SpaceX Falcon 9 : Iridium NEXT Flight 2 (June 25, 2017) : UPDATES

• #20 by Arb on 24 Jun, 2017 23:45
• Email from MarineTraffic.com - Departure: NRC QUEST, Port: LOS ANGELES at 2017-06-24 10:17 Local Time (2017-06-24 17:17 UTC)
• #21 by envy887 on 24 Jun, 2017 23:50
• Crop of above picture showing fin detail:

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• #22 by AC in NC on 25 Jun, 2017 01:07
• Side by Side of the Weekend Warriors

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• #23 by Chris Bergin on 25 Jun, 2017 03:04
• Feature article by William Graham!
  
  https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/spacex-falcon-9-iridium-next-2-launch/
  
  Photos via a L2 set from Chris Gebhardt and Philip Sloss out there for NSF. Brady Kennison - for NSF - still involved as we used one of his BulgariaSat-1 photos.
• #24 by old_sellsword on 25 Jun, 2017 03:49
• Elon has some free time to spend on twitter:
  
  

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  Flying with larger & significantly upgraded hypersonic grid fins. Single piece cast & cut titanium. Can take reentry heat with no shielding.
  
  
  

  
  

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  Are they heavier than the originals?
  

  
  

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  Slightly heavier than shielded aluminum, but more control authority and can be reused indefinitely with no touch ups
  
  
  

  
  

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  Do the larger fins require more hydraulic fluid for the standard recovery profile?
  

  
  

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  They will, but the hydraulic system is closed loop, so no fluid lost. They do need more power & energy, but rocket has plenty of that.
  
  
  

  
  

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  Is this the first closed loop version? I thought some of the early attempts ran out of hydraulic fluid due to it being open
  

  
  

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  We used to have a (lame) open loop hydraulic system, but that was upgraded to closed about 2 years ago
  
  
  

  
  

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  Did the heating of the previous fins show noticeable issues with steering?
  

  
  

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  No, but shielding got fragged every flight. More control authority is for Falcon Heavy, but also enables Falcon 9 to land in heavier winds.
  
  
  

  
  

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  Also probably means the first stage can glide further
  

  
  

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  True, but that's a minor factor for rockets
  
  
  
• #25 by jacqmans on 25 Jun, 2017 10:05
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/81789298@N05/albums/72157683148022571

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• #26 by Scylla on 25 Jun, 2017 17:41
• Hi res closeup of new grid fins.
  https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxWVmelhKG/?hl=en
• #27 by VulpesJack on 25 Jun, 2017 17:43
• Quote from: Scylla on 25 Jun, 2017 17:41

  Hi res closeup of new grid fins.
  https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxWVmelhKG/?hl=en
  

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• #28 by ChrisGebhardt on 25 Jun, 2017 17:55
• Right now, our instantaneous launch window is 13:25:14 PDT (20:25:14 GMT/UTC).  If that changes, I'll update.
• #29 by Michael Baylor on 25 Jun, 2017 18:01
• Hard to see, but the cows of VAFB are ready. Fog is burning off too!

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• #30 by yokem55 on 25 Jun, 2017 19:16
• Coming up on launch readiness poll per the press kit.
• #31 by ZachS09 on 25 Jun, 2017 19:27
• Under an hour to launch. The RP-1 loading should commence at this time.
• #32 by ChrisGebhardt on 25 Jun, 2017 19:33
• Per LD loop, launch area clear and ready to proceed with terminal count
• #33 by Chris Bergin on 25 Jun, 2017 19:33
• Bill Harwood:
  
  https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/879059396034277377
  F9/Iridium: A range issue of some sort is apparently in work; no details yet
• #34 by ZachS09 on 25 Jun, 2017 19:45
• T-40 minutes.
• #35 by Steven Pietrobon on 25 Jun, 2017 19:50
• T-35 minutes. LOX loading should be starting now.
• #36 by Chris Bergin on 25 Jun, 2017 19:51
• Chris G:
  Boat in exclusion zone. Range go aside from that
• #37 by ZachS09 on 25 Jun, 2017 19:51
• About 20 minutes until the webcast starts.
  
  
• #38 by Rocket Science on 25 Jun, 2017 19:53
• #39 by NX-0 on 25 Jun, 2017 20:04
• JRTI has been moved.

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