SpaceX Falcon 9 : BulgariaSat-1 : June 23, 2017 : DISCUSSION

[tyrred]

There appeared to be a big heaving of the deck right before the video signal dropped out which "could" account for the off center landing...

I saw a wave crashing at ships' edge just before signal drop off.  Then my mind immediately re-interpreted as rocket exhaust plume impingement.  Anxiously awaiting full footage to find out which brain is correct.

[chrisking0997]

It did only appear like it was hovering above water before the transmission cut briefly, but keep in mind that the stage is coming in at an angle (see other drone ships landings shot from a distance), and a 3 engine landing burn will reach a bit further and impinge the ocean more. 

looks like there is a soot trail clear from one side of the asds to the other. will be interesting to see the non-live video release

I noticed that the soot trail runs from the edge of the ship inwards. I didn't think it ran from both sides but just from the right.

could be some cloud shadows in play there too

[envy887]

There was talk of introducing titanium grid fins to make them more resilient during reentry. Has this happened yet? 🤔

No, not yet.

[Lars-J]

There was talk of introducing titanium grid fins to make them more resilient during reentry. Has this happened yet?

According to some on Reddit, the next flight (2 days!) will have new grid fins.

[dorkmo]

It did only appear like it was hovering above water before the transmission cut briefly, but keep in mind that the stage is coming in at an angle (see other drone ships landings shot from a distance), and a 3 engine landing burn will reach a bit further and impinge the ocean more. 

looks like there is a soot trail clear from one side of the asds to the other. will be interesting to see the non-live video release

I noticed that the soot trail runs from the edge of the ship inwards. I didn't think it ran from both sides but just from the right.

this is what i see

[ZachS09]

Elon on Twitter:
Elon Musk‏Verified account @elonmusk
Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good

Doesn't look like B1029 will be reused again.

[Star One]

It did only appear like it was hovering above water before the transmission cut briefly, but keep in mind that the stage is coming in at an angle (see other drone ships landings shot from a distance), and a 3 engine landing burn will reach a bit further and impinge the ocean more. 

looks like there is a soot trail clear from one side of the asds to the other. will be interesting to see the non-live video release

I noticed that the soot trail runs from the edge of the ship inwards. I didn't think it ran from both sides but just from the right.

could be some cloud shadows in play there too

Be interesting to see the landing video for this one as it looks like it worked hard to get onto the deck of the drone ship.

[Kabloona]

bank shot!

[Rebel44]

It would be nice to get a drone footage (just like CRS-8 footage) of 3 engine landing burn

[Lars-J]

It did only appear like it was hovering above water before the transmission cut briefly, but keep in mind that the stage is coming in at an angle (see other drone ships landings shot from a distance), and a 3 engine landing burn will reach a bit further and impinge the ocean more. 

looks like there is a soot trail clear from one side of the asds to the other. will be interesting to see the non-live video release

I noticed that the soot trail runs from the edge of the ship inwards. I didn't think it ran from both sides but just from the right.

this is what i see

Thrust gimbal can cause that. And shadows. It does not mean that the stage moved like that.

[mlindner]

There was talk of introducing titanium grid fins to make them more resilient during reentry. Has this happened yet? 🤔

That happens in Block 5 (possibly we'll see it early in Block 4).

[Star One]

It did only appear like it was hovering above water before the transmission cut briefly, but keep in mind that the stage is coming in at an angle (see other drone ships landings shot from a distance), and a 3 engine landing burn will reach a bit further and impinge the ocean more. 

looks like there is a soot trail clear from one side of the asds to the other. will be interesting to see the non-live video release

I noticed that the soot trail runs from the edge of the ship inwards. I didn't think it ran from both sides but just from the right.

this is what i see

Thrust gimbal can cause that. And shadows. It does not mean that the stage moved like that.

So it did a side shuffle so to speak to get onto the deck then?

[ugordan]

It's LEANING.

That looks like barrel distortion from the wide-angle lens more than anything else.  No doubt that was a hard landing, though. 

Yes, but compare it to the sea horizon at the point the vehicle body and it meet, it really doesn't appear to be completely vertical. If it came in at a horizontal velocity as that off-ship water plume suggests, this might make it the most sporty landing yet that didn't result in vehicle loss.

Either way, good to see the stage make it back.

That line would only look vertical (if vertical), if it is in the middle of the image. Your assumption does not hold for things off-center in such a distorted wide angle lens.

Even accounting for that, my gut tells me it's tilted too much. We shall see soon enough.

[clegg78]

Do we know if this was a 3 engine landing burn like they attempted before (and put a rocket into the ship doing it a few times)?   Seemed a bit less elegant than some of the last drone ship landings which makes me wonder if that is the case.

[Lars-J]

The good folks in west central Africa are about to get a interesting night light show as the 2nd stage re-starts.

[intrepidpursuit]

Elon on Twitter:
Elon Musk‏Verified account @elonmusk
Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good

Doesn't look like B1029 will be reused again.

Why? They don't reuse the legs and they seem to be replacing all the TPS anyway right now, so how much of it was used is irrelevant.

They don't seem to have plans to reuse block 3 stages more than once anyway, but I don't see why this one is any worse than any others.

[whitelancer64]

Do we know if this was a 3 engine landing burn like they attempted before (and put a rocket into the ship doing it a few times)?   Seemed a bit less elegant than some of the last drone ship landings which makes me wonder if that is the case.

Yes, a 3 engine landing burn.

[jtrame]

Don't see any reason it couldn't be reused again.  Depending on how much refurbishment they want to do.  Too early to make that determination on our part.

[Quagga]

My attempt at removing the distortion.

[JimO]

The good folks in west central Africa are about to get a interesting night light show as the 2nd stage retstarts.

How dark is the sky there yet? Downtrack, if there's a fuel dump, might be even more spectacular?

Here's my overview of typical fuel dump cloud spotting in the past...
http://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/Space_clouds-Strange_Spinoff_of_the_Space_Age.pdf