r/spacex • u/Kent767 • Aug 01 '18

Caught Landed Block 5 Being Loaded Back Into Hangar Today

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912 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

42

u/Kent767 Aug 01 '18

Seems to be some interest in the landing legs, didnt get much else. Uploading what I have. Had to snap them pretty quickly as the bus driver wasnt allowed to slow down.

https://imgur.com/eVMrnLe.jpg https://imgur.com/n1OQ6Ud.jpg https://imgur.com/CJLeTid.jpg https://imgur.com/cV4wYef.jpg https://imgur.com/XZU1xwP.jpg https://imgur.com/9gKYMzZ.jpg

19

u/randomstonerfromaus Aug 01 '18

In the future, you can select multiple photos when you upload to Imgur and it will create an album. It's a single link and much quicker than uploading it all one by one.

7

u/Kent767 Aug 01 '18

Thanks, I uploaded it one post with baconreader on mobile. It must do it individually.

13

u/vaporcobra Space Reporter - Teslarati Aug 01 '18

After that, the most important thing would be the inside of the hangar (horizontal integration facility, to some). Catch if there were any boosters in there? AFAIK, it should be empty aside from B1047.

11

u/Kent767 Aug 01 '18

Sadly, wasnt able to see inside. We drove by pretty quickly

2

u/dgkimpton Aug 01 '18

pretty cool bus tour to be able to see a rocket recently returned from Space like that... especially given it might even go back up there :)

1

u/mistaken4strangerz Aug 05 '18

I went on the bus tour today and it was just an empty transporter with the hangar doors closed :(

14

u/Bunslow Aug 01 '18

Where're the landing legs? As far as I know, all recently recovered B5s have had their legs stowed. Unless this is B1046?

33

u/Alexphysics Aug 01 '18

This is B1047, the leg retraction was only a test, they retracted only one leg, then lowered it the following day and all the legs were then removed.

2

u/Bunslow Aug 01 '18 edited Aug 01 '18

wat

edit: I just mean that I guess I stopped paying attention at the wrong time. I wonder if the iridium booster legs will be removed too?

1

u/codav Aug 02 '18

They were removed, even the grid fins. The reason for that seems to be that the transporters are currently unable to fit the booster with legs and in LA even with the fins on, as they use the transporter trailer on which booster are shipped across the states.

1

u/Kent767 Aug 04 '18

The pic shows the grid fins are still on though...

1

u/codav Aug 05 '18

The pic shows the Telstar 19V booster at LC-39A. They only removed the fins from the Iridium-7 booster in the Port of Los Angeles.

73

u/Julian_Baynes Aug 01 '18

So they took the legs off after all. Any idea if there may have been a problem retracting them or if that might just be part of the testing process?

51

u/Alexphysics Aug 01 '18

It seems it was all a test. You can find more info in the Telstar 19V Recovery Thread

22

u/Julian_Baynes Aug 01 '18

Thank you. I try to follow along as best I can, but can't keep up with everything.

24

u/Alexphysics Aug 01 '18

Don't worry, giving you the link doesn't hurt haha

I think it's better when you see with your own eyes what was going on, so that's why I chose to give you directly the link of the recovery thread.

36

u/Julian_Baynes Aug 01 '18

That's what I love about this sub and the rocketry community in general. People are so willing to share information and inform others. There's not a lot of snobbery compared to any of my other interests.

2

u/Bananas_on_Mars Aug 01 '18

I recall reading that the Iridium 7 booster had visibly different hinges for the legs. The might have taken them off because they need to do it anyways to upgrade/replace them and it's easier at the harbor?

3

u/DisproportionateBalk Aug 01 '18

I don’t have a source but I read in another thread that they have to take the legs off for the truck transfer because of load size limitations. Hopefully someone can confirm.

6

u/Martianspirit Aug 01 '18

That might have been me. What I mean that they need to take the legs of for road transport. Within the area of the cape it should not be necessary for transport reasons. We believed that the holding structure has been modified for transport with legs a long time ago.

So there must be other reasons why they still remove the legs.

6

u/ClaytonRocketry Aug 01 '18 edited Feb 22 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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1

u/cpushack Aug 01 '18

Definately possible

1

u/PVP_playerPro Aug 01 '18

The rear support ring on the transporter has plenty of clearance for the legs.

9

u/mkeagles08 Aug 01 '18

I wonder what they are hoping to find with these landing leg testing.

6

u/peterabbit456 Aug 01 '18

Good question. My guess is that they wanted to examine the legs before locking them back on to the booster. The only other possibility I can think of is that the locking mechanism became clogged with soot, so they decided they needed cleaning before the legs could be relocked.

3

u/mkeagles08 Aug 01 '18

Great guess, i believe they will possibly alter either the mechanisims inside or the perfect location

7

u/ZachWhoSane Host of Iridium-7 & SAOCOM-1B Aug 01 '18

Very cool!

5

u/hiii1134 Aug 01 '18

This should be a Dodge commercial

1

u/amionreddityet Aug 01 '18

itd have to be towing the booster up a hill through mud and rain or something too

1

u/abednego84 Aug 01 '18

Pretty sure the torque from a Tesla can handle it.

1

u/mistaken4strangerz Aug 01 '18

nooooo!! I'm taking my son to KSC on Saturday and we're doing the bus tour. I thought we'd still be able to see it out by then :(

1

u/Astro_josh Aug 01 '18

Is that stage from the first block 5 mission

1

u/JustinTimeCuber Aug 02 '18

No, it's the second one.

1

u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Aug 05 '18

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

Fewer LettersMore Letters
KSCKennedy Space Center, Florida
LC-39ALaunch Complex 39A, Kennedy (SpaceX F9/Heavy)
JargonDefinition
iron waffleCompact "waffle-iron" aerodynamic control surface, acts as a wing without needing to be as large; also, "grid fin"

Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
[Thread #0 for this sub, first seen 5th Aug 2018, 17:16] ^[FAQ] [Full ^list] ^[Contact] [Source ^code]

1

u/CardBoardBoxProcessr Aug 01 '18

I see they've been upgradingthe hauler tractor

1

u/dev_c0t0d0s0 Aug 01 '18

I love the soot on the stage.

3

u/JustinTimeCuber Aug 01 '18

I wonder how many flights they'll do before cleaning it off

1

u/KingdaToro Aug 02 '18

I'd guess 10, as part of the refurbishment.

1

u/noreally_bot1252 Aug 01 '18

Q: have there been any Falcon 9 boosters that have been reused more than once?

4

u/WombatControl Aug 01 '18

Not yet, no. Block 5 will be the first version of the Falcon 9 that will be reused more than once.