

SpaceX Launching Dragon Capsule to Space Station - velodrome
http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

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palebluedot
Elon just tweeted: "Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three
of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override."

Edit: <https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/307515784610058241>

Edit 2: Follow-up tweet from him: "Holding on solar array deployment until at
least two thruster pods are active"

Edit 3: Looking better! Latest tweet: "Thruster pod 3 tank pressure trending
positive. Preparing to deploy solar arrays."

Edit 4: YES! "Solar array deployment successful"

~~~
rabbitonrails
Update 5:20pm EST: "Orbit raising burn successful. Dragon back on track."

Update 4:10pm EST: "Thruster pods one through four are now operating
nominally. Preparing to raise orbit. All systems green."

Updates from NASA News Conference 3pm EST:

* Pods 1 and 4 are pressure nominal and thrusters active.

* Pods 2 and 3 are pressure nominal and thrusters being tested; readings are optimistic; will be turned on shortly.

* NASA requires 3 of 4 pods working to enter safe zone.

* Initial indication of root cause is blockage in oxidizer pressurization system. They fixed the problem by cycling the valves.

* No leakage or debris; all systems intact.

* No rendezvous is likely in next few days.

~~~
jlgreco
I'm not sure if my understanding is correct, but these thruster pods are used
to de-orbit the spacecraft too, right? I wonder if only one module has enough
juice to de-orbit the spacecraft and retrieve it intact, if they end up
needing to do that.

~~~
rabbitonrails
Yes. He said they would stay up there at least a month trying to get it to
work. If they return to earth they lose one of the cargo trunks that is
designed to burn up in re-entry.

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adastra
The space industry's go-to place for minute by minute updates on any launch is
Spaceflight Now:

<http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/status.html>

Here's the last couple of updates:

FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013 1527 GMT (10:27 a.m. EST) "It appears that although it
achieved Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some kind problem right now,"
said John Insprucker, SpaceX's Falcon 9 product manager. We'lll have to learn
about the nature of what happened. According to procedure, we expect a press
conference to be held a few hours from now. At that time, further info may be
available."

FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2013 1524 GMT (10:24 a.m. EST) ANOMALY. SpaceX is reporting
some type of anomaly on the Dragon spacecraft. Deployment of the solar arrays
was supposed to occur at T+plus 11 minutes, 45 seconds, but on-board cameras
did not show the panels unfurl as planned. SpaceX's webcast cut away from the
solar array view and went to a slate.

~~~
saraid216
> According to procedure, we expect a press conference to be held a few hours
> from now.

How normal is this? It strikes me as odd, but I know nothing.

~~~
adastra
It's normal for any NASA mission. Your average comsat launch isn't going to
get any press coverage, and the military sure isn't holding press conferences
after their classified missions. But pretty much every NASA science and space
station mission is going to get a lot of interest.

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r4n50m
Follow #Dragon on twitter.

This is the last launch of the Falcon 9 v1.0, with the square engine
configuration. The next launch is the Falcon 9 v1.1 with the Merlin 1D engines
[http://en.wikipedia.oro/wiki/File:Falcon_9_v1.0_and_v1.2_eng...](http://en.wikipedia.oro/wiki/File:Falcon_9_v1.0_and_v1.2_engine.svg)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9>

<https://twitter.com/SpaceX>

NASA TV Media is LIVE: [http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-
live-spa...](http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-
tv.html)

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nkoren
The best webcast for these launches typically comes from SpaceX itself, and
can be found here:

<http://www.spacex.com/webcast/>

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showsover
I'm really, really interested in space and astrophysics, but I'm working full-
time. (studied a bachelor in IT, with minimal maths and physics) A degree in
astrophysics is at least 5 years, which is impossible for me.

What books / material can I study on my own to perhaps try the degree in 2 or
3 years full-time?

~~~
pvarangot
Depends on what you want to learn about, a degree in astrophysics or
aeronautial engineering prepares you for many different possible jobs. I'm in
a somewhat similar situation, maybe this will help:

(DISCLAIMER: I _am not_ an aerospace engineer by training)

Calculus:

You'll definitely need to be very comfortable with single variable calculus
and vector calculus up to partial derivatives, vector calculus integrals
(Green, Stokes, Gauss) will definitely help. I wouldn't learn that from a
book, try MIT's OCW, there is a calculus course covering all that. Learn the
basic about ODEs, and be comfortable around PDE notation.

Linear Algebra:

In some sub-disciplines such as control and signal processing you'll also need
to be very comfortable with linear algebra, so that all those matrices and
stuff don't get in the way when learning modern control/DSP. I definitely
recommend Prof. Strang's course in OCW for this. Try to at least be
comfortable with simple ODEs before starting it. Linear algebra also helps a
lot with Physics.

To get more into lineal algebra maybe you can read Linear Algebra Done Right
if you want to learn more about Hilbert Spaces, and then maybe Shilov for
tensors... those two books should be optional...

Software:

You don't need to be fast or maybe even know how to solve complex integrals in
pen and paper. Try to complement learning calculus, differential equations and
linear algebra with learning Matlab/Simulink and Mathematica. I can't even
find a word to emphasize how much Matlab/Simulink is used in aerospace
engineering...

Dynamics:

Learn classical mechanics, lots of it. Be confortable with rigid body dynamics
in 3D. This is the best reading guide I know about, oriented to game
development, but also useful for simulation and control:
<http://chrishecker.com/Physics_references> Code simulators, visualizations,
etc... Know what rotation, nutation and precession are, when and how they
happen, etc...

From that list I have read a little of Goldstein and some Symon. If you find
this books too hard, don't follow the guide but instead jump directly to the
Feynman lectures (if you want to read) or Physics I from OCW (Prof. Lewin
course, really really good).

Physics II from OCW can also help, maybe.

Space:

Once you are not scared with simple problems from all the previous subjects
and can solve them, and can understand complex ones you should have no trouble
following the first chapters (about dynamics, orbital and attitude
maneuvering, etc) of some classical but real space books, for example:

SMAD by Wertz, a really classical book for space engineering courses. You
should really be able to read it cover to cover but its not a very specific
book and more oriented torwards missions management. Sometimes it gets boring
because of it lack of details. [http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Space-
Dynamics-Aeronautic...](http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Space-Dynamics-
Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486651134/) [http://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-
Dynamics-Control-Practical-...](http://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-Dynamics-
Control-Practical-Engineering/dp/0521787807/) [http://www.amazon.com/Modern-
Spacecraft-Dynamics-Control-Mar...](http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Spacecraft-
Dynamics-Control-Marshall/dp/0471457035/)

You can also browse here: <http://astrobooks.com/> and see if you find
something particularly interesting. I really would like to recommend a more
engaging approach and less boring books, but this is the best that I can come
up with now.

After you can comfortably read the first chapters of those space books you
should really choose what to focus into. Dynamics, Simulation, Finite Element
Analysis, Mechanics/Thermal engineering, Signal Processing, Control... then
learn the basics of that discipline and then try to apply it to space
exploration or spacecraft design. Each of this disciplines would need their
own reply and reading list I guess... some require more physics than rigid
body dynamics, like fluid dynamics or thermodynamics, electromagnetism, etc...

Also, as usual, try to have fun but still be disciplined about
reading/learning.

~~~
showsover
Wauw, thanks for all the info!

To clarify, I'd primarily would like to learn all this just for myself, not
per se for a job. I'm quite happy with programming :)

Further, my main idol is Neill dG Tyson. Knowing what he knows would be a
great achievement for me.

~~~
starpilot
If you just want to extend your pop science knowledge, going for a degree and
even most OCW courses would be overkill. I went through a bachelor's and
master's in aerospace engineering, and they are not to be taken lightly; 24%
of engineering students dropped out after freshman year at my university. The
only book I recommend for you is Fundamentals of Astrodynamics (BMW); it's an
approachable introduction orbit design/analysis that you should be able to
take on knowing calculus through differential equations.

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apaprocki
And.. orbit!

edit: They made it look so easy :) edit2: "Some sort of problem"? Maybe spoke
too soon...

~~~
ahage16
Not so fast, seems to be a problem according to the SpaceX webcast. There is
supposed to be a press conference within a few hours.

~~~
jcoby
People seem to think it's an issue with the solar panels on twitter. It's
looking like the solar panels didn't deploy.

~~~
InclinedPlane
As noted elsewhere the issue is with the software inhibiting the activation of
the thrusters. They delayed solar panel deployment because the capsule doesn't
have attitude control yet.

~~~
jcoby
Oh wow, that's even worse news. Hopefully the override works.

~~~
InclinedPlane
It's better, I'd say. The chances that it's just a software or sensor problem
are pretty high, and they can just issue an override.

~~~
jcoby
I would think that without thrusters that it would be unable to dock with the
ISS.

According to <http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/status.html>

    
    
        SpaceX says one thruster pod is working, and two are "preferred" to deploy solar arrays. Four thruster pods are on the Dragon spacecraft.
    
        "We are working to bring up the other two in order to plan the next series of burns to get to station," a SpaceX spokesperson says.
    

And at 11:40 EST:

    
    
        "Thruster pod 3 tank pressure trending positive. Preparing to deploy solar arrays," Musk just tweeted.
    
        At least two thruster pods are needed to deploy the power-generating solar arrays, which stretch 54 feet tip-to-tip.
    

So it's looking positive that they'll recover from this.

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palebluedot
Uh-oh - they just announced that Dragon is having problems, and there should
be a press conference in about 30 min. I hope it is not major.

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xtc
Anyone else here on the Causeway for the launch?

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Cieplak
Personally, I'd rather have a Dream Chaser.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Chaser>

<http://www.sncspace.com/ss_space_exploration.php>

~~~
ovi256
Don't forget the Atlas V that goes with it! The launch base, tracking
stations, engineering and ground crews. Gets a bit expensive pretty fast.

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larrydag
Dragon is now in active control and out of free drift. Tweet from Musk.
<http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/status.html>

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cryptoz
The date today is 1 Mars, 2013 (in Quebec, anyway). I tweeted this to Elon,
but I guess he's pretty busy launching spacecraft. I'm so excited for this
launch! The more routine these get, the better.

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cobrabyte
Shucks, looks like they encountered some issue after reaching orbit.

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jboggan
The exciting thing about all of this is the fact that this or any other
private space launch won't make the front page in a few years.

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palebluedot
NASA TV just said that they will have a status update on the mission, at 11 AM
Eastern time (so, ~15 minutes).

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baggachipz
Uh.... what just happened?

