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#580
by
douglas100
on 30 Mar, 2017 09:08
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Great picture. The booster has cleaned up really well.
This is the first time we've seen the floor of the hangar with the TEL in position. It's still not clear if there would be enough space lengthwise to integrate a second stage with the other two cores in this configuration. (It's probably not necessary anyway.)
Another interesting clue is the 90T crane at the door. This suggests that a complete FH, minus payload, would be integrated on the floor, rather than the side boosters being lifted singly onto the TEL after the centre core and second stage have been loaded.
Slightly OT comments. On with the show!
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#581
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 30 Mar, 2017 09:14
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Do we know if they got the booster up and if so early enough to still make the original launch time or will there be a slip to 1.04?
Based on the
tweet SES just sent, looks like timeline is still ok.
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#582
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 30 Mar, 2017 09:53
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Not surprisingly this launch is attracting quite a lot of interest in the space community:
DEIMOS IMAGING @deimosimaging 2m2 minutes ago
#LC39A @NASAKennedy looks crowded from the #DEIMOS2 orbit! Everything is getting ready for today’s #Falcon9 #SES10 launch.Good luck @SpaceX!
https://twitter.com/deimosimaging/status/847385017349058561
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#583
by
AncientU
on 30 Mar, 2017 10:34
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I might add that I find it amazing that's there's been almost a deafening silence lately when it comes to the spreadsheet created by Tory Bruno (or at least touted by him) and then vigorously debated on this forum on the cost benefit of reuse.
The true significance of the success of this mission is for SX alone. Musk said that he would have considered them to have failed if LV reuse did not succeed.
Many have forgotten this. He hasn't.
If this mission succeeds, and nothing more comes of it ... SX has, as a venture, succeeded in his opinion.
I wish him and SX well in their accomplishment and reaching the goal they set for themselves.
I'm willing to agree that they see it as a big step forwards, but I don't think this limited type of reuse rises to level of "Mission Accomplished" for Musk/SX. When Musk made those statements he was at least talking about full reuse, if not a "Fully and Rapidly Reused" LV. That's clearly still a milestone on their pathway to Mars, it's just been postponed to the ITS architecture instead of the Falcon family (i.e. no 2nd stage reuse for F9/FH). Booster reuse is just the (not so) low hanging fruit. The first step. So, while this launch will hopefully be a great success for SpaceX, no. They haven't (capital S) Succeeded, yet.
How soon they forget...
Surviving the re-entry, soft-landing on the ocean, hitting (literally) the drone ship a couple times, landing on land, landing on the drone ship, re-firing a flown/hot landed booster 8 times, structurally testing a flown booster, static firing 1021, and finally... this upcoming 'first' step. Just picking the low hanging fruit.
There are many steps to go, no doubt, but this goal post moving was properly predicted by others.
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#584
by
ChrisGebhardt
on 30 Mar, 2017 12:50
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Backup launch slot is Saturday, not Friday:
SpaceX is targeting launch of SES-10 from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two and a half hour launch window opens on Thursday, March 30, at 6:27 p.m. EDT, or 10:27 p.m. UTC. The satellite will deploy approximately 32 minutes after launch. A backup launch window opens on Saturday, April 1, at 6:27 p.m. EDT, or 10:27 p.m. UTC.
http://www.spacex.com/webcast
Well that's new -- and not what SES and SpaceX said Tuesday. Interesting. Be fascinated to learn why this changed from backup on 3/31 to backup on 4/1.
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#585
by
rockets4life97
on 30 Mar, 2017 12:52
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Weather looking bad on Friday pushing the backup day to Saturday?
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#586
by
IntoTheVoid
on 30 Mar, 2017 12:57
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Also, is 13 hours checkout typical for a satellite - what kind of things would be covered here, and would the checkout time be the same if the satellite had been vertically integrated and not rotated 90' plus ?
IIRC, In the SES press briefing linked a few posts back, Martin Halliwell stated that the 13 hour checkout was typical for the satellite bus that they used for SES-10.
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#587
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:13
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Weather looking bad on Friday pushing the backup day to Saturday?
Although I think weather is most likely, could it be an FAA issue with closing airspace on Friday? Or does the range approval process include agreeing any airspace restrictions?
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#588
by
wardy89
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:17
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“We’re at the edge of quite significant bit of history here. This is big step for SES, for @SpaceX and for the industry.” M. Halliwell, SES
https://twitter.com/ses_satellites/status/847434266447196161
That white stand to the right of the rocket is that to enable payload integration while the rocket is on the transport erector?
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#589
by
Paul_G
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:26
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Also, is 13 hours checkout typical for a satellite - what kind of things would be covered here, and would the checkout time be the same if the satellite had been vertically integrated and not rotated 90' plus ?
IIRC, In the SES press briefing linked a few posts back, Martin Halliwell stated that the 13 hour checkout was typical for the satellite bus that they used for SES-10.
Thanks - will check out the briefing.
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#590
by
Norm38
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:47
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A question I don’t recall being asked or mentioned. Are the legs on this booster the same ones that were on the CRS-8 flight? Or are they new? Were they ever removed and refurbished in some way? Or just folded back up?
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#591
by
yokem55
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:50
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#592
by
ChrisGebhardt
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:51
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A question I don’t recall being asked or mentioned. Are the legs on this booster the same ones that were on the CRS-8 flight? Or are they new? Were they ever removed and refurbished in some way? Or just folded back up?
The legs were removed when the booster came back to port. The best public answer we have to this right now is that "all major elements of the booster are the same" from when it flew on CRS-8 last year.
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#593
by
gongora
on 30 Mar, 2017 13:55
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Not the Immersat-35E booster, as it is still at McGregor, it should depart there after this evenings launch.
Upcoming payloads include Inmarsat 5 F4, and then a couple flights later Intelsat 35e
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#594
by
ThePonjaX
on 30 Mar, 2017 14:12
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A question I don’t recall being asked or mentioned. Are the legs on this booster the same ones that were on the CRS-8 flight? Or are they new? Were they ever removed and refurbished in some way? Or just folded back up?
The legs were removed when the booster came back to port. The best public answer we have to this right now is that "all major elements of the booster are the same" from when it flew on CRS-8 last year.
Some details about refurbishement here:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=42630.0
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#595
by
Llian Rhydderch
on 30 Mar, 2017 14:13
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Do we have an ETA on the launch day article that NSF usually posts?
I've been waiting to use that one to tweet NSF, and it is already past 10am local time in the eastern US.
Just looked here, and no article, yet:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/
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#596
by
jpo234
on 30 Mar, 2017 14:27
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#597
by
ChrisGebhardt
on 30 Mar, 2017 14:34
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Do we have an ETA on the launch day article that NSF usually posts?
I've been waiting to use that one to tweet NSF, and it is already past 10am local time in the eastern US.
Just looked here, and no article, yet:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/
When the EVA going on right now is done.
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#598
by
whitelancer64
on 30 Mar, 2017 14:56
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Dirty core on the pad. 
https://twitter.com/nova_road/status/847414851076898817
You can barely make out the '21' tag on the booster in this pic.
It's easier from the original sized image:
Edit: The link is to the original image, but the forum doesn't show it.
I thought that re-flights of the same core were supposed to have a -number indicating the number of flights?
Very interesting this core does not have 21-1 or 21-2 painted on it...
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#599
by
old_sellsword
on 30 Mar, 2017 15:14
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Dirty core on the pad.
https://twitter.com/nova_road/status/847414851076898817
You can barely make out the '21' tag on the booster in this pic.
It's easier from the original sized image:
Edit: The link is to the original image, but the forum doesn't show it.
I thought that re-flights of the same core were supposed to have a -number indicating the number of flights?
Very interesting this core does not have 21-1 or 21-2 painted on it...
They do get a number for each flight, but that was never going to be painted on the actual booster.
