SpaceX Falcon 9 : Koreasat 5A : Oct. 30, 2017 : DISCUSSION THREAD

[Jarnis]

That appears he was talking about the core FH booster. They're using refurbished F9 boosters for the demo side boosters I thought, those would be block IV at best.

Both are Block 3 vintage, with some obvious mods.

[intrepidpursuit]

It's possible the titanium fins allow much greater body lift (this has been hinted at), but that that requires modifications to the structure of the booster we won't see until Block 5.

Elon mentioned FH required strengthening the booster, so given SpaceX's preference for commonality it would make sense for the stronger components to be part of block 5.

They've said previously that the FH core stage is a unique structure and that the boosters are structurally the same as a regular F9 core. I would guess that adding the extra weight to all the stages would have a significant enough performance and cost penalty that the best path is to have two similar types rather than a single one.

[deruch]

The second stage is in a super geosynchronous transfer orbit (SGTO). Perturbations by the Moon will soon decrease the stage's perigee and send it back into Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up.

 
Alternatively, could the lunar perturbations raise the perigee resulting in an orbit that would take much longer to decay?

[192]

The second stage is in a super geosynchronous transfer orbit (SGTO). Perturbations by the Moon will soon decrease the stage's perigee and send it back into Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up.

 
Alternatively, could the lunar perturbations raise the perigee resulting in an orbit that would take much longer to decay?

Yes, but then it will soon be perturbed again, whereas if it is lowered significantly the apogee rapidly lowers and it is safe from further perturbation by the moon. The perigee wonders around due to these perturbations until it goes low enough that the stage rapidly deorbits.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Apologies if this is old, but the KoreaSat 5 S1 leg attachments look different from what I’ve noticed before (circled in attached).

(Great phot from @NASA_Nate posted here)

[king1999]

Crews are busy disconnecting the landing legs of the Falcon Booster.

https://twitter.com/NASA_Nerd/status/926434319006158848

From the images it looks like the post-landing fire damage is superficial at best.

Do you mean “at worst”?

Depending on whether you are from the Old Space or the New Space 

[Shanuson]

Crews are busy disconnecting the landing legs of the Falcon Booster.

https://twitter.com/NASA_Nerd/status/926434319006158848

From the images it looks like the post-landing fire damage is superficial at best.

Do you mean “at worst”?

Actually at best is right. We see there is superficial damage. So at best it is only superficial, there could be more damage we don't see which would be worse.

[guckyfan]

English is not my first language. But I interpret "at best" as the best case. It implies to me it may well be quite bad.

[Mike_1179]

Or, more likely, the fuel came from the engines and flames merely crept up the side of the vehicle, essentially driven to that side by the wind.

Is there cork insulation on that portion of the booster?

[ugordan]

Could there have been a leak there, or do propellant lines even pass through that set of connections?  Or, more likely, the fuel came from the engines and flames merely crept up the side of the vehicle, essentially driven to that side by the wind.

It looks to me like the leak was coming from the rightmost engine visible in the webcast, a fluid catching fire as it exited the nozzle.

Also, if the leak happened before landing, the airstream might have forced some up the side of the booster, explaining why it caught fire like that.

[Comga]

The fire appears to have been on the side where the, what is it called, T-0 or ground umbilical was located.  Could there have been a leak there, or do propellant lines even pass through that set of connections?  Or, more likely, the fuel came from the engines and flames merely crept up the side of the vehicle, essentially driven to that side by the wind.

 - Ed Kyle

From other photos of the first stage on the ASDS, it looks like the fire was alongside the cable tunnel.
The image in this post is of that side of the first stage:
Maybe we can brighten it up and see if anything is visible in all the dark soot.

At least one landing leg has been removed from the Falcon 9 Booster

https://twitter.com/nasa_nerd/status/926507819406422016

[envy887]

Apologies if this is old, but the KoreaSat 5 S1 leg attachments look different from what I’ve noticed before (circled in attached).

(Great phot from @NASA_Nate posted here)

Looks the same as CRS-8, the first recovered booster.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IQaVGSguJ0M/maxresdefault.jpg

[cscott]

Some dark sooted spots on deck from the post-landing fire.  What's with the rust-colored streak?

[Wolfram66]

Some dark sooted spots on deck from the post-landing fire.  What's with the rust-colored streak?

Anyone know what the fire suppression system entails? Water and RP-1 don’t exactly mix. Is it fresh water and foam to deal with petroleum fires?

[Herb Schaltegger]

Some dark sooted spots on deck from the post-landing fire.  What's with the rust-colored streak?

Anyone know what the fire suppression system entails? Water and RP-1 don’t exactly mix. Is it fresh water and foam to deal with petroleum fires?

I have no special knowledge of what SpaceX is using, but typically MIL-spec fluoroprotein-based aqueous film-forming firefighting foams are used to fight petroleum-based fires. They can be mixed just as well with seawater as freshwater, which makes them a good choice for firefighting at sea.

[Skylab]

Slower vehicles please keep to the left....

Could someone point out where this shot would've been taken? Thanks!

[Machdiamond]

https://twitter.com/bob_richards/status/927967920185016321

Slower vehicles please keep to the left....

Could someone point out where this shot would've been taken? Thanks!

Highway 401 just before the gate.

[Michael Baylor]

Could someone point out where this shot would've been taken? Thanks!

It was somewhere along SR 401 near the Port. They make a right after exiting the Port, and the SR 401 takes them straight into CCAFS.

[gongora]

It looks like the most recent payload that would have been transported from Nice to Cape Canaveral for a SpaceX launch was Koreasat 5A?

[BOLLORÉ LOGISTICS] SATELLITE TRANSPORTATION FROM FRANCE TO CAPE CANAVERAL FOR SPACEX LAUNCH

January 9th, 2018

A large European Aerospace manufacturer recently entrusted Bolloré Logistics to handle the transport and logistics of its satellite for a SpaceX launch into outer space.

Close coordination between the Bolloré Logistics teams in Nice, Boston and Miami ensured that the complex mission of transporting the satellite along with Ground Service Equipment (GSE) from Nice, France to Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, was handled smoothly.

This high-risk operation included three crucial steps:

- The transport of the satellite and ground service equipment (GSE) by Antonov 124 from Nice to Cape Canaveral

with a brief stop in Boston for customs clearance where the Boston Import team worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security Port Supervisor to coordinate the customs entries.  At the arrival of the AN-124 in Cape Canaveral, the Miami team provided local logistics support on-site at Kennedy Space Center for offloading operations.

- The transport of the propellants by sea freight from Bremerhaven, Germany to Port Everglades, USA

The propellants were incorporated into the satellite before space launch. The Miami team handled the arrival at Port Everglades and transfer to the Kennedy Space Center.

- The return of the material after the satellite launch

The scope of work included stuffing of the containers, special road convoy with escort from Kennedy Space Center to Port of Miami, sea transport to return 90% of the material (including empty space craft containers) and air transport for urgent material return.

Bolloré Logistics has demonstrated their know-how and expertise to support such high-risk operation for the space industry in a high security environment and SpaceX successfully launched the satellite from the launch complex at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

[Comga]

It looks like the most recent payload that would have been transported from Nice to Cape Canaveral for a SpaceX launch was Koreasat 5A?

[BOLLORÉ LOGISTICS] SATELLITE TRANSPORTATION FROM FRANCE TO CAPE CANAVERAL FOR SPACEX LAUNCH

January 9th, 2018

A large European Aerospace manufacturer recently entrusted Bolloré Logistics to handle the transport and logistics of its satellite for a SpaceX launch into outer space.

Close coordination between the Bolloré Logistics teams in Nice, Boston and Miami ensured that the complex mission of transporting the satellite along with Ground Service Equipment (GSE) from Nice, France to Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, was handled smoothly.

This high-risk operation included three crucial steps:

- The transport of the satellite and ground service equipment (GSE) by Antonov 124 from Nice to Cape Canaveral

with a brief stop in Boston for customs clearance where the Boston Import team worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security Port Supervisor to coordinate the customs entries.  At the arrival of the AN-124 in Cape Canaveral, the Miami team provided local logistics support on-site at Kennedy Space Center for offloading operations.

- The transport of the propellants by sea freight from Bremerhaven, Germany to Port Everglades, USA

The propellants were incorporated into the satellite before space launch. The Miami team handled the arrival at Port Everglades and transfer to the Kennedy Space Center.

- The return of the material after the satellite launch

The scope of work included stuffing of the containers, special road convoy with escort from Kennedy Space Center to Port of Miami, sea transport to return 90% of the material (including empty space craft containers) and air transport for urgent material return.

Bolloré Logistics has demonstrated their know-how and expertise to support such high-risk operation for the space industry in a high security environment and SpaceX successfully launched the satellite from the launch complex at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

What's that?
They shipped their own propellants from Bremerhaven, Germany to Ft Lauderdale, and then drove or sent them by rail three hours north?
They couldn't buy adequate propellant at the launch site?
And I thought importing water from Fiji was odd....

And then they drove the "stuffed" shipping containers and "urgent material" four hours back to Miami to ship back to Europe.
Really?