SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 - Dragon - CRS-5/SpX-5 -Jan. 10, 2015 - DISCUSSION

[Silmfeanor]

Spaceflightnow just posted additional photos of the autonomous spaceport barge it is leaving land and heading out for its ocean mission of catching a 1st stage

heres a link.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/16/photos-spacexs-autonomous-spaceport-drone-ship/

So, water suppression systems / foam spraying? lots of unidentified containers. Let the speculating start

[grahamhewett]

looks like there is a cherry-picker on deck!

[TrevorMonty]

 The propulsion system must only be used for station keeping as barge is being pushed by a tug. Here is hoping for good video footage of landing.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Spaceflightnow just posted additional photos of the autonomous spaceport barge it is leaving land and heading out for its ocean mission of catching a 1st stage

heres a link.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/16/photos-spacexs-autonomous-spaceport-drone-ship/

So, water suppression systems / foam spraying? lots of unidentified containers. Let the speculating start

Go Quest AIS feed:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-81.5832/centery:30.40972/zoom:8/mmsi:367564890/shipid:450521

Elsbeth III AIS:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/shipid:434560/mmsi:367017460/imo:0/vessel:ELSBETH_III

Both of those vessels were in the photographs

[matthewkantar]

Whee. The support boat is called the "go Quest" we can watch its track on Marinetraffic.com.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/shipid:450521/mmsi:367564890/imo:1155515/vessel:GO_QUEST

Matthew

[matthewkantar]

And here is the chassis for the ASDS:

http://ships.findthebest.com/l/232836/Marmac-300-in-New-Orleans-LA

Matthew

[MTom]

Spaceflightnow just posted additional photos of the autonomous spaceport barge it is leaving land and heading out for its ocean mission of catching a 1st stage

heres a link.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/16/photos-spacexs-autonomous-spaceport-drone-ship/

So, water suppression systems / foam spraying? lots of unidentified containers. Let the speculating start

Go Quest AIS feed:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-81.5832/centery:30.40972/zoom:8/mmsi:367564890/shipid:450521

Elsbeth III AIS:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/shipid:434560/mmsi:367017460/imo:0/vessel:ELSBETH_III

Both of those vessels were in the photographs

ELSBETH III: 
No live tracking since leaving the port.
Is it normal?

[MTom]

Whee. The support boat is called the "go Quest" we can watch its track on Marinetraffic.com.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/shipid:450521/mmsi:367564890/imo:1155515/vessel:GO_QUEST

Matthew

Comparing this photo to the actual photo on spaceflightnow: there has been placed a parabola dish on the deck (Photo 2) - for tracking?

[joshcryer]

Comparing this photo to the actual photo on spaceflightnow: there has been placed a parabola dish on the deck (Photo 2) - for tracking?

Not sure. I think it might be a satellite uplink. I found that that dome thing to its right is for Fleet Broadband: http://www.polaris-as.dk/product-cat/communication/satellite-maritime/fleet-broadband/

[Kabloona]

ELSBETH III: 
No live tracking since leaving the port.
Is it normal?

Maybe they turned off the AIS transponder so the barge cannot be tracked on the open ocean. But the Go
Quest is still transmitting its position.

[Darga]

ELSBETH III: 
No live tracking since leaving the port.
Is it normal?

Maybe they turned off the AIS transponder so the barge cannot be tracked on the open ocean. But the Go
Quest is still transmitting its position.

Go Quest is heading south right now, away from the recovery zone. Might not even be related or it's heading someplace close by for some reason. It only needs 27 hours to get on position at it's avg speed of 6.8 knots.

[Lars-J]

The propulsion system must only be used for station keeping as barge is being pushed by a tug.

That was never in doubt for most of us - except for a vocal minority here.

[BrakeFirst]

The deck of the landing barge sure looks solid. The new Twitter pic.

[Lars-J]

The deck of the landing barge sure looks solid. The new Twitter pic.

I'm not sure - Here it is in full resolution, from SpaceX's latest update: http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/12/16/x-marks-spot-falcon-9-attempts-ocean-platform-landing

Note how at some points it looks like you can barely see light reflections from waves through the deck (top left) - and also the part overhanging water does look darker. I think it there is a grid element there.

[Kabloona]

Go Quest now seems to be zigzagging slowly up and down the coast a few miles offshore of Jacksonville. Maybe a sea trial of some of their equipment.

[sghill]

I like the steel mesh ramps on the sides. Makes sense too. They'll berth the barge, then raise or lower it to the dock height,  then drive stuff right on or off of the deck.  The dockside ramps are lowered in this new photo, and the waterside is still raised.  They look 10-12 feet wide. You can just make out the yellow perimeter fencing along the other edges too.

I'm guessing that the fellow standing in the middle of the deck in white is operating the hexacopter that took this picture. Looking at his shadow, his hands are in close like he's got a RC transmitter in hand..

BTW,  what's the big divot in the deck near the "x", a burn mark from testing? It looks like a small impact crater!

[Kabloona]

BTW,  what's the big divot in the deck near the "x", a burn mark from testing? It looks like a small impact crater!

Looks to me like a pipe coming up from under the deck at an angle, making an elliptical intersection with the deck. Maybe a drain, or maybe they will pump seawater onto the deck through the pipe.

[Lee Jay]

Here's a roughly defished version.

[Robotbeat]

The propulsion system must only be used for station keeping as barge is being pushed by a tug.

That was never in doubt for most of us - except for a vocal minority here.

Hey, you could've been wrong.

[ravedave]

BTW,  what's the big divot in the deck near the "x", a burn mark from testing? It looks like a small impact crater!

Looks to me like a pipe coming up from under the deck at an angle, making an elliptical intersection with the deck. Maybe a drain, or maybe they will pump seawater onto the deck through the pipe.

I happened to read that comment then look at this pic:
http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/barge03.jpg

They appear to be pumping something into it. I am guessing they want to use freshwater not seawater.