SpaceX CRS-3 Mission

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/?Mission=CRS3

by ColinWright • 12 years ago

288 122 12 years ago

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

Currently the countdown shows an intended launch at roughly 18:45 UTC, 19:45 BST. It may change because of the weather, so you'll need to keep an eye on it, or keep the window open and the sound on.

mladenkovacevic• 12 years ago

Is NASA ever this quick to restart a launch mission after a scrubbed attempt? 3 days seems blazingly fast considering the risks and possible consequences.

jerf• 12 years ago

Arguably, SpaceX's raison d'etre is fast turnaround on launches. NASA's... well... if y'all want to have the political debate about their true raison d'etre in reply to this I can't stop you, but let's just agree that in practice, fast turnaround has always been a stated goal, but not one they've been able to put much work towards in practice. (i.e., if one were simply handed a Shuttle design and asked to figure out what the top priorities were in its design, one would be very unlikely to answer "fast turnaround in launches", regardless of the process that got us there.)

Symmetry• 12 years ago

When my former co-worker was in Kwajalein he got to watch a SpaceX launch. It was initially scrubbed and all the Air Force people went home, but he stayed around and they had a successful launch a few hours later.

jccooper• 12 years ago

STS-128 launched 4 days after a scrub. STS-134 had 3 days between attempts. STS-74 was scrubbed due to weather at landing sites, and launched the next day (about 30 hours later).

The older shuttle launches generally had less penalty for missing their launch window because they were not going to ISS (or Mir or Hubble) and didn't have to wait for a very specific launch window for rendezvous, which can take days.

Apollo never had a scrub, which is nice because missing your launch window to the moon can mean waiting another month. The Saturn V could turn around in 2 or even 1 day, theoretically. They did have to do a few holds.

uxp• 12 years ago

This launch, if it had been scrubbed, had another launch window tomorrow, just a few minutes shy of 24 hours (3:02PM EST).

Arjuna6• 12 years ago

Here is a CRS-3 launch and ascent event list. Please note that all timings and values are approximate, as I have based them on a mix of CRS-2 profile telemetry and CRS-3 mission notes.

T-00:00:00 - Falcon 9 lift-off. Stage 1's nine Merlin engines produce 1.3M pounds of thrust.

T+00:00:07 - Falcon 9 clears the launch tower.

T+00:01:00 - Altitude: 6km, Velocity: 241m/s, Downrange distance: 1km

T+00:01:10 - Falcon 9 achieves supersonic speed.

T+00:01:23 - Falcon 9 achieves maximum dynamic pressure (Max Q).

T+00:02:00 - Altitude: 30km, Velocity: 1km/s, Downrange distance: 23km

T+00:02:30 - Altitude: 51km, Velocity: 1.8km/s, Downrange distance: 59km

T+00:02:41 - MECO (Main Engine Cut-Off) Altitude: 80km, Velocity: Mach 10

T+00:02:44 - Stage 1 separates from Stage 2.

T+00:02:45 - Stage 2's single Merlin engine ignites.

T+00:03:25 - Dragon's nose cone is jettisoned.

T+00:04:21 - Altitude: 148km, Velocity: 3.2km/s, Downrange distance: 346km

T+00:05:22 - Altitude: 182km, Velocity: 4km/s, Downrange distance: 541km

T+00:06:24 - Altitude: 200km, Velocity: 4.6km/s, Downrange distance: 767km

T+00:07:31 - Altitude: 210km, Velocity: 5.6km/s, Downrange distance: 1,080km

T+00:09:40 - SECO (Second-stage Engine Cut-Off)

T+00:10:15 - Stage 2 separates from Dragon.

FD3SA3• 12 years ago

Elon has just confirmed [1] that they will be attempting to recover the first stage. This is the first flight with the landing leg module attached to the first stage. The landing legs will be deployed over sea for a soft landing in preparation for a land-based recovery.

This will be a historic moment if the recovery succeeds, ushering in a new era of space travel due to the massively reduced operating costs of recoverable engines.

1. https://twitter.com/elonmusk

joezydeco2• 12 years ago

Is Musk planning to have his drones watch the landing? I'm guessing that's what the "recovery ship" would be doing, although his twitter feed is saying that heavy seas might make that difficult.

FD3SA3• 12 years ago

Update from Elon [1]:

"Last known state for rocket boost stage is 360 m/s, Mach 1.1, 8.5 km altitude and roll rate close to zero (v important!)"

So it appears it may be a failure, we'll find out soon what went wrong this time. More from Elon regarding what success would be, telemetry wise:

"Rocket boost stage reaching 0 m/s in one piece :) Will know soon. Odds not high." [1]

Regardless, they've demonstrated that the landing-leg module can survive the stresses of liftoff and fully powered flight, particularly at Max Q. This is quite an achievement, and vital for future tests.

1. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/with_replies

TrainedMonkey3• 12 years ago

Your SECO timing was off only by 4 seconds, pretty impressive.

chrisBob• 12 years ago

But it doesn't reach the space station until some time on Sunday? Can someone explain the long maneuvering time once it is in orbit?

krasin• 12 years ago

in short, they save fuel/money at the cost of time.

Instead of going to ISS directly, they have put the Dragon to some cheaper point in the space with some speed vector. After that, it will turn around Earth multiple times, until the orbits of the Dragon and the ISS are closer.

But it's very short and partially incorrect (as they may also have a few correction boosts)

Arjuna6• 12 years ago

It is primarily due to the fact that changes in altitude with regard to achieving orbital synchronization take time. This is also related to the concept of a launch window. Today's launch had an instantaneous launch window, required to reach all mission objectives, and for Dragon to achieve its precise window of opportunity in space. This means that the launch had to occur at an exact moment, down to the exact second of accuracy.

For a more exhaustive understanding, further explanation and exploration, you will enjoy the following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_mechanics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_speed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_plane_%28astronomy%29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_phasing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohmann_transfer_orbit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_rendezvous

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacec...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_window

rplnt• 12 years ago

Soyuz made first direct ascent last year, docking within few hours instead of days as usual.

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

Elon Musk's twitter feed is worth a watch to get news:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk

Arjuna6• 12 years ago

Elon just Tweeted this (!)...

F9R First Flight Test | 250m

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjWqQPWmsY

m_mueller• 12 years ago

They start making it look easy. I wonder how many grasshoppers were damaged until they had the controls set up right.

evanm2• 12 years ago

Is there a livestream of this?

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

http://new.livestream.com/spacex/events/2833937

Edit: Actually, just checked, that might not be the case. The link in the original submission will somehow, somewhere lead to a livecast. Still checking.

evanm2• 12 years ago

thanks brosef

Arjuna6• 12 years ago

I think that is the correct link. On the main "Livestream" site, the SpaceX URL is the one you have listed. It says 2:45 PM (18:45 UTC); presumably, coverage will begin at that time.

This may be another option, but I'm not entirely sure:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

timroman• 12 years ago

Anyone chromecasting this successfully?

egwynn• 12 years ago

The `Date` section says

  Fri Apr, 18 2014 2:45 PM EDT — Fri Apr, 18 2014 4:00 PM EDT

But the `About` section says

  ... targeted to launch on April 14 at 4:58 pm EDT ...

Looks like they copied and pasted the `About` info from their last launch.

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

The earlier attempt was scrubbed - this is a re-scheduled attempt.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/statuses/455798296557002752

sitkack2• 12 years ago

I am having a problem finding video of the launch that was scrubbed after ignition, do you have somewhere?

I believe it was in Dec of 2010 but not sure.

oneweirdtrick• 12 years ago

If the launch is a success, how will the world react?

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

"The World" won't notice and won't care. By the time Apollo 13 came around television networks weren't bothering to cover the launches and in-flight transmissions - not interesting enough. News services have no imagination and no understanding of the enormity of these events.

The other day I went out to watch the ISS fly over and some random passers-by asked what I was doing. When I explained they were, quite frankly, incredulous. They had no idea that there were people flying around the Earth in an oversized tin can, in constant danger of being hit by space debris, doing experiments and increasing our understanding. No idea. I'm still not convinced they believed me.

The general population doesn't care.

Vivtek• 12 years ago

Everybody I've ever talked to cared - but the news networks can only carry so much news and 23:59 of the day needs to be devoted to missing planes and whether the President of America or Russia is more manly.

InclinedPlane5• 12 years ago

Reuse of the Falcon 9 first stage probably won't make huge news waves until they land the stage back near the launch site.

doe88• 12 years ago

Nice sense of humor from Elon: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/457190623640969216

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

Is this submission being flagged by users, or has it tripped some sort of scoring penalty?

http://hnrankings.info/7609667/

Dropping suddenly from 3rd to 20th on the front page suggests some sort of penalty being applied, but is it community driven, or automated? Even with the new openness about the actions of the moderators on HN I still find some things deeply confusing.

Added in edit: This does bring home just how important upvotes are. I've seen how disproportional the effect is of downvotes on an item's ranking - one downvotes out-weights many upvotes. If you like something, upvote it, or see it sink without trace.

happyscrappy• 12 years ago

how disproportional the effect is of downvotes on an item's ranking

I think you mean flagging as there is no down voting of submissions as far a I am aware.

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

Sorry, yes, flags. I mis-spoke myself - there is indeed no down-voting of submissions, and I was referring to the disproportional effect of flags on a submission's ranking.

dang7• 12 years ago

I put a moderate moderator flag on it so that it would be lower, but still on the front page. My reasoning: Space X is cool and interesting, but it isn't a major story every time they do a launch.

Edit: We took the penalty off several hours ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7611240

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

Launches aren't all that often, and this launch has the entirely new feature of looking to recover the first stage. This is a technical project of interest specifically to hackers, I'd've thought, hence the number of up-votes. I know that up-votes alone aren't enough to show that something is relevant or of value, but I thought this was.

Certainly I thought the discussion was interesting.

FWIW, it's not me who has down-voted you. Not least, of course, I can't since your comment is a reply to mine. Personally I think your comment should not be down-voted - it's certainly of value.

Arjuna6• 12 years ago

I'll start by saying that I didn't down-vote you, either. I appreciate the feedback that you have been giving our community in recent weeks.

That said, I have said the following before, but I will repeat it here. These launches are important, in a time when, "[...] in the U.S., I think there has been an under-current feeling for the last several years, that could perhaps be paraphrased as, "Where are we heading, as a nation?" I think it is easy for us to lose touch with the pulse of the nation when we are head-down in code at a start-up or elsewhere, but I think this feeling is real. So, this is perhaps at the root of at least some of this passion and excitement. It perhaps affirms, in some way to us, that the collective "We" are still builders." [1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4024834

mikeash2• 12 years ago

It's not a major story every time they do a launch, but this one was definitely a major story, being the first test of their landing legs during a real launch.

Punishing worthy, interesting stories because there are too many other stories about the company seems really wrong.

sitkack2• 12 years ago

That is a bummer. Compared to other stuff I see sitting on the front page for hours, I'd say a Space X launch that is testing first stage recovery is a pretty big deal.

BrandonMarc4• 12 years ago

What's with all the downvotes? He simply states his reasoning, and after a mea culpa later on, makes the change people ask for (un-flag the story). Disagreeing is one thing (and isn't that what comments & conversation is for?), but voting the comment down seems petty.

pbreit2• 12 years ago

I think that's over-moderation. There's obviously interest and reasonable minds can disagree on the importance. This is not "just another Space X launch". 1) it's going to the space station and 2) it includes the fascinating concept of the rocket landing back on earth.

lotsofmangos2• 12 years ago

Surely you are kidding? This isn't just any space-x launch.

Luc• 12 years ago

That Russian spy-boat Elon Musk tweeted about seems to be moving away from Cape Canaveral:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-79.71987/c...

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/457190623640969216

Anyone know where the stage is supposed to be coming down?

xtc3• 12 years ago

It's already south of Miami? That's a fast tugboat.

mikeyouse3• 12 years ago

Tugboat was a very generous description:

Some pictures: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/photos/of/ships/photo_keywor...

From a Naval Book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=tkGDkpkQh-sC&pg=PA272&lpg=P...

* 4 diesel engines

* 24,480bhp, 2 shafts

* 18 knot cruising speed

* World's most powerful salvage tug (at the time)

* Two 8-ton cranes, one 3-ton crane

BrandonMarc4• 12 years ago

Would it be possible to add "live webcast at 2:30pm ET / 11:30am PT"?

ColinWright10• 12 years ago

The original submission had something like that, but it's been changed by the mods to be less informative.

<fx:shrug />

exDM69• 12 years ago

Are there alternatives to livestream.com for the livestream?

It works only intermittently from northern Europe. It only plays back for a few seconds and then stops for buffering...

13throwaway2• 12 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7610769

13throwaway2• 12 years ago

VLC/mplayer live stream

pip install livestreamer

apt-get install rtmpdump

pip install python-librtmp

livestreamer ustream.tv/nasahdtv best

wolf550e• 12 years ago

python package python-librtmp needs ubuntu package librtmp-dev and python package cffi. python package cffi needs ubuntu package python-dev.

So:

  sudo apt-get install python-dev
  pip install cffi
  sudo apt-get install librtmp-dev
  pip install python-librtmp

avoutthere• 12 years ago

Congrats to the folks at SpaceX on another great launch.

timw6n• 12 years ago

Anyone know what the timeframe is for the test of the first-stage soft landing? The livestream was just showing the Dragon and seems to have ended now.

InclinedPlane5• 12 years ago

It'll already have happened by now. We'll see if they release footage or not. Usually the footage isn't very clear because of condensation and water spray.

biscotti• 12 years ago

Elons wife: Not sure what happened to main stage. Trying to confirm a visual, I think.

https://twitter.com/TalulahRiley/status/457245124406165505

xtc3• 12 years ago

Launch success. I'm incredibly excited to hear about first stage recovery attempt. This is going to be huge no matter the outcome.

joezydeco2• 12 years ago

My hunch is we won't see or hear much about it unless it's a (relative) success, then we'll have video from multiple drone POVs.

lutorm3• 12 years ago

Given that the hexacopter range isn't that great, I doubt you can fly a hexacopter in from outside the keep-out area.

InclinedPlane5• 12 years ago

At an absolute minimum this flight has shown that SpaceX is capable of testing reuse of the first stage on operational launches (including use of landing legs on the first stage) with no impact to the launch (provided there is sufficient payload margin, which there will be on any further Dragon launches). That's a big deal, it means they get tens of millions of dollars in free testing subsidized by their customers, and that gives them a huge leg up in working towards reusability.

pjscott2• 12 years ago

As of about an hour ago, this flight has also shown that they can successfully do a powered landing of the first stage. This has been one hell of a good day.

InclinedPlane5• 12 years ago

That's a massive understatement. This is history in the making.

bfe• 12 years ago

Alan Boyle reports "first-stage reignited during descent and video was being sent back." https://twitter.com/b0yle/statuses/457248899464314880

ChuckMcM• 12 years ago

Yes he did, and no video was forthcoming. I would have loved to skip the incredibly smooth and nominal Dragon launch for some good coverage of the first stage test.

th0ma5• 12 years ago

New cubesats deployed too!

techwatching• 12 years ago

News roundup: http://techwatching.com/page/spacexs-third-iss-supply-missio...

rory096• 12 years ago

Data upload from tracking plane shows landing in Atlantic was good! Several boats enroute through heavy seas.

Success!

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/457307742495993856

jhuckestein• 12 years ago

Good news: Elon just tweeted "Data upload from tracking plane shows landing in Atlantic was good! Several boats enroute through heavy seas."

sargun• 12 years ago

It sounds like it was successful "Data upload from tracking plane shows landing in Atlantic was good! Several boats enroute through heavy seas." - Elon Musk

Link: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/457307742495993856

swatkat• 12 years ago

Cool! Would like know how did the landing with legs go. By the way, here's the launch video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65zDaDSvIww

"Dirty" water "geyser" rose up as high as the rocket itself :) Looks like water from acoustic suppression system had created a puddle under rocket?!

SpaceX CRS-3 Mission

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