn't see either on the webcast. Maybe the feed just stuttered, but I had figured that we should see the nose cap fall away on the camera-side of the vehicle.

Kabloona · « **Reply #290 on:** 12/08/2010 03:07 pm »

Quote from: randomly on 12/08/2010 03:04 pm

Disregard the earlier comment, I was watching a replay and they mentioned jettisoning the stiffening ring.

They mentioned it, but I didn't see it. It looked like there was a flange, or lip, though, on the end of the nozzle, and that stayed on the entire time. At first I thought it was the stiffeners, but apparently not. Still trying to figure out where the stiffeners were.

Satori · « **Reply #291 on:** 12/08/2010 03:08 pm »

Antares · « **Reply #292 on:** 12/08/2010 03:08 pm »

I'm betting that hose thing was fuel not draining back out of the umbilical.

It would be really bad if it was hydrogen because there's no hydrogen on this vehicle

ugordan · « **Reply #293 on:** 12/08/2010 03:08 pm »

Did the SpaceX webcast show any liftoff roll this time? NASA feeds were much more distant.

Props are in order for the launch vehicle team, I had fears of something awful happening that wouldn't even give Dragon a chance. Now that that fear's been put to rest, let's see if the Dragon team delivers as well.

Jeff Lerner · « **Reply #294 on:** 12/08/2010 03:08 pm »

Bump

Has there been any commnet on the secondary payloads ??...believe the U.S. Army had a nanosat ??

kcrick · « **Reply #295 on:** 12/08/2010 03:09 pm »

Congrats to SpaceX !!!

Also congrats to everybody that provided coverage!!

Everything is blocked for me at work so I can only follow live here.

Now for a successful reentry for Dragon!

Kevin

Satori · « **Reply #296 on:** 12/08/2010 03:09 pm »

daver · « **Reply #297 on:** 12/08/2010 03:09 pm »

The still photo @ 9:52 looking through the Dragon trunk, AWESOME! WTG SpaceX!

amon · « **Reply #298 on:** 12/08/2010 03:09 pm »

Any word on first stage recovery?

kevin-rf · « **Reply #299 on:** 12/08/2010 03:09 pm »

Quote from: edkyle99 on 12/08/2010 03:03 pm

A touch early on the Mvac shutdown compared to the press kit numbers, and a slightly low perigee according to these preliminary numbers, but press kits sometimes are "approximations" and the orbit seems good enough for this mission.

Falcon 9 looks like a keeper.

- Ed Kyle

Did the press kit take into account the truncated nozzle and lower ISP? Or did it predate it?