Kudos Spacex!
Wonderful rebound launch. Next time I'm skipping the sleep.
Is the 85x34786 target orbit a bit low in the press release? Or they fired the wrong persons from PR dept?
Is the 85x34786 target orbit a bit low in the press release? Or they fired the wrong persons from PR dept?
That press kit for AsiaSat 8 had a couple of other errata: wrong F9 flight no., and inconsistent info on the order of propellant loading (LOX first in one part of the press kit, and RP-1 first in another).
So the lack of review by a technical head seems to have crept in several ways.
Is the 85x34786 target orbit a bit low in the press release?
Yes. I believe it should be
185x3
5786 km, which is the value in the press kit. The actual values were posted by Galactic Penguin SST previously.
"NORAD is tracking 2 objects from this launch:
2014-046A/40107: 199 x 35816 km x 24.35 deg.
2014-046B/40108: 198 x 35768 km x 24.34 deg."
If object A is the satellite (B being the second stage) the perigee was 14 km higher and apogee was 30 km higher.
Is the 85x34786 target orbit a bit low in the press release?
Yes. I believe it should be 185x35786 km, which is the value in the press kit. The actual values were posted by Galactic Penguin SST previously.
"NORAD is tracking 2 objects from this launch:
2014-046A/40107: 199 x 35816 km x 24.35 deg.
2014-046B/40108: 198 x 35768 km x 24.34 deg."
If object A is the satellite (B being the second stage) the perigee was 14 km higher and apogee was 30 km higher.
Don't think I've seen an official confirmation from SpaceX or AsiaSat on the injected orbit. Doesn't seem to have been one?
cheers, Martin
I don't recall seeing the injection orbit numbers in a press release, but we do know that AsiaSat did not start to maneuver to it's final GSO orbit until well after the tracking data was released. So, to the degree that the Norad information is accurate, we do know what the injection orbit was. That said, I have no idea what the error bars look like for Norad Tracking.
Elon Musk @elonmusk
High velocity reentry (2700 lbs/sqft) appeared to succeed, but, as expected, not enough propellant to land for this and the next mission.
That translates to 129 kPa pressure. That's equivalent to being 12.9 m under the sea.
To be picky, that's equivalent to being 2.9m under the sea, because the sea has 1 bar of atmosphere above it. If we want to be
really picky, it's nearer 2.8m as seawater is slightly denser than 1kg/l.
Congrats to SpaceX on another successful flight with the unexpected bonuses of in-tank shots and a controlled re-entry!
Saw this today although it was posted in Aerospace Defense on 08/20/14:
Engineers in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) are using data on supersonic retro-propulsion generated by SpaceX in its Falcon 9 flyback first-stage testing as a substitute for government-funded flight tests aimed at landing large payloads on the surface of Mars. With space-technology budgets tight, the STMD is using partnerships wherever possible to save money on its extensive basket of exploration-enabling technology-development efforts, and SpaceX fit the bill.
Mods: Please move if there is a more appropriate thread for this.
: http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/08/06/spacex-launches-asiasat-8-telecommunications-satellite-geosynchronous-transfer-orbit
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