{"id":13323,"date":"2019-02-26T00:48:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/scorched-spacex-rocket-returns-to-port-in-florida-ready-to-launch-a-fourth-time\/"},"modified":"2019-02-26T00:48:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:48:22","slug":"scorched-spacex-rocket-returns-to-port-in-florida-ready-to-launch-a-fourth-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/scorched-spacex-rocket-returns-to-port-in-florida-ready-to-launch-a-fourth-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Scorched SpaceX rocket returns to port in Florida, ready to launch a fourth time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arrived at Port Canaveral on Sunday after a two-and-a-half-day journey from the rocket\u2019s landing zone in the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Singed and blackened from three fiery trips to the edge of space and back, a Falcon 9 rocket returned to Cape Canaveral on Sunday after a mission last that week carried the Israeli Beresheet moon lander into orbit, ready for inspections before attempting a fourth \u2014 and likely final \u2014 launch this spring.<\/p>\n

The 15-story first stage booster entered the channel to Port Canaveral around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) Sunday, two-and-a-half days after landing on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cOf Course I Still Love You\u201d in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

The first stage powered an Indonesian communications satellite, an Israeli moon lander, and a U.S. Air Force experimental smallsat into orbit Thursday night after lifting off from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad.<\/p>\n

The booster shut down its nine engines and fell away from the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage at an altitude of around 220,000 feet (67 kilometers), reaching a top speed during the launch of more than 5,200 mph (8,500 kilometers per hour), according to telemetry data displayed during SpaceX\u2019s webcast of the mission.<\/p>\n

A subset of the rocket\u2019s nine booster engines, with the help of stabilization fins, guided the stage back to Earth, targeting the coordinates of SpaceX\u2019s landing vessel. Four landing legs unfurled from base of the rocket as it braked for touchdown, marking the 34th time SpaceX has recovered one of its rockets on a drone ship or on land.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk, SpaceX\u2019s founder and CEO, tweeted after Thursday\u2019s launch and landing that the booster\u2019s re-entry into the atmosphere was the hottest experienced by a Falcon 9 rocket to date. The orbit targeted by Thursday night\u2019s mission extended around 43,000 miles (69,000 kilometers) above Earth, requiring the booster to burn longer and reach a higher speed than previous missions that have included landings at sea.<\/p>\n

Sparks generated from burning metal on the rocket\u2019s base heat shield were visible in live video downlinked by the booster in flight, Musk said.<\/p>\n

After securing the rocket, the drone ship headed back to port, where it was towed to a dock for a crane to hoist the booster off the vessel onto a stand. The crane removed the rocket the drone ship Sunday afternoon, clearing the way for the fleet to return to sea this week in preparation for another rocket landing after the next Falcon 9 launch set for Saturday with SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule heading to the International Space Station on a test flight.<\/p>\n

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The Falcon 9 booster returns to Port Canaveral on Sunday. Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The booster which launched and landed last week has now logged three missions. Numbered B1048, it first flew in July 2018, carrying 10 Iridium voice and data relay satellites toward orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, before landing on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cJust Read the Instructions\u201d in the Pacific Ocean. After two months of inspections, refurbishment and preparations, the booster launched again in October carrying Argentina\u2019s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite, then returned to Vandenberg for SpaceX\u2019s first onshore landing on the West Coast.<\/p>\n

SpaceX now has two Falcon 9 boosters in its inventory that are veterans of three missions. Another booster conducted its third launch and landing in December.<\/p>\n

Musk says the latest version of the Falcon 9 rocket, which debuted last May, has a first stage booster capable of flying at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment. Musk sees the reusability of the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage as vital to reducing launch costs, and the technology is central to his vision of eventually building a settlement on Mars.<\/p>\n

But SpaceX\u2019s near-term goals are focused on launching payloads for commercial and government operators, debuting the Crew Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts for NASA, and deploying a constellation of broadband satellites that the company says will eventually number in the thousands.<\/p>\n

The rocket that returned to Florida on Sunday will be prepared for an abort test with the Crew Dragon spacecraft this spring, Musk confirmed last week.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The in-flight abort test will verify the Crew Dragon\u2019s SuperDraco escape thrusters can push the capsule away from a failing rocket, a safety feature designed to ensure astronauts survive a launch accident.<\/p>\n

Eight SuperDraco rocket engines mounted in pods around the circumference of the Crew Dragon are programmed to quickly fire if computers detect an emergency during launch. NASA and SpaceX want to ensure the escape system is up to the job before putting astronauts on the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

SpaceX conducted a pad abort test in 2015 to demonstrate the capsule\u2019s ability to escape a rocket explosion on the launch pad. The in-flight abort will verify the abort function during a real rocket launch.<\/p>\n

According to NASA\u2019s latest official schedule for the commercial crew program \u2014 released on Feb. 6 \u2014 the in-flight abort test is scheduled for June, followed by the first Crew Dragon test flight with astronauts on-board in July. The abort and crewed test flights will be preceded by an unpiloted demo mission to the space station on the Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Saturday.<\/p>\n

Musk tweeted that the launch escape test could occur in April. Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president of build and flight reliability, said Friday that teams are looking at whether the in-flight abort could be moved forward from June.<\/p>\n

SpaceX plans to reuse the Crew Dragon spacecraft slated to fly to the space station this weekend for the in-flight abort. Assuming a March 2 launch, the capsule is scheduled to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean on March 8, where teams will retrieve the spacecraft and bring it back to Cape Canaveral for the abort test.<\/p>\n

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The Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s four landing legs are extended in this view of the booster as it returned to Port Canaveral on Sunday. Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The timing of the in-flight abort test \u201cdepends on when Crew Dragon comes back,\u201d Musk tweeted. \u201cThat\u2019s scheduled for launch next Saturday, but (there\u2019s a) lot of new hardware, so time error bars are big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials do not expect the Falcon 9 booster to survive the abort test, likely ending its lifetime at four launches, and three intact landings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh probability of this particular rocket getting destroyed by Dragon supersonic abort test,\u201d Musk tweeted.<\/p>\n

The test plan calls for the rocket to take off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center and arc over the Atlantic Ocean, firing its nine main engines more than a minute, as it would during a typical launch. The Falcon 9\u2019s on-board computer will command the engines to switch off after surpassing the speed of sound, and trigger the Crew Dragon\u2019s abort thrusters to push the capsule away from the top of the rocket, according to a draft environmental assessment for the test flight prepared by the Federal Aviation Administration.<\/p>\n

According to the environmental review document, SpaceX does not plan to attempt any maneuvers to recover the stage, which is expected to break apart from aerodynamic forces, or the rocket\u2019s destruct system, seconds after the Crew Dragon fires away for the abort test.<\/p>\n

Koenigsmann said Friday, after a flight readiness review for the Crew Dragon\u2019s orbital test flight, that SpaceX is still looking at aways to potentially retrieve the booster after the high-altitude abort demonstration.<\/p>\n

But Musk\u2019s tweets and the FAA\u2019s draft environmental assessment make it clear officials are not expecting the get the rocket back intact.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 that launches on the abort test will fly with a real second stage, carrying a load of kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, but with a mass simulator in place of its Merlin engine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will get fragged for sure by aero loads & Dragon abort thrusters,\u201d Musk tweeted.<\/p>\n

Check out more photos from Sunday\u2019s arrival of the Falcon 9 booster at Port Canaveral, including aerial shots.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arrived at Port Canaveral on Sunday after a two-and-a-half-day journey from the rocket\u2019s landing zone in the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now Singed and blackened from three fiery trips to the edge of space and back, a Falcon 9 rocket returned to Cape Canaveral on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1056,2290,2274,2510,524,291,1736,235],"class_list":["post-13323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-air-force-research-laboratory","tag-b1048","tag-beresheet","tag-blue-canyon-technologies","tag-commercial-crew","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-40","tag-crew-dragon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}