(Jul 16, 2019 04:04 AM)Yazata Wrote: So... the untethered free-flight probably won't be Tuesday. It might have slipped to Wednesday (hopefully).
Elon verifies that they are now shooting for Wednesday for the un-tethered free-flight.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1151152285449220096
But today should still be exciting, since everybody thinks that they are planning a static test fire today. (The engine will be ignited while the vehicle remains tied down.) Probably around sundown, Texas time.
Watch on LabPadre's live-stream. It's going right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhl6KJnj1yE
And for your added enjoyment, Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut will be streaming too, with his commentary. His stream starts in 3 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYW4RDCS90
There may be another stream here
https://www.spadre.com
Edit: pad cleared and roadblocks up.
Edit 2: BCG reports that the SpaceX firetruck was seen headed to the pad. No visible sign of a fire. Perhaps a safety precaution for fuel loading. Pad isn't clear since a man in a hard hat and orange vest was seen by the methane tanks. And something strange -- a red car was seen heading for the pad, then driving away at a high rate of speed. The car appeared to pull off the road onto dirt and a cloud of dust went up, when the dust settled, no red car. Are they having trouble with unauthorized intruders?
Edit 3: A whole group of men in hardhats and orange and yellow vests near the base of the Hopper.
Edit 4: Pad seems to be clear again. The SpaceX fire truck was last to leave. Here it is passing through the road block on its way out.
Edit 5: People on the scene (BCG & company) say they think that fueling has started. No vapor clouds and only minor activity at the flare stack, but there's a distinctive noise that one hears when they are moving fuel and oxidizer around.
Edit 6: Vapor is now clearly visible. Talk is that engine ignition should be within an hour.
Edit 7: Intense flaring. Blue lights turned on under the rocket. (Apparently for better photos by SpaceX cameras.) Word is that engine is being chilled prior to ignition. Ignition should be 10:30 CDT. T-10 minutes.
Edit 8: Engine Ignition!! After the engine shut off, there was flame under the Hopper. Flame suppression came on, and a huge ball of flame erupted! (Bigger than the hopper is tall!) Does water react with a methane fire like water on a grease fire?
It appears to be out now and the Hopper is still superficially intact. The engine may or may not be toast though.
Video of the event here:
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/stat...5702965250
It appeared to my layman's eye that the fire/explosion may have been unburned fuel and oxidizer. It didn't seem to me to originate at the engine, but over towards the rim of the rocket's bottom by a landing leg. (That's why I originally thought the flame was a reflection of the flare stack.) That's where the ground unbilicals connect and fuel and oxidizer are loaded and off-loaded. So did something shake loose?