SpaceX Launch Update

[edkyle98]

From the SpaceX Web Site:<br /><br />"Falcon 1 Maiden Flight Update: Posted March 15 <br /><br />Falcon 1 has been removed from its hangar and erected <br />on the launch pad. All systems are currently go for a <br />static fire on March 17 or 18, followed by a launch <br />between March 20 and 25. "<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[comga]

Agreed, shuttle_guy. It is now close to sundown on the 18th on Kwajalein. The static firing was supposed to happen yesterday or today. I can find no news more recent than Musk's 3/15 update. That update implied that they had accumulated enough LOX on the island and said again that the launch would be beteen the 20th and the 25th but....? His brother, ususally a font of information at ( http://kwajrockets.blogspot.com/ ) is off-line since 2/10. <br /><br />I do see on Space News http://www.space.com/spacenews/ that SpaceX has recruited another industry vet:<br /><br />Sea Launch President Joining SpaceX<br /><br />PARIS —- Sea Launch LLC President Jim Maser is resigning his post at the end of this month and will become a manager at launcher startup company Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, according to industry officials.<br /><br />This looks to me like quite an endorsement. A veteran of an incrimental plan to reduce launch costs jumping ship to a radical plan to lower launch costs. However, it is still not the news I was looking for.

 

[comga]

Yes, but is that news or just lack of news? My guess would be the latter.

 

[propforce]

A similar story on Jim Maser but said he's becoming the President & COO of SpaceX. They need someone like Jim if SpaceX is ever going to build a Delta IV type of launch capability.<br /><br />http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?id=4380<br /><br />SeaLaunch President jumps ship to SpaceX<br /><br />SpaceX announced yesterday that Jim Maser will join the company to become their new President and Chief Operating Officer. Maser has held the post of President and General Manager of Sea Launch since 2001, and has had a long career with Boeing, McDonald Douglas, and NASA.<br /><br />Maser appears to be a good fit for the technocratic Space Exploration Technologies Company. In addition to his obvious experience managing a small and innovative space launch company, he has an extensive technical and engineering background that includes the position of Chief Engineer of the Delta III program, a key role in Delta IV development, and a research fellowship at NASA/Lewis Research Center.<br /><br />'Jim brings a wealth of capability and experience to the SpaceX team. His joining is also a tremendous endorsement of SpaceX, our accomplishments to date and our vision for the future,' said Elon Musk, Chairman and CEO of SpaceX. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[mikejz]

Does anyone know if he is near retirement age?<br /><br />If not, I would take this move as a nice vote of confidence in SpaceX's future.

 

[propforce]

Jim Maser is in his 40s at the prime of his life. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[edkyle98]

Here is Jim Maser's bio:<br />http://www.sea-launch.com/bio_maser.htm<br /><br />He was chief engineer for the SeaLaunch system <br />integration effort, which has been a grand success. <br />Before that, however, he was chief engineer for <br />the Delta III project, which turned out to be not <br />so grand. <br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[mikejz]

I wonder if SpaceX has started to look like a '.com' to many in the launch industry---with experienced people looking to get in on the ground floor and maybe take advantage of stock options if the company takes off.

 

[baktothemoon]

Who knows what happened with that static test fire? Did it work?<br /><br />"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

 

[mikejz]

I wonder if this is a intentional move by SpaceX, to take any feeling of the need to rush off it's people.

 

[soyuztma]

The Cosmic Log has an update.<br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>One practice countdown ended in a brief engine ignition on Saturday, company spokeswoman Dianne Molina told me from SpaceX's California home base. Another static-fire test is planned for today, so that launch workers can "feel more comfortable" with the Falcon 1's readiness for the real thing, she said.<br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rocketman5000]

It is always best to learn from ones mistakes

 

[drwayne]

Its best to learn from someone else's mistakes.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne<br /><br />p.s. Brother, I have taught a lot of people in my time <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[comga]

Same story on MSNBC<br /><br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11912606/#060319a<br /><br />but no more details about the static fire test scheduled for Sunday or the launch attempt. One might think that if they can do static test fires on Saturday and Sunday that come Monday.......?

 

[spacefire]

Blog's been updaqted. Static firing successful and they have some really nice pics. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[no_way]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Its best to learn from someone else's mistakes. <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote> There are a couple more levels beyond that .. its actually better to learn from successes, not mistakes. I mean, there are about infinite ways of doing something wrong, but usually only a few ways to do it right. If you just keep learning from mistakes, you may never hit the right way. Though, if you are breaking completely new ground, and nobdoy else has done it begore, trial and error and hunches is pretty much all you have got. All the best to SpaceX and may Lady Luck smile on them this time.

 

[teije]

The launch window opens in about 10 minutes, but nowhere can I find any news. Anybody that has more luck?<br /><img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /><br /><br />Teije

 

[edkyle98]

I haven't seen anything. Very doubtful that SpaceX <br />would not feed the media during a launch attempt. <br />Strange that they have cut us off from news about <br />the hotfire test(s). <br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[edkyle98]

O.K. Here is an update from good old Keith Cowing <br />at www.Nasawatch.com.<br /><br />"SpaceX Update<br /><br />Editor's note: According to SpaceX sources, the test firing <br />countdown and static fire went fine except that they had a <br />ground helium supply disconnect prematurely during <br />engine startup. One of their flight video cameras also stop <br />working. Neither event is seen as being a big issue, but <br />these things will take a few days to correct. SpaceX is still <br />working toward a launch in the next few days."<br /><br />It will be interesting to see if NASA's Pegasus gets the <br />range now.<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[teije]

That sounds like: "Not today."<br /><br />oh well, we'll just have to keep waiting then i guess. <br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[barrykirk]

I would think not today, but it would be nice to have a couple of days warning about the launch attempt so that people know when to check in.<br /><br />They may be running through a punch list and checking off items when they are complete. When the list is done, it is time to launch.<br /><br />It's very hard to predict when your going to complete a punch list like that. Every item on the list can take a completely different amount of time to complete then your estimate.<br /><br />Good predicatability comes when your launching 3 rockets a month.

 

[kumbarov]

I have subscribed for news from www.spacex.com but i still haven't recieved anything.

 

[mikejz]

Maybe there should be a PR/Media Relations firm that specially handles space startups....<br /><br />(Anyone want to go into business with me???<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />)

 

[comga]

"Blog's been updaqted. Static firing successful and they have some really nice pics"<br /><br />Which blog is that? http://kwajrockets.blogspot.com/ shows nothing past the February 10 update. Do you have another blog on Falcon/SpaceX?<br /><br />This is really quite annoying. I will avidly follow any number of launch attempts and scrubs, but not if they freeze us out. It will seem like they have changed agendas, and it is unlikely I will find another one as interesting.<br /><br />It may be a repeat of something we have seen before. The last detailed news was SpaceX going after NASA's COTS program. Small companies have, in the past, changed course to chase NASA business, and never returned. Pioneer Rocketplane won a study contract ($2M?) something like four years ago and has only recently made new public statements, and they are now in a business totally different from the small sattelite launcher they started with. Could it be that SpaceX is overwhelmed with the NASA proposal and follow-up? It would be a shame to see them distracted by this unreliable promise. Someone on the web likened it to Lucy, Charlie Brown, and the football.

 

[edkyle98]

"This is really quite annoying. I will avidly follow any <br />number of launch attempts and scrubs, but not if they <br />freeze us out."<br /><br />I had thoughts like this until I reminded myself that <br />SpaceX is a small company, with a fewer workers than are <br />employed by some *restaurants*, that is working very <br />hard, with the Air Force and U.S. Army breathing right over<br /> its shoulder, on a small island on the other side of the <br />planet with all of the transportation and communications <br />challenges that presents, under the pressure of a national<br /> missile test range schedule, to do something <br />unprecedented.<br /><br />Frankly, I've been impressed with the openness of this <br />company. Since it is privately held, SpaceX didn't have to <br />tell the outside world about every one of its LOX leaks and<br /> pressurization failures and engine test troubles. But it <br />did. <br /><br />Others in the space "business", by comparison, routinely <br />"scrub" reports of test failures out of thier web sites. Try <br />to find an image or movie of the first X-43 failure on NASA's<br />web, for example. Or try to find the original pre-launch <br />images of the failed Proton/Breeze M on the ILS web <br />pages. <br /><br />This time, Mr. Musk must have wanted to move his team <br />out of the publicity glare for awhile. But he will no doubt <br />bring the media on board when the company is ready for a<br />launch attempt.<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle