The new trajectory does raise some issues regarding sonic booms along the Florida coast. A March 2019 report by Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, included as an appendix to the environmental assessment, said that cities along the coast including Vero Beach, Fort Pierce and Port Saint Lucie could hear sonic booms roughly comparable to thunder and unlikely to cause damage.However, the report said a “narrow focus boom region” of less than eight square kilometers could form north of Vero Beach where the overpressure from the sonic boom would exceed two pounds per square foot, including an area of about 0.025 square kilometers with a peak overpressure of 4.6 pounds per square foot. That would create a “low probability of structure damage (to glass, plaster, roofs, and ceilings) for well-maintained structures,” the report notes, adding that the specific location of the peak overpressure would depend on the flight trajectory and atmospheric conditions.The first use of that polar trajectory is expected in about a month, when a Falcon 9 launches Argentina’s SAOCOM 1B radar imaging satellite from SLC-40 on March 30. Another Falcon 9 launched the SAOCOM 1A satellite into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in October 2018.
SpaceNews has a story with some info about this launch: https://spacenews.com/spacex-planning-major-increase-in-florida-launch-activity/<snip>
"narrow focus boom region” of less than eight square kilometers could form north of Vero Beach where the overpressure from the sonic boom would exceed two pounds per square foot, including an area of about 0.025 square kilometers with a peak overpressure of 4.6 pounds per square foot.
What are the odds of getting EVERY airplane out of that airspace?It's going to be like the wayward boat problem in three dimensions over a much greater distance.Plus (almost) all boaters know they are near Cape Canaveral and alert for launches heading east or north-east with short exclusion zones. Will every VFR pilot around Miami be alert to the launch?It's not that so many people may be in the air when this launches, as much as there might be one too many people in the air.
This launch, if "promoted" well, could be viewed by millions of Floridians and tourists.
This launch, if "promoted" well, could be viewed by millions of Floridians and tourists.Also, given flight detouring to adjacent airspaces from the Cape to Miami, this could also be the most viewed launch by people aloft in history.
It is wrong that I'm hoping for a *slight* delay so that it will happen during the night airshows at Sun n' Fun? Bummer that it's not going to be a RTLS, though.
Quote from: JAFO on 03/05/2020 07:51 pmIt is wrong that I'm hoping for a *slight* delay so that it will happen during the night airshows at Sun n' Fun? Bummer that it's not going to be a RTLS, though. I thought it is planned to be RTLS.
That's what I thought, I was confused by this image from the post above by Lars shows a landing site SSE of Florida, that's not for this mission but a generic plan for barge landings.
Quote from: JAFO on 03/06/2020 02:07 amThat's what I thought, I was confused by this image from the post above by Lars shows a landing site SSE of Florida, that's not for this mission but a generic plan for barge landings.Combining the western and eastern ASDS ground tracks from the Draft Environmental Assessment, and interpolating (in red) also leaves me confused. F9 ASDS MECO is typically no more than 100km downrange adjacent Vero Beach, and FH core MECO perhaps 150km downrange adjacent Port St Lucie. So if S2 has already separated, what is the point of the booster plane change in the western ASDS trajectory at around 250km downrange? Would it not just be a waste of propellant?
Is that the vehicle ground track, or the IIP ground track? For overflight purposes, only the IIP trace matters, and the IIP is much further downrange than the vehicle. So the booster could do the azimuth change before MECO, shaping the IIP track far downrange.
When would the fairing separate?
There's been some talk about the drone ship being located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. Have there been unofficial reports of a drone ship landing instead of an RTLS landing?
