A blog about human and robot endeavors in space and the people who make them happen.
"We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself." ~ Carl Sagan
"I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution." ~ "Ich habe gelernt, mich des Wortes 'unmöglich' nur mit äußerster Vorsicht zu bedienen." ~ Wernher von Braun
Our American political future may seem bleak these days, but that did not stop the ingenuity of Americanrocket science from prevailing, showcasing ajaw-dropping return-to-flight launch this past Saturday, January 14, 2017. Following a week of launch delays due to major rain storms that may just have solved California's drought problem, Falcon 9 carrying the first of its Iridium satellite payloads received the all clear, performing flawlessly against a bright, blue sky.
Not only did Falcon 9 deliver the first 10 of at least 70 next-gen Iridium satellites into orbit, the rocket's first stage returned to Earth, sticking the landing right on top of the X painted on SpaceX's ocean-going barge in the Pacific, downrange from Vandenberg Air Force Base. SpaceX has launch pads both at Vandenberg in Southern California and at Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast.
You can learn more aboutIridium Corporation and its fleet of satellites here. Below is SpaceX's live webcast from countdown to satellite deployment to landing. Enjoy!
It's launch day for a Dragon commercial resupply capsule to the International Space Station. More precisely, it is launch day in the U.S. in every time zone EXCEPT the one (Eastern Daylight Time) where the launch actually happens: Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast.
Launch times that switch days depending on which U.S. time zone you are in can be confusing, so if you plan to watch live, here are the launch times by time zone and day for the continental U.S., as well as Central Europe and UTC:
12:45 a.m. Monday, July 18 EDT 11:45 p.m. Sunday, July 17 CDT 10:45 p.m. Sunday, July 17 MDT 9:45 p.m. Sunday, July 17 PDT
06:45, Monday, July 18 CEST 4:45 a.m., Monday, July 18 UTC
This launch window is instantaneous.
If the launch does not occur tonight at 12:45 a.m. EDT, July 18, there is another instantaneous backup window at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) EDT on July 20. That is mid-to-late evening this Tuesday, July 19, for most viewers in the continental U.S. in time zones other than Eastern (e.g., 9 p.m. PDT, July 19). This means 06:00 CEST on July 19 in Central Europe and 4:00 a.m., July 19 UTC.
The company will almost certainly also stream a technical webcast for those who are more interested in engineering details and telemetry than the webcast from SpaceX HQ. The link to the technical broadcast usually appears once the webcast goes live at the above link.
As with every SpaceX mission since last December, the private rocket company will attempt a landing tonight to recover the spent first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.
Earlier this year, SpaceX successfully landed spent rockets used in missions on land near Cape Canaveral (one time) and on an autonomous ocean-going barge three consecutive times, most recently on May 27, 2016, when the Thaicom-8 mission delivered a payload into geostationary transfer orbit. However, last month's barge landing attempt as part of the successful Eutelsat/ABS mission ended in a RUD - a rapid unscheduled disassembly at sea, in the words of Elon Musk. The spent rocket stage reached the barge, but disintegrated on touchdown.
SpaceX will attempt another land-based landing near Cape Canaveral tonight. The third of three burns, the landing burn, is scheduled to begin at 7 minutes, 38 seconds after liftoff. It is this landing burn that occurs closest to the ground, just before the rocket attempts to land.
The two prior burns, the boost back burn starts at 2 minutes, 42 seconds after liftoff, followed by the entry burn at 6 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff.
Image credit: Space X
Graphic illustrating the stages of launch, landing and mission completion. Graphic is for barge landing, but stages are the same for a ground-based landing (click to enlarge)
When the webcast begins, pay attention to the legend below the video that shows when to expect the different launch and landing milestones. Some of them are included in the graphic above. SpaceX has been very good about providing live footage not just of its mission launches, but its landing attempts as well. Night landings, though, pose visibility challenges. In case of a successful landing - or even an unsuccessful one - expect a brief camera whiteout as the brightness of the landing burn overloads the cameras for a few seconds before we will know if the rocket has landed upright.
Image Credit: SpaceX
Official
Mission Patch for SpaceX's 9th Commercial Resupply (CRS) Mission to the
International Space Station under contract with NASA
Image credit: SpaceX
Dragon capsule atop SpaceX's flagship Falcon 9 rocket on the pad at Cape Canaveral awaiting launch to the ISS on July 18
Friday, May 6, 2016 was National Space Day, a great annual day of celebration and acknowledgment of our human future in space. My Twitter feed was abuzz with info from space companies, including NASA, hosting special events and exhibits for the day. This inspired my following tweet, and brings us to the topic of this blog post:
While all the *other* space co.s do their pre-chewed stuff for #NationalSpaceDay, @elonmusk & @SpaceX only landed a rocket on water, again.
Yes, SpaceX landed another spent rocket stage on an ocean-going barge, the "Of Course I Still Love You", during high waves and wind, with the rocket coming in faster and hotter than it did last month. This time, SpaceX was tasked with delivering a Japanese satellite, the JCsat-14, into high geo-stationary transfer orbit at about 25,000 mi (36,000 km) above Earth's surface. Compare this to last month's successful launch and landing mission, when Falcon traveled into low-earth orbit (LEO) "only", ca. 250 mi (400 km) above our planet, to re-supply the International Space Station. Consequently, last Friday, Falcon was traveling many thousands kilometers faster on ascent than it did last month and also had less fuel available for those critical pre-landing burns upon its return. And yet, Falcon 9 landed perfectly, under harsh conditions, standing proud and tall on its landing barge, still breathing fire. And you know what? I'm starting to feel less and less nostalgic about the Space Shuttle.
Image credit: SpaceX
Falcon 9 with its JCsat-14 satellite payload on the pad at Cape Canaveral, awaiting launch. The rocket stands 229 ft (70m) tall.
Image credit: SpaceX
Mission patch for the JCsat-14 mission
Image credit: SpaceX LIFTOFF of Falcon 9 with its JCsat-14 payload!
Image credit: SpaceX
Trajectory of Falcon 9 and its payload en route to36,000 km above Earth
While last month's barge landing happened during the day time and was filmed by nearby quad copters from the air, no such footage exists for last week's night landing. The only transmitting cameras were mounted on the barge itself. This led to temporary "white out" conditions as the brightness of the landing burn briefly overloaded the cameras. Those were nail-biting seconds. Did Falcon land? Did it break apart? Did it fall into the ocean? It wasn't until the brightness had receded that the barge's camera revealed Falcon 9's landing legs intact, and with that, another upright, beautiful landing of historic significance.
Congratulations to Elon Musk and the entire team at SpaceX!
Image credit: SpaceX
View of landed Falcon 9 upper stage - still breathing fire - on the drone ship
Image credit: SpaceX
Recovered Falcon 9 on SpaceX's drone ship the next morning in all its - albeit a bit scorched - glory. (Let's see you travel 36,000 km out and then back into the atmosphere in a matter of minutes :)
Elon Musk, as per usual, inserted his own particular brand of wry humor into the twitter discussion once it had become clear that Falcon was safely on the barge, and would be tested for reuse, along with the booster recovered last month:
May need to increase size of rocket storage hangar
Here's a video of the launch and landing details only:
The entire hour-long webcast from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA is worth a look as well, if only to experience the jubilant atmosphere that prevailed among SpaceX employees as their rocket performed flawlessly, including sticking a precarious landing on an ocean-borne barge, for the second time in a month.
It's been a weekend of amazing successes for SpaceX. The private space company delivered its eighth Dragon resupply capsule to the International Space Station and stuck an experimental landing of the spent Falcon 9 booster rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic. SpaceX has previously tried landing the first stage of a Falcon 9 used in missions. Both times, the rocket made it to its target on the drone ship, but failed to land upright, resulting in RUD events (rapid unscheduled disassembly). This tweet from early Sunday morning, April 10, shows Dragon safely docked to the ISS Harmony module, next to an Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo craft and a Soyuz crew capsule on the lower right. In total, six spacecraft are currently docked to the International Space Station.
But let's go back to launch day, Friday, April 8, and take a look at all that SpaceX accomplished this weekend:
Image credit: SpaceX
Falcon 9 with its Dragon payload on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral
Image credit: SpaceX
Mission patch for SpaceX's eighth commercial resupply mission (CRS-8) to the International Space Station
If you look closely, you'll find the patch full of interesting details. For example, the eight stars in the design represent the eight missions to the ISS that SpaceX has flown so far, with one star dimmed out to symbolize last June's failed launch.
Image credit: SpaceX
Close-up of Dragon capsule atop Falcon 9, which stands over 200 feet (60 m) tall
Image credit: Space X
Graphic illustrating the stages of launch, landing and mission completion (click to enlarge)
The drone ship name in the above graphic is Just Read The Instructions. The ship on which Falcon 9 stuck its historic landing is Of Course I Still Love You.
The following trio of still pictures captured by SpaceX's chaser plane near the drone ship shows the landing's most breath-taking moments. This is the first time that SpaceX has successfully landed a rocket used in a mission on a drone ship at sea. The private space company previously succeeded at landing a Falcon 9 first stage on-shore.
Image credit: SpaceX
Image credit: SpaceX
Image credit: SpaceX
Whether Falcon 9's first stage lands on a drone ship or on shore after delivering a payload depends on several factors. Elon Musk explained some of them on Twitter.
@arstechnica Reasons for ocean landing are technical, not economic. Orbit requires extreme horizontal velocity. Getting to space needs none.
Here is SpaceX's 36-minute launch and landing live webcast. About 30 seconds in, a legend appears at the bottom that lists the consecutive events being covered. It is well worth the time to review the launch and what SpaceX labeled "experimental landing". While the landing is one of the most jaw-dropping and certainly the most historic aspect of the CRS-8 mission, a successful landing was not the primary mission objective. That was getting a Dragon resupply capsule, including its important science cargo, safelyto the International Space Station. SpaceX succeeded on both counts, with several cherries on top.
The reactions from employees at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA after the successful launch and landing on Friday say it all. Elon Musk and the team at SpaceX have mastered another crucial step towards routine usage of reusable rockets, drastically lowering the cost of reaching targets in orbit and beyond and making space more accessible than ever before. SpaceX plans to re-fly a used rocket within a few months.
Video credit: SpaceX
Live webcast from SpaceX's headquarters during Friday's successful launch to the ISS and landing on one of the company's drone ship.
Below is the Storify of my live tweets and conversations during Friday's pre-launch, launch and landing events, with some additional remarks for this blog post.
Let's start with a pleasant surprise SpaceX had in store for those of us who couldn't be there in person during an across-the-board successful mission that saw a perfect launch, followed by a nail-biting, historic landing and the flawless delivery of 11 Orbcomm satellites into orbit: SpaceX's much-improved live webcast.
If you have not yet seen it, it's worth the 20 minutes to get a feel for the anticipation and festive atmosphere at SpaceX HQ as events unfolded last night at and above Cape Canaveral:
Video credit: SpaceX
During two previous Falcon 9 missions that included failed landing attempts on an ocean-based barge, there was no live coverage of the landing. Images and details didn't emerge until the next day.
Not so yesterday. While it didn't become obvious until after the webcast started, SpaceX planned to live stream the landing as well! The webcast also featured a time line at the bottom that let viewers know which maneuvers to expect next as Falcon 9 once again spread its wings, and then returned, scorched, steaming, still breathing fire, in one single, glorious piece! I didn't get any screenshots of the landing because I was cheering, jumping up and down, before I remembered "Wait! You're live tweeting this!"
Another unexpected treat was the live footage from orbit that showed the smooth deployment of Orbcomm's satellite payload as it happened.
Here are a couple of screen grabs from my tweet stream during the event. My full twitter coverage is at the end of this post.
Falcon 9 and its Orbcomm-2 payload at Liftoff
Image credit: Screenshot from SpaceX webcast
Boostback burn that reorients rocket and prepares it for landing
Image credit: Screenshot from SpaceX webcast
Last June, SpaceX had
a setback as the company lost a rocket and a cargo capsule bound for
the International Space Station in a launch accident caused by a faulty
strut. Earlier in 2015, SpaceX also tried twice to land a Falcon 9 on
water atop an autonomous drone barge. Both times the rocket reached the
drone ship but tipped over at landing. Both rockets were destroyed.
On
December 21, 2015, at 8:29 pm EST, SpaceX not only returned to flight
and successfully deployed its payload of 11 satellites, the private
space company headquartered in Los Angeles also made rocket science
history by successfully landing a Falcon 9 on land. For the first time ever, a rocket used in an actual mission - not a test landing - returned to Earth and precision-landed in one piece: Standing tall, waiting to be re-used instead of wastefully and expensively burning up in the atmosphere.
What we saw today was not just SpaceX coming back from a launch failure.
We witnessed a private space company setting new industry standards
that others will be hard-pressed to match.
Long exposure shot of Falcon 9 launch and landing
within 10 minutes of each other at Cape Canaveral
Image credit: SpaceX
In the words of Elon Musk on Twitter: "Welcome back, baby!"
Image credit: SpaceX
Scorched and displaying landing legs. Don't you just want to run up and hug her?
Image credit: SpaceX
A new era in rocketry: Long exposure of launch, re-entry, and landing burns Image credit: SpaceX
SpaceX's first deep space mission was scrubbed three times due to weather, wind and radar issues. On February 11, a fourth attempt to deliver and position the DSCOVR satellite a million miles from Earth was not only successful, but breathtakingly beautiful. These pictures speak for themselves:
Image credit: SpaceX
Falcon 9 launches with its DSCOVR payload against a beautiful Cape Canaveral sunset backdrop.
Image credit: SpaceX
Falcon 9 in flight with landing legs visible.
Image credit: SpaceX
Falcon 9 on its first deep space mission, looking back at Earth. The visible landmass is Australia.
SpaceX had planned to land the rocket's upper stage on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic. However, extreme stormy weather and high seas interfered, so SpaceX decided to scrub the drone ship landing. Still, we got this amazing picture as the rocket descended, showing off its grid fins in action.
Click here and scroll down for a picture of hypersonic grid fins being tested at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.
Elon Musk added that the rocket soft landed in the stormy ocean within 10 meters of the target and nicely vertical, suggesting a high probability of a good drone ship landing in non-stormy weather.
Last, but not least - this jaw-dropping launch picture taken from an airplane. I haven't been able to find an explanation for the spiral plumes near the horizon.
On Saturday, January 10, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flagship rocket launched a supply capsule to the International Space Station for the fifth time under a commercial resupply contract with NASA. The night launch out of Cape Canaveral was flawless in its beauty. Capture (aka catch the dragon with a robotic arm on the ISS) and docking of the capsule went as planned.
Image credit: SpaceX / NASA
SpaceX's Dragon CRS-5 being grappled and docked by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, with a little help from Houston Mission Control.
The historic aspect of this mission - landing Falcon 9's upper stage on a barge using technology developed by SpaceX - fell just short of its goal. The rocket reached the drone ship in the Atlantic, but didn't land on point. It crashed and damaged structures on the ship. Still, considering the difficulty of precision-landing a used rocket on a ship in the ocean, it was a bold attempt, a first in the history of rocketry. SpaceX is optimistic they will stick the landing next time.
The technological leap that comes with reliable reusability technology is significant. Capsules that return to Earth have historically landed inside vast target zones, such as the ocean (Apollo) or the Russian tundra (Soyuz), using parachutes and braking rockets. The precise landing spot is uncertain and ground support teams must locate the capsule once it has splashed or touched down. Since the Space Shuttle retirement, these imprecise landings are the only option we have to return astronauts to Earth. Compare that to the precision inherent in landing on a 300-by-170 foot (90-by-50 m) barge, and eventually a pad on land. Yes, a rocket isn't reusable if it reaches a specific spot and crashes on it, but I'm certain SpaceX is on its way to getting it right. Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, posted this series of tweets, with his characteristic understatement and humor:
Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced...
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Grid fins worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Upcoming flight already has 50% more hydraulic fluid, so should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Am super proud of my crew for making huge strides towards reusability on this mission. You guys rock!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Update January 16, 2015:
Late last night, Elon Musk released drone footage pictures of the almost-landing and its aftermath on twitter. These tweets appeared as @ replies to another user, so they are not as visible as his regular tweets and got somewhat less attention than usual. In addition, these images were released the same day as the announcement of the Hyperloop test track construction in Texas, which dominated yesterday's coverage of Elon Musk. Well played, Elon!
I would have called it "involuntary full conversion of an asset" but RUD is good, too! Of course this wouldn't be Elon Musk tweeting without this next tweet. Unlike the others above, it appears in his main tweet stream (not tweets & replies) so it got a lot more attention in terms of FVs and RTs:
Next rocket landing on drone ship in 2 to 3 weeks w way more hydraulic fluid. At least it shd explode for a diff reason.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
A few hours ago, a video of the (crash) landing appeared in SpaceX's main tweet stream:
As someone who has previously critiqued media coverage of SpaceX and its CEO, I noted a change in the tone used by space and science writers to cover the rocket company and its CEO over the past year, and especially today. Gone are the diminutive references and labels of SpaceX as a "scrappy startup". In its place are grudging acknowledgments that SpaceX is, in fact, a major player in the industry, evidenced by descriptors of Elon Musk as, for example, "space boss". I predict this will become "industry leader" within a year.
Update - January 8: SpaceX's CRS-5 resupply mission to the ISS has been postponed to Saturday, January 10, 1:47 a.m. PST (10:47 CET) - a weekend night launch. I'm sure other West Coast night owls like myself will stay awake to watch and live tweet the launch, given the historic nature of this mission. NASA TV will provide live coverage, starting at 12:30 a.m. PST (9:30 CET). Details about this mission are below the Update sections.
Update - January 6: Today's launch attempt was scrubbed at the last minute due to a problem with an actuator assembly, a part of the rocket's second stage engine steering system. The next launch attempt is scheduled for Friday, January 9, at 2:09 a.m. PST (11:09 CET) - an almost reasonable time for us West Coast night owls. SpaceX is characteristically stingy with details; Elon Musk posted this tweet today:
Need to investigate the upper stage Z actuator. Was behaving strangely. Next launch attempt on Friday at 5am.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2015
Update - December 18: Due to issues with a static fire test this week, SpaceX has moved the launch date to January 6, 2015, at 3:18 a.m. PST (12:18 CET).
Delayed multiple times since September, SpaceX's cargo delivery to the International Space Station is scheduled for January 10, 1:47 a.m. PST (10:47 CET), launching a Dragon cargo capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. This mission will be the private space company's fifth cargo delivery to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.
The mission is named CRS-5 and here is its patch. I like how the launch state of Florida is marked in a lighter blue color. Naturally, the traditional SpaceX clover leaf is there as well. What I like most about it is that Falcon 9 is practically bursting out of the confines of this beautiful patch, conveying anticipation, excitement and confidence in what's ahead. The Dragon capsule on the right has already found a way to escape its patch boundaries, but, hey, that lucky capsule is going to the International Space Station, so Dragon's impatience is quite understandable!
For SpaceX, CRS-5 is quite a bit more than another supply run to the ISS, as the company will further test re-usability functions and performance of its flagship Falcon 9 rocket. From its inception, SpaceX has aimed to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible. Reusable rocket stages are a crucial factor in the quest to develop rockets that are significantly cheaper to fly than their single-use counterparts. Notice the upside down V-shaped structures on the rocket in the patch - or, from a Trekkie's perspective, the Star Trek emblem-shaped structures affixed to this Falcon 9 stage. These are Falcon 9's landing legs for attempting a soft landing on a spaceport barge.
On a mission earlier this year, SpaceX began post-launch re-usability testing by guiding the Falcon 9's rocket stage to hover upright above the ocean for a few seconds before it tipped over sideways into the water. SpaceX uses a combination of landing legs, grid fins, retro rockets and stabilizing technologies, enabling Falcon 9's upper stage to perform a precision soft landing on water and eventually on land. This time, Falcon 9's upper stage is expected to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship. On twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave us a glimpse of what to expect on January 10 - a historic milestone never before achieved: precisely land and recover a rocket that is intact and reusable, without the need to fish it out of the water.
Autonomous spaceport drone ship. Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm. pic.twitter.com/wJFOnGdt9w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2014
Even though it's practically December that doesn't mean the year is winding down for spaceflight. On the contrary, it's going to be a busy month: Fourteen launches are scheduled for the month of December, roughly one every other day, and there are some you don't want to miss!
(No earlier than) December 2/3
Hayabusa 2 will launch on an asteroid sample return mission atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Hayabusa 2 is slated to rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018 and tasked with returning a sample to Earth in 2020. This is JAXA's second asteroid sample retrieval mission. The first Hayabusa craft returned an asteroid sample to Earth in 2010. "Hayabusa" is Japanese for peregrine falcon.
If Hayabusa 2 launches on December 3, the launch time in the U.S. fill fall on December 2: 11:22 p.m. EST / 8:22 p.m. PST. Hayabusa 2 has been delayed twice due to weather. I will post updates here if the launch slips again.
Image credit: JAXA
December 4
NASA is scheduled to launch its new Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle on its first uncrewed mission to space: Exploration Flight Test One (EFT-1). Orion marks NASA's return to human spaceflight and is widely expected to pave the space agency's path to crewed Mars landings and other deep space missions.
A United Launch Alliance's Delta 4-Heavy rocket will carry the Orion craft to orbit. This is a heavy lift vehicle with a triple-body rocket that brings the power of the Saturn V from the Apollo era Moon landings back to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Orion will reach an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. For comparison, the International Space Station orbit is ca. 220 miles above Earth. The Space Shuttle, retired in 2011, was not capable of traveling beyond low Earth orbit.
Exploration Flight Test One will test many of Orion's critical systems, such as its heat shield that must withstand temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit as re-entry speed reaches 20,000 miles per hour. Other Orion components to be tested during EFT-1 include the launch abort system and the parachute system that will help land Orion off the coast of California after completing two orbits.
The launch window for EFT-1 on December 4 is 7:05-9:44 a.m. EST / 4:05-6:44 a.m. PST. This is going to be rough on us West Coasters.
Update 1 - December 16: Launch re-scheduled for December 19, 10:22 a.m. PST (19:22 CET) December 16 (original date before re-schedules)
Delayed multiple times since September 12, SpaceX's cargo delivery to the International Space Station is now scheduled for December 16, launching a Dragon cargo capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. This mission will be the private space company's fifth cargo delivery to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The mission is named CRS-5 and has a brief launch window: 2:31 p.m. EST / 11:31 a.m. PST. For SpaceX, CRS-5 is quite a bit more than another supply run to the ISS, as the company will further test the re-usability of its flagship Falcon 9 rocket. From its inception, SpaceX has aimed to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible. Reusable rocket stages are a crucial factor in the quest to develop rockets that are significantly cheaper to fly than single-use rockets. On a mission earlier this year, SpaceX began post-launch re-usability testing by guiding the Falcon 9's upper stage (the rocket stage to be recovered) to hoever upright above the ocean for a few seconds before it tipped over sideways into the water. SpaceX uses a combination of landing legs, grid fins, retro rockets and stabilizing technologies to enable Falcon 9's upper stage to perform a precision soft landing on water and eventually on land. This time, Falcon 9's upper stage is expected to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship. Last week on twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave us a glimpse of what to expect on December 16 - a historic milestone never before achieved: precisely land and recover a rocket that is intact and reusable, without the need to fish it out of the water.
Autonomous spaceport drone ship. Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm. pic.twitter.com/wJFOnGdt9w — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2014
This article in Popular Mechanics is the third one I've seen that refers to SpaceX as "scrappy" in the aftermath of ULA having to face their business model's clash with ugly geopolitical realities. This time I'm not letting it go. Sure, ULA has enough Russian-built engines in stock that current sanctions against Russia won't affect ULA launch capability for a couple of years. But then what? It will cost ULA about a billion bucks and a couple of years to develop their own engine to replace the Russian imports - while SpaceX has already developed their own models and is using them successfully, right now. Since September 2013, SpaceX has launched payloads into orbit four times, including the recent Dragon CRS-3 delivery to the ISS. More launches are planned this year. In the process, the company has hit several major milestones in the development of reusable upper stages that will return to the pad after launch. This technological leap alone is enough to leave ULA in the dust. ULA's business model doesn't even include re-usability. With $70-billion contracts at stake, it's no wonder that the Air Force and Congress are taking notice when SpaceX can offer significantly cheaper launch services without a limit of 10 per year that ULA works with.
While I was writing this post, SpaceX performed a 1,000-meter-reusability test flight in McGregor, TX, today, quadrupling the height of the previous test. Watch this video and get a glimpse of the future of space flight:
I wonder why the media reaction is so much one of surprise, even shock that this could happen. "But ULA worked so well and kept U.S. unmanned launch capability intact after the shuttle retirement in 2011!" Yes and yes, all that is true and a significant accomplishment, but also irrelevant in 2014. It's not like SpaceX just showed up on the scene yesterday. The company was founded in 2002 and has been on the fast track to reaching all of its goals and then some, ever since.
So why did it take a federal injunction for ULA and Congress - along with most of the country's space writers, it seems - to take notice that SpaceX is not only successful but completely redefining the bars for cost, reliability, technological innovation and launch frequency? When space writers start talking about how only a SpaceX launch failure can save ULA, it's time for a reality check!
That sort of thing is childish, offensive and it's a slap in the face of Elon Musk and all the people at SpaceX whose hard work and dedication came before all the recent successes. Outside of academia and the self-employed, I have never met people who work as hard and hours as long as SpaceX employees do - while loving their work and their employer! This is part of the formula behind SpaceX's success and it's time to acknowledge it!SpaceX really is making it cheaper and easier to get into space more often! The company is targeting its first manned flight within three years, restoring U.S. manned launch capability. This is fantastic news and a huge cause for celebration!How can you call a company like that "scrappy"?
Part of the resistance to acknowledging SpaceX's success is likely rooted in the fact that from the outset, the private company deliberately did everything the way NASA most definitely did not. Love for the government space agency in this country runs deep and it is deserved. A business plan based on not doing things the NASA way, deliberately and consistently, is probably not the best way to win over NASA enthusiasts. Not that that is necessary for SpaceX's success. But it really would be nice, not to mention gracious, after 12 years of innovative technological and engineering feats.
One of the things that SpaceX definitely does not handle the way NASA does is access. While I had been aware of SpaceX's local HQ for years, I never considered the possibility that I can get a tour just for the asking. Nicely, of course, and it helps to know an employee who offers. But really, if you want to go behind the scenes at SpaceX, all you need to do is ask.
I visited a year ago and anyone who ever has would never put "scrappy" in the same sentence as "SpaceX". There are some rules, of course, (no photos) and some areas are off-limits but you can get up close and personal with rows of gleaming Merlin engines in different stages of assembly, Dragon capsules being assembled and prepped for launch, the first Dragon that's been to space on display, and the rocket assembly areas, which is exactly what it sounds like: Falcon 9 stages completed and under assembly.And, of course, SpaceX's in-house 3D printer. It was the first time I'd ever been near one. Since then, the company has added tech that allows engineers to use hand gestures to design in 3D, and then immediately print the pieces in materials of their choice.
A few 3D-printed pieces of titanium were on display. Most looked impressively intricate with impossibly tiny detail. The piece that drove home for me what I really was looking at, the true power inherent in this tech, came in the form of an innocuous-looking cylinder about 5 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. "What's this?", I asked, as it looked like an unremarkable piece of metal. "Hold it up to the light and look through the cylinder length-wise." I did. That was the third or fourth time I picked my jaw off the floor that day. I had lost count. The cylinder appeared semi-permeable: it had hundreds, maybe thousands of tiny shafts running the length of it, evenly spaced, fractions of a millimeter in diameter. Almost impossible to see with the naked eye until you hold the piece up to the light.
I will never forget the moment when I realized what I was holding - a piece so finely machined that no machine could actually have done the job, except a 3D printer. I call that impressive, awesome, inspirational - any number of adjectives nowhere near the meaning of "scrappy".So the next space or science writer I catch using the word in reference to SpaceX, or who invokes a SpaceX launch failure as a way to "save" ULA, is going to receive this tweet. It's not one of mine, but it does say it all:
