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SpaceX Attempting 1st Stage Landing After Rocket Launch (AKA Crazy Space Stuff)

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U

Uhyve

Member
Dan27 said:
Hey guys. So tonight's launch attempt has been scrubbed for 24hrs - tomorrows looks to have a better forecast for the landing site. Same time.

EDIT: From Elon Musk: "Launch & landing can be seen on the http://SpaceX.com webcast or in person from Cape Canaveral public causeway at 8:33pm local tmrw"
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So is this about right?
t1450748100z1.png


Not to seem overly excited but I mean, we're on the cusp of cheap space flight, how can I not be excited?
 
C

CyclopsRock

Member
I'm kinda surprised that they scrubbed it for that reason - typically the landings have come as entirely secondary to the primary mission (the Orbcomm sats in this case) so I can only assume that they have some sort of deal with Orbcomm that "allows" them to do this.
 
J

jotun?

Member
As a regular customer for orbital launches, it does make sense that Orbcomm would be willing to support anyone's efforts to make those launches so much cheaper
 
E-Cat

E-Cat

Member
Tim from WaitButWhy will be co-hosting the launch, as per Elon's request!

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/spacex-launch-live-webcast-and-explanation-1-21-15.html

The four possible mission outcomes:
1) The terrible outcome: A mission failure—everyone at SpaceX will be massively devastated. I’ll wish I had a remote control I could press that would make me teletransport to anywhere other than where I am.

2) The fine/whatevs outcome: A mission success (meaning the satellites are successfully deployed) but they’re unable to land the first stage—SpaceX will be relieved and generally pleased but secretly disappointed because the historic thing didn’t happen.

3) The spectacularly great outcome: A mission success in orbit and a successful first stage landing back on Earth—SpaceX employees will go apeshit like their team just won the Superbowl on a last second Hail Mary.

4) The super awkward outcome: The launch goes normally, the first stage separates and lands successfully and SpaceX makes history! But then something goes wrong with the deployment of the satellites and the mission itself is a failure. A crestfallen client watches as SpaceX’s employees scream and celebrate. I frantically try to figure out what demeanor to have on. This is like your team winning the Superbowl on a last second Hail Mary but the person you’re in the room watching the game with had bet his life savings on the game and that last touchdown loses him the bet.
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The key moments to look for:
T-20:00. (which means 20 minutes before launch): Webcast begins. Pray for good weather or launch will be postponed. The next 20 minutes is full of me and the hosts saying words. There are also two pre-taped segments that will play at some point where I say “yeah” and “right” like 300 times as my contribution.

T-0:00. Launch!

T+1:00. Sometime in the next half a minute, the rocket hits “max Q.” This is the moment when the rocket is getting its ass kicked the most by the atmosphere. If something is faulty in the rocket, this is probably when everyone finds out. Getting past this is a big relief for SpaceX.

T+2:30. Sometime around here, the first stage separates and begins its descent back down to Earth while the second stage engine fires up so it can take the payload up to orbit. This is another moment when things can go wrong, and SpaceX will exhale a little more if/when this happens smoothly.

T+9:30. Around this time, the first stage will be either landing on Earth triumphantly or crashing onto Earth upsettingly and exploding.

T+15:00. This is when the 11 satellites will begin deploying, starting with the first two.

T+20:00. Here, if everything goes as planned, the last satellites deploy and the mission is officially a success.
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W

willow ve

Member
If the privatization of these endeavors (even near earth orbit) finally gets us to a sustainable economic model for space travel I can die happy.

So pumped for the launch.
 
Trickster

Trickster

Member
elite09 said:
I'm hyped and fucking scared at the same time
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Had that feeling last time lol. Was sitting and watching while the rocket was going up litterally thinking "please dont explode" over and over, then the fucking thing explodes :|

subrock said:
this seems way sketchier after the last failure, but I have faith. Fingers crossed for a successful mission!
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From what I gathered, the reason for the last failure was a really minute thing caused by one of the components they by from outside companies, and now they have a new company delivering that part + higher inspection standards.

Still though, the pressure must be insane on them right now.
 
Jezbollah

Jezbollah

Member
Trickster said:
Had that feeling last time lol. Was sitting and watching while the rocket was going up litterally thinking "please dont explode" over and over, then the fucking thing explodes :|
Click to expand...

To be honest it's been so long since a SpaceX launch failure (since 2008, the third Falcon 1 launch) that I was shocked that it failed..

One thing is for sure, there are so many smart people involved in this venture. And they wouldnt be advancing this hard in a return to flight mission if they were not completely confident that it would succeed.
 
Jezbollah

Jezbollah

Member
Thatonemoor said:
What time this happening?

Edit: nvm just saw the top of the thread.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Gotcha :)

Launch coverage starts in 30 mins.

Update: Weather still a 80% GO despite scattered showers. Propellent will be loaded 30 minutes before launch with a chill soon after - this is WAY closer to launch - part of having all this supercooled LOX and RP goodness.
 
O

Oriel

Member
Looking forward to this. We may finally see something special happen tonight, one for the record books. Keeping fingers crossed here.
 
N

nomis

Member
I love Urban's description of the scenario where Orbcomm is pissed because their payload gets toasted but the first stage still lands flawlessly. It will be quite hard to quantify the outcome for news headlines.
 
T

Trouble

Banned
Man, I get unreasonably nervous for these space things that I have no involvement in. I was an absolute mess for the Curiosity landing.
 
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