We have had quite a lot of bad weather here lately with thunder storms etc. This launch reminded me of the days of Apollo in that it generated quite a bit of its own thunder as it traveled down range. Windows rattled, etc. and it seemed to go on for longer then I remember previous launches.
The SpaceX "Water tower rocket" made a second and last free flight yesterday, reaching about 150m above ground level on a flight slightly under a minute. The remarkably informal assembly technique and final appearance make this more surprising than it might otherwise be.
There are about a half dozen flight videos available. If you are only going to watch one, I suggest that you watch the one taken by a stabilized camera on a SpaceX-operated drone. So far as I know they did not post it directly on youtube, but you can get to it in a couple of clicks starting with this link:
Then on the resulting page, click on the full-screen arrows at lower right, and if it is not running, try clicking on a "run" arrow.
The picture is so clear, and so improbable, that you may well suppose you are looking at an animation. You are not.
It landed hard, liberating a large pressure vessel associated with engine gimbal control, crushing the rather informal "beach ball" shock-absorbing structures under the legs, and probably doing some other damage. But it got where it meant to go, and did not vanish in a fireball. Victory!
The SpaceX "Water tower rocket" made a second and last free flight yesterday, reaching about 150m above ground level on a flight slightly under a minute. The remarkably informal assembly technique and final appearance make this more surprising than it might otherwise be.
There are about a half dozen flight videos available. If you are only going to watch one, I suggest that you watch the one taken by a stabilized camera on a SpaceX-operated drone. So far as I know they did not post it directly on youtube, but you can get to it in a couple of clicks starting with this link:
Then on the resulting page, click on the full-screen arrows at lower right, and if it is not running, try clicking on a "run" arrow.
The picture is so clear, and so improbable, that you may well suppose you are looking at an animation. You are not.
It landed hard, liberating a large pressure vessel associated with engine gimbal control, crushing the rather informal "beach ball" shock-absorbing structures under the legs, and probably doing some other damage. But it got where it meant to go, and did not vanish in a fireball. Victory!
Your are right in that the video almost appears to be an animation. This was also true of the rocket prototypes in texas. I could not believe my eyes, especially a vertical decent, but I have come to expect the unexpected with Elon and his team or rocketeers. Well done ladies and gentlemen!!!!
The SpaceX facilities in Florida seemed at risk from the current hurricane, but it passed up the coast far enough out to sea to keep the wind speeds down a lot from what they could have been. I've not yet seen any reports of damage they suffered, but amateur photos suggest things survived largely intact.
In keeping with the "back yard rocket factory" theme, this photo suggests that part of the hurricane prep at Cocoa (not Cocoa Beach) involved roping the stainless steel rings to pieces of concrete known here in the US as "Jersey barriers", commonly used on roadways to try to keep vehicles from going where they should not.
The red circles are pointing out welds--as the person who marked up the photo thought these rings seemed made from single pieces of roll steel with a single weld, rather than the panels of earlier fabrication. If you think the Jersey barriers look pretty small, consider that these rings are 9 meters in diameter.
If you find the SpaceX Cocoa Florida Spaceship factory interesting, you may like this video, taken September 5, 2019 (after the storm winds had passed).
The SpaceX "Back Yard Rocket" at Boca Chica (officially Starship MK 1) is currently being attended to by a truly large Leibherr crane. Some minutes ago the top part was lifted, presumably in preparation for actually stacking it on top of the tall cylinder part.
As all four of the major aerodynamic control surfaces are now attached, the lift happily allowed a neighbor photographer the chance to capture and post a picture showing the surfaces, the major vehicle pieces, and the array of cranes and man-lifts playing a part.
Warning, this is a high resolution picture. It will look better on a high total pixel count screen than on an old cell phone.
Meanwhile, there is a three-view live stream playing, which if you are patient might let you watch interesting work, or even the moment of actual lift and stacking:
Here is a link to a very closeup as-stacked photo Elon tweeted. This is an inside job, not a neighbor shot, and looks much sleeker than do excellent neighbor shots.
First SpaceX orbital launch in quite a while is currently scheduled for a little under 24 hours from now.
This is to be the second Starlink launch, with 60 communications satellites of SpaceX design and assembly going into quite low orbit. That is a heavy load requiring most of the available punch from a Falcon 9, so the landing barge is quite far downrange. Even farther downrange, for the first time two net-equipped fast catching boats will be out trying to keep both halves of the fairing from getting their feet wet.
On another first, the fairing (presumably both halves) on this flight is previously flown. Since only one net catch has ever succeeded from an actual launch, this must mean that at least one of the two halves in use this flight has taken a swim as part of the history.
This is a daylight launch, so just maybe we might get nice video of the barge landing and even perhaps, some from fairing catching (though I doubt real time on the fairing bit).
We have had quite a lot of
)
We have had quite a lot of bad weather here lately with thunder storms etc. This launch reminded me of the days of Apollo in that it generated quite a bit of its own thunder as it traveled down range. Windows rattled, etc. and it seemed to go on for longer then I remember previous launches.
The SpaceX "Water tower
)
The SpaceX "Water tower rocket" made a second and last free flight yesterday, reaching about 150m above ground level on a flight slightly under a minute. The remarkably informal assembly technique and final appearance make this more surprising than it might otherwise be.
There are about a half dozen flight videos available. If you are only going to watch one, I suggest that you watch the one taken by a stabilized camera on a SpaceX-operated drone. So far as I know they did not post it directly on youtube, but you can get to it in a couple of clicks starting with this link:
posting page for SpaceX dronecam video of last Starhopper flight
Then on the resulting page, click on the full-screen arrows at lower right, and if it is not running, try clicking on a "run" arrow.
The picture is so clear, and so improbable, that you may well suppose you are looking at an animation. You are not.
It landed hard, liberating a large pressure vessel associated with engine gimbal control, crushing the rather informal "beach ball" shock-absorbing structures under the legs, and probably doing some other damage. But it got where it meant to go, and did not vanish in a fireball. Victory!
archae86 wrote:The SpaceX
)
Your are right in that the video almost appears to be an animation. This was also true of the rocket prototypes in texas. I could not believe my eyes, especially a vertical decent, but I have come to expect the unexpected with Elon and his team or rocketeers. Well done ladies and gentlemen!!!!
The SpaceX facilities in
)
The SpaceX facilities in Florida seemed at risk from the current hurricane, but it passed up the coast far enough out to sea to keep the wind speeds down a lot from what they could have been. I've not yet seen any reports of damage they suffered, but amateur photos suggest things survived largely intact.
In keeping with the "back yard rocket factory" theme, this photo suggests that part of the hurricane prep at Cocoa (not Cocoa Beach) involved roping the stainless steel rings to pieces of concrete known here in the US as "Jersey barriers", commonly used on roadways to try to keep vehicles from going where they should not.
The red circles are pointing out welds--as the person who marked up the photo thought these rings seemed made from single pieces of roll steel with a single weld, rather than the panels of earlier fabrication. If you think the Jersey barriers look pretty small, consider that these rings are 9 meters in diameter.
If you find the SpaceX Cocoa
)
If you find the SpaceX Cocoa Florida Spaceship factory interesting, you may like this video, taken September 5, 2019 (after the storm winds had passed).
Two minute drone flyby of SpaceX Cocoa construction site
It is worth full-screening. The thing will play at 2160p if your setup and connection can support that.
The SpaceX "Back Yard Rocket"
)
The SpaceX "Back Yard Rocket" at Boca Chica (officially Starship MK 1) is currently being attended to by a truly large Leibherr crane. Some minutes ago the top part was lifted, presumably in preparation for actually stacking it on top of the tall cylinder part.
As all four of the major aerodynamic control surfaces are now attached, the lift happily allowed a neighbor photographer the chance to capture and post a picture showing the surfaces, the major vehicle pieces, and the array of cranes and man-lifts playing a part.
BocaChicaGal's amazing mid-lift photo posted at Twitter
Warning, this is a high resolution picture. It will look better on a high total pixel count screen than on an old cell phone.
Meanwhile, there is a three-view live stream playing, which if you are patient might let you watch interesting work, or even the moment of actual lift and stacking:
LabPadre live stream of the SpaceX Boca Chica operations
Starship MK 1 has been
)
Starship MK 1 has been stacked for a while now.
Here is a link to a very closeup as-stacked photo Elon tweeted. This is an inside job, not a neighbor shot, and looks much sleeker than do excellent neighbor shots.
Starship MK 1 stacked
I can't get over the look of
)
I can't get over the look of the thing. It's like a cartoon rocket. Or was Warner Brothers that prescient ? ;-][
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Mike Hewson wrote:I can't get
)
agreed. it looks like it is fabricated out of aluminum foil.
First SpaceX orbital launch
)
First SpaceX orbital launch in quite a while is currently scheduled for a little under 24 hours from now.
This is to be the second Starlink launch, with 60 communications satellites of SpaceX design and assembly going into quite low orbit. That is a heavy load requiring most of the available punch from a Falcon 9, so the landing barge is quite far downrange. Even farther downrange, for the first time two net-equipped fast catching boats will be out trying to keep both halves of the fairing from getting their feet wet.
On another first, the fairing (presumably both halves) on this flight is previously flown. Since only one net catch has ever succeeded from an actual launch, this must mean that at least one of the two halves in use this flight has taken a swim as part of the history.
This is a daylight launch, so just maybe we might get nice video of the barge landing and even perhaps, some from fairing catching (though I doubt real time on the fairing bit).
The SpaceX webcast link is here
Target launch time is 9:56 a.m. local time at the Cape, and 14:56 UTC.