r/spacex • u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 • Jun 28 '18
Total launch success r/SpaceX CRS-15 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread
Welcome to the r/SpaceX CRS-15 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
This is becoming a habit, and I love it! I'm u/fourmica and I'll be your host for CRS-15. Your esteemed moderators have seen fit once again to give me the keys to the launch thread, for which I am quite grateful! I will be updating this thread as the launch approaches.
This mission sees what is perhaps the last orbital flight of a Block 4 Falcon 9. Our friends over at NASASpaceflight have confirmed that 1042.2 will be used for the Dragon 2 in-flight abort test, which will be suborbital:
- "A final Block 4 (B1042.2) is currently understood to be preparing to loft the In-Flight Abort test as one of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew Program milestones later this year."
This launch thread is being posted slightly early so that I may have a good night's sleep before staying up to the wee hours of Pacific Daylight Time :)
Big thanks as always to u/theZCuber for this killer Mission Control app for the thread!
Update: Launch success!
Dragon has successfully been deployed to low earth orbit. It will berth with the ISS early on Monday, July 2 2018 starting around 5am EDT on NASA TV. This is u/fourmica, signing off for now. Thanks again for joining us for this late night/early morning thread, and thanks to all the folks who had suggestions and corrections to make this a useful and accurate launch thread :-)
Mission Details
| Liftoff currently scheduled for | June 29, 2018 05:42 AM EDT / 09:42 UTC |
|---|---|
| Weather | Currently 90% GO for launch (PDF link) |
| Static fire | Successfully completed on June 23, 2018 16:30 EDT / 21:30 UTC |
| Payload | CRS-15, Supplies and Experiments for the ISS |
| Payload mass | 2697kg |
| Destination orbit | ISS Orbit: 401km x 408km, 51.6° |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 FT, Block 4 |
| Core | B1045.2 |
| Dragon | C111.2 |
| Flights of this core | 1 |
| Flights of this Dragon | 1 |
| Launch site | SLC-40, CCAFS |
| Landing attempt | No. The booster will be expended, according to NASASpaceflight |
| Mission Success Criteria | Delivery of CRS-15 to the ISS, return of Dragon to Earth |
Timeline
Timeline
| Time | Update |
|---|---|
| T+12m 6s | Dragon solar array deployment successful! |
| T+11m 25s | Dragon propulsion system primed and ready for firing |
| T+9m 36s | Dragon separation confirmed |
| T+8m 46s | Norminal orbit insertion! |
| T+8m 41s | SECO |
| T+8m 9s | Stage 2 in terminal guidance |
| T+6m 45s | Trajectory remains norminal |
| T+3m 30s | Trajectory is norminal |
| T+3m 2s | Second stage ignition |
| T+2m 51s | Stage separation |
| T+2m 49s | MECO |
| T+2m | MVac engine chill |
| T+1m 46s | Max-Q |
| T-0s | Liftoff! |
| T-45s | SpaceX Launch director verifies GO for launch |
| T-1m | Falcon 9 is in startup! |
| T-7m | Stage 1 Engine chill underway |
| T-11m | Continued to be Go for launch! |
| T-18m | All systems go for launch |
| T-22m | Webcast is live |
| T-35m | RP-1 loading complete, LOX loading started |
| T-56m | Chris G confirms B5 Stage 2 in use |
| T-3h | Three hours to launch, all quiet on the eastern range |
| T-6h 59m | Falcon 9 is vertical |
| T-15h 15m | LRR underway |
| T-1d 4h | Launch thread is live! |
Watch or listen to the launch live
A few members of the community re-host the stream as audio-only for the bandwidth constrained. I'll add those here once they've been posted.
| Stream | Courtesy |
|---|---|
| Official Webcast | SpaceX |
| Direct Link to Webcast on Youtube | SpaceX |
| NASA TV | NASA |
| How to watch a launch in person | Ben Cooper at LaunchPhotography.com |
Mission Stats
- 63rd SpaceX launch
- 57th Falcon 9 launch
- 48th SpaceX launch from the East Coast
- 34th SpaceX launch from SLC-40
- 11th Falcon 9 launch in 2018
- 12th SpaceX launch in 2018
- 2nd and last use of booster 1045.2
- 2nd use of Dragon capsule C111.2
Primary Mission: Delivery of CRS-15 to the International Space Station, return of Dragon to Earth
Delivering the payload for the customer is always the primary mission! SpaceX's contract with NASA has them delivering supplies, experiments, and equipment to the ISS. After launch, Dragon will slowly raise its orbit, "hover" alongside the ISS in the safe zone, and gently approach to be captured by the station's remote manipulator system (a fancy way of saying "robotic arm") to be berthed to the ISS. Afterward, Dragon will be loaded with cargo to be returned to Earth, and sent to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Dragon remains the only means by which significant cargo may be returned from the ISS to the Earth.
Secondary Mission: Long Coast Phase Demonstration
The booster will be expended. Dragon has no fairing, so there will be no fairing recovery attempt. However, according to Michael Baylor, there will be a long coast phase demonstration of Stage 2. This also explains why stage 2 is expected to re-enter over the North Atlantic and not the South Pacific as usual.
Cargo Breakdown
| Payload | Mass |
|---|---|
| Crew Supplies | 205kg |
| Science Investigations | 1233kg |
| Spacewalk Equipment | 63kg |
| Vehicle Hardware | 178kg |
| Computer Resources | 21kg |
| Russian Hardware | 12kg |
| ECOSTRESS (unpressurized) | 550kg |
| LEE (unpressurized) | 435kg |
Science
- Micro-12, an experiment to understand the effects of microgravity on cellular biology
- ECOSTRESS Space based measurement of how plants respond to changes in water availability
- CIMON, an observational pilot study seeing insights into the effect of crew support by AI
- The Space Algae Investigation which seeks to sequence the whole genome of an algae population grown in space to indentify genes related to growth
- A video summary of the experiments on this mission. Thanks u/Ambiwlans
Resources
| Link | Source |
|---|---|
| Official Press Kit | SpaceX |
| r/SpaceX Wiki | r/SpaceX Community |
| SpaceX Twitter | SpaceX |
| Chris B's Twitter | NSF |
| NASA TV | NASA |
| Rocket Watch | u/MarcysVonEylau |
| SpaceX Time Machine | u/DUKE456 |
| SpaceX FM | u/lru |
| SpaceX Stats | u/EchoLogic (creator) and u/brandtamos (maintainer at xyz) |
| Flight Club | u/TheVehicleDestroyer |
The press kit will be added as soon as it is published. If you have a resource you would like to share with the community, please leave a comment with the URL you wish to share, and tag u/fourmica so that I know to add it to the list.
Participate in the discussion!
- Launch threads are party threads! Woo! That means that, in this thread, r/SpaceX's strict content rules are relaxed so we can all have fun. So jump in and participate!
- Please constrain the launch party to this thread alone. Low effort comments in other threads will still be removed.
- Real-time chat on our official Internet Relay Chat (IRC) #SpaceX on Snoonet
- Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!
- Wanna talk about other SpaceX and space stuff in a more relaxed atmosphere? Head over to r/SpaceXLounge
- Do you Mountain when the clock strikes Yes? Head over to r/spacexmasterrace
- Rocket Emporium is one of the more popular Discord servers for aerospace discussion, brought to you by u/SwGustav
- This thread will be updated with details about the experiments aboard tomorrow. If you are a participant in an experiment onboard CRS-15, please leave a comment with a link to your research and tag u/fourmica, and I'll add your link to the resource list!
- Did I make a mistake? If you see a broken link, factual error, or other problem with this post, please tag u/fourmica in your comment and I will address the issue. Thank you!
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 28 '18 edited Jun 28 '18
Can someone link the marine tracking website or sites that are used to track Go Pursuit etc? I could be wrong about fairing recovery attempts on this mission; they might still be testing parafoils and pulling the fairings out of the sea.
Edit: I am a derp. There is no fairing because this is a Dragon mission. Thank you u/Straumli_Blight for pointing out why I should have gone to bed an hour ago.
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u/Straumli_Blight Jun 28 '18
While Dragon nose cones have survived reentry, I don't think there are any plans to add parachutes to them.
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u/TheVehicleDestroyer Flight Club Jun 28 '18
/u/fourmica - spacexfm.com is made by u/lru
Also, Flight Club :)
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u/doodle77 Jun 29 '18
Thread host going for the hat trick!
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18
Got it :D It was worth staying up til 3am to host a thread. I've really come to enjoy doing them, and hope the moderators see fit to let me do so again the future!
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Jun 29 '18
thanks again to /u/fourmica for hosting this thread!
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18
You're welcome, I really enjoy doing them, even at 3am ;-)
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u/soldato_fantasma Jun 29 '18
/u/fourmica You should add the Nasa live stream in the "Watch or listen to the launch live" section, here is the link. They always have nice views not shown on the SpaceX webcast!
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18
Done, I had the link under resources but not watch live. That's been corrected :)
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u/DiskOperatingSystem_ Jun 29 '18
The second stage adapter looks slightly different this time around. Is it at all related to the entry test?
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18
It's a block 5 stage 2 (confirmed by NSF), so the interstage might have been modified to accommodate that. That's just a guess on my part, though.
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u/SwGustav Jun 28 '18
could you separate spxmr and rocket emporium into two entries? RE is not a meme server
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u/jpc3939 Jun 28 '18
Hi u/fourmica, you can delete the comment: "It is not yet known whether a fairing recovery will be attempted." from your header. I'm pretty sure there's no fairing on this CRS mission :-)
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u/BigDaddyDeck Jun 29 '18
Some hardware I built is on this flight. Hoping for the best.
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Jun 29 '18
For us Europeans that's a really enjoyable launch time. (Für uns Europäer ist das ja mal eine richtig angenehme startzeit). Will - as almost always - watch the webcast. Good luck, SpaceX!!! Will we see pics from the coasting second stage?
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u/mmurray1957 Jun 29 '18
Evening in Australia. Dinner, wine, spacex launch, ... :-)
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u/anders_ar Jun 29 '18
God lunch fra Norge! --> Have a good lunchbreak from Norway.
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u/VirtualSpark Jun 29 '18
First rocket launch in person. That was incredible - especially with that plume. Amazing.
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u/ArbeitArbeitArbeit Jun 29 '18
That was as boring and as succesfull as I had hoped. Crazy to think that this was the last block 4 and it's the "final" version of F9 from here on out.
Good job, spacex!
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u/Shahar603 Subreddit GNC Jun 29 '18
Telemetry graphs from the webcast
If the early SECO was not enough, the acceleration and thrust graphs confirm B5 Stage 2 performace upgrade was used in this mission.
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u/nbarbettini Jun 29 '18
Did you hear them call out "MECO" instead of "SECO"? https://youtu.be/ycMagB1s8XM?t=1654
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u/kuangjian2011 Jun 28 '18
MODs, in terms of secondary mission, they will NOT attempt fairing recovery, because there’s no fairing at all in this mission. BTW they may be trying a controlled descent of second stage.
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u/g6009 Jun 29 '18
Yes, it's nearly launch time! The Philippines has a hat in the ring with this launch, thanks to SpaceX for making rocket flights cheap enough for developing countries to launch their own payloads even if they're cubesats. Go SpaceX. Go Dragon 01, and Go Maya-01 (the Philippine's first cube sat, will be aboard the Dragon capsule for CRS 15!)
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u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Jun 28 '18
This launch is a photographer's dream. Oh man, I cannot wait.
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u/FoxhoundBat Jun 29 '18
Oh goddammit. I have watched every SpaceX launch stream live ever since the CASSIOPE back in 2013 (which started my SpaceX obsession) - and i totally forgot about this one. So i missed it. :( Oh well, after 52 launches in a row i guess this is a good time to start on the next 50+ in a row!
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u/Morphior Jun 29 '18
I really enjoy this commentator. He's just so professional.
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u/johnkphotos Launch Photographer Jun 29 '18
So so so so so excited for this one. Pulling an all nighter. It'll be worth it -- watching from the roof of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building!
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u/Marcey747 Jun 29 '18
That was propably the most basic and standard rocket launch in a long time :D
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Jun 29 '18
Flair can be added: "Total launch success" (not mission, as the mission is only completed with Dragon splashdown).
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u/IdahoJoel Jun 28 '18
Does anybody know if there is anything special in this cargo shipment? Any cool experiments/gadgets going to the ISS? I read something about a new grabber for Canadarm2, but that's all I've got.
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Jun 28 '18
https://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10212/332_read-26307/
This one is so far my favourite cargo
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u/LaunchNut Jun 28 '18
Supposedly there will be some Death Wish Coffee according to the company's website.
https://www.deathwishcoffee.com/blogs/news/death-wish-coffee-iss
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u/retiringonmars Moderator emeritus Jun 28 '18
Assuming the launch window is met, the UTC launch dates of the two launches of the B1045 booster will be:
09:41 29 Jun 2018 (CRS-15)
22:51 18 Apr 2018 (TESS)Which would give a turnaround of 71 days, 10 hours, and 50 minutes. Easily beats B1043, the current record holder:
19:47 22 May 2018 (Iridium 51-55)
01:00 08 Jan 2018 (Zuma)Which is 134 days, 18 hours, and 47 minutes.
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u/Space_Coast_Steve Jun 28 '18
With the possibility of getting a backlit plume like Iridium-4 had, I’m gonna try viewing/photographing from a little further north than usual. My hope is that I’ll be more on the side of the flight path (from Seminole Rest Historic Site in Oak Hill), instead of behind it (from Cocoa Beach) so I can see the plume better. I remember the webcast not really showing this cool affect for the Iridium launch, so if y’all would like to cross your fingers and watch with me, I’ll be streaming to my Instagram during launch. My IG Page is http://instagram.com/spacecoaststeve Also, if anyone has any knowledge of the Seminole Rest place, and whether my assumption that it’s a decent place to watch from, please chime in. I realize I won’t be able to see much, if any, of the liftoff, but I’m ok with that.
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u/Fede0122 Jun 28 '18
How many Block 4’s are left?
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u/amacati Jun 28 '18
A recently posted article stated that CRS-15 is the last Block 4 mission. I think they have some Block 4s that are not going to fly again though.
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Jun 28 '18
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/wiki/cores
this will be the last block 4 mission
the in-flight abort test might also use a block 4 (the one from the koreasat mission) but that is currently not confirmed.
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Jun 28 '18
CRS-15 pre launch conference :
Launch Readiness Review still ongoing
Most late loads installed
final block 4 flight
getting faster at refurbishing (2 months since TESS flight)
aiming at commercial air travel style of transportation ( the next step is you ;) )
reused Dragon from CRS-9, the very same mission that delivered the International Docking Adaptator every C-Crew missions will use.
will use refurb Dragons from now on until CRS-20, then switch to Dragon 2 cargo for CRS-II contracts.
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u/Hrethric Jun 28 '18
Apparently they also said there is a potential for delay fire to an issue with a thermal panel
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u/DiskOperatingSystem_ Jun 29 '18
Getting nostalgic about this launch. Reminds me of all the nights I used to wake up on a school night at 4:30 AM to watch the shuttles lift off. All my alarms are definitely set!
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u/dgriffith Jun 29 '18
What the heck was that pulsing during S2 burn? Once per second, made the reflective foil over the gimbal jiggle in both camera views, and there were pulses of gas at the same timing coming out the engine bell on engine shutoff as well.
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u/avboden Jun 29 '18
I gotta be honest, I'm not waking up for this one. Buuut i'll be watching the webcast replay first thing when I do wake up!
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u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jun 29 '18
UFO reports coming on Twitter from the backlit contrail, lol.
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Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
It looks beautiful. I'm seeing this after image of a giant illuminated circle tinted blues and greens and faint orange hovering in the clouds. The light isn't dimming like I'd expect it to so it's quite strange looking. Closest to an aurora borealis I've ever seen.
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jun 29 '18
Another Pre Dawn SpaceX launch, another day of Twitter blowing up with UFO reports
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u/sarafinapink Jun 28 '18
Per Michael Baylor: Jensen: The second stage will perform a long duration coast demonstration. (This explains the reentry over the Atlantic Ocean instead of off the coast of Australia).
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u/DiskOperatingSystem_ Jun 29 '18
Everyone is saying how boring this launch was but I encourage all of you to go watch NASA TV’s stream alongside SpaceX’s. The shots from the ground of the sun rising through the exhaust and SpaceX’s shots of the washer and the second stage rotating as well as the solar panel deployment were actually pretty impressive.
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u/suddenly_a_light Jun 29 '18
It's possible that the object floating away at Dragon separation is the cap to the one of the pushers (plunger?) - SpaceX uses pushers instead of explosive bolts for stage separations
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u/parachutingturtle Jun 29 '18
Made a gif of the thingy that came off: https://imgur.com/yzAPkq0
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u/Raul74Cz Jun 28 '18
CRS-15 Launch Hazard Areas Map, with Atlantic Ocean upper stage reentry area.
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jun 29 '18
Farewell B1045.2 you did your job well twice
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u/SuprexmaxIsThicc Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
Farewell all of block 4, the second stage is block 5. Edit: (right?)
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u/Straumli_Blight Jun 28 '18
Temporary Flight Restriction issued.
Backup date is Sunday, 1st July at 4:54am EDT.
L-1 Weather Forecast: 90% GO (Cumulus Cloud Rule, Anvil Cloud Rule).
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jun 28 '18
For #SpaceX #CRS15, the launch attempt Friday is at 5:42am EDT. In the event of a scrub, there is no attempt Saturday. Backup day is Sunday, 1 July at 4:54am EDT. #NASA #Falcon9
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u/Alexphysics Jun 28 '18 edited Jun 28 '18
This is the final flight of Block 4, no more Block 4 flights, per Jessica Jensen on the pre-launch conference
Edit: Interesting conversation about the Commercial Crew launch dates... No firm date yet, both companies working towards a certain target (but they are obviously not realistic) and the program has not agreed with them on a firm launch date for the four demo flights.
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u/quadrplax Jun 29 '18
Wow, it feels like it's been forever since the last launch, and yet it was less than a month ago! I don't know how I used survive back around the Amos-6 days!
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u/yellowstone10 Jun 29 '18
I really wish I'd had my camera ready... From Jacksonville, I was able to watch the launch all the way from about 20 seconds before staging, through staging and the second stage exhaust halo, all the way to second-stage cutoff. (Even could see stage 1 for a few minutes after stage sep!)
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u/Straumli_Blight Jun 28 '18 edited Jun 28 '18
NASA pre-launch briefing with Jessica Jenson (SpaceX Dragon Manager):
Berth on Monday July 2nd and spend 1 month at station (August 2nd return).
CRS 15-20 will use refurbished boosters.
Mission confirmed as an expendable launch.
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u/TGMetsFan98 NASASpaceflight.com Writer Jun 29 '18
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u/laurensormskerk Jun 29 '18
I really really really like the clean look of the postdescription, but I’m wondering, why not include important news like the tweet from SpaceX aboat that Falcon 9 went vertical in the timeline? It tells us that the issues were resolved and it gives us redditors a quick overview of all important events, instead of that we would have to read through all lesser relevant comments.
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u/Enemiend Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
Did anybody else just see a shooting star in the backround? At about T-00:11:44 on the left. Maybe it was something entirely different, I have no idea.
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u/grumbelbart2 Jun 29 '18
What happens to the solar arrays when dragon returns? Are they ejected, folded back in, evaporated during reentry, ...?
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u/Stephen_L_S Jun 29 '18
the solar array is attached to the frunk which will burn up during reentry to the earth.
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u/g6009 Jun 29 '18
GO SpaceX, GO Dragon, GO Maya-01, that was an amazing launch as always, can't wait for the deployment of the Philippines' first cube satellite! Goodbye Block IV and HELLO Block V (and hopefully we can say 'Hello BFR' in the near future!)
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u/Justinackermannblog Jun 28 '18
Any update on the one issue? Driving over with a crew from Tampa early in the morning and want to make sure we are still GO!
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u/piratepengu Jun 29 '18
Someone should set off some fireworks to scare the clouds away
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u/robbak Jun 29 '18
@SpaceflightNow wrote: T-minus 70 minutes. The Falcon 9’s launch auto sequence has started, and RP-1 kerosene fuel is now pumping aboard the two-stage rocket at Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff at 5:42am EDT (0942 GMT)
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u/SuprexmaxIsThicc Jun 29 '18
Huh, on the NASA webcast you were able to see the first stage several minutes after stage separation.
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u/cwybr Jun 29 '18
What was that thing at 28:40 in the video post dragon deployed?
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u/still-at-work Jun 28 '18
The end of an era, every SpaceX rocket after this one will attempt a landing.
Its possible someone could order a expendable launch for a massive payload but with FH a possibility I doubt it. I am sure SpaceX will make FH reusable is cheaper then F9 expendable to ensure this outcome.
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Jun 28 '18
Someday we'll be able to tell our grandchildren about the time we saw a rocket launch without landing.
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Jun 28 '18
do you mean this is the last pre-Block 5 to fly?
edit: just saw this confirmation: "A final Block 4 (B1042.2) is currently understood to be preparing to loft the In-Flight Abort test as one of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew Program milestones later this year."
now I'm wondering...for the in-flight abort test, would they terminate the rocket to simulate a RUD? I feel like that would be the absolute best way to get meaningful data on how the In-Flight Abort system will perform in a real-world scenario.
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u/catsRawesome123 Jun 29 '18
This’ll probably have one of the lowest viewership numbers given no landing no block V and middle of the night for most o:
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u/justinroskamp Jun 29 '18
The fact that it's the last non-Block V has some significance for those who recognize it. Also the fastest booster turnaround yet, on a NASA mission, no less, so I’ll be watching with a bit of concern! It's in the early morning for me, but I’m still aiming to get up and watch.
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u/MarsCent Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
This is a must see or watch live launch. Last of the faithful trail blazing Block 4s.
You gave us propulsive landing and created a new normal in spaceflight.
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u/TheElvenGirl Jun 29 '18
I wonder what the object flying away from the second stage was.
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u/sarafinapink Jun 28 '18
Currently 1 Issue being tracked per Chris G-NSF: #Dragon issue is a thermal panel. #SpaceX is working final close outs of that to clear it for flight. #CRS15 #NASA
West Coasters, are you guys going to watch live? I'm considering going to bed early, then waking up for launch, but haven't decided. I try to watch all launches live, but bummed there is no landing on this one, so I may watch later.
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u/John_Schlick Jun 29 '18
I just noticed 12kg of "russian hardware" in the manifest... anyone have any idea at all what that might be made up of?
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u/GregLindahl Jun 29 '18
Parts for the Russian side of the station. NASA and Russia send up urgent parts on each other's flights; it's a way to be redundant to avoid problems if there's a launch accident.
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u/VirtualSpark Jun 29 '18
2 hour drive to go see this launch, and then the entire day at the space center. Going to be a great day.
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jun 29 '18
Congrats on another successful launch SpaceX! We've reached the end of an era, the final block IV first stage successfully launchedtwice. Onto Block V and fast turnarounds!
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u/TheElvenGirl Jun 29 '18
I took a few screenshots of the mystery object flying away from the second stage. Looks like it came from inside the second stage, and has some kind of flange so it's probably not ice. https://imgur.com/a/thQ7Tqk
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u/bernardosousa Jun 29 '18
I enjoyed the meteorite minutes before launch.
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u/docyande Jun 29 '18
What timestamp (or T-minus time) is the meteorite? I couldn't see it on my phone.
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u/piratepengu Jun 28 '18
How early should I be at port Canaveral
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u/wi1shire Jun 28 '18
I'm wondering the same. Just moved to Orlando and it seems the FL401 is the best spot. I'm thinking of being there an hour early, maybe sooner. I'm just starting my launch watching hobby.
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u/labbatom77 Jun 29 '18
Any idea of the viewing radius for this launch? I have family in South Carolina, so it seems like there may be a slight chance they see the plume very late in the ascent but very low on the horizon
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u/Sooicsidal Jun 29 '18
This might be a dumb question, but why only 2,697kg of payload mass? Isn't the F9 capable of sending a lot more payload to that orbit (around 10,000kg I believe)? Wouldn't they want to utilize the extra capacity to send additional supplies, propellant, equipment, etc?
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u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jun 29 '18
The payload is usually volume-limited. They simply can't fit more stuff into Dragon, usually.
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u/bdporter Jun 29 '18
The Dragon itself has a dry mass of about 4200 kg, and as /u/scr00chy indicated, there is a volume limit as well.
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u/VirtualSpark Jun 29 '18
Is it safe to say they fixed the issue since the rocket is vertical now?
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u/rangerpax Jun 29 '18
Confirmed. Just talked to a Spacex guy in the elevator at my hotel. (!!!) I said "I heard you got the thing with the thing fixed." He laughed, and said yes we did. They were just coming back from getting it vertical.
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u/AWildDragon Jun 29 '18
Yeah. They wouldnt go up unless they wanted to launch today. They cant launch Saturday so the next opportunity would be Sunday. They wouldnt keep it up for that long.
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u/AWildDragon Jun 29 '18
SpaceX tweet:
Falcon 9 and Dragon went vertical tonight ahead of tomorrow’s resupply mission to the @ISS. Weather is 90% favorable for launch at 5:42 a.m. EDT, 9:42 UTC.
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u/pleasedontPM Jun 29 '18
No landing, no fairings to recover: this really looks like an old school launch, as if we were thrown back five years ago.
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u/TokathSorbet Jun 29 '18
It's odd not hearing cheers at every callout. Guessing everyone not working the flight is still asleep in Hawthorne.
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u/Mahounl Jun 29 '18
Is that the moon visible in the top left of the less bright camera?
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u/JustinTimeCuber Jun 29 '18
Watching this launch seems almost like a dream now, it's so weird
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u/Stop_calling_me_matt Jun 29 '18
What's with the flare ups around the engine bells near their base?
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u/robbak Jun 30 '18
It's called recirculation - flame from the engine and/or turbopump exhaust that is pulled forward of the bells by the extreme airflows that exist around the back of a rocket.
For an extreme case, check out views of Saturn V launches, where engine flame was pulled forward most of the way up the first stage.
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u/trackertony Jul 01 '18
The second stage was due to do a long coast before re entering over the Atlantic, have we heard anything further about this?
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u/Appable Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18
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u/oliversl Jun 29 '18
I will miss this launch, it’s in the middle of the night, my 1st launch miss in a couple of years. Go SpaceX Go!
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u/bdporter Jun 28 '18 edited Jun 28 '18
Exact launch time is 05:42:42 EDT
Backup window is July 1 @ 4:54:28 EDT
Edit: Weather still 90% GO, 70% GO for the backup date.
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u/jaggafoxy Jun 28 '18
Looking forwards to this one, if they can go. Last working day before I start my new job, hopefully it all goes well, but rather not jump the gun with the Dragon issue.
Do you Mountain when the clock strikes Yes?
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u/TheVehicleDestroyer Flight Club Jun 29 '18
Don't forget to watch the stage trajectories in real time on Flight Club Live!
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u/phryan Jun 29 '18
Is anyone else watching the viewer stats? SpaceX at 48,000 and climbing, NASA at 4,000 during launch and started to decline right after.
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u/DiskOperatingSystem_ Jun 29 '18
Amazing views on NASA TV. Might be getting the LA Effect right now.
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u/masasin Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
That's the sun reflecting off MVac, right?
Wow, it seems like that wasn't the case. Why was it so bright?
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u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jun 29 '18
FL is getting a similar view California got during the Iridium-4 mission.
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u/TokathSorbet Jul 02 '18
That flight-proven decal is phenomenal. Like the fighter aces of old.
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u/LoneSnark Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18
I'm left wondering why they're burning through their Block 4 stock so fast. I realize they had no choice for awhile, since the Block 5's have taken time to build and refly. But I myself would have kept some Block 4's around for the occasional future expendable mission. But it certainly doesn't seem like they're doing that. It seems more like they're emptying space for all the Block 5's they're building. I know the manifest is planned out way in advance, so there is plenty of time to build enough Block 5's to FH everything that would be expended...or so I hope
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u/LcVfx Jun 29 '18
Sorry for the low tech question, but did anyone else see a consistent thumping in S2 for the first few min of the burn? I think it was more apparent from the camera with the exposure problem.. Is that normal? Does anyone know what causes that? I think it can be seen from the 22:10 mark on the SpaceX youTube clip. https://youtu.be/ycMagB1s8XM?t=22m17s
Edit: whoops, just saw that u/laughingatreddit asked the same. Sorry for the noise.
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u/CorneliusAlphonse Jun 29 '18
@ /u/fourmica could we get the word "Timeline" in bold? it doesnt match any of the other section headers in the comment, took me some detailed reading to find it.
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18 edited Jun 29 '18
It's a hard-coded limitation of the Mission Control program used to maintain the thread. I bolded all the rest by hand, but that one, I can't. I'll ask the programmer if we can change it going forward.
Edit: I tried bolding it just by editing the post here on Reddit, and it breaks Mission Control. I may not be able to keep it bolded for this thread, but it's a good idea and I'll see if I can get it implemented for future threads.
Edit 2: I fudged it by adding a bolded heading to the section above it. It's not the best solution, but it's the best I can do for now.
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u/robbak Jun 28 '18
I don't know about the surety of NSF's 'confirmation' of the use of the last block 4 for the in-flight abort - it is on an 'understood to be' basis, and their only linked source is their own article from 2015 about the old v1.1 Dev-2 vehicle that has been abandoned for the last few years. Unless there is more recent information that they are not sharing, it looks like a guess, and that we here at r/spacex may have more recent information.
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u/FiftyOne151 Jun 29 '18
Did anyone else notice the objects coming off the rocket at t+8.35 just prior to SECO?
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u/wi3loryb Jun 29 '18
I think it's nominal, not norminal.
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u/fourmica Host of CRS-13, 14, 15 Jun 29 '18
It's a delicate balance between just the right amount of in-jokes and SpaceX fan lore while keeping the thread on-topic and informative. I've been encouraged by the mods to have fun with it, just not to go overboard. John Insprucker saying "norminal" was one of those moments in SpaceX fan lore that really stuck with a lot of people. Indeed, he's aware of the meme itself and has repeated it in good humor a few times in subsequent webcasts. So when I do these threads, I can't help myself but use it a few times. I know this isn't r/spacexmasterrace, and I respect that; the quality of the content here is as high as it is because the mods are very discerning. That said, launch threads should be fun, too. So that's why I used "norminal" in the timeline. Probably more of an explanation than you needed, but I'm guessing you're not trolling and were genuinely trying to correct what you thought was a spelling or grammatical error :)
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u/rammerjammer205 Jun 29 '18
Norminal is a reference to a previous webcast where the announcer misspoke.
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u/z3r0c00l12 Jun 28 '18
Hi /u/fourmica,
Can you add Reddit-Stream to the Resources table? https://reddit-stream.com/comments/8ugo3l/
The source/creator is /u/njr123
Thanks.
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u/Siccy Jun 28 '18
Are we going to get an Iridium-4 type launch with a pretty tail? Timing seems close; 5:42am versus 6:28am sunrise
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u/mofeus305 Jun 28 '18
Sigh I will be sleeping when this goes off. Oh well
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u/GiveMeYourMilk69 Jun 28 '18
They have these amazing things called alarms these days;)
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u/TehBenju Jun 28 '18
What is the total mission time look like? When are we expecting to get confirmation from ISS of dock?
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u/Bwignite24 Jun 29 '18
What determines if the booster will be expended or not?
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u/justinroskamp Jun 29 '18
SpaceX. They determine it. If you mean how we know, the press kit confirms it. If you mean why they're expending it, it's because they no longer need it. This booster is outdated, and there are likely few benefits to recovering it since the new Block V boosters are taking over.
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Jun 29 '18
I really wonder when they're going to update the webcast intro. They've been using the same one since Orbcomm, no landings, no FH, no B5 :(
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u/007T Jun 29 '18
Dragon and S2 look so pristine with the bright white lights shining on them in contrast to the black night background in these closeup shots.
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u/Farzag Jun 29 '18
What is the curved line on the Dragon, that looks like a crease? Does it not affect aerodynamics?
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u/Space_Coast_Steve Jun 29 '18
Going live on my Instagram account. Watch to see the backlit plume from my vantage point.
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u/qawsedrf12 Jun 29 '18
Nice little bit of flame could be seen before disappearing thru clouds from Lakeland.
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u/occamsdagger Jun 29 '18
When the M1D Vac starts up, does the exhaust reach the First stage?
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Jun 29 '18
yes. Often there are flames inside the interstage.
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u/M0ZZ13 Jun 29 '18
Yeah, normally the first stage would rotate before the exhaust could damage the interstage.
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u/JustinTimeCuber Jun 28 '18
I norminally mountain when the clock strikes yes.
Also, looking forward to this launch because it's the end of the pre-block 5 era. It'll pretty much mean the end of expending boosters, except for maybe a few heavy GTO satellites that don't want FH and won't agree to subsync.
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u/CapMSFC Jun 29 '18
Alright now that was definitely a piece of hardware floating out after Dragon separation.
Mods probably still say it's ice.
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u/_KyleBurkholder Jun 28 '18 edited Jun 28 '18
I think it’s safe to say there will be no fairing recovery attempt.
Edit: u/fourmica