Falcon 1 parts shipped

[holmec]

Great news!<br /><br />Hope they have a successful launch this time. They have a heavy launch year ahead and need to get this one off. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#0000ff"><em>"SCE to AUX" - John Aaron, curiosity pays off</em></font></p> </div>

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">" I assume and hope that the improvements that they have made allow for a smoother countdown."</font><br /><br />In a few senses, they have 'lessons learned' that will help. If you recall, the first flight was dogged by several 'oops' events, like too much LOX boiling off to make another attempt. They have implemented fixes for all of the *known* operations problems they've encountered before, which would argue for a smoother countdown.<br /><br />However, because of the launch failure, and the fact that they *had* the telemetry required for abort... if they'd seen it (and analyzed the ramifications) in time, they have stated that their automated 'abort' conditions have increased by an order of magnitude. This will argue for a much *less* smooth countdown, as the countdown can be aborted by many many more things than was the case previously.

 

[MeteorWayne]

It is after all better to abort too often than blow up! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[no_way]

yep, Elon himself said that in the upcoming countdowns they are expecting a lot of false positives due to much more extensive instrumentation and monitoring.<br />I hope it lifts off before summer...<br /><br />Again, we are seeing how expendable vehicles are just difficult to get off the ground, because you are betting everything on that one attempt. No amount of simulation and monitoring will substitute for the real flight, and if you only have one, its a huge gamble.

 

[comga]

subzero788: "past experience tells me the launch won't occur on the 21st of January"<br /><br />That is already fact. A new update pushes back the hot fire to Friday and the first launch attempt until the 22nd. <br /><br />Patience, Grasshopper!

 

[subzero788]

Wow, I must be psychic or something <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[DuhFly]

Did Spacex do the static firing or not?

 

[PistolPete]

Aparently it seems that they had some sort of a glitch during the countdown for the test fire. The latest report says that repairs to the glitch will push the launch date into February at the earliest.<br /><br />Here's the link: SpaceX Delays Second Falcon 1 Rocket Launch to Mid-February <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>

 

[subzero788]

No word on the static fire that was supposed to have happened on or before Jan 23. I can only assume that no news is bad news <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />

 

[comga]

Update from SpaceX<br /><br /><br /> January 25, 2007: DemoFlight 2 Launch Update<br /><br />In an excess of caution, we decided not to proceed with the static fire this month. The vehicle is now back in the hangar, where the stages are being demated for careful inspection.<br /><br />The static fire and launch window is now mid to late February, due to Kwaj having to configure for an incoming Minuteman and then reconfigure back to handling a Falcon launch. During this downtime, we will take the opportunity to go over every inch of the rocket with a microscope again.<br /><br />As Andy Grove said, "Only the Paranoid Survive".<br /><br />---Elon