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B1051 Approaches its End

#1
Yazata Offline
Tuesday will be a sad day. (The reason won't be all the democrats crying about the election. That will be cause for celebration.)

It's because SpaceX's loyal stalwart, 13 time veteran booster B1051 will be expended on its 14th and final flight launching two satellites called Galaxy 31 and 32 to a high geostationary orbit.

Whether a booster can be landed and recovered is in part a function of the mass of the payload and the orbit to be achieved. If that consumes so much fuel that there's not enough left to power a landing, the booster is expended. Expendable flights typically will be a job reserved for the oldest and most-flown boosters.

B1051's impressive resume includes launching Demo 1, the uncrewed Crew Dragon test flight that delivered Little Earth to the Space Station, launching the Canadian Space Agency's Radarsat, launching a broadcast satellite for SiriusXM, and launching no fewer than 10 loads of Starlinks.

It's often been the fleet leader since it was the first Falcon 9 to complete 8, 9, 10 and 12 flights. But sad to say, its 14th will be its last (not a dry eye in the house).


[Image: Fg45n0wWQAAdiAo?format=jpg&name=900x900]
[Image: Fg45n0wWQAAdiAo?format=jpg&name=900x900]

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#2
Yazata Offline
B1051 got a short reprieve because of hurricane nicole, but it launched this morning for its 14th and final time. (You spend your life with the company, expect a nice retirement, and then... this.)

Sad

In spite of everything, B1051 behaved like the professional that it obviously was and got its two heavy com-sats into a high geosynchronous orbit.

Photo by Julia Bergeron of it disappearing into the sky


[Image: FhYDCQnXoAIPe1j?format=jpg&name=small]
[Image: FhYDCQnXoAIPe1j?format=jpg&name=small]

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#3
C C Offline
(Nov 12, 2022 06:49 PM)Yazata Wrote: B1051 got a short reprieve because of hurricane nicole, but it launched this morning for its 14th and final time. (You spend your life with the company, expect a nice retirement, and then... this.)

Sad

In spite of everything, B1051 behaved like the professional that it obviously was and got its two heavy com-sats into a high geosynchronous orbit.

Photo by Julia Bergeron of it disappearing into the sky

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FhYDCQnXoAIP...name=small

At least it broke the feline record for nine, and then some.
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#4
Yazata Offline
Photo of B1051 setting off by Jenny Hautmann


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[Image: FhYQSoNWAAAu5xc?format=jpg&name=small]




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[Image: FhYaH7AXoAA0-xk?format=jpg&name=small]



This photo of B1051 on SLC 40 at CCSFS before launch today isn't a drone shot and wasn't taken from an airplane. It's a very good satellite photo, by Maxar! This is getting up towards spy satellite quality. (Probably a function of how much a photo like this can be blown up.)


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[Image: FhZr5kGaMAA9r0m?format=jpg&name=small]

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