A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral • Hacker News Board

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#91

Post by db48x » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:02 PM UTC

artursapek wrote: post #67

joshdotsmith wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's tons of work. Lots of heart and soul went into that. I can still be sad for people even if we didn't lose people.

Not to mention money. $200MM investment into space, gone. https://www.reddit.com/live/xix3m9uqd06g/updates/613f262a-70...

The money didn't disappear, it paid the people working on the project all the way down to the miners who dug up the minerals and the fast-food workers who made the cheeseburger that engineer bought that one time.

It did fail to earn a return, however.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#92

Post by cosmotron » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:03 PM UTC

krisoft wrote: post #53

ohitsdom wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Payload is sometimes mated, just depends. No word yet on this payload. https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/77134295079838924... UPDATE: payload lost. https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/771352111657385984

That confirmation is so strange. Why would you confirm something with the screenshot of notepad "officially" when you have a twitter account?

> Why would you confirm something with the screenshot of notepad "officially" when you have a twitter account?

I figured it was because they didn't want to be constrained by a character limit. It allows them to use very specific language.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#93

Post by Retric » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:03 PM UTC

mikro2nd wrote: post #79

rst wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Test fire for the launch of a commercial satellite (AMOS-6), which had been scheduled for a few days hence (and now presumably delayed, along with the rest of their launch schedule, pending further investigation). It might conceivably have been during fueling/de-fueling around the test. It's not yet clear from public reports whether the payload was attached at the time of the test-fire; sometimes they are, sometimes…

Interested to know more about the fuels... when I searched for info about Falcon-9 fueling a week or two ago (having briefly conceived of a semi-idle interest in rocket propellants) I read it was RP-1 plus oxidiser - so basically "just" high-spec kerosene. That doesn't jibe with supercooling in my mind... Please enlighten us further.

Liquid O2 aka oxygen is a common and cryogenic oxidizer. Loading cold liquid fuels also has benefits like lower volume, but few things stay liquid at cryogenic temperatures.

PS: When dealing with rockets oxidizer is also a fuel because they need both it and something to burn.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#94

Post by 0xffff2 » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:04 PM UTC

mayneack wrote: post #73

nateberkopec wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know nothing about space - why are they doing tests, where the rocket could possibly explode or fail, with the payload on board?

Maybe they offer discounts to payloads on test flights

It wasn't a test flight. The "hot fire" test is conducted on every rocket shortly before launch.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#95

Post by sangnoir » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:04 PM UTC

Symmetry wrote: post #62

The payload was apparently on the rocket at the time[1]. A $200 million loss there, which sucks for the insurance company but better than losing a $2b custom government bird. [1] https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/771352977315684352...

> A $200 million loss there, which sucks for the insurance company but better than losing a $2b custom government bird.

In fairness, when did the government last lose a bird? Doesn't the ULA have a '100%' success rate (where success is getting payload to space, though some payloads fail to make it to the planned orbit)

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#96

Post by DigitalJack » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

mikro2nd wrote: post #79

rst wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Test fire for the launch of a commercial satellite (AMOS-6), which had been scheduled for a few days hence (and now presumably delayed, along with the rest of their launch schedule, pending further investigation). It might conceivably have been during fueling/de-fueling around the test. It's not yet clear from public reports whether the payload was attached at the time of the test-fire; sometimes they are, sometimes…

Interested to know more about the fuels... when I searched for info about Falcon-9 fueling a week or two ago (having briefly conceived of a semi-idle interest in rocket propellants) I read it was RP-1 plus oxidiser - so basically "just" high-spec kerosene. That doesn't jibe with supercooling in my mind... Please enlighten us further.

For oxygen to be liquid it needs high pressure and low temperature.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#97

Post by Symbiote » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

artursapek wrote: post #67

joshdotsmith wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's tons of work. Lots of heart and soul went into that. I can still be sad for people even if we didn't lose people.

Not to mention money. $200MM investment into space, gone. https://www.reddit.com/live/xix3m9uqd06g/updates/613f262a-70...

Is that the manufacturing cost, or does it include the development cost?

Making another should be cheaper than making the first one; and this is Amos-6 -- how different is it from Amos-5?

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#98

Post by gthtjtkt » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:07 PM UTC

One small loss for mankind, one giant win for Net Neutrality.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#99

Post by Shanea93 » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:07 PM UTC

yigitdemirag wrote: post #86

What happens when payload is lost at such an event due to SpaceX related failure? Obviously they have to reschedule but does SpaceX cover partial losses etc?

Aon International Space Brokers (http://www.aon.com/singapore/risk-services/products-services...) covers liability for the payloads to be delivered, however, SpaceX shoulders the financial burden of losing the rocket itself, as only the contents are insured.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#100

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 01, 2016, 3:08 PM UTC

mikro2nd wrote: post #79

rst wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Test fire for the launch of a commercial satellite (AMOS-6), which had been scheduled for a few days hence (and now presumably delayed, along with the rest of their launch schedule, pending further investigation). It might conceivably have been during fueling/de-fueling around the test. It's not yet clear from public reports whether the payload was attached at the time of the test-fire; sometimes they are, sometimes…

Interested to know more about the fuels... when I searched for info about Falcon-9 fueling a week or two ago (having briefly conceived of a semi-idle interest in rocket propellants) I read it was RP-1 plus oxidiser - so basically "just" high-spec kerosene. That doesn't jibe with supercooling in my mind... Please enlighten us further.

[deleted]