SpaceX News

[kcdodd]

Last I heard they were not going to try any recovery this time.

[mvanwink5]

No first stage return as it was not part of this launch. Too much fuel required to achieve Geo. February 2014 is when the next first stage return is planned.

[Skipjack]

I think the fuel was not really the problem. From what I understand SpaceX had to make some concessions to their early customers. Elon mentioned something in a tweet he made. So they could have tried to recover, but were contractually not allowed in this flight and the next one. They will try again with CRS3.

[KitemanSA]

I was hoping to see news of whether they had better luck with a controlled return of the first stage this time, but can't see any mention of it. Anyone know if they attempted it for this launch?

Not even close. The recent experience was only 2600(?) feet.

[mvanwink5]

K,
I think you sold the effort a bit short. SpaceX did a controlled burn to allow safe reentry (worked) and reignited for the final controlled decent, but spin of the first stage allowed by not having the future landing gear caused the fuel to pump suctions to be mucked up. At east that is my understanding.
Best to you (and all on this board) and families during this holiday season.

[Skipjack]

I am not sure whether Kite referred to the Cassiope launch or the SES8 launch. The Cassiope launch had a recovery attempt. That attempt went pretty well. They were able to do a controlled descent of the stage. Unfortunately the stage started to spin at a rate that could not be compensated by the cold gas thrusters. The centrifugal force caused by the spin caused the fuel to drift away from the fuel lines and thus cut the final braking burn short. Because of this the stage could not be slowed down enough to survive the impact into the ocean. SpaceX did release a picture of the intact stage splashing into the water though. So they did come really close this time already (not bad for a first try).
SpaceX assumes that they can fix the spinning in several ways. One assumption is that the landing legs (which were not on the Cassiope flight, but will be on future flights with stage recovery attempts), will provide enough mass and drag to reduce spinning. They are probably going to do some other measures to completely remove the spin. In addition they seem to be working on some additional anti slosh measures inside the tank.
On the SES8 launch and the upcoming Thaicom launch, there wont be any first stage recovery attempts. The contracts with the clients prohibit it. SpaceX had to make some concessions because their launch vehicle is new and has no real savety record yet. Because of that the client required that all fuel and performance reserves be used only for their vehicle. From various vidoes it seemed however that SpaceX stll did some testing with the cold gas thrusters of the first stage after staging, probably to check how well they could control the attitude of the stage without the help from the main engines. I assume that they will do the same on the upcoming Thaicom launch.

[Maui]

I think Kite was referring to the grasshopper tests and not the first stage controlled return attempts.

[Betruger]

Sometimes you'd think Musk is just playing one of those Civilization video games. Morbid as it might be, I've got this admittedly paranoid nagging feeling that it's all too hinged on a single failure point: Elon Musk himself.

[Carl White]

Sometimes you'd think Musk is just playing one of those Civilization video games. Morbid as it might be, I've got this admittedly paranoid nagging feeling that it's all too hinged on a single failure point: Elon Musk himself.

He's still relatively young. Give him at least fifteen years before he drops from a heart attack.

[Skipjack]

You can have a heart attack in your early 30ies, trust me... So age is not necessarily a requirement for a heart attack.
Btw, Grasshopper2 is now undergoing some early low altitude tests in McGregor.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... W5Xc25Bd0E

[GIThruster]

http://cbsn.ws/1fCG4v8

[Maui]

Man, yet another launch attempt scrubbed today. I realize this is the first that sounds like it is on SpaceX, but at this rate they are going to be lucky to get 4 launches this year, let alone 15.

[mvanwink5]

Sabotage, not enough attention to detail, unlucky, or just careful? For sure the radar failure delay was due to budget cuts that trimmed down to the one critical radar with no back up, then there was the previous delay due some greasy stuff in the unpressurized cargo area, and other delays I am unsure of. Whatever the reasons, SpaceX is not making money this way...

[GIThruster]

Grasshopper 1 about to go for testing on return from a real launch. . .truly an historic flight:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/04/ ... ilestones/

Even if it crashes this will be a success, so long as Dragon makes it to ISS.

[Skipjack]

Grasshopper 1 about to go for testing on return from a real launch. . .truly an historic flight:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/04/ ... ilestones/

Even if it crashes this will be a success, so long as Dragon makes it to ISS.

Uhm, this is not Grasshopper 1 and not F9R 1 (Grasshopper 2) either, which is in McGregor right now doing hover tests. A report about its first flight just surfaced here:
http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/joe_scien ... f887a.html

This is a full F9 1.1 (sometimes also referred to as F9R or reusable F9) and it is their second attempt at a controlled splash down. The first attempt was on the Cassiope launch and the stage made it down intact until an uncontrollable roll caused the engines to run out of fuel and shut down a few meters above ground. The legs on this flight will act as fins to prevent the roll (together with improved slosh baffles). They will also test the leg extension mechanism on this flight and how leg extension performs during the landing burn. Right now I just hope they finally manage to get the bird off the ground. Its been delayed for 4 months now.