Official Launch thread for updates. This should be an interesting one, as there is much speculation and anticipation that SpaceX might try to return the first stage, including the addition of landing legs. Exciting times. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/10/spacexs-dragon-moved-february-11/
Wow, I missed that their last launch they had even tried testing some kind of slow down on their splash down. So this is excellent news! I really hope to see them getting their 1st stage fully reusable!
According to the articles it was the Canada Cassiope launch, I wasn't counting the two in between (I think they only had two) since they had said they weren't planning to do anything special here. Anyway, point is, it was something I had missed, and I am very pleased to hear about their progress! I look forward to the first REAL attempt at recovery, even if it is done over water again.
The next test is slated for this upcoming CRS-3 launch. I certainly hope there will be some interesting video that we'll be able to see. We really only got one photograph from the first test of the attempted landing and it was pretty fuzzy and distant.
The CRS-3 launch has been pushed back from the original date of Feb 22 to NET (no earlier than) March 1st, based on a recent International Space Station daily summary report. No reason yet given for the delay. Expedition 38 thread (November 11, 2013 - March 12, 2014)
Is there a final date for this launch yet? Believe it or not, I'm supposed to donate some blood that will go up on this flight for an experiment on the ISS. But it depends on the launch date whether or not my cells actually get used or if they end up using cells from a backup group of donors.
The March 1 date is holding for now, but hard to tell if it will hold for a whole month. It's always listed as NET, i.e. No Earlier Than, and can always be pushed back if needed. But here's hoping that doug's blood goes to space!
Well tell your source to stop pushing the date back! lol! Seriously, I wanna see if they add the legs or what else they might try to do with this launch.
I think we got a bit spoiled with the frequent launches in between I'd really like to see SpaceX launch every month and then every week. But I guess that's still a (few) year(s) out.
Don't they have more than 12 launches scheduled for 2014? Just looked, yeah... they have 14 launches left for 2014, and 12 in FL alone, so while they are pushing this back to march I think we are going to get quite a few back to back here.
Just released from NASA today, the launch is now NET March 16th: Commercial Resupply Launch | NASA Saw the link posted on the NasaSpaceFlight forum, post linked below: SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon CRS-3 (SpX-3) MISSION GENERAL DISCUSSION Updating the thread title...
She's got legs! CRS-3 Falcon 9 first stage to sport legs and attempt soft splashdown | NASASpaceFlight.com
Thank you rabar10! This is totally awesome news and I am glad they are making progress. Looks like the delay ended up helping SpaceX out! (even though the delay wasn't their idea) I think we have something like 13 more launches this year for them to continue to test things out on without it actually costing them anything to really test it out.
Yeah, I'm scheduled to donate on March 13th. The sample then gets FedExed or similar to Florida, prepped, and then put in the Dragon refrigerated storage for launch on the 16th. If there's a last minute slip, then they may use fresher samples from one of the backup groups. I originally was scheduled to donate yesterday for a Feb 22nd launch. They had me go ahead an do that for a dry run. It's an apheresis donation, so I can give again after a week, but a slip of just a few days occurring within a few days of the expected launch means they use the a backup group. So hopefully there won't be any last minute delays. And hopefully I don't get cloned by aliens.