SpaceX Launches another resupply - with a Jax twist

[Spitfire]

Not many people realize that we have a great view of launches here in Jacksonville. My favorite spot is Stockton Park in Ortega. Other than the beach, it truly is the best spot in town giving an uninterrupted view over that large expanse of the river.

[acme54321]

Great view of launches?  You can see them, but they aren't great.   The only way to really see them is from the roof of a tall building (over treeline) or like you said on the beach or western shore of the river.

[PeeJayEss]

24 hour reschedule. Weather forecast tomorrow is worse than today, though today was just barely scrapped.

[Spitfire]

Great view of launches?  You can see them, but they aren't great.   The only way to really see them is from the roof of a tall building (over treeline) or like you said on the beach or western shore of the river.

Given our location in Florida, we have an excellent view compared to most folks around the country. I have friends that get beautiful long exposure shots even all the way up here.

I watched the first barge attempt launch at 4 o'clock in the morning, back in January, from my front yard on the Westside. I could, clearly, see the first stage separation and subsequent leveling of the rocket before it starting to come back down to attempt the landing on the barge.

[jaxjaguar]

Launch is 60% "go"

[spuwho]

Hard landing, reportedly the booster tipped over and is still laying on its side. Crews can't verify for another 2 hours.

[David]

Bummer. They're really hoping to reuse the rockets to cut cost, so getting a successful rocket landing under their belts is important.

[acme54321]

Maybe third time's a charm?  They're getting better.  The explosion last time was pretty sweet 

[spuwho]

here is the video of the hard landing.

https://www.youtube.com/v/WstF79y7QNM

[BridgeTroll]

Pretty cool... you can see the motor gimbals working to stabilize the rocket.  Almost... but not quite... 

[Overstreet]

I spent the summer in Rockledge, next to the cape. We couldn't see most of the night launches because of clouds.  But we could HEAR them. ..........and hear them............and hear them........the rumble  lasted a long time.

[spuwho]

Here is a better aerial view of the SpaceX Falcon 9 landing attempt off the coast of Jax.

https://www.youtube.com/v/xQ-CM9Xb1lk


Here is the view from the barge itself....

https://www.youtube.com/v/DDF2DQ5rAh0


Here is what the barge looks like now after returning to Jacksonville.

[BridgeTroll]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spacex-discovered-caused-falcon-9-181917817.html

SpaceX has discovered what caused its Falcon 9 rocket to crash land and explode

Business Insider
By Jessica Orwig April 21, 2015 2:19 PM

The company's second attempt in history to land a rocket on a floating platform in the ocean on April 14 didn't go exactly according to plan.

The good news is that this second landing attempt missed the mark for a different reason than the first attempt: Unlike the first try last January, where the problem concerned the fins at the top of the rocket, the problem this time around was the legs at its bottom, which means SpaceX fixed their grid issue from last time.

Although the rocket died in a fiery, explosive blaze, the latest attempt was still an improvement from the first: The rocket spent a total of 10 seconds on the platform before tipping over and disintegrating. Last January, the rocket exploded as soon as it contacted the barge.

Now, SpaceX has pinpointed the problem and is that much closer to successfully landing a rocket with the purpose of reusing it — a game-changing feat that would usher in a new era of cheap commercial spaceflight powered by reusable rockets.

The rocket did a great job slowing down as it landed on the platform, but as you can see in the GIF below, the rocket toppled over shortly after touch down instead of remaining upright:

The rocket fell on its side because the legs could not support its weight. The landing legs are designed to help keep the rocket upright, but are not strong enough to either support the rocket if it lands too fast and hard on the platform or prevent it from tipping once that process has begun.
So, the big problem in this case was that the rocket started tipping in the first place. On Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the tipping was the result of a "slower than expected throttle valve response."

In other words, the rocket descended too quickly.

The job of a rocket's throttle valve is to regulate how much fluid reaches the engines and therefore how much fuel it has to power the rocket. As the first-stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, also called the booster stage, descended toward the platform, it fired its engine multiple times to slow it down to a walking pace in preparation for landing. But it appears that the throttle valve didn't generate enough power to slow the rocket down for a successful landing in the last few seconds before touch down.

At first, the rocket was right on target, coming in at a beautiful, completely vertical angle:

But the engines weren't producing enough force between the rocket and the platform and, as a result, pushed the rocket off kilter, which led to the tragic toppling.

[PeeJayEss]

Pretty awesome. Can't wait for the next one.
Next Falcon 9 launch is schedule for 3 days, but they won't be trying to bring her back.
Next landing attempt will be for the next ISS resupply (CRS-7), schedule for June 19.

[spuwho]

SpaceX has a new launch from the Cape on Sunday.  They announced they are going to attempt a landing on the barge once again.

Here is hoping that the third time is the one. Hopefully the seas will be calm enough.