SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch

[audreyh1]

I'm impressed. Watching the two boosters land side by side, and the the third on the mobile pad was quite awesome (I did lose the video at the exact landing of the third).

I guess the gov't is now out of the space business. Except the really risky stuff like going to Mars.

Everyone lost the video at the exact landing of the third. That’s quite common.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Everyone lost the video at the exact landing of the third. That’s quite common.

They probably did it on purpose so if it fell over they could straiten it out to prepare for the money shot.

Noooooo, just kidding it was fantastic!

 

[audreyh1]

They probably did it on purpose so if it fell over they could straiten it out to prepare for the money shot.

Noooooo, just kidding it was fantastic!

Of all the videos I’ve only seen one where you actually saw the booster land on the drone ship. Most of the time excessive vibration seems to cut the video feed momentarily.

 

[ERD50]

Of all the videos I’ve only seen one where you actually saw the booster land on the drone ship. Most of the time excessive vibration seems to cut the video feed momentarily.

Yes, I watched the delayed feed, so I knew it was on their end. But I gasped, thinking it was like the one that didn't make it, and the blast blew out the video feed.

They should find a way to get a few cameras on some sort of stabilized mount, they have the engineering talent for it, and it would be great to catch it all. Yes, I know, low priority, but PR is a big part of this. Just wish they would do it.

I choke up a bit watching those two rockets land. I guess it's just impressive to see all that hard work and brains and logistics come together successfully. Very impressive!

-ERD50

 

[Major Tom]

I choke up a bit watching those two rockets land. I guess it's just impressive to see all that hard work and brains and logistics come together successfully. Very impressive!
-ERD50

+1

I watched the launch last year with my best friend. She has little to no interest in space travel, SpaceX, Elon Musk, or anything like that, and she was mesmerized. When the 2 boosters landed perfectly, she shrieked with excitement. I think it's the closest we've all come to the time when man landed on the moon, and people the world over were captivated, regardless of their interest in space and things scientific.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I cheered at the dual landing. Finally we can do what was common in those 1950's comic books and sci fi paperbacks of my youth.

I have to believe that enhanced processing power made this mostly possible as I presume this was mostly onboard controlled with redundancy to allow myriads of timely accurate adjustments. And kudos to the metallurgists as well!

 

[Texas Proud]

I did miss the actual launch as I had mentioned my feed was really glitchy...


But, I was impressed with the landings which I was able to see...

 

[ShokWaveRider]

FINALLY, something we all agree on. That is an achievement in itself!

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I watched the delayed feed, so I knew it was on their end. But I gasped, thinking it was like the one that didn't make it, and the blast blew out the video feed.

They should find a way to get a few cameras on some sort of stabilized mount, they have the engineering talent for it, and it would be great to catch it all. Yes, I know, low priority, but PR is a big part of this. Just wish they would do it.

I choke up a bit watching those two rockets land. I guess it's just impressive to see all that hard work and brains and logistics come together successfully. Very impressive!

-ERD50

Just think about that drone ship and what happens out there. It just doesn't surprise me that they lose video momentarily on impact.

 

[Chuckanut]

And the satellite was safely sent on its way. A minor point, but still important. [emoji16]

 

[Col. Klink]

So, I am going through my news feed this morning prior to getting on the ER.org forum and there is not one feed about the launch and recovery by SpaceX. There is a story of what happened to Scott Kelly's body after a year in space and another about the Israeli spacecraft that crashed on the moon and finally another about "space discoveries that will blow your mind". What do you all think this is with the lack of reporting on this achievement?

 

[Dawg52]

I missed it but found footage on youtube. Pretty amazing from start to finish.

 

[CaptTom]

Just think about that drone ship and what happens out there. It just doesn't surprise me that they lose video momentarily on impact.

Watching that last three-booster recovery (wow!) I got to thinking about the drone ship some more.

First, landing on a moving platform must be a challenge. Think about one of the three legs touching just as a wave heaves that side of the ship up. The destabilizing force that would impart to the whole thing must be significant. Somehow they've engineered that problem away.

Then think about the ship itself. I've been on a boat with a helicopter close overhead. The dynamic forces are amazing. Now replace that with a rocket motor shooting flames. Maybe all that downward force even stabilizes the platform some. Still, I can see why they use a "drone" ship!

 

[Chuckanut]

So, I am going through my news feed this morning prior to getting on the ER.org forum and there is not one feed about the launch and recovery by SpaceX. There is a story of what happened to Scott Kelly's body after a year in space and another about the Israeli spacecraft that crashed on the moon and finally another about "space discoveries that will blow your mind". What do you all think this is with the lack of reporting on this achievement?

It’s a great success! Thousands of hard working people
helped accomplish this feat. It reflects positively on the USA. But, there is nothing to stoke outrage and split people apart. Thus, there is nothing to report. Move on. Nothing of importance happened.

 

[njhowie]

They also recovered the fairing ... $6 million worth which will be re-flown on a later mission.

https://www.space.com/spacex-reuse-payload-fairing-starlink-launch.html

 

[tulak]

It is a shame there isn’t more coverage in regular news outlets. I use a news aggregator (google), where it does show up, but you’re right, it’s not really picked up my the major news outlets.

I also read arstechnica, which does cover these stories.

They had a write-up regarding the launch and apparently, the fairings were also recovered. It looks like they weren’t caught, but SpaceX thinks they’re still reusable. Anything to drive down costs is good IMO.

Here’s a link to the article: https://arstechnica.com/science/201...vys-controlled-explosion-of-four-tons-of-tnt/

 

[Silver]

We watch them from our back lanai. Although we are some 90 miles north, we can still see them clearly when looking south. Watching those booster return landings on site would be something else. Has to be the best Tech. out there. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the last 2 land.

We watched from our front yard, along with many of our community in Orlando. Watching the launches is one of the luxuries we really enjoy.

 

[6miths]

That was pretty cool. thanks for the link. too bad the video was lost on the main booster landing. But an amazing technical feat.

 

[audreyh1]

And the satellite was safely sent on its way. A minor point, but still important. [emoji16]

Yeah, that was the first commercial use!

After just one test run of Falcon Heavy and an extensive redesign!

 

[audreyh1]

OK - for folks wondering how hard it is to land a booster rocket on the drone ship, this SpaceX bloopers video includes quite a few spectacular failures. I particularly like the "waltzing" booster rocket, which I suppose made it.

 

[6miths]

Thanks - those were great. I had seen some of them. And to think that the video cams (and the ship) survived some of those crashes.

 

[CardsFan]

OK - for folks wondering how hard it is to land a booster rocket in the drone ship, this SpaceX bloopers video includes quite a few spectacular failures. I particularly like the "waltzing" booster rocket.

That was fantastic to watch. Thanks for sharing. Proves the old adage that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes.

 

[Bamaman]

We live an hour west of Huntsville, Alabama, and we often see United Launch Alliance's rockets come by our lake house on self propelled barges to where they go down the Tenn./Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile and eventually to Cape Canaveral.

Local television and radio, bills Huntsville as one of America's Smartest Cities, and it's known as The Rocket City. NASA's responsibility for design and engineering of Rockets has bled over to Missiles, Ultra fast airplanes, cruise missiles, smart bombs and the THAD Iron Dome defensive system. Think tanks here are designing armaments for future warfare. The Army's helicopter designs, night vision, and armaments testing is also done here. The whole city is defense based in economy.

Space X is also a very important project as a way to have competition in rocketry. Competition brings lower prices and new ideas, like landing boosters for reuse. The government doesn't have all their eggs in one basket, and we shortly will get away from having to use Russian rocket engines in our big rockets. But don't think that Space X is not staffed with many, many ex-NASA rocket scientists. And don't think that they have been funded with private funds, as the U.S. Government is also supporting them financially in a big way.

The only rocket I ever saw launched was the Saturn V around 1973 that put up the Skylab. It was an incredible sight, and substantially bigger and stronger than any rockets in our current arsenal. Huntsville has a Saturn V assembled at the Alabama Space Museum and another inside a building laying on its side. Hard to believe that beast ever got off the ground.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Recovering the fairing has been a goal of SpaceX for quite some time, and this was a first. Almost a shame it had to happen on the same flight as the Heavy where all three cores were also successfully landed.

 

[eytonxav]

Just watched the replay, unbelievable!