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Glistening with Sunset Sheen: First instance of recovered
SpaceX Falcon 9 1st stage booster standing vertically with 4 fully
retracted landing legs locked against the CRS-17 mission core stationed on pedestal
at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019. Surrounded by two mockup Crew Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Ken
Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 8 May 2019
PORT CANAVERAL, FL- All 4 landing legs on the newest ‘flight-proven’ and sea recovered Falcon 9 first stage remained fully retracted and locked in place flush with the core for the first time today, Wednesday, May 8 - rather than being removed and dissected off by SpaceX technicians working at Port Canaveral for transport back to the Cape - thereby marking a significant milestone towards cutting booster recycling time for the upgraded Block 5 version of the booster, as outlined last year by billionaire CEO Elon Musk.
Glistening gloriously with a serene sunset sheen the 15 story tall SpaceX Falcon 9 launched and landed booster from NASA’s Dragon CRS-17 resupply mission to the ISS on May 4 made for a truly remarkable sight at the end of a long work day yesterday, Tuesday, May 7.
In fact the erect Falcon 9 with 4 retracted legs on a pedestal appeared as though it was awaiting blastoff – minus the second stage and payload fairing.
That effort saw a team of perhaps two dozen SpaceX technicians and crane workers methodically retract all four landing legs one by one using the hi tech hoisting device we informally name the BLLRD – or Booster Lift and Leg Retraction Device.
Enjoy our Space UpClose gallery of imagery documenting all the action from onsite at Port Canaveral, to closely observe all the action from across the narrow channel as best as possible.
PORT CANAVERAL, FL- All 4 landing legs on the newest ‘flight-proven’ and sea recovered Falcon 9 first stage remained fully retracted and locked in place flush with the core for the first time today, Wednesday, May 8 - rather than being removed and dissected off by SpaceX technicians working at Port Canaveral for transport back to the Cape - thereby marking a significant milestone towards cutting booster recycling time for the upgraded Block 5 version of the booster, as outlined last year by billionaire CEO Elon Musk.
Glistening gloriously with a serene sunset sheen the 15 story tall SpaceX Falcon 9 launched and landed booster from NASA’s Dragon CRS-17 resupply mission to the ISS on May 4 made for a truly remarkable sight at the end of a long work day yesterday, Tuesday, May 7.
In fact the erect Falcon 9 with 4 retracted legs on a pedestal appeared as though it was awaiting blastoff – minus the second stage and payload fairing.
That effort saw a team of perhaps two dozen SpaceX technicians and crane workers methodically retract all four landing legs one by one using the hi tech hoisting device we informally name the BLLRD – or Booster Lift and Leg Retraction Device.
Enjoy our Space UpClose gallery of imagery documenting all the action from onsite at Port Canaveral, to closely observe all the action from across the narrow channel as best as possible.
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Up close view shows 3rd landing leg retraction
in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17
1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. 2nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows 3rd landing leg retraction
in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17
1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. 2nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows all 4 landing legs fully deployed
as workers ready legs for raising from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 1st
stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019.
Surrounded by two mockup Crew Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Overall
it took the SpaceX team nearly 4.5 hours to raise the 4 legs and keep them stowed
against the core stage on May 7 – starting around 2 p.m. EDT and concluding at
nearly 6:30 p.m.
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Up close view shows 2nd and 3rd
landing legs fully retracted as workers ready 4th leg for raising
from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 1st stage booster erected
vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows 2nd and 3rd
landing legs fully retracted as workers ready 4th leg for raising
from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 1st stage booster erected
vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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But
all this retraction work only came a full two days after the booster was carefully
craned off the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’
(OCISLY) droneship around 11 a.m. EDT Sunday, May 5 – upon which it had successfully
soft landed Saturday, May 4 around 3 a.m.
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Wide angle view shows 4rd landing
leg retraction in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon
9 CRS-17 1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port
Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019. 3nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows 4rd landing leg retraction
in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17
1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. 3nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows 4rd landing leg retraction
in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17
1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. 3nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close
view shows 4rd landing leg retraction competed using hoisting cables
and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 1st stage booster erected
vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral, FL, 7 May 2019. Other 3 landing legs already
retracted. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Thus the day when SpaceX can actually achieve a 24 hour landing-to-launch turnaround is still a ways off in the future. However, this mission represents clear progress towards Musk’s goal of rapid reusability.
“One of the biggest reusability improvements was fast leg stow. Version 1 sometimes took days,” Musk tweeted during the process.
Upon the successful introduction of the significantly upgraded Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 exactly 1 year ago in May 2019 SpaceX CEO Musk said the landing legs would all be retracted as one of the key requirements toward achieving rapid rocket turnaround for recycled booster launches.
So it was surprising when that tuned out not to be the case for the first few recovered Block 5 boosters last year.
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2nd landing leg raised as ‘Good Life’
boater clearly displays no interest at all in technological wonder behind her from
recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17 1st stage booster at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up close view shows 3rd landing leg retraction
in progress using hoisting cables and rod from recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-17
1st stage booster erected vertically on pedestal at Port Canaveral,
FL, 7 May 2019. 2nd landing leg already retracted at left. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Prior to the leg retraction operation the strut from at least one leg was dissembled as the workers took pains to unload an interior piston and possibly lubricated the interior.
During the final moments of the landing operation the four legs deploy by gravity and hydraulically and lock in place to keep the booster upright. They cannot retract back up on their own.
Each leg raising procedure took roughly an hour and appeared to go well with few interruptions or pauses.
As the teams moved from one leg to the next they manually fastened a perpendicular metallic rod to the end of each landing pad at a special attachment joint. They attached cables at each end of the rod leading to the BLLRD cage 15 stories above.
The rod and cables were then manually detached, moved and reattached in quick succession.
During past retraction attempts last year the landing legs were pulled up in fits and starts with frequent interruptions. Occasionally the legs had to be partially lowered again as the team appeared to encounter holdups and sticking joints before resuming to complete the retractions.
And then in each case the technicians simply reversed course, dropped the legs back down and fully detached each one – abandoning any retraction progress made.
The landing legs each weigh about 600 kg (1300 lb) and measure about 10 meters (33 feet) long.
In fact the retractions proved to be so unwieldy and unproductive that SpaceX abandoned retraction attempts for the prior three missions while they worked on redesigning the process.
The CRS-17 booster model B1046 had safely touched down on OCISLY some eight minutes after launch May 4 at a spot located just a few miles offshore of the Florida Space Coast beaches for the first time ever.
The dramatic propulsive pinpoint and upright first stage soft landing intact was easily visible given the crystal clear night time skies under superb weather conditions.
The two stage Falcon 9/Dragon rocket stands
about 213-feet (65-meters) tall.
The next SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
is tentatively targeted for May 15 at 10:30 p.m. EDT.
Watch my commentary at CBS Orlando WKMG about the SpaceX Cargo
and Crew Dragon mission in lead video:
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/space-news/spacex-go-for-overnight-launch-of-iss-resupply-mission-from-cape-canaveral
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Dr Ken Kremer/Space UpClose interviewed about SpaceX
mission on CBS Orlando TV News station WKMG by reporter James Sparvero
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http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/spacex-capsule-that-is-expected-to-be-the-future-of-manned-missions-suffers-an-explosion
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
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