Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon 2 : SpX-DM2 : May 27, 2020 : DISCUSSION (Read 366476 times)

daedalus1 · « **Reply #880 on:** 05/29/2020 05:52 pm »

The topic was Dragon not launching due to weather and the next opportunities don't look any better, suggesting this is not a good place to launch from. Soyuz was not the topic, merely an example of others.

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #881 on:** 05/29/2020 05:57 pm »

Moderator: Discussing the meteorological suitability of Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center as a human spaceflight spaceport is off-topic for this thread.

It would be suitable as a stand-alone thread elsewhere. Perhaps in the General Discussion section?

Ditto regarding comparing launch criteria between launch vehicles, or between spaceports.

meberbs · « **Reply #882 on:** 05/29/2020 06:09 pm »

An excerpt from the forecast posted in the updates thread: "the pesky upper-level trough..."

Someone at the weather office has some personal feelings about the weather patterns and what they want to happen

rdale · « **Reply #883 on:** 05/29/2020 06:12 pm »

We have feelings too

DiskOperatingSystem · « **Reply #884 on:** 05/29/2020 08:00 pm »

I originally posted this to r/spacex from a discussion started on r/SpaceXLounge and I thought some of you might find this valuable.

Over at the lounge, a discussion was started about what job each Closeout Crew member is assigned to. These are my best guesses based on my obsession with closeout crews and pad ops. The closeout crew appears to also be the ones assisting the astronauts in getting dressed in the operations and checkout building and most of them followed Bob and Doug out to the pad. Again, this will need more eyes and is merely an attempt at a preliminary breakdown of the closeout crew from watching and rewatching Wednesday’s pre-launch activities.

It looks like #4 is the Closeout and Prep Chief (identifiable by her glasses).

6 and 12 are the ingress techs who actually physically strap the astronauts in and attach the umbilicals to the spacecraft as well as assist the astronauts with the suits from suit up to ingress (hence why they were riding in the car with them). 6 and 12 appear to be the personnel assigned to Bob and Doug. They suited them up, rode out and strapped them in, so I think they’re kinda the personal assistants for whatever they need. But primarily, they are assigned to closeout operations and technical support for each specific astronaut (it seems they have a specific Astro, but this is unconfirmed).

3 is a photographer.

7 is the flight surgeon.

11 is a suit tech like 6 and 12, probably a support tech for 12.

5 and 9 appear to be in charge of hatch closure/locking, as well as hatch opening.

1 and 2 were also working intensely with 5 and 9 on hatch opening, so I think there are about 4-5 positions in total who are hatch operators. I was unable to identify one person who was assisting.

9 was also trying very hard to keep Doug from hitting the hatch on egress. I think 5 and 9 might also work on clearing out FOD as they were moving around the big hose. 5 was also seen carrying the umbilical boxes before egress so um, 5 is bit of everything maybe.

8 looks like an environmental inspector as they were scanning the area before egress.

10 is a fellow suit and seat tech.

29 is also some sort of support staff but it is unclear what she does.

19 is currently unknown, but they appear to closely work with 4, the chief. Perhaps a second in command maybe? Keep your eyes on 4 and 19, they seem to be in charge.

That’s all I got so far, will need to watch the NASATV Media stream to continue putting together a full picture. This is only from Wednesday, so these positions could very well change or be wrong come Saturday. Also take note that there are more than just listed here, though I can’t get everyone due to the cameras cutting away. But these are my best guesses. I suspect though that we’ll be better able to tell who does what during the next launch opportunity.

rdale · « **Reply #885 on:** 05/29/2020 08:34 pm »

Today’s forecast was for a 60% of thunderstorms this afternoon... It’s mostly sunny with the closest storm over Orlando moving north.

Orbiter · « **Reply #886 on:** 05/29/2020 09:30 pm »

Quote from: rdale on 05/29/2020 08:34 pm

Today’s forecast was for a 60% of thunderstorms this afternoon... It’s mostly sunny with the closest storm over Orlando moving north.

Storms are just now initiating over Tampa, moving east.

Let's hope this is the trend for tomorrow!

rdale · « **Reply #887 on:** 05/30/2020 02:57 am »

Well looks like bad news... Michael Baylor tweeted out that recovery weather is bad, and that prompted me to check for more ocean weather. Sadly the cold front that sweeps off the east coast tonight will fire up thunderstorms over the Atlantic tomorrow. It looks to me like more of an abort zone issue versus recovery zone, but maybe those are close enough to not matter.

I had not looked at that earlier - I was only looking at waves - so apologize about not thinking of lightning. In any event, there’s no way this forecast will be changing so if that’s the true concern I see no way they move into the count tomorrow.

Oersted · « **Reply #888 on:** 05/30/2020 03:02 am »

Maybe post in the update thread if it looks that certain, rdale?

rdale · « **Reply #889 on:** 05/30/2020 03:04 am »

I asked Michael to clarify what aspect of the weather was at issue so will await his reply. I think it’s more of an abort issue, but he said recovery zone so that’s why I was waiting.

Orbiter · « **Reply #890 on:** 05/30/2020 11:37 am »

10z HRRR still not looking good.

This is one of many models the launch team will be using to decide to proceed with the count this morning.

Hog · « **Reply #891 on:** 05/30/2020 12:09 pm »

Is there a ~~part~~ party thread for todays attempt?

rdale · « **Reply #892 on:** 05/30/2020 12:26 pm »

So the FL part of the forecast still doesn’t look that bad - but obviously nothing has changed with storms in the abort zone. However the count has started, so I’m really not sure why

I’ll await the new DISC thread to go into more detail but if those in FL are saying it’s too bad to go through I’m not going to put much effort in.

ZachS09 · « **Reply #893 on:** 05/30/2020 12:26 pm »

Quote from: Hog on 05/30/2020 12:09 pm

Is there a ~~part~~ party thread for todays attempt?

You can find the Launch, Land, and Relaunch Party Thread, which has all the jokes in the world for you to laugh at.

John Alan · « **Reply #894 on:** 05/30/2020 01:05 pm »

Weather at Melbourne, Fl
Let's see if this link works...

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=hi&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=rain&w8=thunder&w10u=0&w11=lal&w12u=1&w13u=1&AheadHour=0&Submit=Submit&FcstType=graphical&textField1=28.6458&textField2=-81.0022&site=all&unit=0&dd=&bw=

On edit...
It seems to work ok... Note, I added lightning and it looks slightly better for Sunday...

tommy099431 · « **Reply #895 on:** 05/30/2020 01:16 pm »

Chance of thunderstorms at 90% was based on forecast from the weather service. It seems like it’s switched from Wednesday, it was stormy in the morning and got better as the day got on and today is good in the morning and chance of getting crappy in the afternoon.

rdale · « **Reply #896 on:** 05/30/2020 01:28 pm »

I’m totally confused

Michael said recovery weather was a concern, but USAF says recovery weather is not an issue. Based on storms over the Atlantic, that must not have been an issue either. And tommy said the launch was scrubbed, but now it appears he was just posting stuff for fun.

#Sigh

So apparently we aren’t canceled, and booster weather isn’t an issue, so I’ll carry on. Today’s setup looks slightly better than a normal Florida summer afternoon, but in the end not much different than Wednesday was in the big picture. I don’t see anything widespread that would cause them to cancel early. I’ll keep monitoring!

Michael Baylor · « **Reply #897 on:** 05/30/2020 02:09 pm »

Quote from: rdale on 05/30/2020 01:28 pm

I’m totally confused Michael said recovery weather was a concern, but USAF says recovery weather is not an issue. Based on storms over the Atlantic, that must not have been an issue either. And tommy said the launch was scrubbed, but now it appears he was just posting stuff for fun.

#Sigh

So apparently we aren’t canceled, and booster weather isn’t an issue, so I’ll carry on. Today’s setup looks slightly better than a normal Florida summer afternoon, but in the end not much different than Wednesday was in the big picture. I don’t see anything widespread that would cause them to cancel early. I’ll keep monitoring!

To clarify, I meant abort recovery weather not booster recovery weather. Sorry for the confusion. As of this morning, conditions are acceptable to proceed with the countdown. I am not sure the specifics of which regions were the concern.

matthewkantar · « **Reply #898 on:** 05/30/2020 02:15 pm »

When someone posts: "Launch is going to be scrubbed today because of participation," It is probably not a gold medal post. The post may get a ribbon for participating.

Perchlorate · « **Reply #899 on:** 05/30/2020 02:31 pm »

Quote from: matthewkantar on 05/30/2020 02:15 pm

When someone posts: "Launch is going to be scrubbed today because of participation," It is probably not a gold medal post. The post may get a ribbon for participating.

When folks just solemnly pronounce as fact their not-too-well-grounded opinion, just to participate in the discussion, the signal-to-noise ratio of the forum drops...

...precipitously.

Poll

Given the weather, do you think the launch will happen today?

Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon 2 : SpX-DM2 : May 27, 2020 : DISCUSSION (Read 366476 times)