Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : CRS-14 : April 2, 2018 - Discussion (Read 88110 times)

Ronsmytheiii · « **Reply #120 on:** 04/02/2018 09:23 pm »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 04/02/2018 09:19 pm

Congratulations to SpaceX and NASA for the successful launch!

The onboard camera footage looked a bit lower in resolution compared to previous flights. Perhaps a requirement from NOAA?

Looks more like it was going through S-band, might have been in a Ku-band handover on TDRSS.

rsdavis9 · « **Reply #121 on:** 04/02/2018 09:26 pm »

Quote from: JFARNS on 04/02/2018 09:19 pm

He said the third burn would put the second stage into the Indian Ocean.

And that would be the 2nd burn.
One burn to orbit.
One burn to deorbit.
Usually there is a circularization burn, but dragon doesn't need it because it burns its own engines.

yokem55 · « **Reply #122 on:** 04/02/2018 09:48 pm »

The first stage burn was really long for a LEO mission. MECO was at 2:45 at about 7800 km/hr. This is almost as fast as staging on a GTO mission.

I'm really curious to find out how well the stage handled it's reentry and landing burns.

whitelancer64 · « **Reply #123 on:** 04/02/2018 09:52 pm »

Quote from: northenarc on 04/02/2018 07:11 pm

It was noted by Chris Gebhardt in the update thread that 'Blast Danger Area (BDA)' was clear. How large is that area? I ask because in a clip I saw of the static fire it appeared (and appearances can be deceiving) as though vehicles were still passing 'fairly', though not outrageously, close to the pad.

The "Blast Danger Area" (BDA) is a 2,700 ft radius area around Pad 39A

per: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/02/fire-lc-39a-falcon-9-crs-10-launch/

niwax · « **Reply #124 on:** 04/02/2018 10:01 pm »

Quote from: yokem55 on 04/02/2018 09:48 pm

The first stage burn was really long for a LEO mission. MECO was at 2:45 at about 7800 km/hr. This is almost as fast as staging on a GTO mission.

I'm really curious to find out how well the stage handled it's reentry and landing burns.

Possibly a test for FH center core high speed reentry?

meekGee · « **Reply #125 on:** 04/02/2018 11:12 pm »

This has got to be the shortest mission-specific thread ever. Coming in late and judging by #posts, I first thought it must have been a scrub.

Have we sunk so low? Are SpaceX launches now, god help us, BORING?

marsbase · « **Reply #126 on:** 04/02/2018 11:34 pm »

Quote from: meekGee on 04/02/2018 11:12 pm

This has got to be the shortest mission-specific thread ever. Coming in late and judging by #posts, I first thought it must have been a scrub.

Have we sunk so low? Are SpaceX launches now, god help us, BORING?

Did you watch the CRS-14 Pre-launch Press Conference? NASA had 3 people there. The Air Force had one person there. And SpaceX had one person. Almost all of the questions from the press and social media sites were for SpaceX. So, no it's not boring. SpaceX is where the action is.

MATTBLAK · « **Reply #127 on:** 04/02/2018 11:40 pm »

The first Block 5 launch is going to be a recovery attempt, right?

deruch · « **Reply #128 on:** 04/02/2018 11:42 pm »

Quote from: Lar on 04/02/2018 09:00 pm

Display tracking map had a Drone Ship location on the globe.

While they didn't have the ASDS on station, they did send the support ship which is what receives the telemetry from the descending stage. It's possible that the location marker on the map is actually showing that ship's location and has just been labelled "droneship" because on recovery missions they are staged close enough to the ASDS for people to get the idea.

deruch · « **Reply #129 on:** 04/02/2018 11:44 pm »

Quote from: Ronsmytheiii on 04/02/2018 09:23 pm

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 04/02/2018 09:19 pm
Congratulations to SpaceX and NASA for the successful launch!

The onboard camera footage looked a bit lower in resolution compared to previous flights. Perhaps a requirement from NOAA?

Looks more like it was going through S-band, might have been in a Ku-band handover on TDRSS.

I don't believe SpaceX uses TDRSS.

rickl · « **Reply #130 on:** 04/03/2018 12:36 am »

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the apparent debris that was visible on the video after solar array deploy.

The first object flew past quickly from left to right at T+15:03 to 15:05.

The second one moved much more slowly and tumbled. It was visible from T+15:10 to 15:24 when it disappeared in front of the solar panel. It seemed to me to have lodged in the wiring harness.

terryy · « **Reply #131 on:** 04/03/2018 12:41 am »

I've been tracking the max velocity numbers at MECO from all the webcasts which has the speed gauges. I noticed on today's mission they had a max speed at MECO of 7,889 km/hr. This is considerably faster than the previous four CRS missions which typically have a max speed at MECO of ~6,000 km/hr. Anyone know why? Is it because they used some more of the reserve recovery fuel since they weren't going to recover it? Just found it curious.

Interestingly enough the previous highest speed for a CRS mission was CRS-8 at 6,658 km/hr. Which just happens to be the stage that was re-flown today.

niwax · « **Reply #132 on:** 04/03/2018 12:46 am »

Quote from: terryy on 04/03/2018 12:41 am

I've been tracking the max velocity numbers at MECO from all the webcasts which has the speed gauges. I noticed on today's mission they had a max speed at MECO of 7,889 km/hr. This is considerably faster than the previous four CRS missions which typically have a max speed at MECO of ~6,000 km/hr. Anyone know why? Is it because they used some more of the reserve recovery fuel since they weren't going to recover it? Just found it curious.

Interestingly enough the previous highest speed for a CRS mission was CRS-8 at 6,658 km/hr. Which just happens to be the stage that was re-flown today.

Typically CRS missions aim for RTLS meaning low staging velocity close to shore, this was a water landing test at the most extreme reentry regime.

deruch · « **Reply #133 on:** 04/03/2018 02:19 am »

Quote from: terryy on 04/03/2018 12:41 am

I've been tracking the max velocity numbers at MECO from all the webcasts which has the speed gauges. I noticed on today's mission they had a max speed at MECO of 7,889 km/hr. This is considerably faster than the previous four CRS missions which typically have a max speed at MECO of ~6,000 km/hr. Anyone know why? Is it because they used some more of the reserve recovery fuel since they weren't going to recover it? Just found it curious.

Interestingly enough the previous highest speed for a CRS mission was CRS-8 at 6,658 km/hr. Which just happens to be the stage that was re-flown today.

Yes, if you go and compare the length of the first stage burns (either in the webcasts or from the presskits) you will see that they had a longer burn prior to MECO. Normally now they are doing RTLS with the booster but this time they weren't. Also, as you point out CRS-8 for having a high MECO speed, that was also the last CRS mission with a downrange recovery attempt (first successful ASDS landing).

Michael Baylor · « **Reply #134 on:** 04/03/2018 04:17 am »

Quote from: marsbase on 04/02/2018 11:34 pm

Did you watch the CRS-14 Pre-launch Press Conference? NASA had 3 people there. The Air Force had one person there. And SpaceX had one person. Almost all of the questions from the press and social media sites were for SpaceX. So, no it's not boring. SpaceX is where the action is.

According to Chris G, there were only 10 members of the press at the prelaunch conference. I am not saying your claim isn't valid, but the evidence supporting it is not the greatest.

bjornl · « **Reply #135 on:** 04/03/2018 07:57 am »

Quote from: terryy on 04/03/2018 12:41 am

Interestingly enough the previous highest speed for a CRS mission was CRS-8 at 6,658 km/hr. Which just happens to be the stage that was re-flown today.

This was the first stage from CRS-12; Dragon was from CRS-8.

Demidrol · « **Reply #136 on:** 04/03/2018 09:07 am »

I have not heard any calls about the re-entry burn start/complete in the webcast. Has there been re-entry burn?

marsbase · « **Reply #137 on:** 04/03/2018 12:09 pm »

Quote from: Michael Baylor on 04/03/2018 04:17 am

Quote from: marsbase on 04/02/2018 11:34 pm
Did you watch the CRS-14 Pre-launch Press Conference? NASA had 3 people there. The Air Force had one person there. And SpaceX had one person. Almost all of the questions from the press and social media sites were for SpaceX. So, no it's not boring. SpaceX is where the action is.
According to Chris G, there were only 10 members of the press at the prelaunch conference. I am not saying your claim isn't valid, but the evidence supporting it is not the greatest.

I could only see 4 or 5 members of the press on the video and there were questions from online participants too. There was clearly much more interest in the launch platform than in NASA or the science packages. So maybe NASA was MORE boring than SpaceX?

ZachS09 · « **Reply #138 on:** 04/03/2018 12:12 pm »

Quote from: Demidrol on 04/03/2018 09:07 am

I have not heard any calls about the re-entry burn start/complete in the webcast. Has there been re-entry burn?

I’m not sure. Maybe this new landing profile involved reentering the atmosphere WITHOUT conducting an entry burn, and using a 3-engine landing burn at the last second.

BunkerTheHusky · « **Reply #139 on:** 04/03/2018 02:50 pm »

I seem to recall hearing on the webcast in the flight audio loop a call out saying that Stage 1 AFTS had been safed. That was considerably after the time frame where the first stage would have "landed". Could this be some proof that Stage 1 survived its landing regime and splashdown and SpaceX has to deal with another floater?

*edit* Time marker 27:38 in the video above