SpaceX Falcon 9 : Spaceflight SSO-A : December 3, 2018 - DISCUSSION

[gongora]

Does anyone know where and when the second stage de-orbit burn might be visible ?

Looks like Raul missed a thread (or I missed his post).  A good place to check for this sort of thing is
Raul's map of SpaceX locations

If you look at the entries for SSO-A on that map it has a link to his
hazard area map
(you'll want to uncheck the CRS-16 box so that only SSO-A is showing)

[Noname4567]

If you look at the entries for SSO-A on that map it has a link

Thank you for the map. This certainly shows where the second stage will crash, but if I am not mistaken the deorbit burn should happen much sooner on the last orbit, so it should be visible east of this zone (possibly hundreds of miles away?).

[deruch]

If you look at the entries for SSO-A on that map it has a link

Thank you for the map. This certainly shows where the second stage will crash, but if I am not mistaken the deorbit burn should happen much sooner on the last orbit, so it should be visible east of this zone (possibly hundreds of miles away?).

As a guesstimate, look about 2/3 of the way to the opposite side of the Earth of the reentry location?

[litton4]

Clearest pictures from any launch I've seen!

[Lars-J]

That was a cool view of the landing from a distance!  I guess it helps to have the drone ship stationed just off the coast. 

EDIT: And congrats to the first Block 5 core, also the first to get the launch site trifecta.

[Norm38]

I was watching the countdown net, and with the drone ship so close, the 1st stage flew a very high and tight parabola.  Seemed to hang forever at the top, not moving much at all.  (at that scale)

[ZachF]

Third time is a charm 

[rocketguy101]

That was a cool view of the landing from a distance!  I guess it helps to have the drone ship stationed just off the coast. 

EDIT: And congrats to the first Block 5 core, also the first to get the launch site trifecta.

Yeah, but that view brought back memories of early attempts that didn't work   But it was a beautiful landing...wish they'd gone full screen for the descent and landing...you've seen one 2nd stage burn, you've seen em all...(I know, I know, the 2nd stage is the money shot for the customer)  Congrats SpaceX!

[A12]

Routine, it seems (now) just routine.
What about fairing?

[deruch]

Wow, really loving the "boresight" camera view looking out through the interstage during the boostback burn.  That was great.  Had me squinting trying to spot the ASDS (a totally futile endeavor from that altitude/camera resolution).  And even though we couldn't see the exhaust, we could still tell when the burn ended by watching the loose cables in there and when they stopped behaving as if they were under thrust.

[Comga]

Wow! Made it look easy. Right at the dead center of the bullseye!

Yeah
We used to do a bingo game for where the rocket would land on the droneship, but SpaceX has taken all the fun out of that. 

Congrats to SpaceX on another successful launch, and the first third launch of their first stage.
Now let's see if they can really do two on successive days.   
Exciting!

[jaredgalen]

When can we expect word on recovery of the fairing?
The fact they seemed to have a camera feed on the boat I was expecting more on the stream about it...

[Joffan]

That looked like an accelerated boostback, scrubbing off both vertical and horizontal velocity for a quicker return to the drone ship. I don't think I've seen Earth out of the interstage before, anyway.

[Tommyboy]

That looked like an accelerated boostback, scrubbing off both vertical and horizontal velocity for a quicker return to the drone ship. I don't think I've seen Earth out of the interstage before, anyway.

Exactly what I was thinking. When they announced the booster was doing its boostback burn it surprised me to actually see the shoreline.

[mlindner]

That looked like an accelerated boostback, scrubbing off both vertical and horizontal velocity for a quicker return to the drone ship. I don't think I've seen Earth out of the interstage before, anyway.

I agree, that would be further evidenced by the landing occurring significantly before second stage separation which normally roughly coincide with each other.

[abaddon]

I didn't notice it the first time, but you can see quite clearly where they cleared off the soot on the seams (presumably) for inspection on this booster.  I don't recall them doing that since the early days of the first few reuses, but it makes sense they would want to do that the first time they reuse a booster for the third time.

I know Elon said there are permanent scorch marks, but clearly there was a lot of soot on this one too.

[drunta1]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1069679948103847939

So....why build giant nets on boats and practice catching them then?

[ZachS09]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1069679948103847939

So....why build giant nets on boats and practice catching them then?

So that they will eventually get the hang of it.

Also, for the earlier missions (Paz, Iridium-NEXT F5, GRACE-FO & Iridium-NEXT F6), why didn't they dry the fairings off and refly them?

[tonya]

So....why build giant nets on boats and practice catching them then?

Maybe the number of reuses?

[yokem55]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1069679948103847939

So....why build giant nets on boats and practice catching them then?

I'm wondering if they are getting close to giving up on dry recovery and just figuring out how to safely just do wet recovery and refurbishment.