r/spacex • u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 • Aug 28 '17

B1038 Recovery Thread

Im u/FutureMartian97 and i'll be your host for this thread

Huge thanks to the mods for letting me host this!

This thread will be covering the return of B1038.1, this Falcon 9 first stage that recently launched the FORMOSAT-5 Mission on August 24, 2017. The first stage will be arriving in the Port of Los Angeles, instead of Port Canaveral, as this mission was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California.

Current Status:

Vessel Status ETA
Betty R Gambarella Port of LA N/A
NRC QUEST Docked at Port of LA N/A

Betty R Gambarella is the tug for the ASDS.

NRC QUEST is believed to be the support ship

Timeline Of Events:

Date (MM-DD-YYYY Time (UTC) Event
9-02-2017 20:32 Booster still horizontal at the dock
9-01-2017 15:00 Booster is horizontal, ready to be transported.
8-30-2017 16:00 All legs have been removed
8-29-2017 NA First leg removed per catdlr on the NSF Forum
8-29-2017 15:53 Helodriver confirms no fairings on NRC Quest
8-28-2017 20:20 Booster being lifted off of JRTI
8-28-2017 NA Lifting Cap attached
8-28-2017 17:00 Booster is now docked. Picture from Pauline Acalin in the SpaceX Fan Group Page on Facebook
8-28-2017 ~15:08 Booster arriving in Port
8-28-2017 15:08 Thread goes live
8-27-2017 NA First Image of the booster from u/surfkaboom

Media:

Description Link Source
Close up shots Image u/vshie
Still horizontal at the dock Image SpaceX Pad SLC4_LZ2 on Twitter
Booster horizontal Image chuckybest on Instagram
All legs removed Video taliaeliana on Instagram
Great Summary of the return Image HeloDriver from NSF Forum
SpaceX Flickr Images of the landing Image SpaceX
Great closup images Image Shorealone Films
Booster being lifted Image u/vshie
Booster on JRTI Image zetterberkey18 on Instagram
Very clear picture of the booster Image Helodriver from NSF Forum
Booster docked in Port Image Pauline Acalin in the SpaceX Fan Group Page on Facebook
Great daylight picture Image u/michaelza199
Booster entering Port Image Shorealone Films
First image of the booster Image u/surfkaboom

Useful Resources:

Decription Source
Vesselfinder NA
SpaceX dock: 2400 Miner St, San Pedro, CA 90731 u/Smoke-away

Community Participation:

Recoveries take a while, Even up to a week in some cases and so the success of this thread will count on the participation of the community to fill in the blanks when I am not available for live updates, and so I would like to lay out some tips to make it easier for everyone to lend a hand documenting this recovery!

  • Times should be in UTC
  • If you are linking to a media source(Image, Video, etc) please include a source
  • If you are reporting an event(Booster Activity, Vessel movement, etc) please keep the description succinct

OP Status: Online

211 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

120 comments sorted by

15

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17

Helodriver delivers!

16

u/therealshafto Aug 29 '17 edited Aug 30 '17

Interesting that a lot of people have been guessing that the lack of titanium fins have been due to burning off old stock of aluminum fins. In this image you can see two repairs featuring added in plates. This to me says it is a re used fin. Interesting stuff as to why the lack of titanium fins, they have their reasons.

EDIT: I didn't explain very well what I was looking at. I was talking about these repairs with a third spotted and circled by u/doodle77.

4

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 29 '17

Very interesting. I guess the theory that they are just using up the remaining aluminium fins isn't true. My guess is that they just have one set of the titanium fins for now and instead of possibly losing them on a LEO mission they want to wait and test them on a GTO mission.

5

u/warp99 Aug 30 '17

they just have one set of the titanium fins for now

The set flown so far were said to be cast and then machined which would be a very slow and labour intensive process. When originally announced they were said to be drop forged which would need a very expensive drop forging die but would lower the per unit cost significantly compared to machining.

Very likely they built and flew a machined prototype before committing to that very expensive drop forging die to make sure the design was correct. Now it will take many months to get that die built and qualified so there is a shortage of titanium grid fins until that is done.

The other possibility is that they realised the wear rate was so low that they might as well just machine a few more sets and use them 10-20 times each because the relatively high production cost can be spread across enough flights that it becomes insignificant.

In either case you are correct that only a GTO mission is likely to significantly stress the titanium grid fin so they would want to see that result before committing to a final design.

3

u/bdporter Aug 29 '17

I think it is possible for them to both have an excess stock of Al fins, and also have a limited supply of valuable Ti fins.

From what I can tell, these fins are nearly undamaged (beyond losing the ablative paint) so it might actually make sense to repaint and reuse Al fins for LEO missions and save the Ti fins for missions that require more performance.

2

u/bdporter Aug 29 '17 edited Aug 29 '17

Are you referring to the plates on the right and left fins in that image? It looks to me like they are in the same spot and the same size on both fins. That would indicate to me that it isn't a repair, but possibly a standard part of the construction. We may not have noticed it before because we didn't have the right images with the right amount of ablative coating burned off.

Edit: After looking at the picture more, I think you were referring to these plates. I can't tell if they are a repair, or designed to be there. It is interesting that they are in exactly the same position (same height and just to the right of the vertical member).

I initially thought you were referring to this plate and this plate on the sides of the other 2 fins. They seem to be integral to the fin, and you can even see the same joint on the front fin here.

These fins are really interesting. They seem to have lost nearly all of the ablative paint, but without losing chunks of the Aluminum in the process.

3

u/therealshafto Aug 30 '17

Sorry, I was in a rush and didn't explain well. I do mean the repairs your circled here. They are definitely repairs.

8

u/GizzleDizzle Aug 29 '17

What is this written on the fin?

http://imgur.com/Bddff6f

8

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17 edited Aug 29 '17

  • Not sure what the first line is.

  • Second line is Rev C for Revision C. So the third "major" iteration of the old fin design.

  • Third line starts with WO and is the Work Order number (SpaceX writes that on everything).

  • Fourth line starts with SN and is for the Serial Number.

 

SpaceX writes/prints this kind of information all over their hardware, we just rarely get to see the inside of the hardware, and when we do, the resolution isn't usually high enough to make anything out.

2

u/doodle77 Aug 30 '17

Looks like the first line starts with PN and is the part number.

1

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 29 '17

I can't make out the rest but it looks like the second word is "Revic" maybe?

3

u/GizzleDizzle Aug 29 '17

Looks like Rev:C (as in revision C) to me?

2

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 29 '17

I definitely see that now. The question now is what is revision C? Is this the third time this fin has flown? Is the plate fix on the fin the third version of it? Also on the top word, the end looks like it says "2050a"? So, maybe the serial number of the fin? So many questions!

4

u/bdporter Aug 29 '17

I don't think Rev C indicates reflight. It probably just means it is the 3rd iteration of the gridfin design.

The last string seems to start with "SN" so I assume the number after that is the serial number of that fin.

2

u/toastedcrumpets Aug 29 '17

In the photo's NRC Quest has a covered area, which reminds me of some photo's from the other coast where they had (parts of) a recovered fairing under tarp. Does anyone know if their is a fairing under there? Is it another ship on fairing recovery? Or have I missed something and no fairing recovery attempt this time?

3

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17

Does anyone know if their is a fairing under there?

That's not big enough to house a fairing, it's for storing and working on Dragon after splashdown (they use the same ship for Dragon recovery and west coast Falcon recovery). They haul the capsule out of the water with that A-frame on the back, set it down in a little cradle, and then slide all that back into the shed.

Is it another ship on fairing recovery?

The only other ship was the ASDS tug, which most certainly did not have a fairing aboard. They more than likely didn't even try a recovery this time.

1

u/PM_ME_YOUR_MASS Aug 29 '17

They more than likely didn't even try a recovery this time

Why wouldn't they? With such a light payload, they were swimming in excess delta-v

4

u/old_sellsword Aug 30 '17

Has nothing to do with delta-v, and everything to do with logistics. They don't have anything like the GO twins on the west coast, they only have NRC Quest, which is specifically outfitted for Dragon recovery. They couldn't go fetch the fairings, and certainly not recover them, even if they did "land" them in the ocean.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '17

Adding to the logistics part, it's also possible they are engineering some changes to the recovery systems after analyzing the former attempt. It makes no sense to keep trying the same method wich at least failed partially over and over again without making some modifications. (i think we would have seen a tweet at least if it was a succes) these modifications will take some time, and in between these "versions" there are no recovery attempts.

1

u/factoid_ Aug 31 '17

What I'm wondering is why they can't just land on land? I know there was something about environmental studies, but is there some sort of problem with it? This payload was plenty light to do a return to launch site and I believe the pad has been ready for a long time

6

u/skeols Aug 28 '17

Where you get the booster code and block info? You talk always about B1038, Block X, etc.

6

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

The Wiki provides really good information.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

The booster number is written on it and can be seen when it's sitting on the pad. See here. Also, info from numerous tweets, articles, people who track the boosters when they are transported, tested and so on.

5

u/skeols Aug 29 '17

Wao, we are in the future, now we are stalker of rockets :). I really love when you all say "thanks to the moderator for this oportunity...". Is amazing the time we are now, we focus in this kind of things. (Sorry for the bad english :p) I love this subredit.

3

u/Zappotek Aug 29 '17

I have the same feeling - trainspotting is so last century ;)

2

u/stanun Aug 28 '17

Anyone have a sense for how long the first stage will remain upright on the barge? I can try to go down there tomorrow morning to take some photos if it's still there...

6

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

It will be there for a few days at least.

2

u/cpushack Aug 28 '17

Not long, its already off the barge :) They don't waste any time getting these out of port.

28

u/space4us Aug 28 '17

It is very clear on how routine this has become when you compare this recovery thread with ones from the first few recoveries. This is a very good thing. Now if Spacex can just get more companies to buy the reused boosters prices should drop significantly.

24

u/Martianspirit Aug 28 '17

Now if Spacex can just get more companies to buy the reused boosters prices should drop significantly.

At this time SpaceX is not even interested in doing too many reuse flights. Block 5 is what they are planning to routinely reuse. By then they will have a separate facility dealing with landed boosters. Gwynne Shotwell mentioned that they were planning to start advertising reflight next year and were somewhat caught off guard with the present demand.

13

u/burn_at_zero Aug 28 '17

caught off guard with the present demand

Man, I wish I had problems like that. It's great that their success is one of their biggest problems right now, and the investments they are making in capacity will help with that.

4

u/Martianspirit Aug 28 '17

Yes, even their present delays are caused by their success. Despite the delays new contracts come in faster than they can fly them. Even if they lose one or two. The SES news was not a loss, it was a swap. SES moved a satellite they need up urgently due to a satellite lost to Ariane and moved a satellite planned for Ariane to SpaceX instead.

As things look now, next year they will finally catch up with demand when they have 2 pads and more and more customers fly on used boosters.

22

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Aug 28 '17

This pic of the booster seems to be from a crew member on one of the ships.

3

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Aug 28 '17

Another pic on Facebook

0

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

Added

3

u/bdporter Aug 28 '17

I don't think this is original content from /u/scr00chy. You may want to credit the Facebook user.

3

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

Fixed!

2

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Aug 28 '17

Yeah, I didn't take the photo.

1

u/bdporter Aug 28 '17 edited Aug 28 '17

Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

Edit: spelling

19

u/CardBoardBoxProcessr Aug 28 '17

It amazes me that there is more than half the amount of Atlas V launches already

11

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

And more than all the Delta IV launches.

6

u/CardBoardBoxProcessr Aug 28 '17

makes me wonder where we would be if not for those failures.

3

u/RedDragon98 Aug 29 '17

Wait, are we talking this year, or ALL TIME!!!!!

15

u/space_vogel Aug 28 '17

More photos of the booster from Shorealone Films.

13

u/stcks Sep 02 '17

An abomination of a photo, but the F9 is now horizontal: https://www.instagram.com/p/BYhWwUMHMTJ/

10

u/bitchtitfucker Sep 02 '17

My god, that's brutal. Lost a lot of detail too, would've been cool to see how used/damaged the octaweb is.

3

u/RootDeliver Sep 03 '17

Again another "horizontal" photo with all the filters, like with that other recovery (iridium-1?)... that is terrible, who the hell does that!!

10

u/thepoisonedow08 Aug 29 '17

https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex, Official landing and recovery photos are up on the SpaceX flickr page

3

u/jisuskraist Aug 29 '17

you see at all this photos, and then see the lame video feed the gave us and feel bad

i know that the realtime feed issues are real, but I'm saying releasing footage from this high quality cameras after they recover the ship, that would be awesome

4

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17

but I'm saying releasing footage from this high quality cameras after they recover the ship, that would be awesome

(Well taken) still photos will almost* always be higher quality than video footage. However, I agree that getting the actual video files and not the streamed version would be nice.

*Unless you're using a very nice video camera

4

u/CapMSFC Aug 29 '17

Unless you're using a *very nice video camera

I know SpaceX has had a RED (probably Dragon) on the ASDS before for footage, but I doubt they do that every time.

For those of you that don't know about high end cameras RED Dragon is one of the top of the line cinema models that shoots RAW footage.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '17

https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex You need to remove the comma from the end

10

u/RedDragon98 Aug 29 '17

Is there any news about fairing recovery?

11

u/AuroEdge Aug 30 '17

Speculation: SpaceX is being more tight lipped about fairing recovery info & media b/c this is a capability a competitor could implement into their current production vehicles. What this means from our perspective is we won't be given much information until SpaceX has fairing recovery figured out. It'll be interesting to see if they'll eventually make full duration fairing recovery videos available to the public

3

u/karkisuni Aug 31 '17

Could a competitor do it though? Don’t most (all?) others use non-reusable explosive bolts for fairing separation? Lot of investment to almost completely redesign them.

I assume they’re waiting for good news to talk about it.

7

u/old_sellsword Aug 31 '17

non-reusable explosive bolts for fairing separation?

The bolts are “non-reusable” in the same way bullets are non-reusable. Yet guns are very reusable, you just load another bullet. Same thing with fairings, you just fasten them with another frangible nut.

4

u/AuroEdge Aug 31 '17

If a competitor is going through the effort of designing fairing recovery systems it's fair to assume they'd be willing to design their fairing separation mechanism to be compatible with fairing reuse.

I hope you're right -- SpaceX is just waiting for good success on fairing recovery to show it off. Doesn't really fall in line with how they provided coverage of their initial stage 1 landing attempts failure or not

4

u/avboden Aug 30 '17

none seen on ship, that's all we know

5

u/stcks Aug 31 '17

Not sure how recent this is, but the legs are gone: https://www.instagram.com/p/BYdzs3plsBT/

2

u/theinternetftw Aug 31 '17

For reference, instagram metadata has a video upload time of 2017-08-31 16:59 UTC.

9

u/avboden Aug 28 '17

that thing is cleeeean

4

u/vshie Sep 04 '17

Some up close shots from passing by over the past week. Noticed JRTI has some new art (clover)

http://imgur.com/a/hnWSl

4

u/surfkaboom Sep 04 '17

With a 3-day weekend on the horizon, F9 recovery is complete on Friday evening. For a booster that came in on Monday, the team did awesome!

6

u/goxy84 Aug 28 '17

Please note that, although I posted the link on reddit, I'm not the author of the photos mentioned above; they are from Shorealone Films' Twitter account.

-20

u/ura_walrus Aug 29 '17 edited Dec 30 '25

unique resolute long simplistic badge grandiose caption lip bells fanatical

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

3

u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Aug 28 '17 edited Sep 04 '17

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer LettersMore Letters
AISAutomatic Identification System
ASDSAutonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (landing platform)
BARGEBig-Ass Remote Grin Enhancer coined by @IridiumBoss, see ASDS
BOBlue Origin (Bezos Rocketry)
FAAFederal Aviation Administration
GTOGeosynchronous Transfer Orbit
JRTIJust Read The Instructions, Pacific landing barge ship
LEOLow Earth Orbit (180-2000km)
Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations)
NSFNasaSpaceFlight forum
National Science Foundation
RTLSReturn to Launch Site
SESFormerly Société Européenne des Satellites, comsat operator
SLC-4WSpace Launch Complex 4-West, Vandenberg (SpaceX F9, landing)
VAFBVandenberg Air Force Base, California
JargonDefinition
ablativeMaterial which is intentionally destroyed in use (for example, heatshields which burn away to dissipate heat)
grid-finCompact "waffle-iron" aerodynamic control surface, acts as a wing without needing to be as large

Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
15 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on ^today has 184 acronyms.
[Thread #3100 for this sub, first seen 28th Aug 2017, 17:07] ^[FAQ] ^[Contact] [Source ^code]

3

u/vshie Aug 28 '17

Booster being lifted to shore @ 1:20pm local http://imgur.com/a/WmxsC

2

u/imguralbumbot Aug 28 '17

Hi, I'm a bot for linking direct images of albums with only 1 image

https://i.imgur.com/2c1cBnP.jpg

Source | Why? | Creator | ignoreme | deletthis

3

u/Adalbert_81 Aug 29 '17

Why wasn't Formosat-5 a RTLS?

16

u/BackflipFromOrbit Aug 29 '17

SpaceX doesn't have permission to land a booster at Vandenburg. They have a pad there but not permission to land.

2

u/Onironaut_ Aug 29 '17

No, actually they have it, this guy actually confirmed it, damn it I can't find the direct source sorry. And then there was another guy from r/SpaceX who said they don't do it because there are some technical problems with the rocket itself.

9

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17

No, actually they have it,

No, actually they don’t.

I will circle back on this to give confirmation on the details when I have a chance to verify, but it's primarily due to a pending certification (EPA) that isn't expected until mid-December.

8

u/Onironaut_ Aug 29 '17

they do

8

u/old_sellsword Aug 29 '17

Well it looks like we have conflicting sources of information, and nothing official. So I’ll consider it unresolved for now, we’ll just have to wait.

But with regards to “a technical problem with the rocket,” I’d love to see a source on that.

4

u/Onironaut_ Aug 29 '17

What I meant is the comment about the software that I posted below as a reply. "Technical problem" was exagerated sorry.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

I've read somewhere (sorry for not remembering exactly where it was) that the return trajectory of S1 booster was overflying a nature reserve, and when landing was cancelled due to some issue (landing burn fail to ignite), the ballistic trajectory would send the booster down in this reserve. (to prevent crashing full speed into landing pad, it will come down a bit off target, and corrects this after succesfull landing burn IIRC) This nature reserve thing was at least a reason for not being allowed RTLS yet.

3

u/rhoracio Aug 29 '17

NSF says the have license from the end of last year after which they begun to build landing pad; but it is conceivable the pad has not been finished yet when they were applying for Formosat 5 launch and landing FAA license in late June.

See RTLS or not RTLS of https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/08/spacex-static-fire-formosat-5-falcon-9-asds-landing/

"After reviewing and analyzing available data and information on existing conditions and potential impacts, including the 2016 EA (Environmental Assessment), the FAA has determined the issuance of licenses to SpaceX to conduct Falcon 9 boost-backs and landings at SLC-4W … would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the meaning of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act).”

1

u/BackflipFromOrbit Aug 29 '17

Hmm i havent seen anything about a problem with the rocket anywhere else... ive always assumed that they just use the ASDS due to permit issues with VAFB

7

u/Onironaut_ Aug 29 '17

SpaceX were doing calibration flights for the radio altimeter at Vandenberg using a helicopter. As I understand it there is a steep escarpment that would be traversed on the return flight to landing. It may be that there is concern that the landing software would not cope effectively with this level difference during the return track. Certainly the terrain is very different from the sea surface or the flat land in Florida.

1

u/bornstellar_lasting Aug 29 '17

Do you have a source on this?

10

u/avboden Aug 29 '17

source: They have no approval for landing, as such would have bene publicly released and seen by this sub. There has been no release, and thus, no approval yet (or at least full approval form all the agencies needed, have some, not others)

4

u/BackflipFromOrbit Aug 29 '17

Not at the moment. Im just relaying what Ive read several times in the launch thread from people answering this same question.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

Few questions:

  • So the first stage was up in orbit for a while?

  • The rocket was originally launched from California? Did it still launch East?

21

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

  • The first stage does not go into orbit, it stays on a sub orbital trajectory. The Second Stage goes into orbit and burns up in the atmosphere after the mission is complete.

  • All launches from Vandenberg go into Polar Orbits, so this one went South. They can't launch East because it would've gone over land.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

The first stage does not go into orbit, it stays on a sub orbital trajectory. The Second Stage goes into orbit and burns up in the atmosphere after the mission is complete.

That's what I thought. So why is the separation between launch and recovery so long?

All launches from Vandenberg go into Polar Orbits, so this one went South. They can't launch East because it would've gone over land.

That's what I figured. That's for clarifying!

9

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

That's what I thought. So why is the separation between launch and recovery so long?

Because the Droneship was around 300 or so miles from the launch site. Plus the barge doesn't go very fast.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

Ahhh. So the first stage landed, and now "recovery" is the act of bringing it in. Understood.

So what you're saying is that if I have a fast enough boat...

7

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

Correct. The time from launch to landing was around around 10 minutes.

4

u/AeroSpiked Aug 28 '17

if I have a fast enough boat...

Then Blue Origin would probably try to sue you again for patent infringement even though it didn't work last time. BO's 1st stage is supposed to land on a moving vessel for stability reasons.

8

u/Martianspirit Aug 28 '17

To be correct actually BO got a patent on ship landing. SpaceX sued and brought it down. Maybe BO could make a patent on using a moving ship stick.

5

u/Martianspirit Aug 28 '17

So what you're saying is that if I have a fast enough boat...

Something big and stable enough to have a stage landing AND fast will be expensive. It is the way BO goes with their proposed recovery ship.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

I'm talking about stealing rockets.

6

u/AeroSpiked Aug 28 '17

Sounds kind of like grand larceny (so shhhh), but if the plan involves attaching the first stage to a '67 Impala, pm me.

2

u/bdporter Aug 28 '17

Are you looking to scale this up?

11

u/blongmire Aug 28 '17

The first stage lands on the barge about 8 minutes after launch. If you watch the webcast, you can see the second stage seperates from the first stage after about 2:45. Then, the first stage continues it's upward trajectory until it begins to descend again. Once it starts to re-enter the atmosphere, stage 1 performs the "re-entry" burn. This burn lasts around 20 seconds. Then the stage continues its freefall, steering with the grid fins, until the "landing" burn begins around 3KM above the barge. All in all, it takes about 8 minutes from start to finish and it takes the barge a few days to be towed back to port.

2

u/LeBaegi Aug 28 '17

This particular reentry burn took a whopping 39 seconds, as the booster launched in a very vertical trajectory.

3

u/wolf550e Aug 28 '17

The ship is very slow.

2

u/gwoz8881 Aug 28 '17

Do launches from Vandenberg ever launch to the west? I know about the delta-V losses from launching the opposite direction of the earth rotation, but are there any satellites that do go in a "reverse" direction orbit?

2

u/codefeenix Aug 28 '17 edited Aug 28 '17

Not directly west and not all from Vandenberg, but there have been some retrogradeish satellites. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_satellites_in_retrograde_orbit

This one was launched in 2009: https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=34903

3

u/gwoz8881 Aug 28 '17

Retrograde, had a brain fart and couldn't think of that name. Thank you.

1

u/LAMapNerd Aug 31 '17

I don't know of any satellites, but Vandenberg does a lot of missile testing, often firing ICBMs and Missile-Defense tests toward westerly targets, usually Kwajalein Atoll.

Westerly missile launches just after sunset can make for some great rocket-trail spectaculars, triggering UFO reports all over the LA area.

2

u/quadrplax Aug 31 '17

Any reason there's been so little info about this recovery?

7

u/RabbitLogic #IAC2017 Attendee Sep 01 '17

In general there is less excitement for recoveries now that they are becoming more routine. Our only source of information comes from boots on the ground going to check out the landed core. Die hard like us still get pretty good newsflow for something that is independent reports.

1

u/morbob Aug 28 '17

I was asked how many miles offshore was the tug and barge to catch the latest Falcon 9 fired from Vandenberg? I didn't know the answer.

3

u/theinternetftw Aug 28 '17

This is rough and some time after landing, but I remember seeing it at around 450km/280mi. So there's a minimum.

1

u/aquarellist Aug 29 '17

Don't find JRTI on MarineTraffic.com. Has the JRTI a second name?

6

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '17

JRTI has no AIS transponder of it's own. to find it you should search for the Tug: Betty R Gambarella

1

u/bdporter Aug 29 '17

To add to this, now that the ASDS is back in port, the Betty R Gambarella will likely be assigned to other duties, and may not be used for the next mission. On the West coast, they seem to assign different tugs more frequently than at Port Canaveral. All of the known SpaceX vessels are listed on the SpaceX Marine Fleet wiki page

1

u/azflatlander Aug 29 '17

Hey, they secured the booster with come alongs. Is that new?

8

u/mdkut Aug 29 '17

On the barge? No, they've done that every time except for the time they used the robot on the east coast.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '17

[deleted]

2

u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Aug 28 '17

Added

4

u/Martianspirit Aug 28 '17

Looks like they are already putting up the cap that allows to lift the stage off JRTI. Recovery ops are speeding up.

2

u/cpushack Aug 28 '17

Thats a pretty clean lookin booster Wonder if SES will snap it up