Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : Hispasat 30W-6 (1F) : March 6, 2018 - DISCUSSION (Read 164936 times)

Historic Rad 39A · « **Reply #160 on:** 03/02/2018 04:39 pm »

Has it been confirmed if Hispasat has aluminum or titanium grid fins? I'd imagine Titanium has a better chance of helping the core survive, but the margins are already low enough so it may not be worth losing the titanium. Anyone have visual confirmation?

cscott · « **Reply #161 on:** 03/02/2018 04:48 pm »

I think it was confirmed visually during this core's first rollout that it has the (pricey!) Ti fins, which is why we're discussing whether they'd take them off if they're risking losing the booster in high waves/not deploying the ASDS.

Nehkara · « **Reply #162 on:** 03/02/2018 05:13 pm »

Quote from: Historic Rad 39A on 03/02/2018 04:39 pm

Has it been confirmed if Hispasat has aluminum or titanium grid fins? I'd imagine Titanium has a better chance of helping the core survive, but the margins are already low enough so it may not be worth losing the titanium. Anyone have visual confirmation?

Quote from: cscott on 03/02/2018 04:48 pm

I think it was confirmed visually during this core's first rollout that it has the (pricey!) Ti fins, which is why we're discussing whether they'd take them off if they're risking losing the booster in high waves/not deploying the ASDS.

Yes, it was visually confirmed that the core had titanium fins and landing legs on for static fire.

This picture isn't of very high resolution but you can still tell they are dark in colour:

https://mk0spaceflightnoa02a.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_3139-3-copy.jpg

Historic Rad 39A · « **Reply #163 on:** 03/02/2018 07:36 pm »

Quote from: Nehkara on 03/02/2018 05:13 pm

Yes, it was visually confirmed that the core had titanium fins and landing legs on for static fire.

This picture isn't of very high resolution but you can still tell they are dark in colour:

https://mk0spaceflightnoa02a.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_3139-3-copy.jpg

Thanks! It will be interesting to see if they nail this landing.

Inoeth · « **Reply #164 on:** 03/02/2018 10:03 pm »

Quote from: Historic Rad 39A on 03/02/2018 07:36 pm

Quote from: Nehkara on 03/02/2018 05:13 pm

Yes, it was visually confirmed that the core had titanium fins and landing legs on for static fire.

This picture isn't of very high resolution but you can still tell they are dark in colour:

https://mk0spaceflightnoa02a.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_3139-3-copy.jpg

Thanks! It will be interesting to see if they nail this landing.

The real question is whether or not they actually attempt the landing on OCISLY or not... the rocket's still in the HIF for a couple more days, plenty of time to take off the Ti fins at least if they want to save them if they think landing is not going to work in rough seas... tho if they do go ahead with the landing attempt then yes, this should be very cool to watch- tho watching itself will be rough- pitch black night time landing in rough seas very far out = a probably very choppy landing video one way or another...

macpacheco · « **Reply #165 on:** 03/02/2018 10:07 pm »

I recall Gwynne Shotwell mentioning that some SpaceX customers were planning to launch heavier satellites into SUB standard GTO orbits.
Like even GEO-3000 m/s.
Could this be the case, given that 6 tons is a quite heavy load for reuse ?

speedevil · « **Reply #166 on:** 03/03/2018 12:28 am »

Quote from: macpacheco on 03/02/2018 10:07 pm

I recall Gwynne Shotwell mentioning that some SpaceX customers were planning to launch heavier satellites into SUB standard GTO orbits.
Like even GEO-3000 m/s.

Err - isn't GEO-3000 basically LEO?
(edit: no, 6000km apogee)

LouScheffer · « **Reply #167 on:** 03/03/2018 03:08 am »

Quote from: macpacheco on 03/02/2018 10:07 pm

I recall Gwynne Shotwell mentioning that some SpaceX customers were planning to launch heavier satellites into SUB standard GTO orbits.
Like even GEO-3000 m/s.
Could this be the case, given that 6 tons is a quite heavy load for reuse ?

Yes, this hypothesis has been discussed in the thread above. Basically the 4 ideas proposed so far are:
(a) Rocket unchanged, customer accepts less than GTO
(b) Second stage has been improved.
(c) First stage has been improved (block 4.5?)
(d) Titanium fins mean less fuel for entry, more for launch.

How to tell these apart from the webcast is covered upthread.

Bananas_on_Mars · « **Reply #168 on:** 03/03/2018 07:24 am »

Do we know wether OCISLY came back to port with HAWK?
Someone on Reddit said that HAWK came back much faster than it would if it was towing the barge.

Or can this simply be attributed to the helpful winds?

cscott · « **Reply #169 on:** 03/03/2018 11:49 am »

Hawk is a third more powerful than elsbeth III. The sea state out there has been terrible; no way they'd leave the ASDS unattended.

There's an webcam you could use to verify OCISLY is in port.

Jakusb · « **Reply #170 on:** 03/03/2018 05:52 pm »

OCISLY apparently seen today still docked at Port Canaveral

Michael Baylor · « **Reply #171 on:** 03/03/2018 08:38 pm »

Yeah, OCISLY is still at the port. I've been following it all day. Looks like there are some crew on the bridge of GO Pursuit right now. Hopefully, they will be setting out soon. They are running out of time, unless they are going to move the launch to Wednesday.

Elthiryel · « **Reply #172 on:** 03/03/2018 08:49 pm »

Per the latest forecast, weather on Wednesday is going to be quite bad (40% GO and upper level winds at 110 knots), so if they don't launch on Tuesday, launch may slip by another few days.

jpo234 · « **Reply #173 on:** 03/04/2018 12:03 am »

Really calm sea in the recovery area is close to a week away. I suspect that they will wait a few more days. Does it really matter whether they launch on Tuesday or on Friday?

Lar · « **Reply #174 on:** 03/04/2018 12:58 am »

Quote from: jpo234 on 03/04/2018 12:03 am

Really calm sea in the recovery area is close to a week away. I suspect that they will wait a few more days. Does it really matter whether they launch on Tuesday or on Friday?

This mission? no. Overall cadence? yes. Their target will be tough to acheive if there are always slips

Brian45 · « **Reply #175 on:** 03/04/2018 03:37 am »

That's an interesting consideration now that SpaceX is picking up it's cadence and strives to be more of a "space" airline. Is there anywhere where people are tracking the "on time" performance? And not just for SpaceX, but ULA, etc,? I know that there are a lot more variables involved in launching to space, but eventually, this will be a factor in choosing who launches your package.

gongora · « **Reply #176 on:** 03/04/2018 04:06 am »

Quote from: Brian45 on 03/04/2018 03:37 am

That's an interesting consideration now that SpaceX is picking up it's cadence and strives to be more of a "space" airline. Is there anywhere where people are tracking the "on time" performance? And not just for SpaceX, but ULA, etc,? I know that there are a lot more variables involved in launching to space, but eventually, this will be a factor in choosing who launches your package.

The SpaceX launch log thread tracks some of the delays on SpaceX missions, not sure if there is something like that for other launch providers. For delays caused by the launcher/pad equipment SpaceX is probably still far behind ULA/Arianespace/MHI just because SpaceX is still going through so much churn on vehicle and pad configurations due to launch vehicle upgrades and new/rebuilt pads. This is the year SpaceX just needs to survive without any more accidents and try to work off their backlog. Starting next year when SpaceX has (hopefully) a stable vehicle design, launch pads that aren't getting rebuilt all the time, and hopefully caught up on payloads, then the issue you raise will start to become very interesting.

shuttlefan · « **Reply #177 on:** 03/04/2018 01:13 pm »

Quote from: Lar on 03/04/2018 12:58 am

Quote from: jpo234 on 03/04/2018 12:03 am
Really calm sea in the recovery area is close to a week away. I suspect that they will wait a few more days. Does it really matter whether they launch on Tuesday or on Friday?
This mission? no. Overall cadence? yes. Their target will be tough to acheive if there are always slips

Perhaps they could give up recovering the first stage in order to take advantage of the near-perfect weather forecast and give it a good shot tomorrow?

Lar · « **Reply #178 on:** 03/04/2018 02:25 pm »

Many folks think that they need this booster back as they don't have a lot of block 4s to reuse and it will be a while before they have enough block 5s... It is a very interesting situation they find themselves in if that speculation is correct.

macpacheco · « **Reply #179 on:** 03/04/2018 05:22 pm »

Quote from: Lar on 03/04/2018 02:25 pm

Many folks think that they need this booster back as they don't have a lot of block 4s to reuse and it will be a while before they have enough block 5s... It is a very interesting situation they find themselves in if that speculation is correct.

You really think SpaceX will now relaunch boosters flown to GTO ?
Unless there are some significant tricks or this launch goes into a substantially sub GTO, this is very likely a super hot landing test to gather more data.
Doesn't SpaceX has plenty of boosters that flown to GTO but with lighter payloads (even considering the extra Block IV vs Block III performance) ?