Gizmodo
Private citizens from space exploration company Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) sent a rocket into space yesterday. The Falcon 1 lifted off the launch pad at 6:10pm California time, and flew 200 miles into space before a malfunction in the second stage sent the spacecraft into a spin.
Take a look at the launch from the point of view of the vehicle itself, where it successfully roars into space and later separates from the first stage. But then the second stage begins to sway back and forth and glow a hot red toward the end, with the video ending when contact with the vehicle was lost 5:05 into the launch. It was later determined that the second stage had failed.
Still, the launch was a good indication that the company can actually send a spacecraft into space, which is generally considered to be around 60 miles high. It remains to be seen whether the company can send a spacecraft into orbit, a crucial capability. The flight was certainly more successful than that attempt a year ago, which ended in failure as it careened into the ocean. Take the jump to see that mishap.
Apparently the company has learned a lot in a year. On its website, SpaceX says yesterday's flight proved 95% of the Falcon 1's systems. This test brings SpaceX a step closer to its goal of lowering the cost of space flight by a factor of 10.
SpaceX foresees no delay in the launches for real customers it has planned for later this year: one for a Department of Defense satellite set to launch in late summer followed by the launch of a Malaysian satellite planned for this fall.
Demo Flight 2 [SpaceX, via Crunchgear]
Comments
When I saw the curve of the earth appear in the upper left I was amazed. That was awesome! What are the 2 oddly outlined shapes in the ocean (center right to lower right)?
The view from the rocket was cool, but what's with the land shot? Looks like a drunken camera phone video taken through some warped plastic sheeting...
Huzzah for more space junk.
@Ethan: They're atolls. Specifically, Erikub and Wotje.
I guess it's true what they say about Americans and geography ;-)
The second stage engine bell glowed at the end - thats expected, there isn't enough air to cool it. Its designed into the craft. I would be more concerned with the stability issues that seemed to arise. It did successfully separate to stage 2 though, and thats huge.
@ Phlegmbert:
I guess its true what they say about people who use "PH" instead of "F" Phuqing Shtupit.
Zack, you embarrass yourself (and Americans who actually know how to spell phlegm). Why is it increasingly the case when someone mentions how stupid Americans are, someone has to prove it in a followup post? It's funny but also very sad.
Also @ phlegmbert: You get someone asking a simple question and there's always "someone" replying back like an idiot. I guess it's true what they say about non-Americans.
Other than that dumbass, nice video !
This is a fairly impressive feat. Not from the standpoint that regular citizens can launch a spacecraft (for some reason in the news it sounds like they are unable to do it because regular citizens arnt smart enough, that working for nasa makes you smarter than everyone else). I find it quite impressive on an economic side, private companies generally don't have the same funding as specialized space agencies, and im guessing the more funding you have, the easier it is to put a craft into space.
My favorite part of the video is at the end when it starts losing its course and moving around and you hear "Guidance Nominal". Now im guessing the voice is referring to the guidance system and not where the ship is actually going, but it still made me chuckle.
How do any of you know that e10 is, in fact, American??
Didn't the first stage, just as it began to fall away, whonk (a NASA term, btw) the bell of the 2nd stage engine? Or is that part of the plan? Because I know most of my appliances need a good whonk occasionally.
The first stage did clip the bell of the second stage engine, but according to SpaceX that's normal, or, at least, not a problem. They said the separation was nominal and successful, and the second stage engine worked as expected.
The issue appears to be with the cold-gas roll control thrusters. They suspect either a stuck thruster, or a helium leak, causing the loss of roll control. They'll know more after analyzing the telemetry.
@madderhatter: One of the pitfalls of communicating via text is that it's not always clear what the underlying tone is. In this case, I was reasonably certain that only some people would understand that expecting someone to recognize a couple of the smaller atolls in the Ratak chain of the Marshall Islands from a fuzzy aerial shot was a joke. That's why I chose to append ;-) to the line so that others might understand this too. You seem to have fallen into a third category I didn't originally envisage. Oops.
@ZackSpatula: You're either a badly written troll-bot or a strong argument in favor of eugenics. Whichever is the case, you have my condolences.
@homerjay: For the purposes of my post it wasn't strictly relevant whether he was American or not. However, through heuristic analysis of his writing style I determined him to be from Connecticut... or maybe I saw it on his myspace page - I forget which exactly ;-)
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