Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.

[Shyster]

The recent flight of the Electron rocket carried a satellite called the "Humanity Star," which is basically a big, bright disco ball.

https://www.space.com/39482-rocket-lab- ... llite.html

The website to track/view the Humanity Star is http://www.thehumanitystar.com/

[Shyster]

Falcon Heavy made some clouds today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oOWqQqUABE

[Shyster]

It looks like Arianespace's record of 82 consecutive perfect Ariane 5 launches, over almost fifteen years, has come to an end. Yesterday an Ariane 5 launched a pair of communications satellites, the SES-14 satellite for SES of Luxembourg and the Al Yah-3 satellite for Al Yah Satellite Communications of the UAE. All telemetry was lost shortly after the separation of the first and second stages. It looks like the second stage did continue to perform even though telemetry was lost, and communications were established with the two satellites a couple hours later, so it looks like they did successfully deploy. They don't, however, seem to be anywhere near in their intended orbits. While the apogee and perigee of their orbits is correct, their orbital inclinations appear to be nearly 20° off of where they should be. That's a huge error. They were supposed to be in roughly 3° orbits. The investigation is still in its early stages, but it might be the case that the Ariane 5 was flying off course even during the first-stage burn. There are some spectator videos of the launch where the rocket immediately after liftoff turns and flies almost directly overhead for the people recording. The vehicle was not supposed to turn in that direction. The Ariane might have been as much as 20° off course nearly from the moment of launch.

[robbiestoupe]

I had the opportunity to tour SpaceX's facility in McGregor, TX recently. I would love to post some pictures, but I was told that's a big no no. Even the two pictures I took were technically not allowed, but who's going to know?

The place is just stunning. First off, you're driving through cow pastures and in the distance you see a 10 story tower that is completely out of place. They've really expanded since the last time I visited in 2012. A much larger final prep area that is about the size of two football fields. They had a first stage all wrapped up and ready to ship when I visited. It is apparently the last non-reused first stage SpaceX plans to produce for some time (if ever again).

I also got to see the Grasshopper up close. This was the test rocket SpaceX built to practice landing the first stage after reentry. It's a pretty amazing piece of history and may end up in a museum someday.

It was a bummer that no test runs were scheduled during our stay. When we were in Waco 3 years ago, they were testing an engine and we could feel the windows shaking 20 miles away. Everybody must love the new neighbors.

Falcon Heavy production should be coming through the test facility soon. Learned that the only payload for the first Falcon Heavy flight will be Elon's personal Roadster. If you have a good enough telescope, maybe you can watch Elon's car float by.

[Shyster]

I'm so jealous.

The Tesla is supposedly headed to a solar orbit near Mars, so one would need a really powerful telescope in order to see it. (Well, either that or it's headed to the bottom of the Atlantic.)

I don't think you were seeing the last Falcon 9 first stage period, as I know they are planning to produce more. But they are switching over to a new "Block 5" version of the Falcon 9 first stage that is supposedly much more reusable than the prior Block 3 and Block 4 versions of the Falcon 9. The Block 3 was the first version of the recoverable Falcon 9, and SpaceX found it needed substantial refurbishment before reuse. The current Block 4 needs only minor refurbishment for reuse. The Block 5 can supposedly be reused with virtually no repairs/refurbishment. I bet what you saw was the last new production Block 4 before they switch over to production of the Block 5.

SpaceX conducted a successful launch today of the GovSat-1 satellite, which was launched for LuxGovSat, a partnership between the government of Luxembourg and commercial satellite operator SES. The satellite was built by Orbital ATK. GovSat-1 will be used by Luxembourg and its NATO allies for military communications over Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. It will also be used by Luxembourg’s government for official emergency communications, such as to support disaster recovery. The launch used a previously flown Block 3 first stage. Because SpaceX doesn't really need the old Block 3s any more, the first stage was not recovered.

[robbiestoupe]

It helps to have family that works there

You could be right about the different versions of 1st stages. I just heard that the one I saw was the last of its kind.

We also missed out on seeing a recovered first stage. It was in its decontamination building, but the lights were green so it had apparently been fully decontaminated. Since we were there on a Sunday, the building was locked and my brother did not have access. One of the few buildings that still used keys for their locks

[Shyster]

As we wait for the February 6 launch of the rocket that will take the crown of the largest/most powerful active launch vehicle, Japanese space agency JAXA just set the record for the smallest/lightest launch vehicle to ever reach orbit. A sounding rocket is a small rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during sub-orbital flight. Pretty much all of them use solid-fuel rocket motors, and many of them are based on existing military missiles. The NASA Orion series of sounding rockets, for example, use the same motors as the old RIM-2 Terrier surface-to-air missile. JAXA added a small third stage to its existing two-stage SS-520 sounding rocket, and earlier today the resulting SS-520-5 vehicle successfully orbited the TRICOM-1R nanosatellite, which is a 3U CubeSat with a mass of three kilograms.

As demonstrated by new and upcoming companies like Rocket Labs, Vector Space Systems, Planet Labs, and Virgin Orbital, there's strong and growing interest in smallsats. Thanks to the march of technology and miniaturization, it's now possible to make really tiny satellites that can still do really useful things. Each unit of the CubeSat specification, for example, is only 10×10×10 cm, and there are specifications for 1U, 3U, 6U, 12U, and 27U CubeSats. Planet Labs' Dove series of satellites are a 3U CubeSat design (same as the TRICOM-1R), but at that tiny size they are capable of imaging the Earth down to 3-5 m optical resolution. That's nowhere near as good a resolution as something like a spy satellite, but it's plenty good enough for missions like climate monitoring, urban planning, or disaster response.

[Shyster]

Reminder for everyone that the first launch of the Falcon Heavy is scheduled for tomorrow, February 6, 2018, during a launch window that opens at 1:30 pm eastern time. The launch should be streamed on Spacex's website as well as their YouTube channel. The backup date is the same time Wednesday, but at the moment SpaceX is working no problems, and the weather is at an 80% chance of GO conditions at launch.

https://www.youtube.com/user/spacexchannel

[robbiestoupe]

Hopefully I remember to tune in for this one.

[Shyster]

Unfortunately, I have to be in court tomorrow for an argument session that starts at 1:00 pm.

[Shyster]

According to SpaceX on Twitter, T-0 has been delayed to 2:20 p.m. EST due to upper-level wind shear. There's a good chance my argument should be done by then, so I am happy to hear that news.

I believe the window is open until 4:00 p.m., so further pushbacks on the launch time are possible. The weather at the ground appears to be just fine, with conditions now 90% GO. Just like the Electron launch attempts, it's the winds at high altitude that would be the problem.

[Shyster]

The Falcon Heavy launch time keeps getting pushed back, and now it's apparently at 3:45 p.m. EST, which is close to the end of the window. I have a feeling we might be headed for a scrub today. Upper-level winds are still the problem.

[Shyster]

SpaceX webcast is now live:



YouTube says there are 600,757 people watching.

[tifosi77]

When is the scheduled launch? I'm working from home this afternoon, but I'll still be in the office for around 45 minutes. I don't want the launch to happen while I'm in transit.

[Shyster]

When is the scheduled launch? I'm working from home this afternoon, but I'll still be in the office for around 45 minutes. I don't want the launch to happen while I'm in transit.

T-18 minutes and counting. You can start watching now.

[robbiestoupe]

My son had a fever so didn't go to daycare today. Guess who got to stay home and watch the launch with him? We're pumped.

[robbiestoupe]

My wife has a Falcon Heavy t-shirt my brother gave her 5 years ago. I had no idea what that was back then. Crazy how far they've come.

[Silentom]

Up over a million viewers, now.

[Shyster]

T-10 minutes. YouTube says the stream is now over 1 million viewers.

[Shyster]

T-5 minutes

Let us pray:

Oh great Kraken
Breaker of struts and bringer of RUDs
We ask thee to avert thy gaze
And withhold thy wrath
And let this rocket Go To Space Today
Amen

[tifosi77]

Is there a mission for this flight other than testing the rocket?

[tifosi77]

The YT stream won't buffer for me. Just an endless loop of the spinning circle thing.

[robbiestoupe]

Hit the live button tif

[Shyster]

Check CNN website. They are also streaming.

[robbiestoupe]

Is there a mission for this flight other than testing the rocket?

Musk's Roadster