The CRS-3/SpX-3 - Dragon, Suit Up! - Party Thread

[somepitch]

Oh wow, I've just seen this all in the party thread! Heh, very clever use of this thread.

Guys, this could take days. SpaceX responses are hit and miss. Sometimes they'll give you everything you need, sometimes you won't even get a read receipt. If it's the later, I'll give it 24 hours then take the source route and that won't be instantaneous.

Got to get this right, as much as I think it is right via initial checks.

I'm with you.  But maybe it's just a Vancouver thing? 

Go Whitecaps!

We're all with you, definitely do it right no matter how long it takes.  It's just like an extended Christmas morning when you were a kid..

Go Whitecaps indeed! There wasn't much to cheer for with the Canucks this year! 

[Lar]

I guess as someone new to NSF I have yet to figure things out.

The major important breaking news always happens in the party thread?   

Not normally, no. Thanks for pointing that out

No, this is just the least likely place to get trimmed... (but I for one have managed even that)

So have I. It's not the end of the world unless you make a habit of it.

[Prober]

Oh wow, I've just seen this all in the party thread! Heh, very clever use of this thread.

Guys, this could take days. SpaceX responses are hit and miss. Sometimes they'll give you everything you need, sometimes you won't even get a read receipt. If it's the later, I'll give it 24 hours then take the source route and that won't be instantaneous.

Now Chris you should know when info is in the " instantaneous" window

[Elmar Moelzer]

Definitely make sure to do things right, Chris. Just don't mind if we are excited anyway

[fatdeeman]

Well I don't know about anyone else but I'm amazed I missed THAT post considering how much I have been checking the forum! I was already desperate to hear any news about the stage recovery! Now I think I'm going to have to buy a cheap external keyboard for my laptop because otherwise I'm going to wear out the F5 key!

I have visions of a largely intact stage being given a spit and polish for it's photo shoot! If that actually happened it would be truly amazing! I've always been a fan of space exploration but nothing has got me checking for news updates as much as spacex!

I'm so desperate to know what was posted but I truly appreciate why caution has to be taken at a time like this.

[Mongo62]

Here are some of my thought regarding this (obviously important) development.

The first thought that came into my mind was the issue of confidentiality. Did the source of the information actually have permission to release it? That in itself would be sufficient reason to 'embargo' the original post, somebody's job could be at stake. Not to mention that NSF itself could get into trouble, legal or otherwise, if it allows what I assume to be proprietary information of considerable magnitude to be disseminated here without SpaceX's permission.

Second is verification -- which I assume that Chris is working on right now, both from SpaceX sources and from outside people and organizations.

Third is SpaceX's reaction. Something as huge as this sounds to be, will no doubt be kicked all the way up to The Elon himself for a decision. He might very well allow the information to be published, but with a delay of 1-3 days, during which time SpaceX will be scrambling to put together a press release covering the information being prematurely revealed.

I am assuming that the information is not really about the F9 first stage itself, but about SpaceX's future plans, in more detail than what has been revealed so far. It does not seem to me that news of the booster still bobbing about in the Atlantic would be as awesome as this information is described as being. Not to say that news about the booster might not be included in the new information.

[Elmar Moelzer]

Hmm, maybe they did some experimentation with the second stage that we did not know about (they did hint at some testing they did with it).

[StealerofSuns]

Hmm, maybe they did some experimentation with the second stage that we did not know about (they did hint at some testing they did with it).

Any way to see what ships are/were near the splashdown site?

[Elmar Moelzer]

Hmm, maybe they did some experimentation with the second stage that we did not know about (they did hint at some testing they did with it).

Any way to see what ships are/were near the splashdown site?

It was supposed to be somewhere near Australia, right?
Did the second stage have a TPS at all? At one point people here were wondering about the strange looking "adapter" to the Dragon trunk, but it did not look like what their original concept video had shown. I cant imagine it surviving reentry without a TPS, but then I am more than happy to be pleasantly surprised.

[GusTurbo]

I'm having a hard time imagining what the news could be that it would make "pushing boundaries" the understatement of the year. It seems like the only real possibility on the first stage is that the stage was found intact and recoverable. Even that possibility seems a little mundane with Chris' statement in mind.

Unless it's something to do with the second stage, as some people have mentioned.

[IanO]

We're allowed to speculate over here, right? Here's the evidence: it's nothing but good news, Elon would want to tweet it first, Chris and meekgee are over the moon about it, SpaceX has apparently succeeded in doing much more than pushing the boundaries. It has to be an intact stage, right? Photogenically intact or not is an open question I suppose.

CONFIRMED: SpaceX has booked their first around the moon tourist flight.   

[rst]

The top of the second stage in the Dragon integration snapshot just looked to my eyes like a tank dome with sheet metal around it to fit with the trunk.  If other people saw something unexpected, I'd be curious    to know what I missed.

I was trying to come up with a good joke about surprise second-stage recovery... looks like that may have been preempted.

[AncientU]

Welcome to the forum GusTurbo and Interstellar. 
You picked an auspicious day to join the thrump, thrumping.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34006.msg1187559#msg1187559

[Interstellar]

Welcome to the forum GusTurbo and Interstellar. 
You picked an auspicious day to join the thrump, thrumping.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34006.msg1187559#msg1187559

Thanks!  Been browsing for a while now, doing my small part help those who (like me) are starving for NEWS!

[Elmar Moelzer]

The top of the second stage in the Dragon integration snapshot just looked to my eyes like a tank dome with sheet metal around it to fit with the trunk.

And that was the conclusion at the time and back then it made sense to me.
I was just playfully speculating about the possibility of a second stage splash down and one of the things speaking against it, is the lack of a TPS on the second stage. So unless this "sheet metal" was a TPS of sorts (against earlier consensus here), there is little chance it could have survived reentry. Or am I missing something?

[rds100]

I'm having a hard time imagining what the news could be that it would make "pushing boundaries" the understatement of the year. It seems like the only real possibility on the first stage is that the stage was found intact and recoverable. Even that possibility seems a little mundane with Chris' statement in mind.

Unless it's something to do with the second stage, as some people have mentioned.

Considering this is the party thread... for me "pushing the boundaries" would be if the stage was refueled right there while floating in the sea, then took off and landed somewhere else 

[tesla]

We're allowed to speculate over here, right? Here's the evidence: it's nothing but good news, Elon would want to tweet it first, Chris and meekgee are over the moon about it, SpaceX has apparently succeeded in doing much more than pushing the boundaries. It has to be an intact stage, right? Photogenically intact or not is an open question I suppose.

CONFIRMED: SpaceX has booked their first around the moon tourist flight.   

I have read a tweet today something about a stage/orbit depot refuelling thing around mars orbit. It could be that. But then again this is not something SpX-3 related...

[somepitch]

Welcome to the forum GusTurbo and Interstellar. 
You picked an auspicious day to join the thrump, thrumping.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34006.msg1187559#msg1187559

Thanks!  Been browsing for a while now, doing my small part help those who (like me) are starving for NEWS!

As a relatively new member as well I say welcome, and definitely consider joining L2 if you haven't yet...well worth the price of admission!

[groundbound]

It was supposed to be somewhere near Australia, right?

Which makes the nature of the news story incredibly obvious: the second stage has managed to locate MH370 and self-ferry itself and the plane to Perth.

See? no secrets can withstand the collective intelligence (heh) of the party thread!

[AncientU]

We're allowed to speculate over here, right? Here's the evidence: it's nothing but good news, Elon would want to tweet it first, Chris and meekgee are over the moon about it, SpaceX has apparently succeeded in doing much more than pushing the boundaries. It has to be an intact stage, right? Photogenically intact or not is an open question I suppose.

CONFIRMED: SpaceX has booked their first around the moon tourist flight.   

I have read a tweet today something about a stage/orbit depot refuelling thing around mars orbit. It could be that. But then again this is not something SpX-3 related...

Would be good to link that tweet!
I don't think the breaking news was necessarily confined to SpX-3... Chris said:

...a bunch of updated and very legit looking information on numerous elements...

I've forced myself to not speculate today, but I'm tottering.