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SpaceX Livestreams Sunday's Rocket Launch (space.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Space.com:
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 10 satellites for Iridium Communications is scheduled to liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 1:25 p.m. PDT (4:25 p.m. EDT/2025 GMT). The live webcast is expected to begin about 1 hour before the opening of the launch window, and you can watch it on SpaceX's website, or at Space.com. This is the second of eight planned Iridium launches with SpaceX. The launches will deliver a total of 75 satellites into space for the $3 billion Iridium NEXT global communications network. "Iridium NEXT will replace the company's existing global constellation in one of the largest technology upgrades ever completed in space," according to a statement from Iridium. "It represents the evolution of critical communications infrastructure that governments and organizations worldwide rely upon to drive business, enable connectivity, empower disaster relief efforts and more."
After the mission the booster rocket will attempt to land on a droneship. The droneships name is "Just Read The Instructions."
After the mission the booster rocket will attempt to land on a droneship. The droneships name is "Just Read The Instructions."
We will be living on Mars any time now!
...somebody wanted to name the droneship RTFM and the politically correct management screwed it up.
The surface of Mars
or
The surface of Earth
Slow news day.
Reminds me of news in Iceland. I remember one time reading an article about how two Icelanders were at an episode of the Tonight Show or something like that. Not on the show, just in the audience ;) Checking the news right now, I see one article about an unattended rooster seen walking around a national park.
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
Anyway, spoiling it for those who didn't see it: nice clean landing (despite the stormy weather at the landing ship and the new experimental titanium grid fins), SECO completed as nominally, awaiting startup 2 after the S2 coast phase (40 mins).
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
Slow news day.
Maybe for you. I find launches like this to be Must See TV. Doesn't matter if it's SpaceX or someone else. If you don't find satellite launches fascinating then you are either impossible to impress or you don't understand what is happening. Or maybe you are just being snarky for no good reason.
An incredibly scenic country, and kudos for the well-done hiking trails. Now if only you could teach the British to build trails that were not designed to funnel rain directly down the trail to create a mud bog at every local low point.
And your whales are really tasty - like filet mignon.
Not sure which trails you went on, but glad you enjoyed them. :) They're of course mixed quality - the Reykjadalur one used to be a "mud bog" trail, but they've since fixed it because it got popular. But in general we do a good job, I think. Especially given that "mud bog" is kind of the default state around here ;)
Speaking of that... ;)
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
And there is goes, all 10 satellites successfully deployed. Another nice mission.
Can't wait until the first Falcon Heavy launch... now that's going to be something that Slashdot ought to have an article on ;)
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
Yes, we descended Reykjadalur on the first day after climbing Hengill, as well as touring the Hellisheiði power plant. Snow and sleet in June, and I've never seen so many different shades of moss.
After the mission the booster rocket will attempt to land on a droneship. The droneships name is "Just Read The Instructions."
You know, if you can't go with, "Read The Fucking Manual," the joke loses something.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Looks like spacex got their ducks in a row in.terms of launches. This will allow them to catch up past due launches and get money flowing again. Hopefully this year, they will get FH flying, followed by dragon 2 in early part of 2018. Add to that Boca launch site and SX is then sitting pretty.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
How is it that the Falcon 9 first stage can re-enter the atmosphere at over 6000 km/h and not be burnt to a crisp? Cryo?
Tell you what. This is important news. *The* hot technology in space currently is reducing the cost of access to space. Its enabling, and its disruptive. I believe we'll be able to look back at these times and see an important inflection point in space community.
Especially because the rest of the launch providers are going to be forced to react to improve their offerings as well.
Something fell of the secondary @27:17
It seems this is Falcon 9 block 5, because of the titanium fins.
Block 5 also has 8% more thrust and " thermal-protection coating instead of paint on the first stage to help protect it from reentry heating"
This is probably the first recovered stage that won't need refurbishing
If you leave out the reusable rockets we've been shooting satellites into orbit for 60 years.
Yes and what is your point? It's still cool as shit. If you think it isn't cool as shit I have to wonder why you are posting someplace like slashdot.
And not to piss on SpaceX's parade, but even this rocket's unlaunched big brother isn't nearly as big as the Saturn Vs they launched in the 60s.
Again so what? Just because something has been done before doesn't mean it is no longer interesting.
The day Musk tries to land on Mars instead of Earth then I'll be glued to my seat.
Oh so you're just being a hard to impress hipster. I get it. So sorry you are so bored by life.
Does anyone know how the deployment is planned to happen ?
From the webcast it seems they waited to be around the opposite side from launch, probably at apoapsis, then release the 10 sats in short bursts.
Were they in a stable orbit at the time (would force you to deorbit stage 2) ? or were they with a low apoapsis (you only get one shot to stabilize) ?
How do they plan to distribute the sats equidistantly along the orbit ?
Please explain this to a Kerbin University graduate