{"id":13460,"date":"2018-12-05T18:13:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T10:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-falcon-9-boosts-dragon-cargo-ship-to-orbit-first-stage-misses-landing-target\/"},"modified":"2018-12-05T18:13:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T10:13:57","slug":"spacex-falcon-9-boosts-dragon-cargo-ship-to-orbit-first-stage-misses-landing-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-falcon-9-boosts-dragon-cargo-ship-to-orbit-first-stage-misses-landing-target\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX Falcon 9 boosts Dragon cargo ship to orbit, first stage misses landing target"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>STORY WRITTEN FOR&nbsp;CBS NEWS&nbsp;&amp; USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35896\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35896\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35896\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/45473446114_fd0e11923d_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/45473446114_fd0e11923d_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/45473446114_fd0e11923d_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/45473446114_fd0e11923d_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/45473446114_fd0e11923d_k-678x452.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35896\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two days after a successful launch from California, SpaceX fired off another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, this one carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with 5,660 pounds of equipment and supplies bound for the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>But an attempt to recover the booster\u2019s first stage ended in failure when a hydraulic system malfunction caused the booster to rapidly spin and tilt about its long axis during its final descent. As a result, the rocket landed well off target, settling to a gentle, upright \u201clanding\u201d in the Atlantic Ocean just east of the launch site.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket then tilted over, splashing down horizontally and remaining intact. SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that the hydraulic problem affected the movement of the rocket\u2019s four titanium \u201cgrid fins,\u201d used for steering and to maintain orientation as the booster drops tail first back to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPump is single string,\u201d Musk tweeted, meaning the system does not have a backup. \u201cSome landing systems are not redundant, as landing is considered ground safety critical, but not mission critical. Given this event, we will likely add a backup pump &amp; lines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1070399755526656000&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2018%2F12%2F05%2Fspacex-falcon-9-boosts-dragon-cargo-ship-to-orbit-first-stage-misses-landing-target%2F&amp;sessionId=c2b631e27fd8f4f538d3d12c763cb885fbeefaaa&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1070399755526656000\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\" data-twitter-extracted-i178269921360634607=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Engines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon. pic.twitter.com\/O3h8eCgGJ7<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A few minutes later, he tweeted video captured by a camera on board the rocket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEngines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It was SpaceX\u2019s sixth outright landing failure and the first since June 2016, ending a string of 27 successful recoveries. The company\u2019s overall record stands at 32 successful recoveries: 11 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, one at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and 20 on off-shore droneships.<\/p>\n<p>The new \u201cblock 5\u201d Falcon 9 stages are designed fly dozens of times with minimal refurbishment between launchings, a key element in the company\u2019s drive to lower launch costs by recovering and re-flying recovered stages.<\/p>\n<p>The stage launched Monday from California was making its third flight, a first for SpaceX. But the rocket launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral was brand new. It\u2019s not yet clear what went wrong with the grid fin or whether the mishap will prompt the Air Force to reconsider SpaceX\u2019s clearance to land at the Air Force station.<\/p>\n<p>But the landing system is designed with the safety of personnel and ground facilities in mind. The rocket\u2019s guidance system initially targets an off-shore \u201cimpact point\u201d and only moves the target on shore to the landing pad during a final rocket firing and only after verifying all systems are operating properly.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1070446975642812416&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2018%2F12%2F05%2Fspacex-falcon-9-boosts-dragon-cargo-ship-to-orbit-first-stage-misses-landing-target%2F&amp;sessionId=c2b631e27fd8f4f538d3d12c763cb885fbeefaaa&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1070446975642812416\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\" data-twitter-extracted-i178269921360634607=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Tracking shot of Falcon water landing pic.twitter.com\/6Hv2aZhLjM<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>During Wednesday\u2019s landing, the flight computer recognized the grid fin problem and never moved the impact point ashore during the final engine firing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe important point here is we have a safety function on board that makes&nbsp;sure the vehicle does not go on land until everything is OK, and that worked perfectly,\u201d Hans Koenisgman, SpacerX vice president of build and flight reliability, told reporters. \u201cThe vehicle kept well away from anything where it could pose even the slightest risk to population or property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublic safety was well protected here,\u201d he added. \u201cAs much as we are disappointed in this landing, or landing in the water, it shows the system overall knows how to recover from certain malfunctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mission got underway at 1:16 p.m. EST (GMT-5) when the Falcon 9\u2019s nine Merlin 1C engines ignited with a roar and a torrent of fiery exhaust, quickly pushing the 230-foot-tall booster away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff came a day late because of time needed to replace moldy food bars in a habitat housing 40 rodents being carried to the station for medical research. But it was clear sailing Wednesday and the countdown ticked to zero with no interruptions.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment of liftoff, the space station was flying 250 miles above the Indian Ocean south of Australia, but the plane of its orbit was sweeping across the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as Earth rotated below it. The Falcon 9 climbed away to the northeast directly into that orbital plane to enable the planned rendezvous.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage engines shut down and the lower section of the rocket fell away two minutes and 23 seconds after liftoff. The single engine powering the second stage then ignited for a six-minute 18-second burn to complete the climb to orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage, meanwhile, flipped around and restarted three engines to reverse course and head back toward Florida. Another burn four minutes later slowed the stage down for descent back into the thick lower atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>Long-range tracking cameras provided spectacular views as the stage dropped tail first toward Cape Canaveral. But television views from a camera mounted on the rocket suddenly showed it rotating roughly about it\u2019s long axis.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket\u2019s center engine started as usual for landing, and the booster\u2019s landing legs deployed at low altitude as they would in a normal landing. Interestingly, the landing leg deployment seems to have slowed down the rocket\u2019s rotation just before impact in the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>While the landing was unsuccessful, the primary goal of Wednesday\u2019s mission was to deliver the Dragon cargo ship to the proper orbit. And the Falcon 9 did just that.<\/p>\n<p>If all goes well, the spacecraft will reach the station Saturday morning, pulling up to within about 30 feet and then standing by while station commander Alexander Gerst, operating the lab\u2019s robot arm, locks onto a grapple fixture.<\/p>\n<p>Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will take over at that point, operating the arm by remote control to pull the Dragon in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the station\u2019s forward Harmony module.<\/p>\n<p>The science gear on board includes an experiment to test robotic spacecraft refueling techniques using ultra-cold cryogenic propellants, another instrument that will use laser beams to measure tree heights globally to determine the effects of deforestation on carbon dioxide processing and another to develop wound dressings that improve drug delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Yet another experiment will study development of retinal implants intended to restore vision to patients with age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. The Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Space Station Challenge is sponsoring student experiments to develop a UV-activated dental glue that could help astronauts on long-duration voyages and another testing a mist-based irrigation system for plants grown in space.<\/p>\n<p>With the Dragon in hand, the station crew will turn its attention to a planned spacewalk next Tuesday by cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Oleg Kononenko to inspect the Soyuz MS-09\/55S ferry ship that carried Gerst, Prokopyev and Serena Au\u00f1\u00f3n-Chancellor into orbit on June 6. Kononenko arrived at the station Monday along with Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain.<\/p>\n<p>In late August, sensors detected a small pressure drop in the station\u2019s air supply that was traced to a leak in the upper habitation module of the Soyuz MS-09 vehicle. An inspection revealed what looked like a small hole drilled into an interior panel.<\/p>\n<p>Prokopyev sealed the hole with cloth soaked in epoxy and stopped the leak. Russian engineers ordered the spacewalk next week to inspect the exterior of the Soyuz to look for any signs of damage that might be related to the hole found inside the spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>While the hole appeared to be the result of deliberate action on someone\u2019s part, presumably before launch, the Russians have not yet revealed any conclusions.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the habitation module is discarded before atmospheric entry and the issue is not considered any sort of safety threat when Gerst, Prokopyev and Au\u00f1\u00f3n-Chancellor return to Earth on Dec. 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STORY WRITTEN FOR&nbsp;CBS NEWS&nbsp;&amp; USED WITH PERMISSION SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX Two days after a successful launch from California, SpaceX fired off another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, this one carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with 5,660 pounds [&hellip;]<\/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":[291,1736,1395,159,479,1428,2808,717],"class_list":["post-13460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-40","tag-dragon","tag-earth-observation","tag-falcon-9","tag-falcon-9-block-5","tag-gedi","tag-international-space-station"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13460"}],"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=13460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}