SpaceX Falcon 9 SES9 Launch

[Darwin333]

Looks like it might actually go this time!

 

[Darwin333]

Liftoff!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow that was quick, thought it was 6:45, I caught it just in time though. So far so good. First stage separation.

 

[uhohs]

did it land? lol

 

[Red Squirrel]

Video cut off as it was landing, so they'll have to get back once they find out what happened.

 

[PottedMeat]

goddamn color bars

 

[Red Squirrel]

I keep wanting to press the m key to check current stage fuel level.

 

[zinfamous]

finally, this thread doesn't suck anymore. You nerds had been boring me for a week with this!



so what was the goal of this launch beyond the satellite? Successfully landing the first stage, intact?

 

[tynopik]

Video cut off as it was landing, so they'll have to get back once they find out what happened.

looked like it was off target from the little i saw

 

[PottedMeat]

hmm

Dr. Phil Metzger
‏@DrPhiltill

Successful @SpaceX rocket landing on a barge in the ocean! Big step forward in rocket reusability and lower cost access to space!


3:46 PM - 4 Mar 2016

Dr. Phil Metzger
‏@DrPhiltill

Going by the Orlando radio. They said @SpaceX landing successful. Waiting to hear more...

 

[PottedMeat]

customer happy - moar contracts


landing...?

 

[tynopik]

They can send a rocket to space and bring it back, but can't figure out how to reliably stream video

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow was it already near geostationary orbit when it released that satellite? That seemed fast. Or does the sattelite actually have enough thrust to get itself there?

 

[Darwin333]

finally, this thread doesn't suck anymore. You nerds had been boring me for a week with this!



so what was the goal of this launch beyond the satellite? Successfully landing the first stage, intact?

No, this was evidently a much higher orbit so there won't be much fuel for the attempted landing. They are going to give it a shot but they are expecting a failed attempt at landing on the drone barge. I say good for them for giving it a go despite probable failure, can't be cheap.

 

[Thebobo]

problem with space access being private, were so use to NASA showing everything. Should be in the agreement for licence to allow real time video of launch and landing. Soon when Space X moves to TX even launches will be private.

 

[mnewsham]

Other sources on twitter are saying it was not a successful landing.

 

[zinfamous]

No, this was evidently a much higher orbit so there won't be much fuel for the attempted landing. They are going to give it a shot but they are expecting a failed attempt at landing on the drone barge. I say good for them for giving it a go despite probable failure, can't be cheap.

well it looks like they just landed something on the barge, no? Isn't that the first stage, and the point of this design?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh right, are they going to try to land the second stage too?

What normally happens traditionally, do stages just end up as space junk or do they eventually get deorbited and burn up?

 

[Darwin333]

Wow was it already near geostationary orbit when it released that satellite? That seemed fast. Or does the sattelite actually have enough thrust to get itself there?

They said it would take weeks for the satellite to get into position and setup. I don't know if it's carried by momentum or it will provide its own thrust (would seem silly but I'm not a rocket scientist) or maybe they were talking about minor course changes to get into the correct geostationary orbit.

 

[mnewsham]

https://twitter.com/MatthewBTravis/status/705908015711518720

#Falcon9 booster did not survive landing, confirmed by #SpaceX. #SES9

 

[Darwin333]

Oh right, are they going to try to land the second stage too?

What normally happens traditionally, do stages just end up as space junk or do they eventually get deorbited and burn up?

From what (little) I understand, the 2nd stage has an engine designed to work in the vacuum of space so I don't think they could land it even if it could survive reentry. Besides, it's just one engine so I doubt it would be all that cost effective. Pretty sure it burns up in the atmosphere but I'm sure someone here will have a more definitive answer.

 

[Darwin333]

well it looks like they just landed something on the barge, no? Isn't that the first stage, and the point of this design?

If they even came close to landing it on the barge it would be a huge success. If they stuck the landing it would be absolutely great.

And yes that is the point of this design but because of the much much higher than normal orbit they have rather tight fuel limitations to attempt the landing. Basically no one is expecting the first stage to land this time because of the high geostationary orbit but it's still great practice for the more common LEO launches. I'm sure once they figure out how to land the first stage from LEO they will eventually get the higher launches down pat, it's just absurdly more difficult and they are still in the learning phase.

I really really hope they stuck the landing but I'm not holding my breath until I see something official.

 

[Darwin333]

https://twitter.com/MatthewBTravis/status/705908015711518720

Confirmed by another tweet that didn't come from SpaceX lol. Granted I'd be way more surprised if he was wrong than if he's right but I haven't seen anything remotely official yet.

 

[tynopik]

but I haven't seen anything remotely official yet.

The fact that they haven't said anything says quite a bit.

 

[mnewsham]

The fact that they haven't said anything says quite a bit.

Well it was also a three engine landing (normally they use one engine which is still more than enough power).

When using three engines it means they have to be coming in very fast, they save a bit of fuel this way, but since the engines don't have a very granular throttle control, they get very close and do what's called a "hoverslam". It was highly unlikely this would work on the first try anyway.

The fact they got close enough to the barge to attempt a landing is pretty good to be honest.