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

[AJA]

<land in a pool of water>

This has been brought up here in the forums ad nauseum (along with nets, or controlled capture units or docking units). They don't work. The masses involved are too large.

I figured. Any post/thread in specific you remember? No worries if not. I'll search later.

[dorkmo]

<land in a pool of water>

This has been brought up here in the forums ad nauseum (along with nets, or controlled capture units or docking units). They don't work. The masses involved are too large.

chuck-e-cheese ball pit??

[Tonioroffo]

So Elon tweeted one of the legs didn't latch.  The touchdown speed was good!!

[QuantumG]

A slightly different tone than after ORBCOMM2?

Jeff Bezos on Twitter: "Impressive launch and @SpaceX will soon make Falcon 9 landings routine – so good for space! Kudos SpaceX!"

Yeah, how boring. We're never going to see a SpaceX vs Blue Origin dance-off with this attitude.

[Dante80]

A slightly different tone than after ORBCOMM2?

Jeff Bezos on Twitter: "Impressive launch and @SpaceX will soon make Falcon 9 landings routine – so good for space! Kudos SpaceX!"

After the last two months twitter wars between the two, it is both refreshing and exciting to see a tweet like the above. Hope that mr Musk reciprocates in the future too, there is a difference between competition and bitter rivalry.

Good game Jeff!

[The Amazing Catstronaut]

Seems the (likely) loss of stage wasn't related to the stage tipping under the sea state, although it may have done regardless, we don't know. Seems one of the legs didn't lock correctly - exactly the same thing would have occurred if it had returned to launch site.

Now everybody stop bullying that sweet innocent drone ship. :X  It's not her fault she's clumsy.

[wannamoonbase]

So Elon tweeted one of the legs didn't latch.  The touchdown speed was good!!

Been wondering when we would see a mechanical problem like this or a fairing, staging to spacecraft separation issue.

This is best case problem because the payload still made it.

[PreferToLurk]

So Elon tweeted one of the legs didn't latch.  The touchdown speed was good!!

That's actually great news. Especially with the follow up tweet about it "probably" happening even if landing on land.  This means that this "test" discovered a bug that (if fixed properly) will make all future landings more reliable.  In addition, it also bodes well for future barge landings if the problem was not specific to the added challenges inherent with barge landings.

[Dante80]

Bad latch...baaadd..

Hope they get as much data as possible from it, although the problem might already be fixed in the next iteration.

[a_godumov]

In my opinion it is very impressive that they can provide the cause of the failure so quickly. And it is also interesting that this landing may have been a success without this glitch. I hope this issue is easy to solve.

[punder]

Bad latch...baaadd..

Hope they get as much data as possible from it, although the problem might already be fixed in the next iteration.

Better than if it had been the sea state. A latch is something SpaceX can fix. Mother Nature is something it can't. Yet. 

[The Amazing Catstronaut]

Been wondering when we would see a mechanical problem like this or a fairing, staging to spacecraft separation issue.

This is best case problem because the payload still made it.

The legs probably count among the least mission critical moving parts of the whole rocket. Their checks are certainly less extensive than anything required for the primary mission. If I was SpaceX I wouldn't throw too much oversight their way.

Haven't they updated the leg design recently? It's entirely probably they suspected an event of this nature would happen to a 1.1, or have prior data. It may have already been solved before we were aware of its existence.

[Lars-J]

In my opinion it is very impressive that they can provide the cause of the failure so quickly. And it is also interesting that this landing may have been a success without this glitch. I hope this issue is easy to solve.

They probably have the first video of the landing, which may have made the cause obvious.

[Tonioroffo]

So Elon tweeted one of the legs didn't latch.  The touchdown speed was good!!

That's actually great news. Especially with the follow up tweet about it "probably" happening even if landing on land.  This means that this "test" discovered a bug that (if fixed properly) will make all future landings more reliable.  In addition, it also bodes well for future barge landings if the problem was not specific to the added challenges inherent with barge landings.

The legs are improved on 1.1FT, so maybe it's already fixed.  Anyone have insight if this stage had the "old" legs?

[Ben the Space Brit]

In my opinion it is very impressive that they can provide the cause of the failure so quickly. And it is also interesting that this landing may have been a success without this glitch. I hope this issue is easy to solve.

It's worth noting that this core was in storage for quite a while and that this is the last of its kind to fly an orbital mission. Whilst I'm sure Space-X will be double-checking all the latches on future cores, I don't think that this will necessarily be a often-repeating issue.

[JazzFan]

Bad latch...baaadd..

Hope they get as much data as possible from it, although the problem might already be fixed in the next iteration.

Better than if it had the sea state. A latch is something SpaceX can fix. Mother Nature is something it can't. Yet. 

Just wondering if it is a fix that can be in place before the next landing attempt?

[hopalong]

So Elon tweeted one of the legs didn't latch.  The touchdown speed was good!!

Been wondering when we would see a mechanical problem like this or a fairing, staging to spacecraft separation issue.

This is best case problem because the payload still made it.

Yes, we must not forget that the Falcon has delivered Jason 3 to the correct orbit - I think the NASA quote was 'right on the money'.

If the landing issue was a latch issue, that can be fixed.

[docmordrid]

Bad latch...baaadd..

Hope they get as much data as possible from it, although the problem might already be fixed in the next iteration.

IIRC, the F9 Full Thrust has strengthened and upgraded legs. This was the previous version of v1.1 because of contract stipulations.

[Halidon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-submersible

Is it possible to build a barge with submerged pontoons to avoid the effect of large swells?

The short answer that yes it's possible to build a floating recovery platform that is more isolated from surface wave action, but at a much higher cost than the converted cargo barges SpaceX is using.

[Dante80]

IIRC, the F9 Full Thrust has strengthened and upgraded legs. This was the previous version of v1.1 because of contract stipulations.

Yes, but the problem could have persisted, even in a new design (if the specific parameters for unlatching remained constant, for example). Now, if they get the data for the malfunction, they can iterate on the design to remove the cause once and for all.