Posted on 04/21/2014 6:36:31 AM PDT by Robe
SpaceX says it made two key strides toward the eventual reusability of the Falcon 9 rocket this week with the controlled splashdown of the rocket's first stage in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday
(Excerpt) Read more at spaceflightnow.com ...
/johnny
It’s a neat job of balancing sophisticated attitude controls and sensors with what looks to be a huge fuel supply (just for this demonstration, I’d imagine) under likely ideal conditions (no wind).
This is a far cry from boosting something to a position to launch into orbit. Also, as you correct ask, how does it do on water, where most first-stages seem to land. How well can it perform in jet stream winds - all that?
Not saying this can’t be done, even though it’s a little 1950s Sci Fi-ish in terms of landings. But it does remind me of the very first promises made by Shuttle proponents for cost efficacy, turn around times, and numbers of flights/year that could be attained. It NEVER even came close to meeting even a SMIDGEON (haha) of the promises.
What has been missing from the testing so far is the unpowered ballistic phase, and I would like to see how they did on that.
That they say they were successful gives me hope, since they can't BS the way a government agency can. They actually have stockholders to answer to.
/johnny
Oh, and the 'landing' test used the first stage booster that actually put the Falcon 9 spacecraft into orbit and mating with the ISS.
The testing on the first stage was essentially free, since they already met their milestone by getting the supplies to the ISS.
/johnny
You should have read the article.
1. Sweep it out.
2. Stand it up.
3. Hook it up to new boosters.
4. Clean the ashtrays.
6. Load new payload.
7. Launch.
Time to go, three days. LOL it took a full day to drive back out to the launch pad.
Why? I read the leader and watched the video. That was what all the hype was wasn’t it? I’m just commenting on the video and what I perceived as obstacles to overcome.
I can here’em testing from my house
That is pretty amazing.
Me too.
No, there was a live test this weekend on the re-entering 1st stage from the launch to re-supply the ISS.
/johnny
“Why? I read the leader and watched the video. “
But your post contradicted information in the article.
/johnny
Oh please....I went back and read it because you implied my post was incorrect somehow. I read it through and through and there were SEPARATE tests with DIFFERENT boosters from this lead-in that touts a land-based drone-filmed video that weren’t fully successful (read the part about where they talk about ‘next time’).
In the end, their attitude control system (nitrogen powered) could not fully control the splash state. How is this something that indicts what I said?
We’ve heard all this equivocation and optimism before - it was call the Shuttle.
The difference being, SpaceX will have to actually save money by reusing hardware.
Hardly equivocation and optimism.
/johnny
“Oh please....I went back and read it because you implied my post was incorrect somehow.”
From your original post: “This is a far cry from boosting something to a position to launch into orbit. Also, as you correct ask, how does it do on water, where most first-stages seem to land.”
From the article: “The first stage’s sporty descent maneuvers occurred as the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage continued into orbit with a Dragon supply ship heading for the International Space Station.”
Curious as to how salt water will affect engine components and electronics.
/johnny
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.