Falcon 9 Launch & Recovery Operations Options

[Greg Hullender]

Now June 2 at the earliest.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html

No indication of what the specific issues are, so July 2 is probably just as likely. :-(

--Greg

[Greg Hullender]

Launch planned for Friday morning! This just in from SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php

SpaceX is now targeting Friday, June 4th for its first test launch attempt of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
The primary schedule driver for the first Falcon 9 test launch has been certification of the flight termination system (FTS). . . . we are now looking good for final approval of the FTS by this Friday, June 4th, just in time for our first launch attempt. . . . Tomorrow we plan to rollout in the morning, and erect the vehicle in the afternoon. On Friday, the targeted schedule is as follows:

Friday 4 June 2010

Launch Window Opens: 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific / 1500 UTC
Launch window lasts 4 hours. SpaceX has also reserved a second launch day on Saturday 5 June, with the same hours.

. . . . The weather experts at the Cape are giving us a 40% chance of "no go" conditions for both days of our window, citing the potential for cumulus clouds and anvil clouds from thunderstorms.
If the weather cooperates, SpaceX will provide a live webcast of the launch events, presently scheduled to begin 20 minutes prior to the opening of the launch window. . . . . It would be a great day if we reach orbital velocity, but still a good day if the first stage functions correctly, even if the second stage malfunctions. It would be a bad day if something happens on the launch pad itself and we're not able to gain any flight data.
If we have a bad day, it will be disappointing, but one launch does not make or break SpaceX as a company, nor commercial spaceflight as an industry.

Complete text at http://spacex.com/updates.php

--Greg

--Greg

[nprev]

(Fingers, eyes & toes crossed)...GO FALCON 9 F1!!!!

[Vultur]

It would be a great day if we reach orbital velocity, but still a good day if the first stage functions correctly, even if the second stage malfunctions. It would be a bad day if something happens on the launch pad itself and we're not able to gain any flight data.

Interesting. They seem to be aiming their expectations relatively low (though it seems realistic given that it took three flights before they could get F1 working).

[ugordan]

They seem to be aiming their expectations relatively low.

Historical record is sobering and speaks for itself. Very few new launch vehicle maiden flights were (completely) successful. Expect problems here as well.

[Greg Hullender]

The update notes that the Atlas took 13 tries before it flew, but I do hope they're shooting for better than that. :-)

I suppose I ought to be deleriously happy if it just gets high enough to actually ignite the second stage this time around. They probably would be.

But I can't help rooting for a perfect flight. :-)

--Greg

[Greg Hullender]

MSNBC has an article about tomorrow's planned launch.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/...rocket-roulette

Elon describes it as like "Russian Roulette" but with worse odds. He still thinks he's got an 80% chance this'll work on the first try, but notes they have three scheduled test flights. Plus NASA may do some things to try to speed the process up--letting some earlier test flights attempt more, for example.

There's quite a lot here--not a whole lot that's new, but it's nice seeing something from someplace besides the SpaceX homepage.

--Greg

[Juramike]

Live webcast here (spaceflight now): http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html
SpaceX video link here (should start in just a few moments): http://spacex.com/webcast.php

[Greg Hullender]

T-20 Minutes and counting!

--Greg

[Juramike]

Live video feed from space-X site just started!

[Greg Hullender]

Now we're into a planned 20-minute hold, I think. Does anyone know the logic of such a thing? Why not have the 20 minutes be part of the regular countdown? When I was a kid, watching Gemini and Apollo launches, the holds used to drive me nuts. (At least they tell us how long they are now.)

--Greg

Edit: Never mind. It's not a 20-minute hold, and it's not planned. The Range Control people required it. (They just explained it on the web cam).

[Greg Hullender]

Watched the live chat on the Spaceflight Now site for a bit. Two or three comments a second, many repeated over and over, and none worthwhile. It really reinforces what a high-quality group we have here at UMSF.

--Greg

[Greg Hullender]

On hold for one hour now. SpaceX periodically comes on to say that they're waiting for Range Safety to give them a new liftoff time. I'm worried about the weather, although the last announcement said that conditions continue to be good.

--Greg

[tfisher]

Greg -- I agree regarding the information content of the spaceflightnow.com discussion. But still there are very few ways for a random individual to participate in a launch like this, and being part of the random chatter on a site like that is one of those ways. I think it is a good thing to have forums for discussion like that, just to give an active way for participation even at a shallow level. (And even better to have forums like this, to encourage active participation at a deeper level!) Participation is a good thing :^)

[Greg Hullender]

Another update. Weather is still good. They're hoping for a launch in about an hour, or 1 PM EDT, 10 AM PDT. That's 6 PM BST or 1700 GMT, right?

--Greg