SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 - Jason 3 - SLC-4E Vandenberg - Jan 17, 2016 - DISCUSSION

[IntoTheVoid]

I may start a poll, and am soliciting help on making a complete list.  It would be titled "I was wrong" and will read

"I posted that SpaceX needs:

1   A bigger barge *
2   A more stable barge *
3   A semisubmersible barge *
...

What is missing from this list?  I am sure there were more such suggestions.

There were a lot of net advocates.

[Barrie]

iirc adhesive on the deck and magnets on the feet have been advocated in the past.

[Fan Boi]

I am confident that I know what they need:
One More Try

They nailed the barge landing, it tipped over after the fact...

[Darkseraph]

It sounds like an accurate description of the events to me. It did explode after it delivered the satellite.

So every launch byline should be "Rocket launches satellite then crashes into ocean"?  (Or land, depending).

No, because although that is what happens, a recovery test is not part of the objectives list of ordinary rocket launches and therefore not really news.  :/

[Star One]

On the subject of news coverage, I re-found the other BBC headline for the mission. Focused more on Jason-3 than the fate of the rocket.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35339776

Farther down:

An attempt by SpaceX to recover the bottom part of the Falcon by landing it back on a sea barge came very close to success. The booster found the platform but could not remain upright because a landing leg failed to lock. As a result, it toppled over and exploded.

Much better

The one I saw was on the UK homepage but only seemed to be up for an hour or so.

How odd I looked on there last night not that long after the launch and that was the headline then, it must have been only a headline very briefly and someone changed it.

[Space Ghost 1962]

Has anybody bothered to bring up the thematic similarity to the Stark comment "How did you deal with the icing problem?" from the Ironman movie?

And that's about as far into the fannish stuff I'll go ...

[The Amazing Catstronaut]

I may start a poll, and am soliciting help on making a complete list.  It would be titled "I was wrong" and will read

"I posted that SpaceX needs:

1   A bigger barge *
2   A more stable barge *
3   A semisubmersible barge *
4   A seabed anchored barge *
5   A barge with a self-leveling surface *
6   A slower approach *
7   A more even approach *
8   A calmer sea state *
9   A radar altimeter *
10 More radar altimeters *
11 A hydraulic leg deployment *
12 A shock absorbing leg design * #
13 A set of heaters for the legs * #
14 Arresting wires *
15 Wheels under the legs * #
16 Brakes for wheels under the legs *
17 A barge transmitter protected from the rocket plume on descent *
18 A barge barge transmitter that points at a satellite not behind the rocket plume *
19 To turn off the FTS before landing # *
20 To stop hiding their failures *
21 A Chuck-E-Cheese ball pit *   (Thanks Tuts36!)
22 A sky-hook wire system
23 Horizontal landing with shorter legs * (I kid you not)
24 Below deck self-deploying foot grabbing devices or some such thing *
25 Roombas wielding MIG welders # *

* And I was wrong"

# which a really clever person like me can see but *

What is missing from this list?  I am sure there were more such suggestions.

edit: Already added #19, 21-25

You forgot:

* Wings
* Parachutes
* Removing the legs and landing it on the engine bells
* Fishing Nets
* Inflatable barge
* Rubberised legs for that extra springy feeling
* Legs with wheels on the bottom
* An Airship droneship (a flying inflatable barge)
* The Shield helicarrier (a flying rotary winged barge)

Oh, and I've seen antigravity suggested before (multiple times). I love the internet!

[AJW]

A reliable locking mechanism for the landing legs.

[The Amazing Catstronaut]

A reliable locking mechanism for the landing legs.

Ah, but nobody guessed that.

[CameronD]

A reliable locking mechanism for the landing legs.

Ah, but nobody guessed that.

'Cause that's far too obvious..  and besides, if you'd posted that, you'd be right. 

[AnalogMan]

On the subject of news coverage, I re-found the other BBC headline for the mission. Focused more on Jason-3 than the fate of the rocket.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35339776

Farther down:

An attempt by SpaceX to recover the bottom part of the Falcon by landing it back on a sea barge came very close to success. The booster found the platform but could not remain upright because a landing leg failed to lock. As a result, it toppled over and exploded.

Much better

The one I saw was on the UK homepage but only seemed to be up for an hour or so.

How odd I looked on there last night not that long after the launch and that was the headline then, it must have been only a headline very briefly and someone changed it.

Try this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35340734
(may not be available outside UK)

Or:
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35340734

[John Alan]

Keeping water out of the locking collets is not 'rocket science'... 

I am quite sure SpaceX can fix this... 

All this talk of 'backups' and 'catching it' is just silly... 

[AncientU]

I may start a poll, and am soliciting help on making a complete list.  It would be titled "I was wrong" and will read

"I posted that SpaceX needs:

1   A bigger barge *
2   A more stable barge *
3   A semisubmersible barge *
4   A seabed anchored barge *
5   A barge with a self-leveling surface *
6   A slower approach *
7   A more even approach *
8   A calmer sea state *
9   A radar altimeter *
10 More radar altimeters *
11 A hydraulic leg deployment *
12 A shock absorbing leg design * #
13 A set of heaters for the legs * #
14 Arresting wires *
15 Wheels under the legs * #
16 Brakes for wheels under the legs *
17 A barge transmitter protected from the rocket plume on descent *
18 A barge barge transmitter that points at a satellite not behind the rocket plume *
19 To turn off the FTS before landing # *
20 To stop hiding their failures *
21 A Chuck-E-Cheese ball pit *   (Thanks Tuts36!)
22 A sky-hook wire system
23 Horizontal landing with shorter legs * (I kid you not)
24 Below deck self-deploying foot grabbing devices or some such thing *
25 Roombas wielding MIG welders # *

* And I was wrong"

# which a really clever person like me can see but *

What is missing from this list?  I am sure there were more such suggestions.

edit: Already added #19, 21-25

You forgot:

* Wings
* Parachutes
* Removing the legs and landing it on the engine bells
* Fishing Nets
* Inflatable barge
* Rubberised legs for that extra springy feeling
* Legs with wheels on the bottom
* An Airship droneship (a flying inflatable barge)
* The Shield helicarrier (a flying rotary winged barge)

Oh, and I've seen antigravity suggested before (multiple times). I love the internet!

* More time

[Karloss12]

Wow, they nailed the landing.  The exact same thing would have happened for a Land landing.

Another design glitch to iron out.  They will get the vast majority of them all in the end.

[laszlo]

SpaceX rocket landings are just like in the sci-fi movies and TV from the 50s and 60s, (excluding Startrek) and nothing like sci-fi movies and TV since.

Elon Musk has taken America back....


....to the 60s space rockets I imagined.

What's a 30 year detour in the grand scheme of things?

Speaking of 30-year detours, we're coming up on the 30th anniversary of another reuseable booster that was supposed to land in the ocean but was laid low by cold temperatures and ice. At least this one didn't take any crew with it.

[punder]

#26. To stop bothering, everybody knows you can't land a first stage!*  #  **    ***

* Reliably.

# On a barge.

** And fly it again.

*** Economically.

[Star One]

On the subject of news coverage, I re-found the other BBC headline for the mission. Focused more on Jason-3 than the fate of the rocket.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35339776

Farther down:

An attempt by SpaceX to recover the bottom part of the Falcon by landing it back on a sea barge came very close to success. The booster found the platform but could not remain upright because a landing leg failed to lock. As a result, it toppled over and exploded.

Much better

The one I saw was on the UK homepage but only seemed to be up for an hour or so.

How odd I looked on there last night not that long after the launch and that was the headline then, it must have been only a headline very briefly and someone changed it.

Try this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35340734
(may not be available outside UK)

Or:
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35340734

I reckon someone there recognised it was incorrect and it was altered.

[HMXHMX]

A reliable locking mechanism for the landing legs.

Ah, but nobody guessed that.

Somebody did:  http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33788.msg1478786#msg1478786

[smoliarm]

Is it the first time the second stage did THREE burns?
In the update thread it looks like it did a third (deorbit) burn:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39140.msg1478278#msg1478278

[ugordan]

First time, at least to public knowledge. Longest coast till that burn as well, 100 minutes after launch.