#spx7

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SpaceX CRS-7

The flight lasted 2 minutes and 29 seconds from liftoff to final disintegration. Today’s failure puts both U.S. Commerical companies on temporary hold for cargo deliveries to the International Space Station. Orbital Science’s Antares rocket with Cygnus freighter is still on hold following an explosion in October, 2014.  In addition to 4,116 pounds of cargo, the first of two key pieces of hardware for future commercial crew vehicles were destroyed - International Docking Adapter 1. While IDA-2 is ready for flight, there exist spare parts for a third IDA to be constructed should NASA instruct Boeing to do so. Following main disintegration, remaining vehicle components fell into the ocean downrange from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. First stage recovery forces headed towards the impact zone in an attempt to recover any surviving fragments.

In a post launch news conference, SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell said that telemetry from the Dragon capsule was still received following the initial catastrophic event. It is unclear if the capsule survived. Details from the flight are few; according to SpaceX, the vehicle was 20 seconds away from stage separation when an overpressure in the second stage Liquid Oxygen tank was detected. The vehicle then experienced disassembly. There are conflicting reports on whether the Air Force Range Safety Officer sent a Flight Termination Signal to Falcon 9 or if the vehicle disintegrated on its own. SpaceX will lead the investigation, which will also consist of members from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. According to Shotwell, it should not take longer than a few months before a cause is identified and a fix implemented.

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SpaceX CRS-7 disintegrates during ascent. The Falcon 9 rocket that launched the CRS-7 resupply mission to the International Space Station suffered an anomaly 2 minutes and 19 seconds into the flight. 

Air Force range safety officers destroyed the vehicle 2 minutes and 27 minutes into the flight. Currently, there is no known cause for the anomaly, though SpaceX, NASA, and Air Force officials are forming an investigation team. UPDATE: Range Safety officers sent the destruct command to the vehicle 70 seconds after disintegration began. The Falcon 9′s own flight computer onboard activated the self-destruct command.

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The Falcon 9 rocket carrying CRS-7 experience a launch failure shortly before stage separation. The Air Force range safety officer terminated the flight just over 2 minutes and 25 seconds after liftoff. Falcon 9 was at 45 kilometres in altitude.

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L-30 minutes and counting. Weather is expected to remain a 90% favourable conditions for a launch window at exactly 9:21:11 am EDT.

Additionally, weather at the booster recovery site 345 kilometres downrange from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is in excellent condition. First stage Landon expected about eight minutes after launch.

There are currently no technical issues being worked at this time.

Click above to watch the launch live.

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First station component for Commercial Crew vehicles set to launch to ISS.

Of the 4,116 pounds of cargo the Dragon capsule is bringing to the space station following tomorrow’s launch, one of the more notable pieces is the International Docking Adapter. Allowing commercial crew vehicles to dock to the International Space Station, the IDA will be placed over PMA-2 on the Harmony module. The Space Shuttles used PMA-2 as its docking interface, but subsequent  vehicles’ docking systems will use an upgraded version of the APAS-95 system, requiring the creation of the IDA. Additionally, it allows for a variety of vehicles to dock with the station so long as they are compatible with the IDA and its systems. Over the course of the next year, IDA-1 will be installed, tested, and made ready for its first use, slated for 2017. Both the CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecrafts will use IDA-1 and IDA-2 for station operations. IDA-2 will be launched on CRS-9 in late 2015 or early 2016. For more information on the IDA’s, with a video, click here.

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CRS-7 is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station tomorrow, Sunday, June 28, at 10:21 am EDT. NASA TV coverage will begin at 9:00 am EDT. It will be the third attempt to land the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship, which will occur eight minutes after launch. 4,116 pounds of cargo will be brought to the space station, including Microsoft’s HoloLens prototype, and the first of two International Docking Adapters. These interfaces will allow for commercial crew vehicles - such as the CST-100 and Crew Dragon - to dock with the space station. Click here for a comprehensive overview of the cargo and experiments launching on CRS-7.

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“Of Course I Still Love You.” You “Just Have To Read The Instructions” - SpaceX to make third Falcon 9 landing attempt Sunday.

Marking the company’s third attempt at a rocket landing, SpaceX’s second Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship is ready for the CRS-7 mission.

The mission also marks the debut flight for “Of Course I Still Love You,” the company’s second ASDS.

Normally, “Of Course I Still Love You” supports SpaceX launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, while “Just Read the Instructions” supports east coast launches from Cape Canaveral. However, the latter ship is still undergoing debris cleanup and reinforcements following April’s CRS-6 landing attempt.

Both vessels are named after the massive, planet-sized starships in Iain M. Banks’ novel “The Player of Games.” In keeping with SpaceX tradition, CEO Elon Musk chose the science fiction ship names for his vessels. The Falcon 9 rocket is named after the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars,

The CRS-7 mission is slated to launch at 10:21 am EDT from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral tomorrow, Sunday, June 28. Roughly eight minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage is expected to land on “Of Course I Still Love You”.

Previous attempts at landing the rocket stage on a droneship have gotten closer to success. The first attempt on CRS-5 in January ended with a spectacular side-impact on the barge, careening off the side and into the ocean. Lack of sufficient hydraulic fluid for the four grid-like steering fins at the stage’s top were partly to blame.

The second attempt, in April on CRS-6, was much closer to working had it not been for sluggish engine reaction times. They could not compensate fast enough for the excess lateral motion, and the rocket toppled over after coming to a soft landing on the barge’s surface, exploding magnificently.

With the combined knowledge of these two attempts, SpaceX is hoping for complete success on this third flight. If it is, the rocket will be secured on the barges surface, where teams will proceed to safe the vehicle before bringing to shore for inspection. Improvements to “Of Course I Still Love You” include blast protection for the droneship’s computer and guidance systems. Although not seriously damaged during the CRS-6 attempt, the containers used to house the equipment was punctured by shrapnel from the ensuing explosion. The CRS-7 mission is slated for liftoff at 10:21 am EDT. Watch live on NASA TV here, starting at 9 am EDT.

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Sunday’s CRS-7 launch will see SpaceX’s third attempt at landing a Falcon 9 first stage on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship. The company has two such vehicles, one for its East coast operations and one for its West coast operations out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. For reasons unknown, SpaceX has taken its West coast drone ship and berthed it in Jacksonville ahead of Sunday’s launch and landing attempt. While the East coast drone ship is named “Just Read the Instructions”, its West coast counterpart is named “Of Course I Still Love You.” Both ships are named from the sentient, planet-sized starships in Iain M Banks’ The Player of Games, which is part of his Culture series. Launch is slated for 10:21 am EDT Sunday, June 28, 2015. Landing should occur about 8 minutes after launch, following a boostback and reentry burn.

The flight profile for reusing a Falcon 9 first stage is below, and can be seen in higher resolution here. Click here for previous attempts to land on the ASDS.