SpaceX launch Thursday - using used booster, a milestone

[Thebobo]

For the first time the Falcon 9 rocket will use a previously launched booster. And there will be a landing of the Booster as well to hopefully to fly again. Launch window opens at 6PM EST thursday. Finally a decent time!

Today the First stage completed a successful test fire on the launchpad.

SpaceX tweeted this image of the Falcon 9 rocket conducting its static fire test at pad 39A on Monday afternoon.

 

[Thebobo]

Looks like a great evening for a Launch. 6PM EST! Get your TV dinner trays out!

Below is the same booster they will be launching today and hopefully landing as well.

 

[PottedMeat]

one hour bump

 

[PottedMeat]

aww yeah reuse with a paying customer, nice launch

looks like they're going to try to recover the fairing too
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/spacex-may-try-a-daring-rocket-fairing-recovery-tonight-too/

 

[tynopik]

Debut of a previously flown booster, debut of Roomba, debut of a fairing recovery attempt, and the first commercial flight with autonomous FTS.

Damn, that's quite a list. Go SpaceX!

 

[Thebobo]

Beautiful evening launch. 1st stage landed perfectly but the video stopped for a while due to vibration when the booster got close to the barge messing up the satellite feed. Elon spoke at the end about the milestone.

 

[Thebobo]

aww yeah reuse with a paying customer, nice launch

looks like they're going to try to recover the fairing too
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/spacex-may-try-a-daring-rocket-fairing-recovery-tonight-too/

That's cool I didn't realize that be cool if had cameras on the fairings as well

 

[JEDI]

video of launch:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/spacex-set-launch-recycled-rocket-46471281

what time is landing?

 

[Thebobo]

video of launch:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/spacex-set-launch-recycled-rocket-46471281

what time is landing?

Booster landing? you missed it, normally happens about 10 minutes after launch.

 

[PottedMeat]

That's cool I didn't realize that be cool if had cameras on the fairings as well

i dunno about cams on the fairings, but they definitely went all out on the cameras on the livestream

i think i saw
-booster side
-booster inside pointing up to second stage <- this one seems new, it was badass to see the 2nd stage light from that perspective
-second stage pointing down


lol SES 10 deployed, their progress bar is fubar

 

[PottedMeat]

both halves of fairing recovered

http://spacenews.com/spacex-demonstrates-rocket-reusability-with-ses-10-launch-and-booster-landing/

Musk said in a post-mission press conference that SpaceX was able to recover the two halves of the payload fairing as well after the launch. The fairing, which shields the satellite on its way to space, costs $6 million, he said.

“The fairing has its own thruster control system and a steerable parachute,” he said. “It’s like its own little spacecraft.”

 

[Thebobo]

Video of launch and landig

 

[Darwin333]

It's crazy how something so astonishing and up until very recently considered almost batshit crazy as launching the first stage into space and then landing it back on earth upright using its engines is now rather routine.

 

[nakedfrog]

Pretty cool stuff.

 

[cbrunny]

here's a stupid question. what's a fairing?

edit: nevermind. i just discovered google.

 

[luv2liv]

why didnt anyone come up with the idea of "reusable rocket" before? seems obvious to me.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

why didnt anyone come up with the idea of "reusable rocket" before? seems obvious to me.

Cuz space is hard enough, takes a large set to say 'you know, that's not so bad, let's make it harder'.

To be fair, we did have a reusable rocket in a sense, with the shuttle. Backasswards way of doing it though.

 

[Brovane]

why didnt anyone come up with the idea of "reusable rocket" before? seems obvious to me.

A reusable rocket technology demonstrator was used back in the 90's, the DC-X. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X

Funding cuts and NASA had the viewpoint that it competed with their X-33 program. Some of the engineers that worked on the DC-X wound up at Blue Origin to develop the New Shepard rocket. Just a few years ago, people thought that what SpaceX was doing was impossible.

 

[Thebobo]

A little hop and stop...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1276852529057121

 

[drnickriviera]

So I assume the 2nd stage isn't recovered? Does it burn up on reentry?

 

[Darwin333]

So I assume the 2nd stage isn't recovered? Does it burn up on reentry?

Yes, it is intentionally sent into a decaying orbit to burn up. I couldn't imagine how one would recover the 2nd stage.

 

[Ken g6]

Seems recovering the 1st stage was worthwhile.

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told the Space Symposium conference that the cost of refurbishing the Falcon 9 rocket that originally flew the CRS-8 Space Station resupply mission last year for SES-10 was “substantially less than half” what it would have cost to build a brand new one.

Yes, it is intentionally sent into a decaying orbit to burn up. I couldn't imagine how one would recover the 2nd stage.

Here's how SpaceX planned to do it six years ago:

 

[Darwin333]

Seems recovering the 1st stage was worthwhile.




Here's how SpaceX planned to do it six years ago:

Wow, I didn't realize that they looked into it. I haven't heard anything recently so maybe they found it not to be feasible or maybe it could potentially jeopardize the main mission?

 

[MrSquished]

Video of launch and landig

What's all that smoke from coming out of multiple vents in the rocket shortly before takeoff?

 

[Ken g6]

Wow, I didn't realize that they looked into it. I haven't heard anything recently so maybe they found it not to be feasible or maybe it could potentially jeopardize the main mission?

They've said they might try it when they test-launch Falcon Heavy.