PaulRocket Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 "Just fantastic," SpaceX's Hans Koenigsmann said of the launch tonight. First stage post-separation burns also successful. Koenigsmann: don't expect to recover first stage, but will do a sweep on Sunday. Initial telemetry indicated there was a landing burn. Does that mean they know the stage landed intact? Or only that the burns looked good? I'm sure they know by know if the stage survived... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 A landing burn means it could be intact, but as has been shown before the tip over after landing is often destructive. What got me, and few people caught, is that a 1 week launch turnaround is possible. That'll give ULA indigestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulRocket Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 1 week turnaround is great indeed. Let me ask my question in a different way, does that mean the stage was velocity=0 and altitude=0? What happened afterwards is another question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 They know the burn started, someone in the area (chase plane?) saw the glow, but they haven't checked the telemetry yet to know if it touched down softly. That and a search happen today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Morning presser: Dragon is 8,800km behind ISS and closing very fast. Rendezvous and berthing tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 ISS crew is awake and activating the gear to command Dragon for Canadarm2 grapple at ~0704 EDT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Rendezvous and Grapple Of The SpaceX CRS-4 Dragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Nice time exposure of the launch, catching the F9 booster on the way down. https://twitter.com/cgreensdnl/status/514891671486492672 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Dragon breathing fire (thruster firings) as it approached ISS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beittil Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Very interresting read about NASA thermally tracking the CRS4 launch: @AviationWeek: @SpaceX "excited to support @NASA?s efforts to capture infrared imagery of Falcon 9 first-stage reentry" http://t.co/2qZxSsSes5 @ElonMusk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Yup. No one has done real-world supersonic retropropulsion research of this kind before, and a NASA project using a large testbed booster would cost almost $1B. SpaceX's team are now the go-to guys and doing it anyhow, so for NASA it's the cost of the WB-57 & P3 flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 October 20, 2014 NASA TV Coverage Set for U.S. Cargo Ship?s Departure from International Space Station After delivering almost 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station during a month-long stay, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to leave the orbital laboratory on Saturday, Oct. 25. The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to detach from the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module and unberth through commands sent by robotic ground controllers in mission control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston operating the Canadarm 2 robotic arm. Mission control will maneuver Dragon into place then turn it over to Expedition 41 robotic arm operators Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore of NASA for release, which is scheduled for 9:56 a.m. EDT. NASA Television will provide live coverage of Dragon's departure beginning at 9:30 a.m. Space station and SpaceX officials delayed Dragon?s departure four days from the originally scheduled date of Oct. 21 because of high sea states in the splashdown and recovery zone west of Baja California. Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact. It will return about 3,276 pounds of cargo, including science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities sponsored by NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the nonprofit organization responsible for managing research aboard the U.S. national laboratory portion of the space station. Dragon will execute three thruster firings to move away from the station to a safe distance for its deorbit burn at 2:43 p.m. The capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean around 3:39 p.m. Neither the deorbit burn nor the splashdown will broadcast on NASA TV. Dragon launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Sept. 21 on the company?s fourth commercial resupply mission to the station. It arrived at the station Sept. 23. For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv For more information about the International Space Station, and its research and crews, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 25, 2014 Author Share Posted October 25, 2014 Dragon has left the ISS and is on her way home. The ISS crew wants time off to watch "this amazing vehicle" re-enter. IsItPluggedIn 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulRocket Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Any info on when exactly the pad abort test will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Some are speculating the pad abort may move to after Dragon CRS-5 (NET Dec. 9) so they can concentrate on getting duplicate Cygnus ORB-3 cargo into SpaceX's flow. There's a nitrogen tank and other items that need to go up that were lost. It'll be interesting next year as there are 5 scheduled Dragon CRS flights to ISS, with a possibility of a 6th tacked on to make up for the lost Cygnus. The good part is that LC-39A should be ready later in the year. Major construction has started with Falcon Heavy #1 being first up to bat. After that it can help with F9 flights. Musk said at MIT they could do 12 flights between now and this time next year. No slow days at SpaceX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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