Launch News SpaceX's Historic First Reuse of a Falcon 9 First Stage with SES-10 - March 27, 2017

[paddy]

post 31; 20 mins in I am sure the guy says "Of course I still love you" in the middle of his tech talk!!!!!!! 21:14 to be exact !!!!!
Ok I am an idiot... what a stupid name for a ship !!!

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Signature updated! What a party in Hawthorne. Awesome!

 

[Frilock]

post 31; 20 mins in I am sure the guy says "Of course I still love you" in the middle of his tech talk!!!!!!! 21:14 to be exact !!!!!

I might be missing something here but in case I'm not:

"Of course I still love you" is the name of the recovery barge.

 

[Pipcard]

Erm....

[snip]

and

[snip]

:leaving:

Okay,
- recovered without seawater corrosion
- first stage of a conventional-styled rocket.

 

[Kyle]

Musk giving a presser to reporters:

This Falcon 9 booster won't fly again as it has significant historical value. It'll be donated to the Cape (presumably Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex).

---------- Post added 03-31-17 at 12:01 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-30-17 at 11:54 PM ----------

The payload fairings were recovered successfully!!!

 

[Thunder Chicken]

The payload fairings were recovered successfully!!!

What!? :blink: How did they do that?

 

[Loru]

Whoa. Nice one SpaceX.

 

[Andy44]

What!? :blink: How did they do that?

I am also curious to know this.

 

[Kyle]

I am also curious to know this.

The fairings had thrusters that orientated each fairing for reentry, as well as a steerable parachute (per Musk). Falcon 9 fairings are known to wash up fully intact on beaches from time to time, so they can survive reentry quite easily. The fairings were recovered in the ocean downrange by a recovery ship.

 

[ADSWNJ]

post 31; 20 mins in I am sure the guy says "Of course I still love you" in the middle of his tech talk!!!!!!! 21:14 to be exact !!!!!
Ok I am an idiot... what a stupid name for a ship !!!

Heathen sacrilege!!!

If you have never read any of the Culture novels from Iain M. Banks, I cannot more highly recommend you do so. Elon has named his recovery ships as a homage to Banks' novels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series

RIP Iain ... a prodigious talent taken from us at the age of 59, back in 2013.

 

[Ripley]

Wow!
I'm not a SpaceX fanboy, but I'm quite speechless for this result.

Congrats to this awesome team.

 

[Fabri91]

I was quite worried there for a moment when the video feed cut off right after one of the grid fins appeared to start glowing red, but I was elated to see the stage standing on the barge after the landing!

Congratulations SpaceX!

 

[K_Jameson]

For the first time, an orbital launch vehicle's first stage is recovered twice!

nope.
SRB were recovered and reused multiple times

Also, STS recovered and reused even the second stage (the orbiter itself, obviously), a feat that was abandoned on F9.

 

[Messierhunter]

Okay,
- recovered without seawater corrosion
- first stage of a conventional-styled rocket.

Perhaps more simply, first time a private company has reused an orbital class rocket. I find it poetic that it was launched from the same pad as the final shuttle launch, as it represents the newest, best hope for an affordable partially reusable booster in a way the shuttle never lived up to.

 

[BrianJ]

Congrats to SpaceX on this one!

Does anyone have any solid information whether all the 1st stage engines were from the "original" (or not)?
Or maybe some were from another start, but still "re-flown"?
Or were some engines new?
Official source only, no guessing please :thumbup:

From spaceflight.com:

“With this being the first reflight, we were incredibly paranoid about everything,” Musk said. “The core airframe remained the same, the engines remained the same, but any sort of auxiliary components that we thought might be slightly questionable, we changed out,” Musk said.

And yes, congrats to SpaceX!

 

[Hlynkacg]

SRB were recovered and reused multiple times

Saying that the SRBs were "reused" stretches the term to it's breaking point. It would be more accurate to say that many parts of the SRBs were recycled.

 

[RGClark]

SpaceX Successful World's First Rocket Reflight & Landing Falcon 9 - SES 10 Mission (2017-03-30) - YouTube

Congrats to SpaceX in making this major advance towards lowering the cost of space access.

Bob Clark

 

[Messierhunter]

Musk giving a presser to reporters:

This Falcon 9 booster won't fly again as it has significant historical value. It'll be donated to the Cape (presumably Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex).

Woohoo! I look forward to seeing it up close again!

 

[Star Voyager]

Musk giving a presser to reporters:

This Falcon 9 booster won't fly again as it has significant historical value. It'll be donated to the Cape (presumably Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex).

---------- Post added 03-31-17 at 12:01 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-30-17 at 11:54 PM ----------

The payload fairings were recovered successfully!!!

I know the KSCVC has the biggest chance, but I would not count out the USAF Missile Museum nor it's History Center (which is the building behind SpaceX's Launch and Landing Control building on SR 401).

 

[Messierhunter]

I know the KSCVC has the biggest chance, but I would not count out the USAF Missile Museum nor it's History Center (which is the building behind SpaceX's Launch and Landing Control building on SR 401).

True, but hopefully if it goes to the USAF Missile Museum they'll set aside some time for a walk-around as part of the "Then and Now" tour at KSCVC. They go by the USAF Missile Museum as part of that tour, but they really don't give you as much time there as I'd like.