SpaceX Successfully Launches Falcon 9 Rocket

leetrout writes "SpaceX has successfully launched a two-stage rocket, the Falcon 9, into Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 'Liftoff came after hours of delay, sparked initially by launchpad telemetry problems, then by a sailboat that strayed into a restricted area of the launch range. The day's first countdown was aborted at virtually the last second, due to a problem with the engine parameters, but the launch software was adjusted and a second countdown went all the way to the end.'" Update: 06/04 20:16 GMT by S : Reader mrcaseyj points out Spaceflight Now's coverage, which includes a number of pictures from the launch.

Re:Most important launch in decades

[Monkey_Genius]

Only the engine cluster is designed to be 'reusable' -it separates from the first stage fuel tank after booster separation. The cork material is thermal insulation for the cryogenic LOX used in the first stage.

Re:Most important launch in decades

[mrcaseyj]

The cork is for protection during reentry. From the Spacex updates page:

It is important to emphasize that the cork is not needed for ascent and there is no risk to flight even if it all came off. This is for thermal protection on reentry to allow for the possibility of recovery and reuse. While stage recovery is not a primary mission objective on this inaugural launch, it is part of our long-term plans, and we will attempt to recover the first stage on this initial Falcon 9 flight.

Re:Video?

[Afforess]

The video for the launch is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP5gykvTBpM [youtube.com]

Re:Cool

[CompressedAir]

They have several demonstration flights this year, but the first "official" CRS cargo carrying flight will be in 2011 if all goes well. That's been the plan for a while, and I should know, because part of my job is to stuff it with stuff.

(I say "official" because there is talk about carrying a few brave payloads on the demonstration flights, but that isn't part of the contract.)

Re:Most important launch in decades

[mrcaseyj]

Also on the Spacex updates page you can see the parachutes mounted in the interstage, implying that the entire first stage will be parachuted down. I would think the engine cluster would sink without the fuel tanks for buoyancy.

Re:Cool

[nofx_3]

They have a capsule tech called Dragon that can hold 7 crew. They actually had a dummy Dragon capsule at the top of the Falcon 9 launched today. I think the life support stuff is still a ways off, but they should be capable of launching crewed missions a few years into the future.

Utterly useless cheering

[NervousWreck]

WHOOHOO YEAH!!!!

(maybe the NASA cuts won't eviscerate spaceflight after all)

Re:Most important launch in decades

[tomhudson]

Since 1957, you Space Nutters have had FIVE decades to show us these "benefits". Besides stoking the imagination of dreamers and deluded petulant children like GameboyRMH, there's precious little it has accomplished. Does it make clothes? Food? Materials?

Look at that thing that's attached to your keyboard and mouse. The computer. The impetus for it's development was space. ICBMs can't fly in the atmosphere - they go into space. The little computers in your car that do everything from running the engine to your mp3 player? An offshoot. The ceramics that make the light turbines possible? Ditto. Better methods to monitor patients? Better ways to test materials? Better ways to model materials?

The space race did three things

1. it gave us a different "war" instead of fighting each other on the ground - a race in space.
2. it gave us a different way to look at ourselves and our planet. That picture from the moon's surface makes it different. We're all in it together.
3. it forced us to miniaturize, harden, and perfect computers and electronics for harsh environments. Your home computer gets the benefits. Transistors are now much cheaper than even staples.

And this is all in addition to the benefit of now being able to say: Nuke it from orbit - it's the only way to be sure! [google.com]

Re:Most important launch in decades

[fredmosby]

But most of the cost of solid rocket motors is the fuel, so making them reusable doesn't save much on launch costs. This would be a reusable liquid fueled rocket, where most of the cost is the rocket motors.

Re:Most important launch in decades

[0123456]

But most of the cost of solid rocket motors is the fuel, so making them reusable doesn't save much on launch costs.

From what I remember, NASA would probably save money if they stopped recovering the SRBs and just built new ones each time. They're basically just big metal tubes which require a lot of refurbishing before they're ready to fly again, so there's a substantial cost to reusing them.

Re:Cool.

[h4rr4r]

Huh?
No one wants to killed manned NASA flights, just the boondoggle that is their latest vehicle project. It only serves to keep shuttle makers in business.

Re:Most important launch in decades

[680x0]

ATK's Rockets that are used for shuttle launches are called "Reusable Solid Rocket Motors"

Kind of an oxymoron there considering they are lost into the ocean and gone forever - reusable?

See this page [nasa.gov] for pictures of NASA ships doing the impossible: towing recovered solid rocket boosters back to Kennedy Space Center.

Re:Odd-looking roll

[Nyeerrmm]

Considering how well they hit their orbit, and that they hit it early (engine appeared to cut-off before the official time), it had to be an on-axis roll. Otherwise they would have been wasting their thrust and would have taken longer to achieve the desired orbit.

I'd guess that it was something expected but not necessarily on purpose.

Re:Cool.

[timeOday]

Put another way, when was Ares' first orbit?

The article says SpaceX got $278 million from NASA to develop the rocket. Apparently we spent $1.500 billion on Ares in FY10 alone [parabolicarc.com], and spent $445 million [cnet.com] on a single sub-orbital test flight for Ares in '09.

Re:Odd-looking roll

[goodmanj]

From Elon Musk's press telecon, as transcribed by flatoday.net:

"We achieved a "near bulls-eye" on the orbit. There was a little more roll than was expected. It didn't affect the mission. It is something to be investigated and refined. We're very happy with the second stage performance."

This isn't a spin-stabilized spacecraft, so I'd call what I saw more than just a "little roll"... still, damned impressive that the launcher can make an orbital bullseye while having that much uncontrolled spin.

Re:Utterly useless cheering

[Narishma]

What cuts? I thought Obama increased NASA's budget? Did I miss something?