SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS/SpX-10 Dragon - Feb. 19, 2017 - Discussion

[IanThePineapple]

At T+6min40sec, during its descent, the first stage passed very close to two large pieces that were descending at a much lower speed.
Were these the fairings under parachute by any chance?

No "big" fairings on Dragon missions.

Of course, you're right. But something big for sure, two large pieces at T+6min32sec precisely. Just replayed it.

Yes there was definitely something there, but it couldn't have been the fairings. Could it have been the small nose cone? It seems pretty far back all the way near KSC.

Nothing that was ejected during the flight would be anywhere near the stage, it would still be going ballistic, the boostback burn means the returning core is on a completely different trajectory.

Whatever it was it looks to have been flexible / irregular in shape (and two separate pieces). Very strange.  And a bit concerning.

Strange. Hopefully there will be a comment later on what it was.  I'm sure SpaceX will be on top of it.

It looked like a leaf to me, but that 'leaf' would have to be 1m in diameter or larger...

[Stranger]

Ice ? Hard to figure out it's size given the position of the camera.

bird

[Space Ghost 1962]

Reminds of the 50's sci-fi movies side shot of the Heinlien-esque tail first landing on the moon.

[vanoord]

It was visible on the video, tumbling away.

Visible passing the S2 MVac at T+3:12

[Kaputnik]

Just looking at the cropped drone video, no signs of flames on the legs post MECO- looks like that's another thing they've fixed, compared to the early landings.

[IanThePineapple]

Just looking at the cropped drone video, no signs of flames on the legs post MECO- looks like that's another thing they've fixed, compared to the early landings.

Probably flame-retardant materials installed recently

[Lee Jay]

Is it just me or did the rainbirds activate awfully late?

Visible on this clip: https://streamable.com/v9zjg

Nope...check this out:

[Rocket Science]

Every time I see those grid fins working away it makes me smile... It doesn't matter that when I thought of them years ago here on NSF or SpaceX came up with the idea to use them on their own. The fact that they work so well still fills this "space-nerd" with satisfaction with every landing... Go SpaceX!

[IntoTheVoid]

FAA lady is happy with the safety of the launch.

Her responses sounded like she was reading off a script, and she kept reading it over and over again without actually answering any of the questions. She midaswell not have even bothered showing up.

She a government administrator charged with enforcing regulations enacted pursuant to federal law in an even-handed and non-discriminatory (*) manner. In what way would you prefer her to have answered any particular question?

(*) Non-discriminatory as to any other applicant for commercial space launch and landing applicants.

She could have said ... (SNIP)

None of that is really accurate, however. The first is simply not true - there is nothing "routine" about commercial spacecraft launch licenses. ...

Where is the inaccurate part of saying 'She could have said A if that's how it happens, or otherwise B'? It's only inaccurate if they blindly approve them all, which I doubt you're contending.

As to the rest ... Et ceter, ad nauseum, ad tedium. ...

You're missing the point, which is that she could have sounded intelligent and provided useful, relevant information, whatever it was, as other government administrators have without giving away any proprietary information, or making any promises. She chose not to. Her presence, as executed, was pointless other than to claim that the FAA was there.

[DMeader]

What was the extra plume down along the length of the vehicle at launch, that seemed to ignite down near the engines? I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

[Herb Schaltegger]

You're missing the point, which is that she could have sounded intelligent and provided useful, relevant information, whatever it was, as other government administrators have without giving away any proprietary information, or making any promises. She chose not to. Her presence, as executed, was pointless other than to claim that the FAA was there.

Having dealt professionally with government regulators and attorneys for many years of my life, I'm not missing your point at all. I'm saying it's invalid.

To my mind, she was there because either she herself, or someone higher up, believed or suggested that she should be there to represent her regulatory agency entity on the occasion of what is actually quite an historic event (first-ever commercial orbital launch from KSC off of the venerable LC-39A pad). Furthermore, given the constraints I mentioned in my first post, I believe what she said was both interesting and informative, not just for the content, but for what she declined to address as well.

There's information in silence as well for those who would suspend condescension and judgment and pay close attention.

[deruch]

What was the extra plume down along the length of the vehicle at launch, that seemed to ignite down near the engines? I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

I'm guessing you're describing is either some vented LOX (looks like white gas due to condensing water vapor out of the air) which starts reflecting light from the engine exhaust as opposed to actually igniting, or is water from the flame trench/sound suppression system that gets blasted upwards and is reflecting light.  But to be absolutely clear, it would help if you attached a screen capture of what you are talking about so that we can be sure about talking about the same thing.

[rockets4life97]

[snip]

There's information in silence as well [snip]

Would you mind sharing what you heard in the silence? I can't say that I'm very practiced and reading silence in these kind of situations.

[Herb Schaltegger]

[snip]

There's information in silence as well [snip]

Would you mind sharing what you heard in the silence? I can't say that I'm very practiced and reading silence in these kind of situations.

[Jim]Read my previous posts on this subtopic.[/Jim]

[IntoTheVoid]

... suspend condescension and judgment ...

Good advice, infrequently heeded.

[nacnud]

What was the extra plume down along the length of the vehicle at launch, that seemed to ignite down near the engines? I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

Do you mean the cloud of condensed water vapour from the air that streams off the vehicle from top to bottom?

[TripD]

What was the extra plume down along the length of the vehicle at launch, that seemed to ignite down near the engines? I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

I thought it was explained in another thread that recirculation caused the effect near the bottom of the rocket.  I doubt I could find the post now though.

[RemoveBeforeFlight]

What was the extra plume down along the length of the vehicle at launch, that seemed to ignite down near the engines? I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

I thought it was explained in another thread that recirculation caused the effect near the bottom of the rocket.  I doubt I could find the post now though.

I thought it was just the engine flare reflecting off the water vapor. Similar to the "fire" on the TE.

[nacnud]

I don't recall seeing that during previous launches.

If you are talking about the water vapour then there is more of it than in past launches due to the RP-1 now being cooled as well as the LOX. Plus it just quit raining at the pad so humidity would be very high.

[Rei]

Ice ? Hard to figure out it's size given the position of the camera.

bird

Clearly not ice or a bird.  Far too large for either, far too high up for a bird, and clearly tumbling in free fall with a periodic rotation.

The stage was moving at hundreds of meters per second in free fall at that point.  It was still far above the cloud deck.  It hadn't even done its entry burn yet (the entry burn started immediately after the debris).

Even if it's just some sort of insulation, nobody likes a strike at high speeds.  :Þ