Other Assorted Stuff

[Yazata]

Jenny's video in Youtube form. After the nearest booster landed and the camera is over on its side, you hear what sounds like a jet engine. That's the booster's depress vent, where the pressurization in the propellant tanks is released.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/v3I4qA75o1U

[Yazata]

B 1062 on its way to Hanger X after returning from its 12th trip to space. It started out white, nobody said that life as a reusable booster would be easy. But it's better than the alternative.

(Photo by Jenny Hautmann)

[Image: FpWNtvSWIAAkYm6?format=jpg&name=4096x4096]

[Yazata]

B 1058 just successfully landed for a record-breaking 16th time!! after successfully orbing 22 more Starlink V.2 Mini's. The landing was on JRTI (Just Read the Instructions).

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1678254865833930752

[Image: F0pcAuVXwAEwwMq?format=jpg&name=small]

[Yazata]

JAXA (the Japanese space agency) has been having a run of bad luck.

First, in February 17, 2023, the first launch of Japan's new H-3 rocket suffered a pad abort, just before engine ignition. They recycled, and on March 7 it launched. The first stage and its solid rocket boosters worked well, but the second stage failed to ignite and the satellite it carried was lost.

Then today, a test fire of the second stage of JAXA's Epsilon-S solid fueled small satellite launcher failed in a spectacular test stand explosion. A JAXA news conference blamed the blast on "combustion instabilities" in the solid fuel rocket motor.

[Image: F09J-BfaQAAzK1l?format=jpg&name=large]

[Yazata]

Tonight, fearless and reliable B1058 will try for a new record, its 19th successful orbital launch!! B1058 has been there before. Its first flight was Bob and Doug's excellent adventure to the Space Station (Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission). Since then it's flown ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and 13 Starlink missions. Tonight's will be more Starlinks. I'm guessing B1058 paid for itself over its first five missions, so SpaceX has gotten 13, going on 14 Starlink missions just for the cost of the range and ground crews (that they would have to be paying anyway).

B 1058 still proudly bears the blue NASA "meatball" painted on it for Demo-2. The rocket started out pristine white, but is pretty black now, after 18 propulsive landings. The white lines are where SpaceX crews in HangerX clean off the soot to check the integrity of weld lines.

Launch scheduled for 11 PM EST (8 PM PST) and it should be streamed on X. Backup day is Saturday.

Photo by Jenny Hautmann

[Image: GB-5J1-XkAAkLY0?format=jpg&name=small]

---

And yesterday was the eighth anniversary of a day that changed space travel forever:

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1737931955306697065

[Yazata]

Looks like B1058's 19th launch is now scheduled for 12:02 AM EST on Saturday (9:02 PM PST Friday)

SpaceX says:

"SpaceX is targeting Saturday, December 23 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 12:02 a.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 3:00 a.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Saturday, December 23 starting at 11:00 p.m. ET.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 19th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and 13 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean."

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/...Id=sl-6-32

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yoKMwgBayoJQ

[Yazata]

Well, B1058 made it look easy! Smooth take off, stage sep, entry burn and landing. Almost like it had done it all before!

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1738434850233938355

(I want to see Starship launches and landings become this reliable and routine.)

[Yazata]

So close, and yet so far...

After successfully lofting 19 spaceflights into orbit (including Bob and Doug's Demo-2) without a single complaint, B1058 (the only F-9 to boast a NASA worm and meatball) appears to have been lost due to rough seas during its barge trip home. You shoulda held on tighter Octagrabber!



https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1739458501703762367

[Yazata]

Today B1077 launched for its 10th time, carrying a Cygnus supply capsule to the International Space Station. This was the first time the Northrop Grumman Cygnus rode a SpaceX Falcon 9. Everything was successful in SpaceX's tenth launch of the new year, putting them on pace for 120 launches in 2024.

And SpaceX notably upped its game in supplying great video of B1077's return-to-launch-site landing at Cape Canaveral, catching the booster in superb detail all the way from space to touchdown.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1752382592769499613

[Image: GFG3D_pWgAAZNoB?format=jpg&name=large]

[Image: GFG3D_kWsAEKSw6?format=jpg&name=large]