

SES-8 – Falcon 9 GEO Transfer Mission - nakkiel
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/?when=2013-12-03
Always worth to keep an eye on: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;elonmusk
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physcab
I know HN readers have a love affair with SpaceX but my dad's company is
launching a rocket on Thurs at Vandenberg and it should be fun to watch:

[http://www.noozhawk.com/article/atlas_v_set_for_launch_from_...](http://www.noozhawk.com/article/atlas_v_set_for_launch_from_vandenberg_thursday_20131202)

~~~
Crito
The Atlas V uses the very cool Russian designed RD-180 engine:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180)

The documentary _The Engines That Came in from the Cold_ is an interesting
look at these engines and the NK-33's, and US/Russian collaboration.

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InclinedPlane
Launch, MECO, stage sep, second stage is running now.

Update: Second stage engine cutoff (SECO), now coasting until second stage
reignition.

Update 2: Second stage reignition should occur at 3:08pm PST (about 6 minutes
from now) and burn for about 1min 11 seconds.

Update 3: "second stage restart burn successful. Orbit looks nominal" \-
@SpaceX

Update 4: "Spacecraft separation confirmed! SES-8 is now in its targeted GEO
transfer orbit." \- @SpaceX

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jccooper
Saw the 1st stage doing some RCS maneuvers right after separation, but they
cut the camera away from that shot pretty quick so I couldn't see exactly
what. They're not supposed to be trying to "land" this one, but I bet they're
getting aero data in support of the F9-R.

All in all, looks like a good launch. Can't wait to hear about the second
burn, which was last flight's sticking point.

~~~
pvarangot
Here, look at the left frame at about 3:30. It looks like RCS maneuvers, some
guy on reddit claims he saw a relight from his backyard but its not visible in
the official video.

[http://youtu.be/cXEJLhAh-Kg?t=3m15s](http://youtu.be/cXEJLhAh-Kg?t=3m15s)

~~~
jccooper
A bit better. Yeah, that stage was working pretty hard on something. Hard to
say but it may have been turning around, like the F9R would for its first
retro burn. Some extra practice wouldn't hurt.

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nakkiel
Somehow I forgot to mention Elon Musk's Twitter feed:
[https://twitter.com/elonmusk](https://twitter.com/elonmusk). Always a good
read.

~~~
matponta
Very interesting, often a source of insights into what's really going on.

Plus, he's rarely wrong

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aidos
Velocity of 1.2km/s - rockets are just awesome.

~~~
unspecified
As Randall Munroe says:

    
    
      But getting to space is easy. The problem is staying there.
    

[http://what-if.xkcd.com/58/](http://what-if.xkcd.com/58/)

~~~
tocomment
Edit: I'm going to try to rephrase this whole question since it got so
unpopular. (I also said moon when I meant sun)

Lets say we fly a rocket up to earth sun L4 at a really slow speed. When we
reach L4 we fire retro rockets to slow down as to not overshoot.

It seems to me that we never have to reach a high speed to stay in space at
that point. The two bodies would be holding us there?

Is that correct? Is there a certain speed to fly out to L4 which uses less
fuel than speeding up to 8km/s like you would need to stay in space orbiting
earth?

~~~
MrMeker
If you did that you would have a huge relative velocity to the Lagrange point.
You'd shoot right past it unless you could kill all your relative velocity,
which would mean you would have enough delta-v to achieve orbit anyway.

~~~
tocomment
I updated my question to explain it better I think.

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ramidarigaz
Best of luck to the SpaceX team! Hopefully they got everything fixed!

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jhgg
Here we go again! I hope it happens this time!

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hkbarton
Flight Update Falcon 9 and SES-8 satellite currently in parking orbit,
awaiting second burn. All systems nominal.

------
deletes
Stream has started, launch in T-00:15:30.

~~~
daeken
Aaaand liftoff! Glad to see that it went off without a hitch this time (so
far).

~~~
alexjeffrey
although all the rain on the camera makes it difficult to watch :(

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latchkey
Just curious, what is the purpose of the 4 towers around the launchpad?

~~~
pbosko
Lightning rods

~~~
dredmorbius
Trivia: Apollo 12 was struck by lightning, _twice_ , after leaving the pad.

[http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-
academy/issues/vol...](http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel/ask-
academy/issues/volume2/AA_2-11_SF_history.html)

This knocked out command module electrical systems, and it took some damned
fast thinking from ECOM (electrical and environmental systems) who recalled an
earlier incident and gave the instruction "SCE to AUX", resetting electrical
systems.

Actual launch:
[http://fixyt.com/watch?v=eWQIryll8y8](http://fixyt.com/watch?v=eWQIryll8y8)

Dramatization:
[http://fixyt.com/watch?v=TMYNy3JsHTE](http://fixyt.com/watch?v=TMYNy3JsHTE)

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hughes
After sitting through both launch attempts, I missed this one. Is there any
way to view the launch video?

~~~
InclinedPlane
Check youtube, there are already several uploads of the video there.

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S_A_P
So far a success, congrats SpaceX team!

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mdisraeli
Anyone know the details of the music Spacex used on the feed when not
broadcasting?

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skorgu
Anyone know how long until they attempt the second stage restart?

~~~
cocoflunchy
Apparently it should at about T+30 min (seen on the SpaceX subreddit, so I
don't know if it's accurate).

~~~
waterlesscloud
"At T+27 minutes, 2nd stage engine will reignite for ~1 minute. At T+33
minutes, spacecraft separation"

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gatehouse
Ignition is around 42:20 relative to the stream beginning.

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hkbarton
Good Luck SpaceX

