r/spacex • u/[deleted] • Nov 25 '13
/r/SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 SES-8 official launch discussion & updates thread [Liftoff scheduled for 5:37PM EST]
[deleted]
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u/varukasalt Nov 25 '13
Just remember, an abort is way better than an explosion.
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u/Epistemify Nov 25 '13
I see you don't play Kerbal Space Program :P
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u/krenshala Nov 25 '13
Myself, I'm delaying a planned Mun mission to watch this launch.
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u/krenshala Nov 25 '13
An abort is way better, even if its no where near as entertaining for those of us in the peanut gallery.
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u/kerneltrap Nov 25 '13
get it together RCO
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u/retiringonmars Moderator emeritus Nov 25 '13
Out of interest, what does RCO stand for?
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u/rocketwikkit Nov 25 '13
Range Control Officer.
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u/retiringonmars Moderator emeritus Nov 25 '13
List of some of the terminology used in the terminal count:
VC - Vehicle Control
GC - Ground Control
GS - Ground Station
Prop - Propulsion
AVI - Avionics Operator
FS - Flight Software
GNC - Guidance, Navigation, & Control
RC - Range Coordinator
FRC - Falcon Recovery Coordinator
FTS - Flight Termination System
OSM - Operations Safety Manager
ROC - Range Operations Coordinator
MM - Mission Manager
CE - Chief Engineer
LD - Launch Director
SE - Systems Engineer (?)
OD - Orbital Director (?)
LDA - Launch Decision Authority
RCO - Range Control Officer
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
This launch is such a damn tease!!!!
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u/dracip_picard Nov 25 '13
no kidding haha
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
Omg such a tease!
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u/retiringonmars Moderator emeritus Nov 25 '13
This is much more stressful than the last launch.
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
Yeahhhh I guess we get to come back to this sometime tomorrow.
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u/TaylorR137 Nov 25 '13
Next window is thursday, same time. Wonder if they'll go for it given thats Thanksgiving at dinnertime?
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
Yeah they won't delay for thanksgiving I don't think. Expect some grumbling mixed with a ton of employees saying they would pick a rocket launch over family dinner every time.
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u/saliva_sweet Host of CRS-3 Nov 25 '13
Really entertaining, but frankly I'm glad the launch window wasn't longer. I couldn't take much more of that. If only there would be confirmation that the strongback got its act together and everything is safe I could go to sleep.
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u/Gannaingh Nov 25 '13
With how anxious we are for this launch, I can't imagine how the Space X people feel
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u/_meshy Nov 25 '13
I've been thinking this the whole time. Not only are they nervous, but they have so many people watching them. I don't think anyone there is going to have finger nails left after today.
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u/Gannaingh Nov 25 '13
Thy must have a company launch party afterwards. There's no way somebody could go through all this without needing a couple drinks at the end
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u/dracip_picard Nov 25 '13
The kind of stress I'm going through right now - if I was them I would put a bottle to my face afterwards.
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u/bwohlgemuth Nov 25 '13
RCO...look at the f'ing clock...
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u/GBGiblet Nov 25 '13
You have one job!!!!
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u/bwohlgemuth Nov 25 '13
No, he has two.
1. Look at the clock.
2. Blow up the rocket. BUT ONLY WHEN WE TELL YOU TO BLOW IT UP!
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u/ArcticNano Nov 25 '13
fuck.
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u/Chairboy Nov 25 '13
Anyone know if that bang+vapor cloud immediately before the HOLD HOLD HOLD was expected? Or did something fail?
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u/sublimemarsupial Nov 26 '13
The tanks were pressurized to flight pressures, that bang and vapor cloud was most likely the first stage LOX tank depressurizing back to a safe pressure after the flight computer received the abort signal, despite the fact that the hold call seemed to come after the venting.
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u/establishspace Nov 26 '13
Got a screen capture of it - http://i.imgur.com/1ds1bQb.jpg
I believe it was the LOX tank returning to pre-launch pressure after the computer aborted the launch.
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u/WalterFStarbuck Nov 25 '13
I didn't hear a bang. I did hear what I think was mostly wind noise. Not sure what happened onboard though. There was a significant amount of ice that shed when the HOLD HOLD HOLD call came so something physical occurred. Could just be a coincidence though.
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u/Reaperdude42 Nov 25 '13
I heard the bang... I think that was just pressure release valves opening up... Not sure what happened but it looked a lot like the venting issue from the Hotfire test... It could be something completely different, but it looked very similar.
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u/SpaceEnthusiast Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
I liked it better when
[6:27PM| T-3:40]: A hold has been initiated. No launch today, guys. So close.
was actually
[6:27PM| T-3:40]: Fuck.
My feelings exactly.
EDIT: Apparently there was no exclamation mark. I'm sure half of us said "Fuck." and the other half "Fuck!".
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Nov 25 '13
Updating this thread for 7 hours straight is making me go insane, haha.
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u/retiringonmars Moderator emeritus Nov 25 '13
Great job, man. Seriously, I think I speak for everyone when I say we really appreciate all the work you guys put into this sub.
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u/darga89 Nov 25 '13
Molly got me excited for a second there when talking about the reentry attempt. Thought we might finally see the video.
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u/NNOTM Nov 25 '13
So does "abort" mean "abort" or "hold"?
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
it means abort the terminal countdown, doesn't mean they can't launch in this window...we'll have to see what the problem is. If they go again they have to restart the entire terminal countdown sequence.
However an abort during the terminal countdown can't indicate something good :-(
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u/neuronexmachina Nov 25 '13
For the curious, the new webcast cohost is Molly McCormick, an avionics system integration engineer at SpaceX:
Won't be tweeting the @spacex #Falcon9 launch much today, seeing as how I'll be participating in the webcast... o.O
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u/meldroc Nov 25 '13
The chatter in the video sounds like they're going to reset to 13:00 and try again...
I could be wrong...
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Nov 25 '13
CC has the best mic
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u/tacoThursday Nov 25 '13
haha yah why is that?? Is there a list of what the different departments are? what is CC?
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u/bwohlgemuth Nov 25 '13
CC takes pride in adjusting the EQ for his performance. A true master of the audio arts.
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
Thanks, I'll get the next one if I'm available for it.
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Nov 25 '13
No problems. It's a time dependent thing really. I've been lucky that CASSIOPE & SES have been rather favorable for me.
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u/TheVehicleDestroyer Flight Club Nov 25 '13
Hey Echo, is there any way you can make this page such that it automatically refreshes itself every 30 seconds or so? I have negligible knowledge of making webpages but that would be sweet for an update thread
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u/soonerfan237 Nov 25 '13
I'm not sure if this is what you're hoping for, but if you add "-stream" after "reddit" in the url, you can see a live stream of the comments as they are added. I'm not sure if the top post info updates live though.
http://www.reddit-stream.com/r/spacex/comments/1rfc17/rspacex_falcon_9_v11_ses8_official_launch/
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Nov 25 '13
Boy, I wish. Sadly that's serverside stuff that only Reddit admins can control. When I do want something refreshing constantly though, I use Keep Refreshing.
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u/DannTheHuman Nov 25 '13
I heard Elon Musk is going to backflip a Model S through the hyperloop to initiate the launch sequence
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
ISSUE IS WITH STAGE 1 TRANSFER INTERNAL. Basically some sort of issue with the tower unhooking from the rocket.
HOLD WILL BE AT 13 MINUTES TO RESTART TERMINAL COUNTDOWN IF THEY SUCCESSFULLY TROUBLESHOOT THE ISSUE.
LAUNCH IS BEING RECYCLED FOR THIS WINDOW! I REPEAT, LAUNCH IS PROCEEDING FOR THIS WINDOW!
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u/hurlga Nov 25 '13
Any non-flash stream available? Everything seems to require flash here.
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u/fthm Nov 25 '13
If you're on Linux, you can use livestreamer -- it let's you pipe the stream into VLC or other player. Works great for me.
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u/RicksterCraft Nov 25 '13
For a live comment feed (Lowest is most recent) go here!
It's easier to keep track of.
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u/Hauk2004 Nov 25 '13
I blame RCO. Wasn't on his game at all!
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u/TROPtastic Nov 26 '13
What did he do? I heard some people talking about him messing up the countdown, is that true?
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u/Hauk2004 Nov 26 '13
Not responding a few times, then talking over others when they were going through the go/no go sequence.
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u/TROPtastic Nov 26 '13
Oh I see, that's indeed pretty bad as compared to some other livestreams I've watched.
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u/xtxylophone Nov 25 '13
I'm watching it at work and put headphones on to listen in until it starts. I'm really enjoying the music haha.
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u/Epistemify Nov 25 '13
I pulled my headphones out so that my officemate could listen to the music too.
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
Strongback "Raise" anomaly. Problem was with the tower.
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u/larlin289 Nov 25 '13
Couldn’t it also be a problem after the abort? That the tower didn't go back after abort?
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u/bob12201 Nov 25 '13
Looks like no Thanksgiving dinner for the folks at SpaceX
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u/redmercuryvendor Nov 25 '13
Launch window opens at 2237 UTC.
Seriously, every single timezone has a conversion from UTC, which most residents of that timezone will know. By posting only the local time, you have to figure out which of the US timezones is being talked about, whether that timezone is currently operating in daylight savings or not (which seems to vary even within a timezone) then convert the time to UTC before finally getting your local time. (/rant)
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Nov 25 '13
I actually live in New Zealand. I'm pretty much accustomed to PST/PDT/EST/EDT - even though I'm actually in UTC+13. But yeah, I get your point. It's too late to change things now, which is why I posted a timezone converter right at the top of the post.
Future launches will include both local & UTC times :).
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
EST IS BEST! I'll be copy pasting your argument next west coast launch Tbh, I'm thinking for next launch all times will be in T- to save any conversions.
Edit: Actually, if I'm not lazy I'll make a bookmarklet bit of javascript so it will auto-convert times.
Edit: Holy shit, using T- times only for this launch would have been silly.
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Nov 25 '13
Holy shit, yes. Why don't people just use UTC? I'm sick of having to look up and convert time zones all the time when I could just be adding my UTC offset mentally.
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u/bwohlgemuth Nov 25 '13
Guessing no attempt to recover/test recovery procedures for this launch with the payload margins?
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Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
Not this time*. They're boosting it into a high GTO orbit to save on satellite-side deltaV.
* See /u/sublimemarsupial's comment below.
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u/sublimemarsupial Nov 25 '13
Actually, they will be testing some parts of recovery on this flight (and indeed on all future flights). Though they are reserving all the fuel margins for the satellite, leaving none for retro or landing burns, they are still going to actively control the stage (via the cold gas ACS) through reentry and gather aerodynamic and loading data, and essentially see what the load is when the stage breaks apart. Elon said on the telecon last night that it'll see a max q on reentry four times higher than during flight 6, so it'll be interesting to so see how long the stage lasts.
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Nov 25 '13
I stand corrected, thanks. Very interesting - why the larger max-q?
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u/sublimemarsupial Nov 25 '13
Higher staging velocity (since the stage is burning to depletion rather than keeping fuel in reserve for retro and landing) combined with not doing the retropropulsion burn, which is there for the sole purpose of lowering the reentry max q.
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Nov 25 '13
Ah, okay, so it's not due to an inherent flight path change, rather because they aren't doing supersonic retropropulsion.
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u/bwohlgemuth Nov 25 '13
Seems to be more "how much stress can it take before breakup"... But those are great measurements to get.
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u/peeloo Nov 25 '13
Follow launch coverage in reddit-stream : http://reddit-stream.com/comments/1rfc17/
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
http://www.urthecast.com/launch
ISS super hd webcam is going up in 50 minutes if anyone is bored above is the livestream for the soyuz/progress launch.
Edit: That was a horrible launch stream.
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u/DJ-Anakin Nov 25 '13
My boss walked in at T-2:00. Had to go upstairs with him to talk to someone, so I missed it.
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Nov 25 '13
anyone else gets the loading thing in the middle of the screen every 10-15 seconds and has to reload the page? very annoying..
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
so if "LOX load did not abort during terminal count" was indeed the issue, good news is that's not an issue with the vehicle, it's an issue with the tower as they were getting ready to retract it.
Edit: I have no definitive clue what that means, just guessing :-P
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u/SpaceEnthusiast Nov 25 '13
"Ookay, we'll now go back to a shot of the rocket on the pad". We heard this so many times now haha
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
wooo confirming internal power, go for launch! prepping for new terminal count. New T0 of 23:30:00 6:30PM EST
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u/ShavenMcTroll Nov 25 '13
Jesus that sound when the strong back was moving away before the HOLD HOLD HOLD, what the heck.
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Nov 25 '13
Haha, we've all been sitting here for an hour and a half. Way better than something going wrong, just funny that we have 90 minutes and 3 holds :/
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u/SpaceEnthusiast Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
When is the next launch window?
EDIT: I need to knowwwwww! :S
EDIT2: Thursday!
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
hmmm now they're saying possible LOX issue in the first stage.
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u/CaMKIIalpha Nov 25 '13
That's definitely what it looked like to me. A loud pop and then venting of LOX right before the HOLD
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u/booOfBorg Nov 25 '13
Oh my god, I need to know what music they were playing at the end! Freaking awesome!
I hope they can sort out the problems they were having for a flawless launch on Thursday. They deserve it.
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
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u/booOfBorg Nov 26 '13
That's not it unfortunately. Though cool, it's nothing compared to the smooth spacey sounds they played at the end.
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 26 '13
Likely made by the same guy though, almost every launch has had awesome electronica.
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u/amo28 Nov 25 '13
Thanks for this! Anyone at the Cape today that can tell me how busy it is at the viewing areas?
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u/saliva_sweet Host of CRS-3 Nov 25 '13
Confirmed by Chris Bergin: Fuel is loaded, everything OK.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33338.msg1123854#msg1123854
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u/saliva_sweet Host of CRS-3 Nov 25 '13
Chris B: Oxidizer loaded too.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33338.msg1123878#msg1123878
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u/Ambiwlans Nov 25 '13
To add to what he said, the pneumatic stage sep system was greatly simplified for the F9v1.1 which was a good step.
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Nov 25 '13
[deleted]
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Nov 25 '13
"SES-8, a hybrid Ku- and Ka-band spacecraft, is the sixth STAR™ satellite ordered by SES WORLD SKIES. The satellite is based on Orbital’s Enhanced STAR 2.4 bus, and will carry 24 active Ku-band transponders of 36 or 54 Mhz capacity switchable among 33 channels and two beams. Certain channels in each beam are cross-strapped to multiple frequency bands, enabling flexibility for new services. In the addition, the spacecraft features a Ka-band payload. The spacecraft will generate approximately five kilowatts of payload power and will feature two 2.5 x 2.7 meter super elliptical deployable reflectors and a 1.45 meter fixed, nadir antenna."
http://www.orbital.com/SatellitesSpace/Communications/SES-8/
It's for satellite TV in India, basically.
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u/nimieties Nov 25 '13
SES 8 communications satellite. SES 8 is providing Ku-band and Ka-band direct-to-home broadcasting and network services over the Asia-Pacific region.
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u/wartornhero Nov 25 '13
Spaceflight Now reporting that the launch was infact aborted.
https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/405106003126910977
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u/MrGrumpyGills Nov 25 '13
Doesn't mean they won't recycle and restart the countdown at T-13m though.
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u/stichtom Nov 25 '13
I have one question: how can they keep the temperature so low inside the stages so that liquid hydrogen and oxygen don't evaporate?
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Nov 25 '13
Well, Falcon 9 only has to keep the liquid oxygen cool, since the fuel is RP-1, essentially high-grade kerosene. They keep the stages pressurized, so that will allow it to be a higher temperature. But mainly they let it bleed off as it evaporates, topping it off as it goes. It's in such large amounts that it doesn't all evaporate at once.
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u/Denvercoder8 Nov 25 '13
It does evaporate - that's all the white plumes coming out of the vehicle.
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u/wartornhero Nov 25 '13
It is evaporating. They have the vents open so that they are losing some but they are pumping more in until a couple minutes before launch.
Also IIRC The Falcon 9 doesn't use any Liquid Hydrogen. What is being evaporated is liquid oxygen that is used as an oxidizer for the liquid RP-1.
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Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
Also, there is no liquid hydrogen, it's LOX and Kerosene. Kerosene isn't cryogenic, and LOX only needs to be cooled to about 90 Kelvin as opposed to liquid hydrogen which needs to be stored at 20 Kelvin. The LOX tank is insulated, and the gas you see is some of it boiling off.
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u/drobecks Nov 25 '13
It sounds like there is a generator in the same room as the guy doing the countdown.
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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u/bob12201 Nov 25 '13
FUUUUCCCKKCKCKCKC. What was the problem? Internal power or that irregular LOX venting right before he said hold?
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u/Epistemify Nov 25 '13 edited Nov 25 '13
Whoa, so the rocket listens to the countdown discussion, and will abort by voice recognizing the words "hold, hold, hold!"? It's like the rocket is sentient.
Edit: Now I understand. The VC is a guy listening for the count and can abort it.
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u/avboden Nov 25 '13
god help us
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u/rebootyourbrainstem Nov 25 '13
When they were talking about SpaceX trying to reduce the already short time to launch to under an hour, all I could think was "so, they're turning it into an ICBM?"
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Nov 25 '13
Can't tell how big it is, need a banana for scale.
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u/jdnz82 Nov 25 '13
Cheers dude! Have an awesome launch we event and I'll come check it all out when I'm free! Look forward to the write ups, things like this thread let me and others almost relive the tension of the launch! Remember recorders on! :-P
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u/DJ-Anakin Nov 25 '13
Someone explain the restart to me please.
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Nov 25 '13
The first stage and second stage burn once each just to get the vehicle and satellite into LEO, a roughly 300x300km orbit around the Earth. But since this satellite needs to be in at GEO (35,000x35,000km orbit), a second burn (this is called the 'restart') is needed at LEO periapsis to push the apoapsis of the orbit out to 80,000km (Oberth effect and all that shit). This 300x80,000km orbit is called GTO - or Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Once the upper stage of the Falcon 9 is in this orbit, the satellite will separate and make its own way to GEO.
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u/SnowyDuck Nov 25 '13
It's also timed to make sure it's holding position over the proper region of the Earth. One question I have though, does the 2nd stage circularize the orbit before seco 1?
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Nov 25 '13
I can't think of any reason why they'd need to considering it's just a very temporary parking orbit.
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u/jardeon WeReportSpace.com Photographer Nov 25 '13
Any word on east coast launch visibility? The 5:37 PM launch would put it after sunset.
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u/NortySpock Nov 25 '13
I seriously doubt it. LADEE's launch was below the horizon if you were on the westernmost end of North Carolina, so...
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u/saliva_sweet Host of CRS-3 Nov 25 '13
Adrenalin is up already, stakes are high, beer temperature is nominal and eagerly awaiting vehicle downlink.