Second try to launch Cargo Dragon supply capsule to the space station, scrubbed yesterday due to thunderstorm a passing over Cape Canaveral. Booster B1056 will attempt its second landing at Cape Canaveral. Instantaneous launch window 6:01 PM EDT/3:01 PM PDT/10:01 PM UTC. (It has to launch on time in order to catch the Space Station in orbit.) Should be livestreamed on SpaceX.com
Probably another attempt to make the Starhopper hop. If it happens, it should come around 8:00 PM CDT (6:00 PM PDT/9:00 PM EDT/ 1:00 AM Friday UTC) If it happens, it will be on Labpadre's stream, probably Everyday Astronaut's and SpacePadreIsle's streams and (maybe) streamed by SpaceX as well. SpaceX streamed for a short time yesterday and had the best visuals, since they have the best access to their own site, including aerial shots from a drone. Plus they had the countdown clock while everyone else just had to guess and wait for ignition, plus they had running updates from their control center. (Though they clammed up tight after yesterday's abort.)
YazataJul 25, 2019 11:26 PM (This post was last modified: Jul 26, 2019 07:23 PM by Yazata.)
Mary reports that the road has just been closed and the police roadblock is up. (5:25 PM CDT) Pad still isn't clear though. I saw a truck drive up near the fuel tanks and chat on Labpadre stream says somebody with a man-lift is underneath Hoppy near its engine.
Puffs of vapor observed coming from the reaction control thrusters.
Edit 7:54 PM CDT: Still no vapor or other overt signs that the thing has been fueled.
Edit 8:40 PM CDT: Pad lights on. No overt sign the thing has been fueled.
Edit 9:12 PM CDT: SpaceX firetruck and two other vehicles seen heading towards the pad.
Edit 9:26 PM CDT: Vehicles appear to have just left again. They appear to have been a police car with lights flashing and the SpaceX firetruck, in front of and behind a third car they were escorting. Maybe a technician had to go down to the tank farm to physically turn a valve or adjust something. If anything is going to happen this evening, we need to see some sign of fueling soon.
Edit 10:00 PM CDT: Mary reports sound of pumps associated with fueling. Some faint signs of vapor around the vehicle. Speculation that there was some kind of "issue" that delayed them, but now they seem to be progressing again.
Edit 10:10 PM CDT: More vapor, very obvious from the main methane pressure valve (that produced yesterday's flame-thrower). They are definitely fueling it. Word is going around (don't know its source) that we are at about T - 45 minutes.
YazataJul 26, 2019 05:03 AM (This post was last modified: Jul 26, 2019 06:06 AM by Yazata.)
Approx 10:45 PM CDT: Ignition Couldn't see at the time how high Hoppy flew because cloud of smoke obscured everything, but after the engine sounds stopped and the smoke cleared Hoppy was shifted about 10 meters/30 feet away from its original location. Vehicle looks perfectly fine, rather proud of itself and ready for more action. Some subsequent photos show the COPVs on top of Hoppy poking above the smoke clouds and it does seem to have flown almost exactly the 20 meters that was planned and authorized by the FAA for its first flight. (About as high as it is tall.)
That's the good news.
The bad news is that the rocket blast ignited several fires around the launch site. One large fire has developed near the three tanks called the "three amigos". Unclear what's stored in them, reportedly water for the flame suppression system. But hopefully not anything flammable or explosive. The fire near the three amigos continues to grow and is getting kind of huge. Unfortunately, the fire suppression nozzles all seem positioned to spray the pad, and can't reach where the fire is.
The SpaceX fire truck is nowhere to be seen, perhaps because there's still explosive risk.
Edit: The brush fire has subsequently moved away from the three amigos and the tank farm beyond them and seems to be gradually burning itself out.
A truck is waiting by the hard checkpoint carrying heavy duty rollers used to move the Hopper from one point to another. Presumably to return Hoppy to where the umbilical disconnects are. (The umbilicals seem to have worked fine, no fires there.)
C CJul 26, 2019 06:42 AM (This post was last modified: Jul 26, 2019 06:43 AM by C C.)
Never considered brush and grassland fires. I mean, how many times does one see a rocket hopping or hovering about over the surrounding area rather than going straight / arcing up and out of sight?
They are launching this thing by directing the rocket exhaust at a concrete slab instead of into a Cape Canaveral-style flame-duct. So the blast is reflected back up. That's why it's so fiery and it obscures the visuals. The next flight in a week or two (Elon-time) that Elon says will shoot for 200 meters should get rid of that ground-effect and show Hoppy in all its glory. (It's 30 feet wide and 60 feet tall!)
(Jul 26, 2019 06:42 AM)C C Wrote: Never considered brush and grassland fires.
I don't think that they did either. They seem to have been unprepared for it.
The fire still seems to be burning as we speak, out in the tidal wetlands behind the beach, where it's gradually dying out. Labpadre has a livestream of the fire. You can see the SpaceX firetruck there. Reportedly, this is about a mile away from the pad. It's pretty swampy, the locals say.
Edit: Fire appears to be out. (Way to go, SpaceX firetruck!)
... or maybe not. There's still a small amount of smoke and people on Labpadre's chat say they've seen it apparently put out but flare up again a couple of times. So the SpaceX firetruck needs to remain vigilant.
Here's Mary/BCG's video. You can see the top of Hoppy (with its distinctive white COPVs) just poking above the clouds of smoke and see it move to the left. Note where it is relative to the three amigos before ignition and after the smoke clears. You can also see the piece of flaming debris that started the fire in front of the amigos.
(Jul 26, 2019 08:09 PM)Yazata Wrote: Here's Mary/BCG's video. You can see the top of Hoppy (with its distinctive white COPVs) just poking above the clouds of smoke and see it move to the left. Note where it is relative to the three amigos before ignition and after the smoke clears. You can also see the piece of flaming debris that started the fire in front of the amigos.
(Jul 26, 2019 09:58 PM)confused2 Wrote: I give it significantly above 'Wow!'.
Me too.
Elon says that Hoppy's next flight will be to 200 meters, which should get it well above all that ground-effect rocket blast where it will be clearly visible atop its pillar of flame.
YazataJul 28, 2019 03:05 AM (This post was last modified: Jul 28, 2019 03:28 AM by Yazata.)
They are getting set to move Hoppy back to its fueling umbilicals. Moving Hoppy is a big job, since it's 30 feet wide and maybe 60 feet tall, and made entirely of steel. A bit like moving a house. (Things were never this complicated in those old 1950's Science Fiction movies.)
But this is how Hoppy originally traveled from its birthplace, the construction area where the 'Mark 1' prototype is now under construction, to the launch pad area about a mile away. And it's probably how that prototype (which will be maybe 120 feet tall) will make the same trip when it's ready.
Jul 25, 2019 03:42 AM
(This post was last modified: Jul 25, 2019 04:25 AM by Yazata.)
![[Image: TDB-L-HOPPER-0726-1.jpg?w=605]](https://www.dailybreeze.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/TDB-L-HOPPER-0726-1.jpg?w=605)
![[Image: starhopper-hop.gif?w=1390&crop=1]](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/starhopper-hop.gif?w=1390&crop=1)
![[Image: 5c8de6a1daa5076d6e3f53e2-750-750.jpg]](https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5c8de6a1daa5076d6e3f53e2-750-750.jpg)