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

[Thunder Chicken]

We're getting off-topic on this thread. Use this thread for the Jason-3 launch from Vandenberg. There is an existing thread for the SpaceX first stage return on 21 December.

Mods - can you deconflict these threads?

Thanks!

 

[Andy44]

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

Everything on a launch vehicle is there for a reason. Unlike cargo ships, a launch vehicle operates at the limits of its technology to squeeze out performance. That's why the space shuttle orbiters required so much care and attention between missions; just to be safe you replaced tires, windshield panes, and lots of tiles. Launch vehicles are like dragsters that need an engine teardown after every run.

Falcon stages shouldn't be as labor-intensive as a Rockwell orbiter, but you can't treat them like garbage scow boats if you want to reasonably certain they will not blow up the next customer's scary expensive payload.

---------- Post added at 08:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 PM ----------

Oh, and since you like the used spaceship look, the shuttle orbiters do all have that look to some extent, with that nice burn mark down the side of the fuselage. That looks pretty cool.

 

[Frilock]

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:

That looks like a rocket powered beer can. I like this.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

That looks like a rocket powered beer can. I like this.

That's basically what it was. :lol:

 

[Andy44]

That looks like a rocket powered beer can. I like this.

That's basically what it was. :lol:

Especially if you've ever seen the video of one accidentally depressurizing on the pad and crumpling like a...well, like a beer can.

 

[C3PO]

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.

Actually most aluminium parts use an oxide layer as protection against corrosion. Aircraft fuselages are wiped down with a solution to speed up the oxidation prior to the first primer coating.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Somewwhere out there I read that the booster would recover on a "yet unnamed drone ship". I thought the west coast ASDS had the name "Of Course I Still Love You", to match the east coast "Just Read The Instructions".

Is there a third drone ship?

 

[Urwumpe]

Actually most aluminium parts use an oxide layer as protection against corrosion. Aircraft fuselages are wiped down with a solution to speed up the oxidation prior to the first primer coating.

Exactly, that oxide layer is also much harder and melts later than the aluminium. If you hold a blowtorch at a block of aluminium, it really starts to melt inside, which looks really strange.

But again, if you have a corrosive medium around, like salt water spray from the ocean, aluminium ages and starts to look pretty ugly.

I can understand why no spaceflight company would like to let their spacecraft look like that.

 

[boogabooga]

Especially if you've ever seen the video of one accidentally depressurizing on the pad and crumpling like a...well, like a beer can.

Link?

 

[Lmoy]

Somewwhere out there I read that the booster would recover on a "yet unnamed drone ship". I thought the west coast ASDS had the name "Of Course I Still Love You", to match the east coast "Just Read The Instructions".

Is there a third drone ship?

Sounds to me like they meant that SpaceX hasn't told anyone what drone ship they'll be using. But Just Read The Instructions was retired last I heard, so it'd have to be Of Course I Still Love You.

 

[GLS]

Link?

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1326/1

 

[BrianJ]

Sounds to me like they meant that SpaceX hasn't told anyone what drone ship they'll be using. But Just Read The Instructions was retired last I heard, so it'd have to be Of Course I Still Love You.

Reportedly, it'll be the 3rd, as yet unnamed, barge "Marmac303"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auton...c_303.E2.80.94SpaceX.27s_eastern-Pacific_ASDS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auton...hip#January_2016:_Marmac_303.2C_Pacific_coast

To be stationed at:
North 32 7 44 West 120 46 43
Which is about 250km downrange and actually slightly West of VAFB.
Makes sense if the Falcon9 is making a "dog-leg" type maneuvre, I guess.

I was pondering the 2nd stage burn though. Jason-3 is going to ~1300km orbit initially. Are they going to do that in a single burn? I can't make my Falcon9 add-on do that, even throttling 2nd stage down to 50%, I can't get the 2nd stage high enough by the time it reaches orbital velocity. Best I can do is about 700km x 1300km. Is there any reason why they wouldn't use a two-burn strategy and go to, say, 200km x 1300km orbit then burn at apoapsis to circularize? I seem to remember a previous Falcon9 launch had a ~24min coast and re-start going to GTO.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[boogabooga]

I would assume a two burn profile.

You can try to harvest this thread for more info though:
https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3zjy4e/science_ama_series_were_noaa_and_nasa_scientists/

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Reportedly, it'll be the 3rd, as yet unnamed, barge "Marmac303"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auton...c_303.E2.80.94SpaceX.27s_eastern-Pacific_ASDS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auton...hip#January_2016:_Marmac_303.2C_Pacific_coast

To be stationed at:
North 32 7 44 West 120 46 43
Which is about 250km downrange and actually slightly West of VAFB.
Makes sense if the Falcon9 is making a "dog-leg" type maneuvre, I guess.

I was pondering the 2nd stage burn though. Jason-3 is going to ~1300km orbit initially. Are they going to do that in a single burn? I can't make my Falcon9 add-on do that, even throttling 2nd stage down to 50%, I can't get the 2nd stage high enough by the time it reaches orbital velocity. Best I can do is about 700km x 1300km. Is there any reason why they wouldn't use a two-burn strategy and go to, say, 200km x 1300km orbit then burn at apoapsis to circularize? I seem to remember a previous Falcon9 launch had a ~24min coast and re-start going to GTO.

Cheers,
Brian

I'd say a direct injection to an orbit with an apoapsis of 1300km, followed by a circularization burn.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Just Read The Instructions is undergoing a paint job/refurb.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Launch time from Spaceflight Now:

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.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Air Force meteorologists report “a 100 percent chance of favorable weather” Sunday morning for the launch.

Streams are available on YouTube:

...and on Livestream:

http://livestream.com/spacex/events/4695903

 

[BrianJ]

SpaceX Jason-3 Launch Press Kit:
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/spacex_jason3_press_kit.pdf

Friday's Pre-launch press conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0AgqhS6B-U

Press kit says ASDS will be the "Just Read the Instructions"

At the press conference, Hans Koenigsmann mentioned it will be a two-burn circularize-at-apogee ascent profile, but no "dog-leg" type maneuvre.

So, straight to a 153deg launch azimuth for 66.05 inc. ? I thought there might be an issue overflying those islands South of VAFB.

Mind you, the 2nd stage has enough margin to make a fairly big plane change later on.

Good luck SpaceX. Go Jason-3!

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

It's amazing that after 3 pages here there's not a single sentence on the passenger on board! Hmm....I'll take that part then. :hmm:

But first, a weather report:

Weather forecast for Lompoc, California on January 17, 2016 (11 a.m.)

Morning fog, then mostly cloudy this afternoon. High 17C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h.

Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
11 AM|16°C|13°C|81%|2%|0%|42%|1022 hPa|5 km/h W|

Partly Cloudy

 

[Thunder Chicken]

It's amazing that after 3 pages here there's not a single sentence on the passenger on board! Hmm....I'll take that part then. :hmm:

Hey, there was a [single] sentence. I wrote it myself :lol: :

Next up is Falcon 9 with NOAA's Jason-3 satellite for measuring ocean surface elevation.

Payloads are nice, but a lot of us are here for the spectacle of fiery, fast moving machinery.