SpaceX Launch Thread - SES-12

[Anonymous No.9786706]

STREAM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcM5hqQ45s
When: Monday, June 4 @ 12:29 a.m. EDT (4:29 UTC); 4-hour launch window
Where: SLC-40 @ Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Payload: 5383.85 kg geostationary commsat @ 95° East—serves Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
Press Kit: http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/ses-12missionpress_kit_6.2.18.pdf
SES Pre-Launch Press Conf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvDDAh84bJI
Weather: http://www.patrick.af.mil/Portals/14/documents/Weather/L-1%20Day%20Forecast%204%20June%20Launch.pdf?ver=2018-06-02-111547-970 (70% GO)
Booster: B1040.2; previously flew the X-37B mission; block 4
Landing: NO
Fairing Recovery: Yes


Fun Stats:
>13th re-use of a 1st stage booster
>10th F9 launch this year
>56th F9 launch overall

[Anonymous No.9786711]

fear not, this string of boring B4 launches is winding down. This is the 2nd to last B4 that will be flown. After CRS-15, it will all be block 5! Which means landings for every launch.

[Anonymous No.9786763]

>>9786711
There are three B4 cores left
B1040
B1042
B1045

[Anonymous No.9786768]

>>9786763
yep, this one is B1040. B1045 is flying CRS-15. B1042 is likely going to be the in-flight abort test core

[Anonymous No.9786859]

>>9786711
Keep in mind there are now already two different Block 5 versions. The one with the composite tank in not expected to fly until August!

[Anonymous No.9786864]

>>9786859
Falcon 9 Fullest Thrust 1.2 Block 5 (V7) With Composite Tank

[Anonymous No.9786889]

>>9786864
>>9786859

>The Block 5 rocket still needs one more key upgrade. Quartz first reported that during its initial flight, the Block 5 booster flown by SpaceX did not use the advanced composite overwrap pressure vessels, or COPVs, that it intends to use for commercial crew flights. This means this flight did not count toward the seven flights NASA has said it wants to see of the new booster before it is safe for crew missions. These COPVs won't be ready until August.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/06/rocket-report-spaceshiptwo-soars-bfr-engine-advances-a-self-eating-booster/

[Anonymous No.9786893]

>>9786859
>>9786864
any more info on this?

[Anonymous No.9786895]

>>9786893
https://qz.com/1286342/spacexs-final-upgrade-to-its-falcon-9-rocket-isnt-quite-final-yet/

[Anonymous No.9786980]

Perhaps /sci/ should not waste their time watching a launch of the most dishonest companies in the history of private space travel. Seriously each launch following the Falcon family as they “revolutionize the launch industry” has been indistinguishable from the rest. Aside from the meme landings, the company’s only party trick has been to overwork and underpay its employees to reduce launch costs, all to make the mythical “full and rapid reuse” seem effective.

Perhaps the die was cast when Musk vetoed the idea of ambitious yet realistic missions like Red and Grey Dragon; he made sure the company would never be mistaken for an innovative force to anything or anybody, just ridiculously questionable government contracts for his companies. SpaceX might be profitable (or not), but it’s certainly the anti-NASA in its refusal of wonder, science and excitement. No one wants to face that fact. Now, thankfully, they no longer have to.

>a-at least the landings are cool though
"No!"
The camerawork is dreadful; the landings of the charred boosters are boring. As I watch, I noticed that every time a Falcon 9 lands, Musk said either “self-sustaining civilization on Mars” or “imagine if you had a 747 and you threw it away after one flight.”

I began marking on the back of an envelope every time one of those phrases was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Musk's mind is so governed by clichés that he has no other style of thinking. Later I read a poorly-written news story on SpaceX by some fat web blogger. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are watching these launches now, surely they will work for SpaceX in the future and they too can have paychecks based off of government handouts." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you are a SpaceX fan, you are, in fact, trained to be a mindless supporter of government-funded billionaires.

[Anonymous No.9787031]

[Anonymous No.9787047]

>>9786864
You forgot fairing 2.0

[Anonymous No.9787224]

>>9787047
the 2nd stage is a B5 too

[Anonymous No.9787231]

SpaceX newfag here, why don't they recover the second stage? Seems like that is a pretty expensive piece to throw away, much more so than the fairings, which they are recovering.q

[Anonymous No.9787244]

>>9787231
- performance hit on payload to orbit
- would only be able to be recovered on LEO missions; S2 stays with the payload for longer on GTO etc missions
- no need to waste more time on F9 when BFR is around the corner; the combo of S1 and fairing recovery results in 70% cost savings which is more than enough

that being said, they actually are working on recovering the second stage, with a large parasol/balloon-type things and extra ablative heatshield material. But, they won't re-use these recovered S2's, just tear them down and learn about what a flown S2 looks like. Then those discoveries will lead into changes to S2 that improve reliability etc

[Anonymous No.9787271]

[Anonymous No.9787417]

THREEE HOURS THIRTY MINUTES TO STREAM START

[Anonymous No.9787423]

>>9786859
Yeah but that is in the second stage.

[Anonymous No.9787426]

>>9786980
>look mom, i posted it again

[Anonymous No.9787431]

>>9787426
someone had to

[Anonymous No.9787453]

>>9787417
Isn't it tomorrow?

[Anonymous No.9787455]

>>9787453
Technically, depending where you live

[Anonymous No.9787465]

>>9787047
actually, fairing is 1.0 Potentially the last 1.0 fairing as well

[Anonymous No.9787475]

Are we /fairingcatch/ stream this time?

[Anonymous No.9787478]

*spreads buttcheeks*

I gotcha fairing catcher right here

[Anonymous No.9787492]

>>9787475
nah, Steven is on the Weast coast

[Anonymous No.9787494]

>>9787423
It still means the first launch of block 5 did not count towards NASA launches.

[Anonymous No.9787495]

Just over 2.5 more hours!

[Anonymous No.9787578]

ONE-HUNDRED MINUTES

[Anonymous No.9787582]

>>9787578
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Anonymous No.9787623]

>>9787494
That's true, but it wasn't the point. All seven of the launches that do count could now be reused boosters.

[Anonymous No.9787633]

>>9787623
>All seven of the launches that do count could now be reused boosters.

No, because they have yet to launch one to spec. Also isn't it 10 now?

[Anonymous No.9787647]

>>9787633
>10 Launches

Jesus christ fucking NASA. I bet ULA will be allowed crew on it's second SLS launch.

[Anonymous No.9787654]

>>9787647
it's still 7, and the 7 "requirement" was self-imposed by SpaceX. It is NOT a NASA requirement, thus why ULA is not doing it.

[Anonymous No.9787659]

>>9787633
No, seven is what NASA cares about.
Also, it's because they haven't launched any to spec yet that all seven could be reused boosters. As far as I know the only big changes that remain are the tank in the second stage and some avionics, this means that any booster that comes back could be used on one of the spec launches.

[Anonymous No.9787668]

>>9787659
>No, seven is what NASA cares about.
7 tests on the rocket, but then don't they also have to test the crew capsule a few times unmanned?

[Anonymous No.9787681]

>>9787668
One time. And the seven is before NASA puts astronauts on it, they can do the Dragon 2 test fights, incuding manned fights, as part of the seven.

[Anonymous No.9787687]

Im currently fucking drunk in key west. Is it launching and can i see shit? T. Europoor and i dont see the official spacex stream yet

[Anonymous No.9787695]

>>9787687
yes. look north east

[Anonymous No.9787702]

>>9787687
They've started pushing it back already- now 12:45EST

[Anonymous No.9787711]

>>9787702
what? we're still on time for a launch at the window opening; do you mean the stream? The stream starts in 21 minutes.

[Anonymous No.9787712]

>>9787695
>>9787702
Thanks famalams, ill try to stay awake and keep my eyes open

[Anonymous No.9787719]

STREAM UP STREAM LIVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcM5hqQ45s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcM5hqQ45s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcM5hqQ45s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcM5hqQ45s

[Anonymous No.9787720]

>>9787719
WE MARS NAO

[Anonymous No.9787721]

IT BETTER BE INSPRUCKER

[Anonymous No.9787729]

GOOD LUCK ELON

[Anonymous No.9787730]

>Brian
FUCK

[Anonymous No.9787732]

East Orlando fag here, cloud cover is 90%

[Anonymous No.9787738]

everything pales in comparison to the amazing Bangladesh propaganda video that played for bangabandhu's launch

[Anonymous No.9787741]

kek they just cut that cunt off

[Anonymous No.9787744]

Ayo SES that's great and imma let you finish but Falcon 9 is the greatest rocket of all time.

[Anonymous No.9787747]

*crickets*

[Anonymous No.9787750]

[Anonymous No.9787753]

LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

[Anonymous No.9787754]

LOUD

[Anonymous No.9787758]

What's the stage separation speed of this launch compared to reusable GTO missions?

[Anonymous No.9787760]

GL fairings

[Anonymous No.9787762]

>>9787758
it's like 3x other missions, SUPER energetic. F1 was burned to exhaustion

[Anonymous No.9787763]

>>9787738
haha, spacex fag here. I remember laughing my ass off watching that

[Anonymous No.9787766]

>rocket clearly made out of tinfoil
FAKE

[Anonymous No.9787767]

fuck. I live 14 mile from the launchpad and couldn't see because of clouds.

[Anonymous No.9787768]

>>9787762
*S1 was burned to exhaustion

[Anonymous No.9787770]

Good job space. Good job everyone.

[Anonymous No.9787774]

these B5 S2 cameras suck ass

[Anonymous No.9787778]

>>9787774
Big government's at play here. They don't want spysats in space.

[Anonymous No.9787783]

>>9787774
they're partly IR cameras, thus the weird colors. But I think that was at expense of resolution

[Anonymous No.9787789]

>>9786980
>When you are a SpaceX fan, you are, in fact, trained to be a mindless supporter of government-funded billionaires.

Even if you weren't spewing nonsense, if above were true, I would still be in favor of it.

Make something useful of your life and I'll fund your work too.

[Anonymous No.9787792]

>>9787789
>he doesn't know about the pasta
lmao

[Anonymous No.9787795]

>>9787767
>I live 14 mile from the launchpad and couldn't see because of clouds.

I live hundreds of miles away and got an excellent view! Sorry, man.

[Anonymous No.9787797]

>>9787792
>>he doesn't know about the pasta
>lmao
Oops.

[Anonymous No.9787800]

stream will be back in a min

>>9787797
it's been posted in literally every single SpaceX launch thread for the past year and a half, where have you been?

[Anonymous No.9787802]

>>9787800
>it's been posted in literally every single SpaceX launch thread for the past year and a half, where have you been?
Not /sci/.

[Anonymous No.9787805]

2nd engine startup!

[Anonymous No.9787816]

payload deployed! complete mission success!

[Anonymous No.9787821]

next SpaceX launch is late June with Telstar 19V on a B5 F9

[Anonymous No.9787832]

fairings when

[Anonymous No.9787838]

>>9787832
never, they're not recovering the fairings today. They're 1.0 fairings, and Mr Steven isn't on the east coast

[Anonymous No.9787846]

>>9787783
Yeah, I noticed that. The engine bell got nice funky colors it didn't used to.

[Anonymous No.9787854]

>>9786864
Iteration 6

[Anonymous No.9788880]

So strange that these launch threads have become so...calm, i guess? Kinda makes me miss all the shitposting

[Anonymous No.9789471]

>>9788880
gotta wait for the in-flight abort. That'll be exciting. As for shitposting, the FH thread was gr8. Regular F9 launches are boring because the always stick the landing. If they had a livestream of Mr Steven it would be a bit more exciting

[Anonymous No.9791187]

https://youtu.be/_y9xUc2Blqw

[Anonymous No.9791258]

Hey /sci/ is it even possible for us to become a space-faring civilization?

It seems really difficult given the constraints of physics and a whole bunch of other things, but is there any hope for us?

[Anonymous No.9791264]

>>9791258
yes. you just need long-term plans that you stick to and a enthusiastic public. everything else is an engineering problem

[Anonymous No.9791272]

>>9791264
Thanks for answering anon.

Are the engineering problems solvable? I know a lot of them must be extremely complicated, like going fast enough in space to make it worthwhile, making it economic to put things into space, building up space infrastructure for larger projects, and great things like that.

I mean, I know that humanity basically came from relying on lightning to start fires to tricking metal into thinking with electricity, but something like space just seems really complex.

[Anonymous No.9791278]

>>9791272
Cost is king. Low $/kg needs to come first. Then, the infrastructure issues melt away. Much of the cost of space stuff comes from the tight mass requirements to begin with.

[Anonymous No.9791318]

>>9791278
I wonder how long it'll take for that to get started.

I've seen some plans for something like a giant rollercoaster that will make things easier to launch into space. I wonder when it might come together.

[Anonymous No.9791598]

>>9791318
those are mostly memes. the least memey mass throwing methods are:
>spaceplanes
>big cannons (rip Gerald Bull)
and because I'm a pournelle fan,
>have an ablative material behind your payload and shoot a gigantic laser at it

in the meantime, chemical rockets are just fine.

[Anonymous No.9792610]

Meanwhile, Russia calmly lands and launches three more crew to the ISS on the reliable Soyuz-FG. Bonus: external rocketcam footage for the first time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSO98xaPZGc

[Anonymous No.9792611]

>>9792610
R7's will be flying 300 years from now. It's a close to perfect design

[Anonymous No.9793029]

>>9791258
If the world scraped together as much money for space as America alone blows on overequipping their army and researching gimmicky bullshit weapons, space faring would be easy.

[Anonymous No.9793045]

>>9787244
>BFR is around the corner
It seems surreal somehow to think that it's actually happening

[Anonymous No.9793047]

>>9793029
If you gave NASA as much money as America gives the army NASA still wouldn't be able to put anybody into space

[Anonymous No.9793060]

>>9793045
probably because it isn't going to happen
I mean fuel, security, and landing are going to be wildly difficult. It also fails to have any sort of advantage on plane flight, it'll take just as long as a plane because the security going on to a fucking rocket ship has to be insanely good

[Anonymous No.9793065]

>>9793060
E2E BFR is hardly why BFR is being made to begin with. That's just a neat capability which can be utilized in-between mars windows.

It'll still be a fantastic super-heavy lift spacecraft

[Anonymous No.9793084]

>>9793060
I actually forgot about that bullshit completely.

Much more important is the whole "150 tons to LEO for under $10 million" part

[Anonymous No.9793120]

Space doesn't exist bitches.

[Anonymous No.9793352]

>>9787832
https://youtu.be/U82ltiBoZtk

[Anonymous No.9793374]

>>9793352
They missed it again. OH MY G O D.

[Anonymous No.9793392]

>>9793374
they weren't trying to catch it, Steven is on the west coast. But, that doesn't mean they won't recover it if it survives the journey down to the ocean.

[Anonymous No.9793526]

fairing collection at San Pedro is growing

[Anonymous No.9793528]

[Anonymous No.9793532]

weird thinking that a gigantic interplanetary reusable spaceship will be built in a shitty old port in LA

[Anonymous No.9793837]

They really wasted a lot of time with this whole fairing reuse thing when they could have been testing it rapidly by dropping it out of a plane or chopper.

[Anonymous No.9793933]

>>9793837
They have been testing them via helicopter.

[Anonymous No.9793961]

>>9793532
You think Hawthorne is an amazing place for the Falcons? It's totally not

[Anonymous No.9793970]

>>9793532

Perfectly suits the cyberpunk present.