SuperFastJellyfish Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Did anyone else see the rainbow effect just after liftoff on one of the replay views(might have been the live version. I missed it by minutes)? It had freaking rainbow falcon wings! I enjoyed that way too much. Edit: Found it. Edited February 11, 2015 by SuperFastJellyfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airlock Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 On what page? Twitter, Spaceflight Now, NASA TV and SpaceX do not show any new information (except for imminent second stage relight).Update:Just heard confirmation on good second stage ignition and burn.He was referencing the flight log in KSP. It's a joke you see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PakledHostage Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 DSCOVR spacecraft separation confirmed, according to NASA TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northstar1989 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 We are experiencing just such weather in the Atlantic with waves reaching up to three stories in height crashing over the decks. Also, only three of the drone ship’s four engines are functioning, making station-keeping in the face of such wave action extremely difficult. The rocket will still attempt a soft landing in the water through the storm (producing valuable landing data), but survival is highly unlikely.I think that sums up why they weren't attempting a soft-landing pretty well. Regards,Northstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genbrien Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 On what page? Twitter, Spaceflight Now, NASA TV and SpaceX do not show any new information (except for imminent second stage relight).Update:Just heard confirmation on good second stage ignition and burn.Follow Elon Musk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frida Space Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Nice pictures! Now only to find out about the "soft" landing on the ocean surface…Thanks, cant wait to see the fullres ones :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainDreamer Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 awesome launch...now back to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airlock Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Congrats to SpaceX on a flawless launch and successful first mission to deep space!- - - Updated - - - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert VDS Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Well that's good news. Can't wait for April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I don't think you can get better lighting conditions for a launch. For both the cameras and the crowd that must've been spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VirtualCLD Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 He was referencing the flight log in KSP. It's a joke you see Oh yes, I should have known better: F5 is refresh (or quicksave) F3 is mission log! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lajoswinkler Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I had to do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redjoker Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Well that's good news. Can't wait for April.Why till April? The next Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for February 27th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 From SpaceFlightNow.com:2336 GMT (6:36 p.m. EST)SpaceX confirms a good second burn of the Falcon 9's upper stage. Separation of DSCOVR coming up at 6:38 p.m. EST (2338 GMT).The rocket achieved an orbit toward the L1 Lagrange point with an apogee of 1,371,156 kilometers, a perigee of 187 kilometers and an inclination of 37 degrees.Ok, so, the F9 second stage is now free of the payload. I wonder if there's enough propellant (and ignitor fluid) left for one last burn to drop the Pe back into the soup to dispose of the stage? Don't want to clutter up space with debris, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_flyer Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 @lajoswinkler needs moar first stage engines and the staging is messed up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Why till April? The next Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for February 27th.He's on about the next landing attempt. The next two have payloads that are too heavy, and the one after is going into polar orbit and thus the wrong direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Why till April? The next Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for February 27th.Payload is too heavy. There will be not enough fuel left to attempt landing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PakledHostage Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 (edited) Ok, so, the F9 second stage is now free of the payload. I wonder if there's enough propellant (and ignitor fluid) left for one last burn to drop the Pe back into the soup to dispose of the stage? Don't want to clutter up space with debris, after all.A 187 km high perigee should already be low enough to bring it down eventually. That's roughly 225 km lower than the ISS and even the ISS will come down eventually if they don't raise its orbit periodically.Edit: Sorry, I just noticed the 1.37 million km apogee... With that in mind, I suspect that the second stage will just end up in solar orbit. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm? Edited February 12, 2015 by PakledHostage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Aqua* Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 If the moon doesn't interfere, the upper stage will burn up in the atmosphere eventually. With an inclination of 37° I don't think the moon can do much.Also I don't believe it will enter a solar orbit. If there's an apogee it will come back to Earth. For example the ISS orbits in 400 km above ground and loses 50 to 150 meters per day. The lifetime of an object in 400 km is about one year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Bear in mind the ISS is large and not very dense, so it has pretty high drag, especially with all those solar arrays and radiators. I wonder how the deceleration due to drag compares between the ISS and the second stage, which would also have a pretty low density when empty (but no arrays sticking out), and which wouldn't spend much time below 400km.Also, each pass at perigee is lowering the apogee, so it would take a lot of orbits before the orbit (perigee) starts to seriously decay. So that's a very long eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francesco Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 What is all the white smoke coming out of the bottom of the launchpad, before the actual launch?I understand there's smoke that keeps puffing from the rocket until T-0 due to liquid oxygen - from the top of the rocket/second stage, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman703 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I would think its from the pre-chilling of the engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishInferno Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Wow... I just totally forgot about the launch after telling myself I would watch it... Campfires do that to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airlock Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Cleaned up the OP. This thread will cover any SpaceX launches with booster recovery attempts in the future, and their subsequent results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PakledHostage Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 If the moon doesn't interfere, the upper stage will burn up in the atmosphere eventually. With an inclination of 37° I don't think the moon can do much.I thought I read that today was the last day that they could launch before the Moon's gravitational influence would have affected DSCOVR's delta-V budget beyond allowables? Presumably that means that the Moon does occasionally get close enough to the second stage's orbit to affect it significantly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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