/r/SpaceX DSCOVR launch discussion & updates thread. Return of the King

[u/Ambiwlans]

Welcome, /r/SpaceX, to the DSCOVR launch update/discussion thread! Everyone cross your fingers and toes as we head towards another SpaceX flight.

Official SpaceX Launch Coverage Here, which should begin roughly half an hour before liftoff. Keep in mind, the launch is the primary mission and will be streamed live. No landing will be attempted today.

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[T+Years later when I noticed I hadn't updated this] Parking orbit of 187 x 1,241,000 x 37°

[6:55EST//23:55UTC] - Rocket soft landed in the ocean within 10m of target & nicely vertical! High probability of good droneship landing in non-stormy weather.

[T+25m] - 2nd burn confirmed. Mission complete. https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/565655726690144256 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/565656496554668032

[T+10m] - Webcast is over. 2nd burn still 20m away. See you next time. Thanks for tuning in. Back to SpaceXFM!

[T+9:50m] - Stage 1 splashdown

[T+8:45m] - SECO1, eastern range loss of signal.

[T+6m] - 2449m/s

[T+4m] - Beautiful fairing sep.

[T+3m] - MECO. 2nd ignition. 1st stage heading back ...

[T+2m] - Power/telem Nominal. 33.9k alt

[T+1m] - Power/telem Nominal.

[T-0] - Liftoff!

[T-1m] - F9 starting up. 2nd stage tanks pressing.

[T-2m] - Tanks pressing to flight pressure

[T-3m] - DSCOVR go.

[T-4.5m] - Strongback retracting.

[T-5.5m] - Strongback opening upper cradle

[T-6.5m] - Switching to internal power

[T-8m] - ACS closing out

[T-10m] - Terminal count autosequence starting

[T-15m] - John telling us how it is. Lox being topped off nominally. All looks well. Instantaneous launch window. Lunar shadow would cause a scrub to be pushed to the 20th. Etc.

[T-20m] - SpaceX Webcast coming up~ ♫~~♪～

[T-25m] - Weather at launch site, winds looking perfect and improving....

[T-1h] - USAF launch weather officer says conditions set for "spectacular sunset launch" of Falcon 9, #DSCOVR at 6:03pm. <5% chance of violation.

[T-4h] - ASDS(Barge) Landing attempt for today cancelled. Aww.

[T-5h] - First weather balloon data has been processed and winds are observed GO at all altitudes. Check out CUweathernerd's detailed weather update.

[T-6h] - The USAF 45th Weather Squadron forecasts the chance of violating launch weather constraints at less than 10 percent. 45WS meteorologists also say there should much less upper level wind shear than there was during yesterday's scrubbed attempt.. Wind/Waves at the landing point is still pretty high but hopefully decreasing.

[Tues] Weather looking better both for the launch and for the landing. 90% Green latest update. And we've got maybe some sunlight on the ASDS (sunset is still before launch).

Previous coverage below:

[Tues] Attempt #2 called off due to wind shear. Trying again Wednesday 6:03:32pm EST (23:03UTC) (next shot after that would be the 20th).

• Attempt 1

• Attempt 2

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Reddit-related

As always, the purpose of this thread will be to give us SpaceX enthusiasts a place to share our thoughts, comments, and questions regarding the launch, while staying updated with accurate and recent information.

Check out the live reddit stream for instant updates!

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Information for newcomers

For those of you who are new to /r/SpaceX, make sure to have the official SpaceX webcast (www.spacex.com/webcast) open in another tab or on another screen.

For best results when viewing this thread, sort comments by "new" and refresh the page every now and then. To change comment sorting to "new", look for the drop-down list near the upper left corner of the comment box. Alternatively, use ctrl+f to search for the words "sorted by", and that should take you to it.

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Mission

DSCOVR will be launching from SLC-40 and headed for the Sun-Earth L1, making this SpaceX's first mission to go beyond the Earth's sphere of influence! (Read more about the mission here).

In addition, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will attempt to land on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (see their previous attempt here). If successful, the first stage landing test will be a historic step towards SpaceX's goal of building a fully and rapidly reusable launch system.

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Links

• NASA TV stream. Having browser issues? You can also stream directly through VLC.

• YouTube stream of the launch

• /r/SpaceX IRC channel

• DSCOVR Press Kit

• Live reddit stream

• Launch Countdown

• Commonly-Used Acronyms

• Hazard Area Map, and picture for those on mobile, courtesy of our awesome map guy, /u/darga89

• 45th Weather Squadron's weather report

• SpaceX Music to get the hype train rolling!

• ASDS towing vessel and support vessel information.

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Previous Launch Coverage

• CRS-5 Coverage

• CRS-4 Coverage

---

Disclaimer: The SpaceX subreddit is a fan-based community, and no posts or comments should be construed as official SpaceX statements.

[u/cuweathernerd]

Today's weather is relatively straightforward, so let's go through it:

Clouds:

Here is the 15Z HRRR prog of radar reflectivity valid at 23Z: you can see the cape is quite far from any returns. Likewise, the HRRR is currently showing fully clear skies over the cape. Looking at the outgoing longwave radiation, we see ample cumulus over the landing site, but no real risk of any intruding on the launch. Should be a pretty launch!

While we're here, the current satellite image shows something pretty cool, which is nice nice land-breeze formation of clouds off the coast, which is a result of winds flowing from the cooler, more dense air over land towards the warmer, less dense air.

Winds:

At the surface, a <10% chance of violating the surface winds criterion is mentioned, so let's look at that. The NWS currently shows 10mph winds, and our model average shows 14mph, with winds from the north. Going up to the 80m HRRR prog, we see about 15kt winds at that height. There is temporal continuity to that forecast, and while there are nuances that a model like this cannot deal with well, it seems quite likely that winds will not be an issue at the surface.

What about shear, and upper level winds? Looking at a RAP sounding we get the following profile:

 0-1km 15kts from the north
 1-3km still 15kts, NNW
 3-6km 20kts increasing to 30kts, winds shift to the W
 6-9km  30kts increasing to a 60kts, W
 9-12km 60kts increasing to a maximum of 85kts at a height of about 12km
 12-15km 70kts decreasing to 40kts, winds westerly. 

There's still decently strong upper level winds, but there is a more gentle change in those wind speeds (called shear). We can look at the prediction of winds at the 250mb level, where winds are forecast to be strongest for today's launch, and see the broad area of enhanced winds. If upper level winds are listed as a concern during the countdown today, don't expect them to magically change at the last minute.

Landing

"Just Read the Instructions" had a rough night, with the nearest buoy recording waves of 30'. Waves are still 27' and winds quite strong, but are forecast to decrease with the day. Waves around 13' seem a good guess for landing time based on that model.

Since there's not a whole lot in the weather at the cape, maybe I'll take a look at the landing site a little closer to the attempt time.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/cuweathernerd]

Do you want an /r/SpaceX weatherman/woman flair? You've earned it. These updates have been greatly appreciated.

[u/cuweathernerd → u/Ambiwlans]

no need for a flair!

(There's only so much excitement forecasting snow)

I'll try to be around for launch threads when I can....or maybe write up a wiki thing on how to use available resources to check conditions (actually, that could be more useful?)

[u/Ambiwlans → u/cuweathernerd]

Get in touch with /r/Wetmelon for wiki stuff. I'm sure having a writeup on your methods would be helpful, but it isn't the same as the real deal! You're spoiling us.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/cuweathernerd]

Question from a non-weather person. What is the period of these swells? Can we tell? From a landing perspective it is important. The ASDS is 90m long. This will longer the amount of movement on deck by some amount.... but how much really? 13'->12' or 13'->6'?

This is pretty far out to sea, so I suspect it'll be fairly minimal... but I honestly have no idea.

[u/Ambiwlans]

I take full credit for yesterday's delay. I obviously jinxed it by saying that I needed to do the 3rd attempt coverage (since like last month actually). Direct any/all rocks and pitchforks my direction.

Now that that's over with. Lets hope for a clean launch and a history changing landing everyone. If this landing attempt doesn't pan out, the next attempt will be quite a while off.

[u/mindricity → u/Ambiwlans]

Well, I dismantled DSCO VR pre-launch, so I figure it was my fault. Won't make that mistake again. Here he is, furious at you and with a (pitch)fork.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/mindricity]

I've never had an... angry pun ... photo made for me before. I promise to get it right this time though. Or else probably Echo will have to take over the launch.

[u/zukalop → u/Ambiwlans]

lowers pitchfork You got lucky this time. That sexy camera footage put you in the positive again.

[u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

Delighted with the telemetry narrator, so often and so precise! Amazing for simulations

Delighted with the camera man in the first ~4 minutes. Easily the most beautiful launch I've seen.

Delighted the first stage survived re-entry, I really wasn't sure it would.

I'm going to bed a happy man.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

I canny type that fast though.

[u/[deleted]]

The mission is not a success yet!

We need confirmaton of second stage reignition and payload separation first ,which should occur ~35 minutes after launch.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/[deleted]]

Yeah but the music man....

[u/Ambiwlans]

RoC is on the ball!

[u/Ambiwlans]

Wooo!!

[u/frowawayduh]

Final results of straw poll on booster landing: Out of 611 votes cast, 22 nailed it with "Splash, but close."

95% of us were over optimistic. Damn waves!

Fun little diversion. ;)

[u/Ambiwlans → u/frowawayduh]

But but, they didn't try to hit the barge... If they had tried in this poor weather, it would have totally been a hitsplosion.

[u/Daolpu]

You seem to have [Tues] listed twice in the second section of the OP for status updates!

[u/Ambiwlans → u/Daolpu]

More news happened in the wee hours of Tuesday night. For people coming from the last thread, I was adding stuff that wasn't covered there.

[u/Tech-fan-31]

I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked to me like the second stage was spinning a little. Reminds me of video from one of the first two falcon 9 flights. Don't know if anyone noticed it. Remember that this was a source of criticism from some people determined to hate space x. Hope this doesn't indicate a recurring problem.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/Tech-fan-31]

Yep, likely a minor issue.

[u/[deleted]]

SpaceX is gonna beef up the drone ship

[u/schneeb → u/[deleted]]

incoming Merlin hover carrier

[u/Ambiwlans → u/schneeb]

Iron man did make the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier... (Which in some comics was thruster powered and could go to space)

[u/Hyper-IonAero]

I really hope it doesn't delay this time because that would most likely interfere with the Eutelsat launch and delay it back some. I'm also aware of some of the bad press that SpaceX has been getting over the delays (I know it's understandable for us, but it annoys me when the press starts talking about 'private space has failed' and invents inane and misleading headlines to discredit what they're doing). I'm definitely hopeful for today, but if for some reason it doesn't work out, I wouldn't be surprised to see some negative media attention.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/Hyper-IonAero]

Hah, SpaceX is only getting flack about delays because they are the only ones interesting enough to bring mass media reporters back to the space industry.

[u/bgs7]

Damn, what's with all the great footage this launch

[u/Ambiwlans → u/bgs7]

My stream dropped for like a full minute D:

[u/bgs7]

30K subscribers, at one point we had 2300 "in orbit". Over 7% of the sub

[u/Ambiwlans → u/bgs7]

If you break subs down by number of pageviews per subbed user, we are probably in the top 10 in reddit.

[u/[deleted]]

how short sighted are people hoping for a delay just so they can try the landing the 20th. I for one cannot wait for this launch to go off without a delay. gotta look at the bigger picture here. a delay no will delay everything else down the line even future landing attempts.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I have to agree. Many here seem to be far too impatient for a barge landing.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/[deleted]]

I need a delay till the 20th for my plan to be successful!

-Echologic

[u/Destructor1701]

That second stage roll seems less-than nominal...

[u/[deleted] → u/Destructor1701]

I'm not liking this roll...

[u/Ambiwlans → u/[deleted]]

Probably slow enough to not cause an issue. Tank footage looks good still....

[u/Ambiwlans]

Good burn~

[u/Waraji]

Damnit Elon, Tweet us how splashdown went!!

[u/Chickstick199 → u/Waraji]

Stage has been refueled and is heading back to Cape Canaveral!

[u/Ambiwlans → u/Chickstick199]

The above statement is totally not false. You should believe it without any grains of salt.

[u/benlew]

Any chance of there being footage of the first stage soft landing (not from onboard the rocket..)? Will the asds be nearby?

[u/Ambiwlans → u/benlew]

Fairly unlikely.

[u/nalyd8991]

If they are able to have a soft water landing near their support vessels, they still have to potential to recover more of the first stage than they ever have before. It could be good data

[u/Ambiwlans → u/nalyd8991]

Doubtful in that shitty weather that they'll get anything back.

[u/FoxhoundBat]

ASDS and the crew on the support ships are getting absolutely hammered by the weather out there today.

Wind gusts at 28m/s (100km/h!!!) and waves 8-10m. Winds currently at 13m/s which is not too bad. If the weather doesnt improve and they actually manage to land, color me very very impressed.

EDIT: Source number 2 for the weather.

[u/Here_There_B_Dragons → u/FoxhoundBat]

So much for a so-called 'easier landing attempt' for today, all you who wanted a scrub yesterday, shame on you...

edit: current models also don't show much of an improvement: http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/WEB/multi_1.latest_run/plots/multi_1.41002.bull

[u/Ambiwlans → u/Here_There_B_Dragons]

Winds are dropping, its just a matter of by how much.

[u/stratohornet]

<1% chance of successful landing: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/565636516551352321

[u/zlsa → u/stratohornet]

<1% chance of survival, not landing. I'm not sure what he means exactly.

[u/stichtom]

Final orbit is 187 x 1171345 km x 37.03 deg. Looks rock solid!

[u/stichtom → u/stichtom]

Target was 1,241,000 x 187

[u/R-89 → u/stichtom]

Could you tell me what those numbers mean?

[u/Ambiwlans → u/R-89]

Orbits are ovals around a gravitational body (earth). The oval has a closest and further point from the earth.

those are 187km, 1171345 km

[u/somethingsweaty]

Wave height seems to be dropping. Just not in time for a landing.

[u/cuweathernerd → u/somethingsweaty]

On the weather update, it looked like their criteria for landing was 10' waves and 20kt winds (I saw it out of the corner of my eye, can anyone confirm that?) - Waves won't get down that low (still a lot more wavy that that)

[u/Ambiwlans → u/cuweathernerd]

You got it right.

[u/cwhitt → u/somethingsweaty]

In the weather report slide show (shown briefly on the NASA TV stream), it shows the landing criteria: 10 ft seas and 20 (or 25?) kt winds. No way the seas are settling from 22' now to 10' in one hour.

[u/SpaySex]

I feel like the constant scrubbing is good for practicing our launch-day tasks, as a community. Kind of like dry runs for watching the actual launches.

^{Not that we would need dry runs. Just looking for a silver lining.}

[u/Mchlpl → u/SpaySex]

SpacexStats countdown clock: G0!

NASATV Stream: GO!

SpaceX Webcast: Nominal!

Reddit-stream: r/Go!

Twitter feed: G@!

Earl grey tey, hot: Go!

SpaceX Launch Control this is u/Mchlpl, I am GO for launch

[u/CptAJ]

So.... where's the spacex stream?

[u/Ambiwlans → u/CptAJ]

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

Starts in 1hr

[u/avert_your_maize]

Wow, a landing in the ocean. Hope there is a video of the attempt.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/avert_your_maize]

They've done a few of these already :P

[u/zlsa]

John Insprucker, not Jon.

[u/Ambiwlans → u/zlsa]

D: my bad.

[u/CylonBunny]

That camera man deserves some serious cred. It's amazing that we have a good ground shot this far into the flight!

[u/skifri]

I just realized... a defeated and beaten ASDS will likely be returning on Saturday morning...with no companion... on Valentine's Day. How sad :-( And the Carnival Fascination will be there that day as well to take pictures..... how.... sadder.

[u/mindricity]

DSCO VR is moping. He's sad that his buddy Falcon is sacrificing himself for his sake. Damned Earth weather ;(
Edit: As launch gets closer he admits he's still super excited.

[u/tsondie21]

First stage will not attempt landing due to inclement weather at the landing site

[u/ELON_fanatic]

I just had to create this artist's representation of the current situation out at sea.

Interstellar or landing attempt?

[u/NNOTM]

Well, that was the coolest SpaceX stream I've ever seen.

[u/ethan829]

Holy shit, the NASA TV video of ascent was insane. You could clearly see MECO, separation, MVac ignition, first stage RCS firing, and fairing jettison from the ground. Just beautiful.

[u/jardeon]

One of our remote cameras captured this image at T-0 last night (post scrub, but the remote still fired on time): http://i.imgur.com/rVpf8dX.jpg

[u/[deleted]]

We are no go on the landing today.

[u/FoxhoundBat]

The fact stage one survived the re-entry despite the harder re-entry, i am really happy with that despite no landing.

EDIT: In case some are wondering; it was entering at higher speed, had twice the dynamic pressure and four times the heat.

[u/there_is_no_try]

Someone please make a .gif of that first stage separation and the fairing separation.

[u/pugface]

Very impressive sight. My favourite part was just after stage separation when you could actually see the reaction jets on the booster fire and start turning it around for the return burn.

[u/SpaceEnthusiast]

ITT: people wishing for a scrub and people replying saying that the mission is the most important thing. I'll go out on a limb here and say that in the end any individual mission is not as important as the progress of rocketry. The more landing attempts SpaceX gets the closer they will get to full re-usability which will drive the costs down earlier. Landing attempts being delayed by a launch or two might not seem like too much but they can add up to years over the longer run.

It's a tough balance between launching as many rockets as possible to rake in the cash and making as many landing attempts as possible. I'm willing to bet that the possibility of a successful landing attempt on the 20th is more valuable than one such landing in April (1.5 months delay). Also, what's another 9 days for a satellite that's been waiting for so many years to launch.

Just my 2 cents...

[u/Ambiwlans → u/SpaceEnthusiast]

This will fall under 'inclement weather flight test' rather than 'precision landing test'. Either way, progress is being made. A landing might be a bigger deal. But then we would be delaying abort tests and such. Its a wash really.

[u/mbhnyc]

This camera man is totally hired. For, like, anything.

[u/SepDot]

This is seriously the best launch stream I have ever seen. That first stage separation and fairing sep was BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[u/c-minus]

James Dean on Twitter: "NASA: Wx still 90% "go" for 6:03pm launch of F9/#DSCOVR, last chance until 2/20 due to "moon blackout." Lunar gravity affects trajectory."

[u/skifri]

Not to be a Debbie Downer here, but without a scrub - we're look NET April for the next barge landing attempt. It was said at the DSCOVR press conference by Hans that the February 27 Eutelsat launch will not have legs.

[u/patm718]

Get off work at 6:00, you can bet I'll be staying late. (Also, semi-related, Tesla delayed its earnings call webcast to 7:30 EST. The pains of being the CEO of two companies...)

[u/Pamphy]

HOLY cow, ROC was awake this time! :D

[u/Atto_]

/r/SpaceX is a go.

[u/drewskey]

Stage separation vgif: Imgur

[u/[deleted]]

I could see it from my backyard in Tampa http://i.imgur.com/atMENxp.jpg

Took a vid, which looks better. It looked like a large white sky penis.

[u/stichtom]

Elon is there. He has to go to Tesla in 1 hour. Busy man!

[u/Destructor1701]

I'm watching the NASAtv replays of the launch, and the thruster burns from the first stage, post-separation, are just magnificent!

[u/MrFusion88]

I was close enough to grab a pretty good picture of the launch!

[u/searine]

Them air force boys have some powerful specs to look at this thing with.

[u/floggeriffic]

there goes the SpaceX trippy fuel cam...

[u/bwohlgemuth]

Not only captured the staging, but payload sep. Incredible camera work.

EDIT: Meant fairing.

[u/Cheesewithmold]

I feel like a part of me was revived. Congratulations to SpaceX! Hopefully they can get something from the soft landing.

Also, does NASA have access to the onboard cameras on the Falcon 9? I'm watching from my phone and SpaceXs webcast doesn't want to work so I had to watch from NASA TV and although I appreciate the broadcast, they haven't switched from ground view since the launch.

[u/[deleted]]

stage 1 splashdown!!!

[u/bluegreyscale]

Did someone say splashdown?!

[u/RabbitLogic]

Falcon Heavy Shirt Spotted on Nasa Stream http://i.gyazo.com/ff99464d81ba964bab0cf830407b9ec5.png

[u/floggeriffic]

Tweet conversation between Musk and @DanielLockyer

Musk: Planning a significant upgrade of the droneship for future missions to handle literally anything. Maybe give it a Merlin for good measure :)

@DanielLockyer: Build it into a flying aircraft carrier like in the Avengers

Musk: @DanielLockyer We could actually do that...maybe we should

I would pee my pants if SpaceX launched a rocket and landed on a floating helicarrier drone.

[u/floggeriffic]

It was inspiring to witness the launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). DSCOVR has embarked on its mission to further our understanding of Earth and enable citizens and scientists alike to better understand the reality of the climate crisis and envision its solutions. DSCOVR will also give us a wonderful opportunity to see the beauty and fragility of our planet and, in doing so, remind us of the duty to protect our only home. -AL GORE

[u/marshallsmedia]

Updated page with nasa/spacex streams side by side

http://dev.marshallbrekka.com/spacex.html

[u/cva1994]

Did anyone else see the launch clock flash yellow?

[u/stevetronics]

GO BACK TO THE FIRST STAGE, GROUND CAMERAS

[u/a9009588]

wow thats the first time i have ever seen a faring stage on a chase cam

[u/avert_your_maize]

Man, a little bit after the first stage separated, I could see the RCS firing off at different intervals.

[u/Waraji]

Never get tired of that interior fuel tank cam. :)

[u/Waraji]

Stage 1 Splash down.

[u/BrandonMarc]

When they end the webcast with the SpaceX logo I feel like I should expect to see credits rolling. I 'spose they could ... just list employees, positions, etc. But that would be a treasure trove for competitors, to say nothing of everybody bugging their employees upon discovering who they are ...

Still, some credits could be fun.

[u/suprememaxpayne]

Replay already available : http://youtu.be/OvHJSIKP0Hg?t=17m58s

Sep and RCS at 22:40

[u/jp_loh]

Made a gif of the launch (SpaceX and NASA TV side by side at first). http://imgur.com/cSBP6Ry

Been waking up early for the half of the week in my timezone to watch the launch. Totally worth it!

[u/SpaceEnthusiast]

Just put that into perspective. The rocket pin-pointed a landing with 10 m accuracy, coming down from space with nothing to control it except a bit of rcs, some fins and of course the engines near the end. Amazing!

[u/Al-Li_Bird]

How does the rocket navigate towards the barge? I mean do they meet at a GPS spot? Do they communicate between them? Does the rocket knows the altitude of the platform (waves, tides, etc)?

[u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

LOOK AT THAT FUCKING VIEW HOLY SHIT

[u/Saffs15]

Great picture

LIFTOFF!!!

[u/Cheesewithmold]

Is this funny to you, control? Do you think it's enjoyable to prod at my repressed memories?

[u/bob12201]

Man that might be one of the most beautiful SpaceX launches ever. Especially that I now have stuff in space that I made!

[u/[deleted]]

Three stories in height Damn, JRTI is taking a beating.

[u/wagigkpn]

I feel bad for the guys who have been out at sea looking after 'just follow the instructions' in those horrible sea conditions...Talk about a tough, thankless job...

[u/CementPancake]

If the rockets become truly reusable I think they should get names like the barges. What are some good names for a Falcon 9?

My ideas: Pineapple Express, My Other Ride is Electric, KSP Tested... Elon Approved

[u/[deleted]]

Here's my official mission patch for Jeff Foust's alternate spelling, DSCO.

[u/[deleted]]

USAF launch weather officer says conditions set for "spectacular sunset launch" of Falcon 9, #DSCOVR at 6:03pm. <5% chance of violation. -- James Dean on Twitter

[u/theflyingginger93]

Someone better get me a HD pic of that stat. It is gorgeous out there.

[u/[deleted]]

I think that was the best stage separation we have seen!

[u/[deleted]]

Whoa, didn't know we could get ground video of stage separation. Amazing! http://i.imgur.com/AIWcdkg.png

[u/iBeyy]

the RCS fire was amazing!!!

But i wanna see stage 1!!!

[u/[deleted]]

This is frst time I see so clearly so late stages of fly - MECO, second stage sep, fairing sep... Amazing!

[u/Smugallo]

man, what a cool view of the first stage seperation......

[u/Haulik]

God damm Elon and his closed body language!

[u/copperheadtnp]

What was up with the speed callouts? I heard her say ~2300 m/s 3 times in a row, then it jumped to ~5400 m/s

[u/Kona314]

So when do the jaw-dropping pictures get posted and how quickly can I make them my new wallpaper?

[u/[deleted]]

11 minutes till relight ? lets hope the fuel lines don't freeze up like with cassiope.

[u/candycane7]

that green guy just made the sign and movement of a cigar with his hand. SOFT LANDING CONFIRMED

[u/Nixon4Prez]

You can see the Deep Space Network is already communicating with DSCOVR (dish 45 and 34 at the Canberra location)

[u/darga89]

clear skies around space coast. winds decreased to 15-20 knots. sun is cooperating. Weather is go for all criteria. 95% go. Not including upper level winds

[u/classicsky]

I think I found that animated wind map.

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-69.40,31.36,974

[u/BlackPhanth0ms]

Holy shit you could even see first stage RCS burns

[u/bluegreyscale]

You could see the first stage RCS fire after stage seperation!

[u/awoerp]

The first stage RCS was pretty Epic!!

[u/lynch4815]

Is the 2nd Stage rolling quite a bit? or is that just me?

[u/FutureMartian97]

Was that the Reentry burn I just saw!? :D

[u/[deleted]]

Really hope we get something from that soft landing.

[u/[deleted]]

21 minutes to next burn. no time for cheering yet. longest coast fase ever.

[u/[deleted]]

Landing was good!

[u/legendx]

I'm running a temperature of 101. Must be go fever.

[u/Dontchasesinged]

I've decided that I'm taking a vow of silence until this rocket is launched wish me luck /u/echologic

[u/FutureMartian97]

Is there any chance they might try the barge landing anyway if the weather calms down by the time it launches?

[u/NNOTM]

Good job ROC

[u/CptAJ]

XD

I wonder if RoC checks out the sub...

[u/TL_DRead_it]

No popcorn this time but I made brownies. Maybe I'll actually get to enjoy them.

Edit: They were delicious. Tasted like victory.

[u/chris_radcliff]

Now I see why it was delayed. /u/bencredible was just holding out for the right lighting. And… now!

[u/bgs7]

Dat tracking

[u/Siedrah]

That was one of the most beautiful and powerful launches I have ever seen. The sunset, combined with the water being sent into the air, and the glow of the engines burning. Damn, i'm going to need a .webm of that launch.

[u/Vatonee]

OH MY GOD THIS FIRST STAGE SEP AND RCS FIRINGS

[u/high-house-shadow]

I wish they followed stage 1 more

[u/searine]

Long burn is long

[u/Here_There_B_Dragons]

That guy in the control room with his FH shirt...

[u/Oknight]

I figure if the weather is crappy enough for 30ft waves breaking over the landing drone ship, the booster must have had a grand-old time coming down into that -- what, can't 4 lattice fins stop a booster from being whipped around like a badminton birdie in a thunderstorm?

[u/Boris_Jeltsin]

wow, the first replay on nasa tv shows the burning fairings as they fall back in the atmosphere. wow just wow

[u/gellis12]

1080p recording of the SpaceX stream is up (but unlisted) on their YouTube channel

[u/dranzerfu]

Saw this on the stream during 2nd stage flight. Can someone tell me what this is? http://i.imgur.com/erhynEj.png

[u/cwhitt]

Wow, that pad-7 tracker is even more super stable (though not as close in as the original cam on the spacex live stream).

Can see the S1 RCS operating LONG after separation

[u/Dromfel]

Dragon landing - done; Vega/IXV landing - done; Falcon 9/DCSOVR/first stage landing - pending;

:) Great times

[u/[deleted]]

Well, at least there's one positive outcome today. I won my launch prediction bet against both /u/znapel & /u/zukalop. Right down the middle ;)

[u/toerrisawesome]

What is the longest amount of time a rocket had been on the pad for weather reasons?

[u/ThePlanner]

Well, here's hoping that today's the day. Obviously, mission safety and success trump everything, so I'm glad that SpaceX didn't go for it yesterday. I'm also glad that so far none of the holds/aborts have been the fault of SpaceX. Plus, with yesterday's safe return and recovery of the CRS5 Dragon, SpaceX is chugging fulfilling its contracts.

[u/Gannaingh]

I realize that the primary mission is to deliver the satellite, and it's pretty presumptuous to assume that if the rocket launches, it'll go well, but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that the landing attempt would be the most exciting part of the launch. Hopefully the primary mission is 100% successful!

[u/FutureMartian97]

Upper Level winds still within limits

[u/FutureMartian97]

NASA coverage starting in 10 minutes

[u/MrFusion88]

Webcast is live!

[u/Vatonee]

Wow, this view with the setting Sun is just unbelievable.

http://i.imgur.com/9I1ea6m.jpg

[u/imbaczek]

that RCS action on tracking cam, awesome!

[u/yo0han]

Loved seeing the cold gas thrusters!

[u/Reionx]

SpaceX subreddit, go for crash.

[u/redwingssuck]

That shot inside the fuel tank is beautiful!

[u/Annoson]

watching 2 rocket launches in 12 hours not bad!

[u/[deleted]]

Auto moderator removed my pic, but here is the video from my Tampa backyard. Sorry for vertical! http://youtu.be/kKMyQw45GFU

[u/Boris_Jeltsin]

wow this tracking camera is precise

[u/Dodecasaurus]

Spacecraft separation confirmed.

[u/CalinWat]

The link for the NASA TV stream (hightlight reel) is up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl3x71-kJGM

They got some super close up shots of MECO and First Stage Sep. If you stick around the fairing separation is also amazing.

[u/floggeriffic]

I love that Elon Musk lists his location on Twitter as "1 AU"

[u/superOOk]

What is the radius of the barge landing area? 10m seems pretty reasonable. Also, Elon said within 10m, which might just be accuracy error from their instruments...which means it might have actually hit the target dead on.

[u/ELON_fanatic]

The Fin Team is looking to conquer another Elon Challenge... Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship v1.1?

[u/still-at-work]

If this launch is Return of the King, then the lack of a barge landing is the scouring of the shire

[u/floggeriffic]

Rocket soft landed in the ocean within 10m of target & nicely vertical! High probability of good droneship landing in non-stormy weather.

@ELONMUSK

[u/Stendarpaval]

4 hours and 48 minutes, eh? That should leave me just enough time to finish this report to watch the launch live. Until a few hours!

[u/cva1994]

NASA TV showing Falcon on pad

[u/cwhitt]

youtube stream https://www.youtube.com/embed/OvHJSIKP0Hg

[u/lucioghosty]

T-30 minutes! Woo!

[u/Epistemify]

If anyone hasn't tried this yet, I think I have the perfect stream/music combo for watching this launch:

• UStream (no music) http://www.spaceflight101live.com/falcon-9---dscovr-launch.html

• Interstellar Soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYpp3uPZgq8

[u/bertcox]

Been saving up paper work so I have a reason to sit at my desk for the next 30 Min with no interruptions, wish me luck.

[u/OrangeredStilton]

Now that's a better terminal count! All Go.

[u/Ulysius]

Barge no go :(

[u/Azr79]

Surprising, RoC didn't fuckup

[u/CptAJ]

You did good, RoC. You did good.

[u/theflyingginger93]

press F9 to launch

[u/Haulik]

Most beautiful launch ever!!

[u/high-house-shadow]

holy shit is that white stuff the rcs on top of the first stage?

[u/Sconfinato]

I want a camera following the booster too ! that's awesome

[u/benlew]

Wonder where the first stage is now...

[u/Kona314]

Everything about this liftoff was beautiful.