Firemetal Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 On 5/14/2017 at 11:53 PM, insert_name said: if we removed the faring could we fit this into another rocket, and could that rocket get to orbit? Probably, however it would have to be light enough and have a tall enough fairing. Fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 So, wrong launch site ? Wrong name ? Lots of clap for all the electron-proton-neutron-(atom) jokes there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 (edited) I'm going to go downstairs right now and name one of my model rockets "Neutron" just to make you all happy. EDIT: Edited May 24, 2017 by Ultimate Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 (edited) Also, if I understand time zones correctly, then it should be launching in about three minutes (although they probably found another reason to postpone it). Also, there's been some weirdness going on with the NOTAMS according to the subreddit. Apparently there is now one for (mostly) every day for the next week or so. So, it may have been postponed. EDIT: Window is either 0:30 or 1:00, not 0:00 as I had thought. Carry on! Launch is either in half an hour or an hour! EDIT2: According to Reddit, there was a hold called. Reason unknown. Edited May 25, 2017 by Ultimate Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) Just got the tweet, they successfully went to space today! this is the right RocketLab thread, right? Edited May 25, 2017 by CatastrophicFailure flarp this flarping thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shpaget Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Congratulations! I'm pleasantly surprized, but I'm also puzzled by lack of any info on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Going to space and going to orbit are different... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Shpaget said: Congratulations! I'm pleasantly surprized, but I'm also puzzled by lack of any info on their website. Maybe they're still putting it together for release? Tweet of the launch: Edited May 25, 2017 by CatastrophicFailure Oh for flarp's sake... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) looks like they are unsure if it made orbit. Edited May 25, 2017 by tater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) Dieselpunk rockets now have been pressed by electropunk one. Jules Verne accepts. Strange that Tesla wasn't the first one. Electricity-schmelectricity, lithium accums, all that. Next stop: Spoiler ("electronic ignition gadget") 9 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said: I'm going to go downstairs right now and name one of my model rockets "Neutron" just to make you all happy Make a smaller clone and name it "Neutrino". Edited May 25, 2017 by kerbiloid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedKraken Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Congrats Kiwis. Almost made orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted May 25, 2017 Author Share Posted May 25, 2017 https://www.rocketlabusa.com/latest/rocket-lab-successfully-makes-it-to-space-2/ RL statement confirms they did not reach orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted May 25, 2017 Author Share Posted May 25, 2017 Rocket is spinning and the plume is visibly off-centre; the engines must have been gimballing hard-over the entire time. Either there was an extra force on the rocket they couldn't compensate for (leak, aerodynamic problem) or the guidance system had an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 I wouldn't be surprised if guidance was a problem, especially on the upper stage. SpaceX also lost a Falcon 1 to that particular problem. And though the video is heavily distorted, the stage separation there looked to be very unstable and induced a lot of unintended pitch that had to be compensated after the fact. Here's hoping that their data downlink was morestable than the video one, so that they at least know what happened! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Hmm, spinning from start of launch ? I hope this doesn't take very long to address... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p1t1o Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Spin...orbits....there's another joke in here somewhere...... Does anyone know how certain they are of its current location? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 1 hour ago, p1t1o said: Spin...orbits....there's another joke in here somewhere...... Does anyone know how certain they are of its current location? I imagine that "in the ocean" is a pretty safe bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p1t1o Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Just now, Steel said: I imagine that "in the ocean" is a pretty safe bet. Figures. Since we know the velocity is probably very close to zero, it will be impossible to pin down the location of the electron precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 For every launchpad - its own ocean area. Sovereignity by right of discoverer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 2 hours ago, WildLynx said: Someone forgot to press "t". It's spinning from the start (big rockets only do roll maneuver once and then hold roll), and looks like, even spiraling. That spinning looks too regular, a stuck gimbal or some such should have made it spin faster & faster. Spin stabilized, per chance? Has there been an official word on the result? The latest tweet from RL says they're "delighted" with the results, but it seems they didn't make orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 44 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said: That spinning looks too regular, a stuck gimbal or some such should have made it spin faster & faster. Spin stabilized, per chance? Has there been an official word on the result? The latest tweet from RL says they're "delighted" with the results, but it seems they didn't make orbit. Do you ever spin something who is also controlled? Know of spin stabilized solid fueled first stages, they however have non to little control, don't think its done on liquid fuel ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 4 minutes ago, WildLynx said: And silence. Well, since no one else has updated... RocketLabs' Twitter is quite active. Picking the relevant bits out, they're currently pouring over the excellent data they received. The rocket did not make orbit, something happened with the upper stage after fairing separation. No word yet as to what, but they're hoping for another test flight in a few months, possibly with a real payload. And also, they're hiring. On 5/25/2017 at 11:53 AM, magnemoe said: Do you ever spin something who is also controlled? Know of spin stabilized solid fueled first stages, they however have non to little control, don't think its done on liquid fuel ones. Everything I've seen thus far indicates that the first stage flight was spot-on, and "no one" seems the least bit concerned about the spinning, so maybe it is intentional. *shrugs* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said: Everything I've seen thus far indicates that the first stage flight was spot-on, and "no one" seems the least bit concerned about the spinning, so maybe it is intentional. *shrugs* It's definitely not intentional, it's not mentioned in the PUG. The stage clearly had more control issues than just the spin too; again, just take a close look at the plume in the vids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Perhaps the second stage fell victim to the propellant slosh problem the second launch of Falcon 1 fell prey to, and maybe the first stage was fighting that too. If so, you'd think they would have learned from F1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Learning about a problem beforehand doesn't necessarily mean avoiding it. "Propellant sloshing was a problem before the Apollo program. You'd think SpaceX would have learned from it." Chances are, they did. And promptly underestimated the magnitude. It's not out of the realm of the possible that Rocket Lab made the same underestimation, especially since their tanks are literally bleeding edge tech - the most advanced part of the Electron rocket. Even electric turbines aren't new, they were just never used because they were impractical. But flying full carbon composite cryogenic tanks, that's their claim to development fame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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