Remote camera photo of four Reaver engines sending Alpha to orbit. @NASASpaceflight
4 Reaver engines blasting Firefly's Alpha rocket into orbit from SLC-2 at VSFB this morning. Once again congratulations to everyone whose hard work resulted in last nights wildly successful launch. @NASASpaceflight
An amazing launch and success by @Firefly_Space. Congratulations to the team, you made it #ToTheBlack!
https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1575632003759677440QuoteEveryday Astronaut @Erdayastronaut“Remove Before Flight” tags and engine covers removed!!! All things are on track for a 00:07 am PDT [07:07 UTC] launch! Our webcast goes live in just over 5 hours! Hope you can make it!!! @Firefly_Space #totheblack
Everyday Astronaut @Erdayastronaut“Remove Before Flight” tags and engine covers removed!!! All things are on track for a 00:07 am PDT [07:07 UTC] launch! Our webcast goes live in just over 5 hours! Hope you can make it!!! @Firefly_Space #totheblack
Looking at the stage sep video from Firefly, I count 2-3 frames between the bell clearing the lip of the interstage (judging by cutoff of illumination from the lights mounted under the lip) and the edge of the bell crossing over the edge of the interstage. Mission success is mission success, but that sure looked close!
The fisheye lens makes it hard to be sure but this looks like a white-knuckle moment if I've ever seen one... I think Alpha's Lightning upper stage engine nozzle may have been a few inches away from impacting the booster's interstage during stage separation 😬
Booster immediately started slewing sideways after the upper stage detached. Pretty sure it would have impacted the nozzle if the separation was even a fraction of a second slower. Very glad it didn't
Most likely an easy fix and a relatively tiny almost-a-problem problem for an orbital rocket's second-ever launch attempt!
Media cameras capturing liftoff of Firefly’s Alpha rocket early this morning. The mission marked the company’s first success reaching orbit.@NASASpaceflight
Liftoff of Firefly's Alpha rocket slowed down to 25% speed. Thanks to @nextspaceflight for the audio. @NASASpaceflight
A full gallery of photos from @Firefly_Space's first flight to orbit is now available on my website. Congrats again to the teams! Prints are available for purchase (been getting a lot of requests). Sales will help fund replacing damaged equipment.https://photos.nextspaceflight.com/To-The-Black-Alpha-F2
CelesTrak has GP data for 5 objects from the launch (2022-122) of 7 satellites atop Firefly's Alpha rocket from Vandenberg SFB on Oct 1 at 0701 UTC: spaceflightnow.com/2022/09/30/fir….
https://twitter.com/tskelso/status/1576458139129348098QuoteCelesTrak has GP data for 5 objects from the launch (2022-122) of 7 satellites atop Firefly's Alpha rocket from Vandenberg SFB on Oct 1 at 0701 UTC: spaceflightnow.com/2022/09/30/fir….
Target orbit: 300 km circular
Quote from: Alter Sachse on 10/02/2022 10:43 amTarget orbit: 300 km circularEveryday Astronaut noted that the second stage restart was a "less than one second burn" (I thought it looked like 1-point-something seconds in the video). I think the plan was for a two second burn. I'm not sure if a full restart burn was a primary mission objective, but it looks like the second burn was insufficient to circularize the orbit. It did raise perigee a bit. Main objective obviously was just to make orbit. These little satellites and that second stage won't stay up there long. - Ed Kyle
Everyday Astronaut noted that the second stage restart was a "less than one second burn" (I thought it looked like 1-point-something seconds in the video). I think the plan was for a two second burn.
Quote from: edkyle99 on 10/02/2022 03:04 pmEveryday Astronaut noted that the second stage restart was a "less than one second burn" (I thought it looked like 1-point-something seconds in the video). I think the plan was for a two second burn. Also, near as I can tell, that burn didn't take place at the point in the orbit they wanted because of tracking issues.
