Live coverage of the Falcon 9 launch for the second Cargo Re-Supply Mission to ISS. Roughly 30 minutes to launch if all goes according to plan. They are fueling up and doing checklist as we speak. The coverage people are kind of cheesy, but the actual launch is always a blast!
On CRS-1 they actually lost an engine but still made it to orbit. So hopefully this one goes better than last time.
EDIT: Live coverage is done for the most part, it's in orbit now and headed to the ISS. The launch and climb to orbit all went well. Will post a video of the launch when I get one.
EDIT2: They lost the feed after the capsule was in orbit, press conference in two hours. Could be a simple glitch, could be a problem with the solar array not deploying, etc. Could be nothing, could be a complete mission failure.
EDIT3: All thrusters are working again, and although it sounds like they may be delayed getting to the ISS on time, the mission is back in business and all systems are good to go.
Video of the launch: Mission is successful so far but with a few bumps in the road...
Yeah they only had 1 of 4 thrusters. They got 2 of 4 back online, but apparently need 3 to berth with ISS. They could burn to the ISS on 2 from what I understand, but couldn't fully berth, or not berth safely from the sound of it. So they are trying to get the remaining two thrusters online before making the call to burn for the ISS. Mission is still in limbo. And yes, if they can't get it online and decide to abort, they would burn back for a calculated de-orbit and recovery which is a backup plan, but would mean the mission was a failure. Lot of conflicting information flying around right now about this.
From Elon on twitter a few minutes ago: Looks like they're good to go.4:04 p.m. ET: Thruster pods one through four are now operating nominally. Preparing to raise orbit. All systems green. 2:57 p.m. ET: Pods 1 and 4 now online and thrusters engaged. Dragon transitioned from free drift to active control. Yes!! 12:01 p.m. ET: Attempting bring up of thruster pods 2 and 4 11:49 a.m. ET: Solar array deployment successful 11:38 a.m. ET: Thruster pod 3 tank pressure trending positive. Preparing to deploy solar arrays. 11:12 a.m. ET: About to pass over Australia ground station and command inhibit override 11:04 a.m. ET: Holding on solar array deployment until at least two thruster pods are active 10:40 a.m. ET: Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override. 10:32 a.m. ET: Falcon 9 delivered Dragon to its target orbit. All good on the rocket.
Was just coming back here to post this as well. Sounds like their meetup with the ISS will be delayed, but they are back in business and will still make berth. CRS-1 they lost an engine on the rocket but still made it to the ISS, this time the rocket was fine but the capsule had issues and they will still make their mission albeit with a slight delay. Good thing they are working the kinks out now, and I think its a testament to their engineering that these malfunctions have all been something that hasn't stopped the mission as a whole. I was getting all of my updates from here, but the same content. Most of it being sourced from Elon Musk's twitter feed.
Capsule had problems after separation. Sounds like the solar panels didn't deploy. They issued a "passive abort" and cut the feed at that point. Press conference in an hour or two. When they lost communication was when the solar panels should have been deployed, so I think it's going to be something about that. I think the Dragon Capsule can still berth with the ISS even if that part fails, using backup systems, but I'm not sure. Will have to wait for the press conference I guess but it doesn't sound "ideal". EDIT: Elon Musk himself just tweeted... "Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override." EDIT2: Resolved the issue with one of the thrusters needed for burn. Solar array deployed, burning for ISS now. Mission is back on track and successful. Will work on slowly bringing the other two thrusters online. Source: Elon Musk is tweeting about all of the events as they unfold. EDIT3: Mission still in limbo, thruster issues are still quetionable. They have what they need to burn for ISS but not enough to berth with ISS. So who knows... :(
Wow, the announcers seem scripted and awkward, but I'm looking forward to the launch. Thanks!
Yeah, it looks like the pulled some daytime soap stars to host this... it's terrible! That guy's facial expressions are creeping me out a bit. NASA also has a stream going as well... but there's seems to be people just kissing SpaceX's ass. I'm just here for rockets. It's hard to pick one, but SpaceX feed looks a little higher quality video wise. And NASA feed is just going to pull from their launch feed anyway I'm sure.
Very cool!! Almost as exciting a lift off as this was