SpaceX Launching Dragon Capsule to ISS Today 79
Today at 10:10am ET (15:10 UTC) SpaceX will be launching an unmanned Dragon capsule, perched atop a Falcon9 rocket, to the International Space Station. The capsule is filled with about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the ISS crew, and it is scheduled to arrive early Saturday morning. The return trip, on March 25, will bring over 2,000 pounds of cargo back to Earth when Dragon re-enters the atmosphere and falls into the Pacific Ocean. Both NASA and SpaceX are covering the launch live. For text and pictures, you can watch on SpaceX Launch Central or NASA's launch blog. For streaming video, check out NASA TV. Spaceflight Now has both, and their live updates provide a bit more detail. SpaceX's press kit for the mission (PDF) explains how the launch will proceed:
"At 1 minute, 10 seconds after liftoff, Falcon 9 reaches supersonic speed. The vehicle will pass through the area of
maximum aerodynamic pressure—max Q—15 seconds later. This is the point when mechanical stress on the rocket peaks due to a combination of the rocket’s velocity and resistance created by the Earth’s atmosphere. Around 170 seconds into the flight, two of the first-stage engines will shut down to reduce the rocket’s acceleration. (Its mass, of course, has been continually dropping as its propellants are being used up.) The remaining engines will cut off around 3 minutes into the flight—an event known as main-engine cutoff, or MECO. At this point, Falcon 9 is 80 kilometers (50 miles) high, traveling at 10 times the speed of sound. Five seconds after MECO, the first and second stages will separate. Seven seconds later, the second stage’s single Merlin vacuum engine ignites to begin a 6-minute burn that brings Falcon 9 and Dragon into low-Earth orbit."
milestone (Score:3, Insightful)
This feels bigger and more important than a few communications satellites. Godspeed, Dragon!
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Re:milestone (Score:5, Funny)
SpaceX founder and CEO just tweeted: "Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override."
According to reliable inside sources, the Dragon capsule responded: "I'm sorry, Elon. I'm afraid I can't do that."
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yet his comment are true, Musk has ramped the price up, failed to keep his promises, delivered late, causes NASA problems by failing to deliver. He has a track record, but its not a good one.
When has SpaceX 'caused NASA problems by failing to deliver'?
Falcon/Dragon is still the cheapest US option for ISS resupply and has a better recent reliability record than Russian launchers.
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So it will be a day late. I guess all the astronauts are going to die because their pizza doesn't arrive on Saturday.
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Sure, Musk doesn't understand how to deal with adversity (shoot the messenger?!?), but his companies are doing amazing things.
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Hate to feed the trolls, but here you go:
http://www.businessinsider.com/possible-spacex-falcon-9-engine-explosion-2012-10
FTA:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/01/spacex-launch-cargo-delivery-mission/1955913/
This mission is still in progress. What they have there are called "issues" or "problems", not "failure". At least, not yet.
That's two failures in two launches.
You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
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Dude, an engine blew and it didn't take down the whole rocket. How does that not make your geek-bits excited?
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Roger Krone, have you taken to posting anonymously and referring to 2 year old articles have you. Smacks of desperation as yet another launch goes off without exploding.
Show me a launch company anywhere in history who didn't have failures in the development phase, who didn't increase prices and got there on time. His price might have increased since the proposal stages, but he is still cheaper than the swollen, over-sized pork-barrel receivers.
Re:And blaming Forbes (Score:5, Insightful)
What I don't like about Elon Musk's companies, is when they have problems (like with Tesla), instead of fixing them, they go and attack the reporter. So that Forbes article was astroturf bombed, so much so, that the reported had to write a follow up piece.
And what is he supposed to do when a reporter lies and fabricates evidence? Was GM wrong to go after NBC for rigging truck fuel tanks to explode on Dateline?
Hell, I think Top Gear got off too light for faking Tesla test results.
I can appreciate a healthy skepticism. I can appreciate that someone might have a preference for something, say gas vs. electric. But if you are putting out a show that looks like a legitimate test, fake the results and then act like it doesn't matter because you're just entertainment, you're a fucking asshole and should be treated like one. It demonstrates a disgusting contempt for the truth.
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Is that a production issue or a lack of sales issue?
My understanding was sales were limited until they could prove the product.
cargo (Score:2)
Anybody knows why they'll carry so much cargo back? [yes, please google that for me]
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Why don't they toss their garbage bags down towards earth? Wouldn't it enter the atmosphere within a few weeks and burn up?
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Why don't they toss their garbage bags down towards earth? Wouldn't it enter the atmosphere within a few weeks and burn up?
Orbital mechanics doesn't work that way. Throwing them "down" would cause them to go into a more elliptical orbit that could eventually take the garbage bags above the station with a downward vector. They could wind up hitting the station itself, and maybe damaging it.
You have to throw the garbage bags behind you so that they no longer have the velocity to be in the same orbit as you.
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You have to throw the garbage bags behind you so that they no longer have the velocity to be in the same orbit as you.
That (actually, down/back at a 45Â angle) was my second thought.
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From http://www.spacex.com/webcast/ [spacex.com] just now...
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Re:cargo (Score:4, Interesting)
Anybody knows why they'll carry so much cargo back? [yes, please google that for me]
I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of conservation of mass. What do you think they do with the mass they launch up there? convert it to energy using a Mr. Fusion? Or do you think they would just jettison 2000lbs into some random orbit? One of the biggest logistical challenges the ISS has, is that w/o the Space Shuttle, there has been limited "downmass" capability.
Although most of the downmass is the results of experiements and broken/obsolete equipment, all the garbage and of course the "digested" food they take up there need to come back down to the ground too. Just like camping in many remote national parks, if you pack it in, you must pack it out (poop included).
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Space is different (Score:2)
You can't take a spade, dig a small black hole and squat over it.
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I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of conservation of mass. What do you think they do with the mass they launch up there?
I thought they would just keep most of the stuff there. It's not like they lack... space. And yes, I know it means more energy for attitude control, but it also means longer periods without activations, right?
Or do you think they would just jettison 2000lbs into some random orbit?
No, they could throw it back to Earth. Obviously not at once, but in small burnable-on-reentry packets.
One of the biggest logistical challenges the ISS has, is that w/o the Space Shuttle, there has been limited "downmass" capability.
Although most of the downmass is the results of experiements and broken/obsolete equipment, all the garbage and of course the "digested" food they take up there need to come back down to the ground too. Just like camping in many remote national parks, if you pack it in, you must pack it out (poop included).
Difference is my poop doesn't incinerate itself if I trow it over the cliff. The case of broken/obsolete (and large or toxic) equipment and of experiment results are the only that make sense to me. Or
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Difference is there's no "cliff" from which to throw the poop, they have to accelerate the poop until it gets into an orbit where it interacts with the atmosphere.
Before making further comments about space, i'd recommend playing Kerbal Space Program some.
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Difference is there's no "cliff" from which to throw the poop, they have to accelerate the poop until it gets into an orbit where it interacts with the atmosphere.
If you give a bag of shite a nudge down towards earth, why doesn't the bag keep moving (Newton's First Law) towards the Earth and then burn up in the atmosphere?
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Have you ever seen gravity being explained with a bowlingball on a trampoline? There is your answer. If you shoot a marble into a smaller orbit, it'll have an ellipse orbit and so it might hit ISS again.
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If you shoot a marble
How elliptical? If highly so, then shouldn't it intersect with the atmosphere (thus burning up) in it's first orbit?
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Well, for biological un-recyclable stuff, could you not fire it retrograde at 79m/s. That should get it to into an orbit with perogee of 100km.
What could possibly go wrong!
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The full manifest of return cargo is posted here:
http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/returnmanifest.html
This is actually happening! (Score:3, Insightful)
The world is an increasingly disappointing place. But stories like this are just awesome. Let's just step back here, the story is about a fully automated rocket developed and launched for cheap by a private company, which is going to perform an automated docking procedure with a gigantic orbiting station to resupply its international crew of astronauts from countries who once blew eachother to bits but have somehow managed to remain largely peaceful for 60-70 years.
And it's routine enough by now that I had to click to expand the story on /.
Wow. Freaking badass.
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Re:This is actually happening! (Score:4, Interesting)
I also bitched about how much flash kills my phone battery :)
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try to watch a launch if you can (Score:2)
I did this a couple years ago. we were at the standard press area about 3 miles away. The rocket flare was much brighter than i had anticipated- almost too bright to watch. However it was quieter than I had thought.
This is a great day for the private space program (Score:2)
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Re:This is a great day for the private space progr (Score:4, Funny)
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At least the only head to roll will be the chap tasked with painting the name on the side.
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I believe the solar panels on Dragon were supposed to deploy but did not. There was a lot of chatter I did not understand and then a generic "the vehicle is orbital but experienced an anomaly, than you for joining us" message.
Although I'm also curious to know exactly what went wrong, I think it's wise of SpaceX to cut the feed until they have a solid understanding of what happened and what they can do to get the mission back on track.
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Brief post launch commentary reporting a problem (Score:5, Informative)
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Broder Strikes Back (Score:4, Funny)
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Sadly it looks like you're not completely wrong. Word is that the solar panels haven't deployed. It seems that they're trying to figure out if the module has enough battery power to attempt an ISS docking anyway. I don't know if the spacecraft has an ability to charge from the ISS, or if they would conceivably attempt a spacewalk to deploy the panels, but I'm sure they wouldn't risk stranding a capsule with flat batteries on one of the ISS's docking rings.
latest log (Score:2)
from "Spaceflight Now"
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013
1527 GMT (10:27 a.m. EST)
"It appears that although it achieved Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some kind problem right now," said John Insprucker, SpaceX's Falcon 9 product manager. We'lll have to learn about the nature of what happened. According to procedure, we expect a press conference to be held a few hours from now. At that time, further info may be available."
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013
1524 GMT (10:24 a.m. EST)
ANOMALY. SpaceX is reporting some type of a
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FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013
1543 GMT (10:43 a.m. EST)
SpaceX founder and CEO just tweeted: "Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override." Solar array deployment was delayed while engineers attempt to regain attitude control of Dragon.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013
1736 GMT (12:36 p.m. EST)
A NASA official says three Dragon thruster pods are required to approach the International Space Station.
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013
1726 GMT (12:26 p.m. EST)
The Dragon spacecraft's Draco thrusters are mounted on four pods. Two of the pods contain five thrusters and the other two contain four thrusters. According to SpaceX, the pods are positioned to provide complete control of the spacecraft's direction of motion (X, Y and Z axis), as well as orientation (roll, p
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All four thruster pods are now online and fully operational. They are transferring to a higher orbit as of 20 minutes ago according to Elon on Twitter.
Elon Musk â@elonmusk
Thruster pods one through four are now operating nominally. Preparing to raise orbit. All systems green.
Newest info (Score:1)
Apparently 3 of the 4 thruster pods didn't turn on, they are going to give a remote kick to make it get going. Failing that they'll send up Jeremy Clarkson to push it to the ISS
Solar Panels Arrays Deployed (Score:3)
Musk just tweeted that the solar arrays have been deployed. I assume that means that they have at least two thruster pods working and are able to maintain attitude control of the Dragon.
It will be interesting to learn the cause of the anomaly.
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