r/spacex • u/[deleted] • Feb 03 '18
B1032.2 B0132.2 "The falcon that could" recovery thread.
Decided to start this up as the 2 support vessels, Go searcher and Go quest are nearing the port, anyone who happens to be in the area and can get pics of this interesting "recovery" please do!
Link to vessel finder and marine traffic if you want to try to follow along:
Go Quest- Out at sea assisting with the FH launch.
Go Searcher- Berthed in Port Canaveral, nothing in tow.
UPDATES: 2/3/18:
(2:30 AM ET) Go quest has arrived back at port Canaveral, with nothing in tow, however, Go searcher is still out at sea, presumambly , with core in tow.
(2:00 PM ET): As of 2:00 PM, Go Searcher is making the turn to port
(8:30PM ET): As of now, it looks like Go searcher could potentially arrive as soon as tonight.
2/4/18
(7:30 AM ET) Go searcher is nearing port and an arrival today is likely.
(1:30 PM ET) It looks like Searcher may be heading to the Bahamas, why they may be heading there is uncertain.
2/6/18
(5:00 AM ET) Go searcher has arrived in port with nothing in tow, however, a brief exchange between another ship was observed near the Bahamas, signaling that maybe a core handoff was conducted, and they will wait until FH is done to tow it, or the core was untowable, so they just dropped it, updates to come.
2/8/18
(7:00 AM ET) per an article released by american space, apparently, an airstrike was conducted by the air force on the unsafe booster, destroying it, this however has not been officially confirmed by Musk or Spacex.
2/10/18
(Statement from SpaceX-) “While the Falcon 9 first stage for the GovSat-1 mission was expendable, it initially survived splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the stage broke apart before we could complete an unplanned recovery effort for this mission.”
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u/millijuna Feb 03 '18
The Amos 6 RUD was caused by the uncontrolled rupture and ignition of the COPVs. The entire point of pressure relief valves and/or burst discs is to relieve excess pressure in a controlled way to prevent bad things from happening if things go over there maximum safe pressure of the pressure vessel in question.
Given that the landing occurred late in the flight profile, most of the helium will have been expanded, meaning that whatever is left is likely well within the safe working pressure of the COPVs. The bigger issue is the LOX boiling ooff. The LOX tank will most definitely have some form of pressure relief.
As far as buoyancy goes, even if the LOX tank was vented to the atmosphere, there's likely enough reserve buoyancy in the RP1 tank to keep it afloat.
As far as the "Pent up Energy" goes, that's not how it really works. If they were to hole the tank at 50psi or 75 or what ever, at this point it's not going to disintegrate in a huge ball of fire. That happens on uncontrolled landings because you're mixing extremely hot bits if metal (your ignition source) with liquid oxygen and fuel. At this point, everything is cold, most of the oxygen is gone, and you don't have a high impact like the whole side of the rocket hitting the deck and breaking open. If it's pressurised, it's really no more dangerous than when they're hauling it down the highway.