SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Live Thread (05/22/2012) 03:44 EDT)

05/21/12 | Kevin Davis

[KevinDavis]

Good luck again.. I'm sure they will make it..

[dragnet2]

It's why you were told upthread, it's a test.

[dragnet2]

When you launch complex rockets into space, sh*t occasionally happens.

[Puckster]

Long term, they truly need to come up with another more powerful motor for future success.

[markman46]

I believe it was a check valve for the NO2 purge that didnt close all the way, last I heard was replaced

[Puckster]

135 missions from 1981 to 2011 with 2 failures is hardly a bad track record...as dangerous as this inherently is.

We will see if Space-X gets past 6 launches without going for a redesign.

[Puckster]

To all...theere is complex that is born of KISS, complex in its simplest state.

And then there is complex that ignores KISS which becomes, long term, unmanageable, unreliable and dangerous.

[MasterGunner01]

As a kid in the 1950’s, Collier's magazine devoted a whole issue to rockets and space travel. This was in the 1951-1953 period and before the Russians put up Sputnik. The best scientists of the day were predicting suborbital flights within 20 years and a moon mission within 50.

Sputnik changed all that and for kids like me, our new heroes were the X-plane pilots and the astronauts. These were very heady days filled with both triumph and failure. It is hard to imagine it took only 11 years, from the Sputnik of 1957, to the Apollo Moon Lander in 1969.

When the Saturn V was scrapped to fund the Space Shuttle, manned space flight was effectively put in the deep freeze (where it has remained) for 35 years.

If Burt Rutan is correct (and I think he is), the commercialization of space will usher in a Golden Age of manned space flight. The big government space agencies are too bureaucratic, too inflexible, too lacking in vision, and just too stupid to do this job. Besides, NASA’s main job is now “Muslim outreach” according to POTUS Obozo.

[dragnet2]

135 missions from 1981 to 2011 with 2 failures is hardly a bad track record...as dangerous as this inherently is.

I didn't suggest or imply it was a bad track record, I said when launching rockets into space, things will happen, and delays are part of the game.

We will see if Space-X gets past 6 launches without going for a redesign.

Well that remains to be seen. BTW, does that mean 8 launches since 2 have already been successfully launched?

[Jack Hydrazine]

Jack Hydrazine checking in. I’m definitely staying up for this launch. Have a feeling it’ll lift off this time.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I’m watching it in HD at this link.
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7332&Itemid=55

[Jack Hydrazine]

Twitter channels to follow:

NASA Kennedy/KSC
https://twitter.com/#!/NASAKennedy

Dragon Launch
https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23dragonlaunch

Elon Musk
https://twitter.com/#!/elonmusk

SpaceX
https://twitter.com/#!/SpaceX

SpaceFlightNow
https://twitter.com/#!/search/spaceflightnow

[DYngbld]

T-55

[Bobalu]

I have great respect for Burt Rutan.

I would never discount out of hand anything he said.

[brityank]

Windows Media Player link:
(Copy&Paste into 'File|Open URL')

http://www.nasa.gov/145590main_Digital_Media.asx

45 Minutes to liftoff.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Falcon 9 countdown timeline.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/countdowntimeline.html

Falcon 9 launch timeline.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/launchtimeline.html

Story about the Dragon spacecraft.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/120521dragon/

Dragon spacecraft fact sheet.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/dragon.html

Dragon early orbit timeline
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/earlyorbit.html

Dragon C2+ timeline.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/flightplan.html

[Jack Hydrazine]

Other reading materials:

COTS 2 press kit.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/flightplan.html

SpaceX Demo Mission Objectives
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/641018main_pk_objectives.pdf

Dragon Cargo Manifest
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/640968main_spacex_manifest_042012.pdf

[Bobalu]

IMO
Your’s is the voice of reason on this thread.

I think you know what you are talking about.

There is a tradeoff between safety and economic reality.

I tend toward safety rather than economy. Loss of lives leads to enormous setbacks....I remember the setbacks from the shuttle disasters.

If the first SpaceX manned launch results in 7 lives lost then commercial space ventures will be set back 20 years. :-(

I wish the rocket was a simpler design....I’m hoping for the best.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Current position of the ISS.

[Talisker]

IMO Your’s is the voice of reason on this thread. I think you know what you are talking about. There is a tradeoff between safety and economic reality. I tend toward safety rather than economy. Loss of lives leads to enormous setbacks....I remember the setbacks from the shuttle disasters. If the first SpaceX manned launch results in 7 lives lost then commercial space ventures will be set back 20 years. :-( I wish the rocket was a simpler design....I’m hoping for the best.

Wow, too bad the SpaceX team didn't weight those considerations before they got this far. I mean, all that experience, and engineering, and courage, and contemplation, and teamwork... and they never even considered you sitting in the corner biting your pillow.

What fools they are. What boastful pride they are exhibiting, without having your trembling as a part of their work.

:: spit ::

You don't deserve to tie their shoes.

[Jack Hydrazine]

23 minutes to lift off!