LIVE: SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon COTS Demo (C2+) LAUNCH and FD1 UPDATES

[Ben the Space Brit]

@elonmusk:

Dragon spaceship opens the navigation pod bay door without hesitation. So much nicer than HAL9000 #DragonLaunch

WOOHOO! Go BABY!

Oops... sorry, should be on the Cheerleading thread, right? Still, if door is open and secure in 'open' position then that's another C2 objective in the bag.  Next page on the flight plan, if you will guys.

[Nahavandi]

Good launch replay here with nice audio:

Wow what a beauty, unfortunately I was unable to watch the launch live because I had an exam.

[corrodedNut]

Wondering how long do we have to wait to see MARS video

Yes! Bring on the MARS footage!

[Galactic Penguin SST]

USSTRATCOM has catalogued Object 2012-027A/38348 in
294.6 x 372.4 km x 51.67°

I hope that's the second stage.  The press kit says "altitude not to exceed 368 km" (page 7).

Looks like that's indeed the second stage (it's now 2012-027B/38349), as the Dragon has shown up in the catalog (as 2012-027A/38348) in a 341 x 350 km @ 51.66 deg. orbit as of 09:12 UTC.

[corrodedNut]

http://twitter.com/#/elonmusk/status/204883910654570496

"Navigation bay pointing to deep space and star map being generated by star tracker one. Yes! #DragonLaunch"

[Nahavandi]

[nblackwell]

Just spotted Dragon over SoCal! Hell yeah!

[Ben the Space Brit]

Just spotted Dragon over SoCal! Hell yeah!

I suppose it's something different to see your State's native spacecraft overhead, isn't it?

[Ronsmytheiii]

Just spotted Dragon over SoCal! Hell yeah!

I suppose it's something different to see your State's native spacecraft overhead, isn't it?

Well there were plenty of shuttle passes over California over the years......

[input~2]

USSTRATCOM has catalogued Object 2012-027A/38348 in
294.6 x 372.4 km x 51.67°

I hope that's the second stage.  The press kit says "altitude not to exceed 368 km" (page 7).

Looks like that's indeed the second stage (it's now 2012-027B/38349), as the Dragon has shown up in the catalog (as 2012-027A/38348) in a 341 x 350 km @ 51.66 deg. orbit as of 09:12 UTC.

The second elset for Object A (2012-027A/38348) gives an orbit of
335.3 x 355.1 km x 51.67° at epoch 0943:38UTC

[ugordan]

Extended launch video from NASA in HD, up to T+15 min:

[Ronsmytheiii]

SRB ship Freedom Star looking to image SpaceX Dragon capsule on overpasses. Clouds obscured first try.

https://twitter.com/#!/NASA_Langley

[Space Pete]

Confirmation that the GNC door is locked.

@NASA_Johnson:

"The GNC door on the Dragon is fully open and secured. All systems are performing well."

[corrodedNut]

SRB ship Freedom Star looking to image SpaceX Dragon capsule on overpasses. Clouds obscured first try.

https://twitter.com/#!/NASA_Langley

But also: https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/204845831566786561

"Fla. SCIFLI team reports it successfully took visual and thermal images of ‪#DragonLaunch‬. Now must process data!"

[corrodedNut]

Official SpaceX update:

http://www.spacex.com/updates.php

"Success! Falcon 9 delivers Dragon to orbit"

"May 22, 2012- Falcon 9/Dragon launched successfully at 3:44 AM eastern. This marks the third consecutive Falcon 9 launch success and the fifth straight launch success for SpaceX. The Dragon spacecraft separated and the solar arrays have deployed. Watch the press conference at 5:30 AM Eastern at www.nasa.gov/ntv"

[corrodedNut]

Extended launch video from NASA in HD, up to T+15 min:

Thanks, view of staging is so much better...

[tehwkd]

Full SpaceX coverage

[corrodedNut]

Kennedy Media Gallery is updating:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=225

[jcm]

USSTRATCOM has catalogued Object 2012-027A/38348 in
294.6 x 372.4 km x 51.67°

I hope that's the second stage.  The press kit says "altitude not to exceed 368 km" (page 7).

Looks like that's indeed the second stage (it's now 2012-027B/38349), as the Dragon has shown up in the catalog (as 2012-027A/38348) in a 341 x 350 km @ 51.66 deg. orbit as of 09:12 UTC.

In any case don't put much weight on that, Stratcom and NASA may not be using the same Earth model which shifts things around by a few km.

Relative to a 6378 km sphere I get:

A/38348  Dragon   -
two sets of elements, first is    294 x 372 km  and second is  335 x 355 km
[edit: at first I thought this reflected a manuever, but now I think one elset
is probably just in error. The two orbits cross at around 0932 UTC which is
probably when the measurement was made]

B/38349  Falcon 9 St 2: 271 x 331 km
C/38350  Solar array cover  304 x 339 km
D/38351  Solar array cover  305 x 343 km

[JBF]

The 2nd stage is supposed to decay out of orbit in ~1 year, how long will the solar array covers stay up?

A/38348  Dragon     294 x 372 km  initial elements; maneuvered at around 0933 UTC to 335 x 355 km
B/38349  Falcon 9 St 2: 271 x 331 km
C/38350  Solar array cover  304 x 339 km
D/38351  Solar array cover  305 x 343 km