Spacex Launch April 30: Animation, Photos

[Space Racer]

Why the US Can’t Get Astronauts Into Space

This article shows the heavy lift capabilities of a few well-known launch systems.

http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/04/1...ts-into-space/

[Space Racer]

My favorite websites for commercial space transportation and exploration news:

http://www.spacetoday.net/

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/news/commercial/

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/c3po/home/

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/

http://www.space.com/spaceflight/

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/

http://www.parabolicarc.com/

http://moonandback.com/

http://www.aviationweek.com/SPACE.aspx

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/space/

http://www.floridatoday.com/section/space

[Space Racer]

Kennedy Space Center Video Feeds:
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/

This has links to other info/video at top right. I couldn't get them to work in Firefox. Apparently there's a problem with Java. I think they work OK in IE.
It's hard to tell, cuz nothing's happening.

This link (from above website) has a NASA countdown clock and some video.
The video above the clock is NASA TV.
http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/cdt/

I don't know what this one is. Maybe something will show up some time between now and launch day.
http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/

I found an online countdown timer. NASA's wasn't running yet, so I found my own. It can be reduced and moved out of the way. I have one running on two computers. One is set for 1:00 PM on Friday, 18 May, for the pre-launch briefing, and the other for 3:30 AM Saturday, 19 May, when launch coverage begins.
http://countdown.onlineclock.net/

SpaceX Falcon 9 Dragon coverage schedule:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/comm..._schedule.html

[Space Racer]

A Tour of Cape Canaveral and SLC 40

Cape Canaveral is big. This is a 2-part helicopter tour.


Space Launch Complex 40 (SpaceX launch site) (and SLC 41) is mentioned at 7:54 to 8:06 and 11:40 to 12:22 in part 2:


SLC 40 location:
http://afspacemuseum.org/CCAFS/CX40/CX40.gif

Other launch pad locations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La...ce_Station.jpg

SLC 40 aerial photos. South is at the top. The ocean is to the left:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/...-imagery-1.htm
(These photos are out of date, as you will see in the following links.)

Some background info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLC40
http://afspacemuseum.org/CCAFS/CX40/index.htm
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000122.html


A tour of the facility at SLC 40:


http://www.universetoday.com/85307/b...ch-complex-40/

[Space Racer]

Launch aborted at liftoff. The countdown went all the way to zero, the engines ignited, but the computer shut the rocket down about one second after ignition.

The SpaceX The Falcon 9 aborted its launch attempt on May 19 with an engine cutoff. Following the cutoff, the launch team has established the Falcon 9 rocket is in a safe configuration. Early data shows that the chamber pressure on engine 5 was high. The teams will continue to look at the data and assess a launch attempt on May 22.

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/comm...ticfiring.html

The next launch opportunity will be at 3:44 AM Tuesday, May 22.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/status.html

[Some Dude]

I sent them a resume. never heard a peep

[timebuilder]

I sent them a resume. never heard a peep

I never applied. When I was the right age, I was sitting in the second row at the Fillmore East in NYC watching Clapton kick off his Derek and the Dominoes tour.

[Space Racer]

Gemini 6A Launch Abort

First launch attempt
The launch abort of Gemini 6A, attempted December 12, 1965.

The first attempt to launch the 6A mission (second attempt for Gemini spacecraft No. 6) was on December 12, 1965 at 9:54 a.m. EST.[3] All went well right up to ignition—in fact the engines did ignite, but then a plug fell out of the bottom of the rocket, starting the onboard computer. This was not meant to happen until the rocket had actually lifted off, and the onboard computer detected that there was no upwards motion, causing it to abort the launch. At this point mission rules dictated that the crew should eject from the spacecraft, as the rocket would explode on impact with the pad if it had lifted off by even an inch (2.54 cm).

Schirra elected not to eject as neither he nor Stafford had detected any upwards motion, and the ejection seats were seen as a last resort. In an early test of the system involving a dummy, the hatch had failed to blow off and the dummy's head was rammed into the side of the spacecraft. Also all ejection seats cause a dangerous compression of the spine as these were designed to carry the astronauts as quickly as possible (with the goal of evacuating the astronauts a couple of hundred meters away from an exploding rocket).

The Martin and Air Force teams who erected and tested the rocket found that some plugs on the rocket were able to pull out more easily than others. They replaced them with the ones that were harder to pull out on future missions, and a safety wire was added to make sure that the rocket had lifted off.

However, another problem was found as the engineers examined the thrust versus time graph. They found that the thrust rose nominally but started to decrease before the plug had fallen out. Through the night, engineers examined the rocket engine piece by piece until they found that a plastic cover had been left in the gas generator port. With this problem solved the rocket and spacecraft were rescheduled for a launch three days after the first attempt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_6


.

[Some Dude]

I never applied. When I was the right age, I was sitting in the second row at the Fillmore East in NYC watching Clapton kick off his Derek and the Dominoes tour.

Nah, spacex, they have a branch in vandenburgh Ca. close to where im trying to go. They where looking for someone to run their hvac show, guess they found someone.

[Space Racer]

The Rocket Factory

This is a photo presentation of the SpaceX factory floor in Hawthorne, Ca.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/05...top-to-bottom/

[Space Racer]

How One Faulty Nitrogen-Purge Valve Forced SpaceX to Abort

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/05...e-valve-abort/

[Space Racer]

Streaming Video

In addition to the websites listed in post #11, the launch can
be viewed at Spaceflight Now's Livestream connection.

http://www.space.com/15760-spacex-ca...-webcasts.html

See also http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ for timelines, updates, video.
Check out the press kit for detailed mission info.

Looks like Spaceflight Now is all over this thing.
Their coverage starts at 2:30 AM.

SpaceX's Livestream video won't be available until 3:15.

[Space Racer]

This is the direct link to Spaceflight Now's streaming video:

http://www.livestream.com/spacefligh...gn=footerlinks

(It's not real obvious in the Space.com article mentioned above.)