nwdiver
Well-Known Member
yeah; It really was perfect. We could see the fairings separate! I was confused until some of the Space X guys watching mentioned that’s what the points of light were. They were brighter than any star.
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SpaceX F9 - 16th Reuse - SAOCOM 1A - SLC-4E
- Thread starter Grendal
- Start date
yeah; It really was perfect. We could see the fairings separate! I was confused until some of the Space X guys watching mentioned that’s what the points of light were. They were brighter than any star.
palmer_md
Member
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Pro Tip; Don’t plan on charging in Buellton after a launch.
The line was ~60+ deep. I didn’t need a charge... just passed by.
The line was ~60+ deep. I didn’t need a charge... just passed by.
When I went to a VAFB launch in July 2017 I charged before the launch, and then stopped at Atascadero on the way home; there were about 5 cars in line and I thought that was bad! 
The cars you saw waiting in line clearly absolutely had to charge before starting their drive home; they may have waited for hours to plug in. Yikes. That tells me there was a huge turn out for this launch and there are a lot more Teslas on the road than there were a year ago. Which is not exactly breaking news.
The cars you saw waiting in line clearly absolutely had to charge before starting their drive home; they may have waited for hours to plug in. Yikes. That tells me there was a huge turn out for this launch and there are a lot more Teslas on the road than there were a year ago. Which is not exactly breaking news.
Holy cow that was a line up... reminescent of the fuel shortage at pumps years ago with cars lined up down the street!
Very smart to charge before hand. Read that all of SpaceX had driven up there to see it...so if Hawthorne was there they had a good ride home in addition to the regular folks making the trip.
Very smart to charge before hand. Read that all of SpaceX had driven up there to see it...so if Hawthorne was there they had a good ride home in addition to the regular folks making the trip.
100 miles to Oxnard.When I went to a VAFB launch in July 2017 I charged before the launch, and then stopped at Atascadero on the way home; there were about 5 cars in line and I thought that was bad!
The cars you saw waiting in line clearly absolutely had to charge before starting their drive home; they may have waited for hours to plug in. Yikes. That tells me there was a huge turn out for this launch and there are a lot more Teslas on the road than there were a year ago. Which is not exactly breaking news.
Buellton Supercharger is 25 miles from VAFB.
Events always have people coming at various times, but trying to leave at the same time.
My rule would be to try to charge before and arrive with a high state of charge so I could skip the nearby charger on the way home.
Possibly also hang around afterwards and avoid the jam out.
Camera-Cruiser
Fully Charged
I wonder how the Marriott did last night?
My biggest concern though, is that ICE owner’s see this and say “Hell No.” I keep wondering why the psychology of free Supercharging is such a big deal to me. I’ve only Supercharged 20 or so times in 3 years.
Must be the psychology part.
My biggest concern though, is that ICE owner’s see this and say “Hell No.” I keep wondering why the psychology of free Supercharging is such a big deal to me. I’ve only Supercharged 20 or so times in 3 years.
Must be the psychology part.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
It was a mess... there were cars blocked in trying to get out... dunno how that was gonna happen anytime soon. But this was a little more avoidable than Harris Ranch type bottlenecks before Kettleman city. People would have been fine if they had planned to have enough charge to make Oxnard. Heading West there’s 48 bays within range of Vandenberg.
Tesla should be more proactive too. No doubt some of these backups can’t be predicted....this shouldn’t have surprised anyone. An attendant collecting cell phone numbers and asking people to park would have likely alleviated a lot of stress and obviously prevented 60 cars from blocking in the hotel parking lot.
I wonder if some people just decided to stay at the hotel that night and leave in the morning. Probably rooms available on a Sunday night. Friday and Saturday doubt it. If we could have swung it and not been a problem missing Monday at work, we would have driven down there Sunday and stayed the night. We did stay there during the summer for a few days and nice accommodations. Was nice to charge after running up the coast to do things during the day. Plus lots to do in the immediate vicinity. But if you aren't heading South closest northbound Supercharger would be Madonna exit in San Luis Obisbo now, which is probably 60 some miles from there.
Given that SpaceX will likely be using Vandenberg more frequently now that they've had successful return to pad there, it would be nice if Tesla would add more Superchargers near there for SpaceX employees and fans to use without tying up the Buelton Supercharger that people routinely traveling through the area that depend on it.
Given that SpaceX will likely be using Vandenberg more frequently now that they've had successful return to pad there, it would be nice if Tesla would add more Superchargers near there for SpaceX employees and fans to use without tying up the Buelton Supercharger that people routinely traveling through the area that depend on it.
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palmer_md
Member
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Or a viewing area with HPWCs.... wouldn’t take much.... most people just needed a few more miles to make Oxnard.
This video posted on fb by Emeric's Timelapse from downtown LA is pretty cool. Has to be my favorite so far.
Those two airplane flying by on the left looked like Starfleet Enterprise-class ships! LOL
Those two airplane flying by on the left looked like Starfleet Enterprise-class ships! LOL
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NeverFollow
Active Member
Any information regarding the fairing recovery attempt?
Mr. Steven, SpaceX’s fairing recovery vessel has been fitted with a 4x larger net.
Mr. Steven, SpaceX’s fairing recovery vessel has been fitted with a 4x larger net.
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As noted at the beginning of the web cast, there was no fairing recovery attempt for this flight. No reason was given.
NeverFollow
Active Member
I wonder if a mid-air retrieval could be used, or does the size and weigh of the fairing make it impossible.
Camera-Cruiser
Fully Charged
I like free SuperCharging, yet avoid doing it all costs. I go between OC and Cambria often, and Buellton is my stop, but I have never seen the mess you saw. Actually, I often find myself the only Tesla there.
I wonder how many portable battery based SuperChargers they could fit on 65' trailer behind a Tesla Semi? Throw on a port-potty and Keurig, and you've got the perfect mobile SuperCharging Station for events.
Or if I were to start a business providing that service, I wonder if it would pencil out at .28 cents a KWH?
Vandenburg is only used by SpaceX for launches to polar orbits, which are far less common than more equatorial orbits. Have RTLS capability at Vandenburg is unlikely to mean that SpaceX will launch more frequently from that location.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure it’s only like that after a launch. IIRC Tesla used car transporters a few years ago during the holidays when Harris Ranch was having issues. Ferried cars 6 or 8 at a time to the next SC. I still think the best long term solution in this case is a local viewing area with L2. Even 16A would probably be enough.
Buy an acre and offer reserved L2 parking for $50.... I bet you could easily sell 20 spaces per launch.
Nikxice
Active Member
During his recent conference talk Hans Koenigsmann put up a slide indicating SpaceX was currently performing drop tests with the reconfigured Mr. Steven. Actual fairing catch attempts are planned again for later this year. The SpaceX launch manifest shows two more VAFB flights for Nov. and Dec. 2018.
I'll bet it's just an optical illusion. Crooked would likely mean that one or more of the landing leg crush cores was deformed more than usual. That landing looked extremely soft and with no bounce, the equivalent of rolling it on flying a fixed-wing aircraft.
I'll bet it's just an optical illusion. Crooked would likely mean that one or more of the landing leg crush cores was deformed more than usual. That landing looked extremely soft and with no bounce, the equivalent of rolling it on flying a fixed-wing aircraft.
