Falcon Heavy - 7&8 Reuse - Elon's Roadster Demo - LC-39A

[Electroman]

Actually a split screen with both would be great.

 

[ecarfan]

Oops. I forgot that FH launch had/has a second channel on their launch video. It's not exactly a technical version but it shows the control center in Hawthorne throughout the entire launch. It's at the bottom of the Youtube video: a folder icon with a double arrow. Click on that and choose the second channel.

When I view the SpaceX YouTube video of the FH launch on my iPad in the YouTube app I do not the icon you refer to. Maybe it is only available in a desktop browser?

 

[Grendal]

When I view the SpaceX YouTube video of the FH launch on my iPad in the YouTube app I do not the icon you refer to. Maybe it is only available in a desktop browser?

Must be so. If I go to YouTube right now on my desktop or laptop, it's there. The call out they make, which are the only sounds, are also in the webcast version. You just can't hear most over the happy cheering. So the technical is fun to have a slightly different perspective but not much more detail. Though it is very cool to see Gwynne Shotwell throw her arms up as her team scores!

 

[Mike1080i]

When I view the SpaceX YouTube video of the FH launch on my iPad in the YouTube app I do not the icon you refer to. Maybe it is only available in a desktop browser?

Must be so. If I go to YouTube right now on my desktop or laptop, it's there. The call out they make, which are the only sounds, are also in the webcast version. You just can't hear most over the happy cheering. So the technical is fun to have a slightly different perspective but not much more detail. Though it is very cool to see Gwynne Shotwell throw her arms up as her team scores!

I too enjoyed watching the Mission Control team's reactions. I would like to see a similar view of the LCC at the Cape.
Here is the direct link to the Countdown Net Audio version, for some reason it's unlisted.
The actual launch begins around 29:00 into the video.

 

[e-FTW]

I totally had something in my eye a few times watching Gwynne and team react to launch events...

Also, get the shirt! Only 24 hours left: Starman Shirt
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[ecarfan]

At 38:32 in that video a voice said “We lost the center core.” I did not hear that statement in the launch webcast. So SpaceX knew immediately that the center core didn’t make it. I think the webcast hoss heard that statement but chose not to say anything during the webcast. And that’s okay; the emphasis was on a successful mission.

 

[Brass Guy]

I do remember hearing that, but someone questioned if they meant loss of signal or loss of the core itself. I thought the wording was clear. I guess they wanted to hold on to some hope.

 

[Grendal]

I do remember hearing that, but someone questioned if they meant loss of signal or loss of the core itself. I thought the wording was clear. I guess they wanted to hold on to some hope.

I was holding onto hope. Also the timing, as I mentioned at the time, was very quick from the announcer stating that the landing burn had begun to saying "we lost the center core." Now that we know that two of the engines did not ignite the timing makes sense. Without the engines, the booster came in very fast and hit the water hard.

 

[Joerg]

And strangely nobody seemed to react to "center core lost"... just 3 guys turned around a second after, but no worried faces or such. As if they expected it to fail. Or good briefing beforehand to not show anything on negative news.
Either way, great video, good insight, lots of emotions.

 

[ecarfan]

I do remember hearing that, but someone questioned if they meant loss of signal or loss of the core itself. I thought the wording was clear.

While I acknowledge that the statement could possibly be interpreted either way, if the intent was to say “lost signal” I think it would have been specifically stated that way. The people in mission control are surely trained to communicate accurately and clearly. “Lost the core” must mean “the core did not land successfully”. They would have been receiving telemetry on the speed and known it was way too high for a successful landing.

Also the timing, as I mentioned at the time, was very quick from the announcer stating that the landing burn had begun to saying "we lost the center core."

Agreed. As soon as they knew that based on telemetry only one of three engines lit for the landing burn and they could see that the core was not decelerating as planned they would know it would not be able to land successfully.

And strangely nobody seemed to react to "center core lost"... just 3 guys turned around a second after, but no worried faces or such.

Well, I could only barely make out facial expressions of some of the people closest to the camera. But the mission was already a success. The mission controllers have already experienced multiple landing failures in 2015 and 2016. They are not going to get overly emotional if a landing attempt fails.

 

[Pollux]

If that happens — though the information I have read states it is a very low probability — the Roadster will not “crash into Earth” because whatever remains of the car will burn up in the atmosphere. Nothing will reach the ground. After 100,000 years or so all that will be left of the car will be the aluminum frame and any steel components associated with the frame and the suspension. Everything else will have deteriorated and be gone.

I hope by then Tesla has finally managed to qualify a low-cost aluminum body repair shop.

Alan

 

[HankLloydRight]

I wonder what the condition of the drone ship would have been if the center core landed on the ship and not the water? Total loss?

 

[AudubonB]

Well, there was one stolid character there indeed.

The fellow in the light shirt, second from left in the second row - there was only one brief moment in the entire shoot where he lost composure - he almost cracked a smile.

 

[scaesare]

I wonder what the condition of the drone ship would have been if the center core landed on the ship and not the water? Total loss?

Hopefully with video.

 

[bonnie]

I hope by then Tesla has finally managed to qualify a low-cost aluminum body repair shop.

Alan

The Roadster has a carbon fiber body.

 

[ecarfan]

I wonder what the condition of the drone ship would have been if the center core landed on the ship and not the water? Total loss?

A 300mph impact would have been bad news for sure, but without knowing more about the structure of the landing deck its hard to say what sort of damage would have resulted. I suspect the ASDS hull would have remained intact — assuming an impact somewhere near the center of the target area — but the deck would probably have been penetrated. However I am only guessing.

It’s really a good thing that the core landed a few hundred yards away from the ship.

 

[nwdiver]

It’s really a good thing that the core landed a few hundred yards away from the ship.

Not sure about the accuracy of a YouTube source but the explanation makes sense... according to him the procedure for landing at sea is to NOT aim for the drone ship until all engines are confined lit and operating correctly so if something goes wrong it will miss the drone ship.

One item I found interesting if true is that the F9 cannot hover... the minimum thrust of a single engine is too high.

 

[Brass Guy]

Not sure about the accuracy of a YouTube source but the explanation makes sense... according to him the procedure for landing at sea is to NOT aim for the drone ship until all engines are confined lit and operating correctly so if something goes wrong it will miss the drone ship.

One item I found interesting if true is that the F9 cannot hover... the minimum thrust of a single engine is too high.

I suspected there was a sort of failsafe for protecting the drone ship. There are probably contingencies for many possible problems.

I recall reading that a single Merlin engine at minimum has a higher thrust than an empty F9's mass, so I buy that too.

 

[palmer_md]

I was holding onto hope. Also the timing, as I mentioned at the time, was very quick from the announcer stating that the landing burn had begun to saying "we lost the center core." Now that we know that two of the engines did not ignite the timing makes sense. Without the engines, the booster came in very fast and hit the water hard.

Its interesting that you can see the picture of the ASDS in the reflection from the glass. He actually says they lost center core before the sky/picture goes totally grey, and then later the "dust" clears and you see an empty landing pad. Same thing as in the hosted webcast where the picture of the landing zone can be seen to the right of the hosts on the screen.

 

[dhanson865]

I wonder what the condition of the drone ship would have been if the center core landed on the ship and not the water? Total loss?

no, they just resurface it. If the center core hit that fast it'd punch a hole through similar to a bullet hole. See

about 4:13 for a pic of the hole in the deck from the last time that happened.


99% of the spots it could hit would have a similar effect. It makes a mess but it's repairable. A perfect strike of an engine/fuel tank might cause more damage but I think even then they fix it up instead of scrapping it. It just costs more to replace an engine or part of the fuel systems.