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

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Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Oriel said:
Again? If space travel is to truly become like travelling by air then it's going to have to work on punctuality and regular schedules. Yes I know flights can be delayed or cancelled by bad weather. But usually not for long. And certainly not because of gusty winds. Dammit I want regular scheduled trips to Mars already!

Rant over.
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Baby steps. You don't want your rocket that's attempting something for the first time to be subject of the irregularities of something like wind that you won't be able to control, because if something fails, people will start calling it a catastrophe even if you got very useful data from it, like earlier this thread.
 
M

Mindlog

Member
Won free lunch because I bet it would be delayed Yesterday :D
Will probably go double or nothing on the opposite because tomorrow's weather should be about as good as it ever gets.
 
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chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Well, I don't find the delay disappointing, now I'll get to watch the stream.

What did they mention was the potential issue with the landing this time? With only two burns it might not slow down enough?
 
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Crispy75

Member
chaosblade said:
Well, I don't find the delay disappointing, now I'll get to watch the stream.

What did they mention was the potential issue with the landing this time? With only two burns it might not slow down enough?
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Pretty much. The mission is to a high orbit so they don't have the spare fuel for all three burns (boostback, braking, landing). Plus the trajectory is steeper, so it will be coming down steeper. The net result is a peak dynamic pressure that's twice as high as the last re-entry.
 
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Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Congrats indeed, ESA! I'm hyped for SpaceX's launch today.

BTW, I'm trying to find what the Vega VV04 goals are, and can't seem to find it. Anyone happen to know?

EDIT: Nevermind, finally found it :

This IXV mission will test cutting-edge system and technology aspects to provide Europe with an independent reentry capability, and a building block for reusable space transportation systems. It will validate designs for lifting-bodies, incorporating both the simplicity of capsules and the performance of winged vehicles, with high controllability and manoeuvrability for precision landing.
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EDIT 2: Actually it seems that was from February. What does this Vega carry now? Or does it carry the same experimental vehicle?
 
Jezbollah

Jezbollah

Member
Hello all. First weather balloon was sent up a little while ago - and winds are green both at site and at altitude. Weather looks good elsewhere for a launch in 4 1/2 hours.
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Juan29.zapata said:
Congrats indeed, ESA! I'm hyped for SpaceX's launch today.

BTW, I'm trying to find what the Vega VV04 goals are, and can't seem to find it. Anyone happen to know?

EDIT: Nevermind, finally found it :



EDIT 2: Actually it seems that was from February. What does this Vega carry now? Or does it carry the same experimental vehicle?
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It carried the IXV for its first (sub) orbital fight. It took ~100 minutes. So IXV has already finished its flight and has returned (splashed into the Pacific).

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/L...rimental_spaceplane_completes_research_flight
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/02/IXV_flight_profile
 
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ScepticMatt

Member
Flying barge - Avenger style?

spacexflyingboat1oxv1.png

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/565638406945144832
 
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Crispy75

Member
mmazurkiewicz said:
really? they're not doing the seaport landing?

thats all i wanted to see, not this satellite delivery.
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25ft waves, and the landing platform still has 1 of 4 engines out of service from the crash last time. It's not even being cautious, but just impossible to keep the pad still in such conditions.

jellies_two said:
Did it hover before it splashed?
that's all I want to know and they don't have a camera or a drone or anything on it.
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There might be video, if they could maintain a good signal, but we won't see it for a few days, if previous splashdowns are anything to go by.
 
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mrklaw

MrArseFace
Are they only going to be testing the landing on scheduled commercial flights, or will they be doing separate tests too? I suppose for these commercial flights the costs cover throwing away stage 1, so any testing is upside for them?
 
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Crispy75

Member
mrklaw said:
Are they only going to be testing the landing on scheduled commercial flights, or will they be doing separate tests too? I suppose for these commercial flights the costs cover throwing away stage 1, so any testing is upside for them?
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As far as we know, they're not doing any full mission profile tests without a payload. As you say, the the customer covers the costs so it makes sense to do the test "for free".

Of course, this does mean that the mission has to come first, hence the lack of landing attempt today.

They're currently preparing another test vehicle, like the Grasshopper which self-destructed last year. That will fly from Spaceport America in Nevada and will be used for high-altitude test flights that more closely resemble a real mission, just with no down-range travel. Straight up and down again. This will also let them figure out what's needed to turn a 1st stage round and fly it again as quickly and cheaply as possible. That's something that's not really possible with live missions.
 
O

Oriel

Member
Shame they couldn't have attempted a second vertical landing of the rocket on the barge thingy. But alas nature being a bitch again prevents this. Oh well, Musk happy with the result anyway, a successful deployment of DSCOVR and the first stage "landed in the ocean within 10m of target & nicely vertical!":

Cm3TbIn.png
 
J

jellies_two

Member
if it landed nicely vertical, what happened next?
did it sink to the bottom of the ocean, remaining fuel and all, or float and break up into bits which sank?
or is it recovered?
 
J

jotun?

Member
jellies_two said:
if it landed nicely vertical, what happened next?
did it sink to the bottom of the ocean, remaining fuel and all, or float and break up into bits which sank?
or is it recovered?
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They've landed it in the ocean before. It just tips over then breaks on impact (remember that it's like a 10+ story building made of thin aluminum)
 
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mrklaw

MrArseFace
The camera is n the first stage looking down towards the sea. The fire is the engines. The grid is one of the stabilising fins


I think they should just land on land. Clear a big deserted area but at least you don't have to deal with a rolling and pitching landing site.
 
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Crispy75

Member
jellies_two said:
if it landed nicely vertical, what happened next?
did it sink to the bottom of the ocean, remaining fuel and all, or float and break up into bits which sank?
or is it recovered?
Click to expand...
In a 25ft swell, it will be broken up and sink in very short order. No recovery.

mrklaw said:
I think they should just land on land. Clear a big deserted area but at least you don't have to deal with a rolling and pitching landing site.
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Trouble with that plan is the complete lack of land to the East of Florida.

Until rockets are as reliable and regular as passenger planes, there is no way the FAA will let them fly anywhere near populated areas. That means launching over the sea.

When their Texas launch site is operational, they *might* be able to land the first stage in Florida, if they can get FAA clearance and convince the residents of the Keys that a 15 story rocket stage falling towards their houses at supersonic speeds is perfectly safe.
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Crispy75 said:
When their Texas launch site is operational, they *might* be able to land the first stage in Florida, if they can get FAA clearance and convince the residents of the Keys that a 15 story rocket stage falling towards their houses at supersonic speeds is perfectly safe.
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It would be fairly silent, though.
 
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Crispy75

Member
blu said:
It would be fairly silent, though.
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It would. No sonic boom to speak of, and a short rumble for the landing burn. Much less disruptive than an airport. No huge explosion risk either, as nearly all the fuel's been used up.

You still wouldn't want one on your house.
 
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