Launch News SpaceX Falcon 9 launch with Jason-3, January 17, 2016

[Thunder Chicken]

OK, now that the noise from SpaceX's successful flyback of their Falcon 9 first stage is dying down, back to business.

Next up is Falcon 9 with NOAA's Jason-3 satellite for measuring ocean surface elevation. Launch will be from Vandenberg AFB.

Launch time from Spaceflight Now (14 Jan):

Liftoff from Vandenberg is set for 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) Sunday.

Static fire went off on Monday Jan 8th, no problems reported.

http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jason3/

 

[RGClark]

Peter B. de Selding
‏@pbdes
SpaceX Falcon v1.1 static fire set for Jan 8 at VAFB in prep for Jan 17 launch of long-delayed US-EU Jason-3 US-Eur ocean-altimetry sat.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/685139751872151556

Bob Clark

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Somebody help me - doesn't the first stage need to be a flyback on this mission? Do the Atlas and Delta launches from VAFB toss their 1st stages into the Atlantic? Hadn't thought about this before, but where are these stages falling?

Is this a polar orbit, and so the stages go into the Pacific?

 

[RGClark]

Think it'll be a barge landing.

Bob Clark

 

[Lmoy]

Think it'll be a barge landing.

Bob Clark

Good point. Now I'm even more excited for it. Hopefully I'll be able to catch this launch live. Anyone know if they're doing a live-stream like the last one?

 

[Hlynkacg]

@Thunder Chicken

I'm pretty sure that these are headed for a Polar or other High-Inc orbit so I'm pretty sure that they drop their stages into the Pacific. You've got the US Navy's offshore training range right there after all.

 

[RGClark]

Static fire pushed back to Saturday for weather.

Current plan is to do a barge landing of the first stage:

Charles A. Lurio
‏@TheLurioReport
SpaceX will try to land the Falcon 9 first stage on a drone ship during the Jason-3 launch from Vandenberg AFB on January 17.
https://twitter.com/TheLurioReport/status/685221140441231360

Bob Clark

 

[Col_Klonk]

Current plan is to do a barge landing of the first stage

So they plan to get rid of that stage :hello:
SpaceX hasn't had a successful landing on a ship yet ? - or have i missed it ?

There's always a first time for everything, I suppose.


Edt: I'm curious about the condition of that first return stage... it looked pretty messed up - that'll cost a pretty penny to fix.. not to mention reliability factors ?

 

[Urwumpe]

Edt: I'm curious about the condition of that first return stage... it looked pretty messed up - that'll cost a pretty penny to fix.. not to mention reliability factors ?

Not sure. I saw a lot of salt on the engines, which could mean some corrosion problems eventually. But generally nothing that is automatically bad.

 

[RisingFury]

The barge landing hasn't been successful yet, but last time came down to a mechanical failure.

A barge landing is more difficult, but now that they've done one on solid ground, it should be easier to land on the barge. The did land right at the center of the pad - X marks the spot

As for how the stage looks... some may be damage, but it might also just need a cleaning. Might be soot or just charred paint.

As far a salt goes, where would high quantities of salt even come from? They didn't dip it into the ocean this time.

 

[Urwumpe]

As far a salt goes, where would high quantities of salt even come from? They didn't dip it into the ocean this time.

Cape Canaveral is at the Atlantic coast, guess what the wind at the coast often contains. :lol:

 

[Col_Klonk]

I'm not convinced about the barge story.. It's a chance item = 50/50.. but we'll see. (actually 10/90 against )

wrt to the return stage... the 'rivets' looked really messed.. which means a complete refurbish/replacement of the outer frame/skin - which adds another unknown wrt to the original rivet holes being 2nd hand.. this can only reduce reliability.. and the skin will tear off sometime.

This is over and beyond the internal structure which has probably had stresses beyond normal elasticity for such a tall item... :thumbup:
I take it there are no structure stress sensors (recorded) installed on the return stage ?

 

[Urwumpe]

the 'rivets' looked really messed..

Which rivets and what do you mean with "messed"?

 

[Col_Klonk]

There's a pic (I'll look for it) which shows stress around the rivets, probably due to the frame flexing (or other stresses).. which rings alarm bells for me.

I'll get back on this as soon as I find it

 

[Urwumpe]

There's a pic (I'll look for it) which shows stress around the rivets, probably due to the frame flexing (or other stresses).. which rings alarm bells for me.

I'll get back on this as soon as I find it

I have searched, but I have not yet found rivets or signs of excessive stress somewhere.

Only lots of paint flakes missing.

 

[RisingFury]

Spacex.com currently shows this image in the front page of the website:

I cropped it a bit to remove the text.


Judging by the state of the paint, this is the stage that did the RTLS. There's no damage visible on this image, but it does seem like the rocket might need a good scrub and a new coat of paint


The rivets seem alright to me, assuming they're rivets and not bolts.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Spacex.com currently shows this image in the front page of the website:

I cropped it a bit to remove the text.

Judging by the state of the paint, this is the stage that did the RTLS. There's no damage visible on this image, but it does seem like the rocket might need a good scrub and a new coat of paint

The rivets seem alright to me, assuming they're rivets and not bolts.

Does the stage actually need paint? I don't see a thermal reason for having paint. How many hundreds of pounds could they save by just going old-school:

 

[Urwumpe]

Does the stage actually need paint? I don't see a thermal reason for having paint. How many hundreds of pounds could they save by just going old-school:

well, AFAIR the Falcon 9 is made of aluminum, so some amount of corrosion could be possible, in comparison to stainless steel. Mostly pitting, which is not dangerous at all, but looks pretty ugly.

EDIT:And of course, its easier to repair a layer of damaged paint after flight, than repairing the oxide layer on aluminum after flight damage.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

I think it is important that we stop thinking of rockets as pristine shiny things and start thinking of them as freight haulers.

 

[Col_Klonk]

I think it is important that we stop thinking of rockets as pristine shiny things and start thinking of them as freight haulers.

Sure .. at 3000m/s through sea water :lol:

Worst case scenario:
Unless one has direct access on landing, we're never going to know the truth, as companies lie through their teeth to keep the bucks flowing for their bail out = standard CEO procedure ?

Look we'll know when it blows up.. Or there's a sudden change in 'policy'...accompanied by a thousand 'creamed' excuses for higher costs.
:thumbup: