SpaceX CRS-6 First Stage lands on ASDS Barge and then falls overboard

[El Supremo]

[jtuck004]

1. Note to self: Buy bigger Magnets.

Seriously, this was almost the best thing so far this week. Thank you for posting.

As cool as it is, seems like a work-around that keeps us tied to a past way of doing things. I want to see what it evolves into in a hundred years. But I won't.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Not for nothing, but NASA's goofed a few...

Okay, there's a few Nazi launches...

[freshwest]

15. Remember some of those from elementary school. It was dreary. First one we cheered was Shepard.

On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.[8]"

He was launched by a Redstone rocket, and unlike Gagarin's 108-minute orbital flight, Shepard stayed on a ballistic trajectory—a 15-minute sub-orbital flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles (187 km) and to a splashdown point 302 statute miles (486 km) down the Atlantic Missile Range...

The launch was seen live on television by millions... Shortly before the launch, Shepard said to himself: "Don't fuck up, Shepard..."[9]

According to Gene Kranz in his book, Failure Is Not an Option, "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the lowest bidder...'"[10]

It was nice to see the splashdown:



The most memorable one of so many others. My cousin worked IT at NASA during the Moon landing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shepard#Mercury_Seven

All the girls in our class went to see it live on the school's audio video equipment in B&W. It was just before summer vacation. We all had high hopes, and didn't feel it was beyond our grasp to be in the program. It was likely seen by HRC:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251275799

I was told I couldn't do a lot of things for that same reason. It got old with us real quick. And we have never forgotten it.

[LiberalArkie]

3. Well crap.. A couple more tries and they will stick that landing.

[bvar22]

9. I thought so too.

It was, "Oh Man....ALMOST!"

I'm surprised they could hit something as small as a barge in the open ocean.
Now, if they can stick the landing.....

[onethatcares]

4. has anyone invented

parachutes yet? It seems to me they would have made that landing if the first stage was moving a bit slower and using other technology than rocket propulsion.

But, diss me if you must, I'm only a carpenter.

[DeSwiss]

7. Makes sense to me.

- For years ever since I was a kid I thought they could use them for small planes. Now they do:

[onethatcares]

8. ah, so they do have those things

Maybe I could get a consultant job with SpaceX at a hefty price for introducing them to this type of intelligence?

[DeSwiss]

12. Yep. Independent contractor is always the way to go.

- You can even make money no matter if you screw thing up worse than they were.

And:

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/01/blackwaters-descendants-are-doing-just-fine/

[tclambert]

21. Parachutes might give the wind too much say in where it lands.

They're trying to hit the "X" the coyote crew drew on the barge.

[drm604]

5. Silly me, it thought that it was falling down because of a malfunction

and that hitting the barge was just bad luck. Only after reading the description on YouTube did I realize that it was an attempt to land.

[TrollBuster9090]

6. A private sector rocket? It must've been because of all the government regulations.

[central scrutinizer]

10. was it made by Acme Corp

[link:

|

[TrollBuster9090]

25. Hah! (You win.) nt

[TrollBuster9090]

27. Althought, I guess the DUCK DODGERS cartoon is more apt in this case!

[DeSwiss]

11. Government regulations?

Okay, go sit down. Are you sitting down, now? Good. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but there are no government regulations that matter to business, they've been bribed away to insignificance. Plus there is no Santa Claus and there is no Tooth Fairy either (thought I'd get em' all outta the way).

I know, I know. Comes as a shock to some.

- Go get a glass of water and you'll be fine.....

[TrollBuster9090]

26. Please don't make me have to turn the sarcasm indicator back on, it's a waste of electricity.

This is DU. You won't find many people here who'll SERIOUSLY blather about government regulations being the cause of private industry's failures.

[zebonaut]

13. Came in a tidbit too fast. Elon will NAIL it next time

[Daemonaquila]

17. I agree.

The previous one was too bad an attempt to learn much from the last few hundred feet. This one fell over, but they'll have great data at low altitude. That's why they call it rocket science!

[Jerry442]

24. Looks like it.

I'd guess that ending the descent phase in a stable hover a few feet over the landing site, followed by the landing was the plan. Next time.

[johnnyrocket]

14. That looked like the hardest possible way...

...to try and land that thing. Seemed like a 10% chance of success.

[Daemonaquila]

16. It looks like they have some problems with ground effects.

Such a pretty drop until it gets quite close to the barge. Then it tries to correct a little, but that's a huge burn going on. All it takes is a little too much oomph, plus turbulence, and the tweak that would have been good at 1,000 feet gets all higgledy piggledy. Still, a nice job, and I hope they get it spot on next time.

[eggplant]

18. Pretty damned close.

And this was only the second attempt.

Elon Musk later explained that the bipropellant valve was stuck, and therefore the control system could not react rapidly enough for a successful landing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_CRS-6

[Unexploded Scotsman]

19. Pardon My Scottish Socialism

But sometimes, private industry is NOT the best driver of huge tasks.

[gordianot]

22. For the most part I have to agree but the best "stuff" most likely goes to clandestine programs.

As a friend once told me American and old Soviet Rocket Science was at its best when they were trying to develop rockets to throw warheads. When something really impressive comes along it gets classified and who knows where it goes. The hope is someone in private industry will develop something that makes money and is immune from being weaponized at least for a while. Then there is NASA having to answer to the grandest idiot that ever slithered in the halls "Ted Cruz". I doubt there is anyone capable of the vision of huge tasks other than junking up space in near Earth orbit.

[tclambert]

20. It looked like at the last moment, someone realized it was slightly off course and overcorrected.

But you know, it's coming down through air, and if the air moves, it will move the rocket. A sudden wind gust could wreck an otherwise perfect landing. I can see some whitecaps on the water, so there is some breeze blowing.

[whereisjustice]

23. excellent - check out the small trim motors firing at the top of the stage trying to stablize it