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Newly recovered/returned Starlink Falcon
9 1st stage (r) and 1 of 2 recovered payload fairings (l) simultaneously go
airborne - another space first - as both are craned off SpaceX recovery
ships OCISLY & GO Navigator
around 415 PM EDT May 28, 2019. Falcon 9 first
stage arrived noonish atop
OCISLY into Port Canaveral. Note: 9 Merlin
1D engines fully exposed. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.
Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Ken
Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 31 May 2019
PORT CANAVERAL/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – In another Space first for SpaceX the recovered Starlink launch 1st stage and payloads fairings were simultaneously craned off their respective recovery ships just hours after the booster arrived back into Port Canaveral Tuesday, May 28 – and only 4 days after it soared aloft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and successfully delivered the first 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO on May 23.
The simultaneous hoistings of the 1st
stage and the 1st of two payload fairings was sudden and unexpected
but a real treat for the few of us watching from across the narrow Port channel.
In fact only about four hours had passed from the time SpaceX’s thrice flown and thrice landed Falcon 9 first stage from last weeks Starlink 1 launch was towed back into Port Canaveral at lunchtime Tuesday atop the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship and the booster was craned off.
In the meantime the Octagrabber’s restraining robotic arms were detached from the booster and the hoisting cap we call the BLLRD or Booster Lift and Leg Retraction Device was placed on top of the core standing on OCISLY by the SpaceX crane work crew.
The 4 landing legs however were not retracted – rather they were dissected off the next day.
I knew as soon as I saw the BLLRD cap that the legs would be detached because the cap was not equipped with hoisting cables. These 4 legs were not new – rather they were recycled and perhaps too deformed for lifting.
Enjoy our Space UpClose photo gallery of the 1st stage and fairing cranings of Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 off their respective recovery ships at their normal berthing port.
Check back as our gallery grows.
PORT CANAVERAL/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – In another Space first for SpaceX the recovered Starlink launch 1st stage and payloads fairings were simultaneously craned off their respective recovery ships just hours after the booster arrived back into Port Canaveral Tuesday, May 28 – and only 4 days after it soared aloft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and successfully delivered the first 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO on May 23.
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Recovered Starlink Falcon
9 1st stage craned off SpaceX recovery ship OCISLY
around 345 PM EDT May 28, 2019 around four hours after noontime arrival atop
OCISLY into Port Canaveral. Note: 9 Merlin
1D engines fully exposed. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.
Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
|
In fact only about four hours had passed from the time SpaceX’s thrice flown and thrice landed Falcon 9 first stage from last weeks Starlink 1 launch was towed back into Port Canaveral at lunchtime Tuesday atop the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship and the booster was craned off.
In the meantime the Octagrabber’s restraining robotic arms were detached from the booster and the hoisting cap we call the BLLRD or Booster Lift and Leg Retraction Device was placed on top of the core standing on OCISLY by the SpaceX crane work crew.
The 4 landing legs however were not retracted – rather they were dissected off the next day.
I knew as soon as I saw the BLLRD cap that the legs would be detached because the cap was not equipped with hoisting cables. These 4 legs were not new – rather they were recycled and perhaps too deformed for lifting.
Enjoy our Space UpClose photo gallery of the 1st stage and fairing cranings of Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 off their respective recovery ships at their normal berthing port.
Check back as our gallery grows.
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3rd landing pad detached from recovered Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage on May 29 that arrived atop OCISLY into Port
Canaveral on May 28. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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2 Starlink recovered Payload Fairings and a
Guy: For perspective check out the guy standing in the soon to be lifted
payload fairing at left as the other is craned at right May 28. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink
1 launch. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up Close look at 4 landing
legs and Merlin 1D engines at base of recovered Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage craned off SpaceX recovery
ship OCISLY around 345 PM EDT
May 28, 2019 around four hours after noontime arrival atop OCISLY into Port
Canaveral. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink
1 launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Up Close look inside at Starlink recovered payload fairing.
Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The second one was craned off GO SEARCHER around 5 p.m.
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Up Close look at 4 landing
legs and Merlin 1D engines at base of recovered Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage craned off SpaceX recovery
ship OCISLY around 345 PM EDT
May 28, 2019 around four hours after noontime arrival atop OCISLY into Port
Canaveral. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink
1 launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Both Starlink recovered Payload Fairings are lifted
off their recovery ships GO SEARCHER and GO NAVIGATOR on May 28 as Falcon 9 1st
stage simultaneously lifted off OCISLY droneship. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Both fairings had arrived in Port two days
earlier on Sunday, May 26. Hence it was totally unexpected to witness the
simultaneous lifting action.
Furthermore be sure to check out our earlier Space UpClose articles
and galleries of the launch as well as the arrivals of the payloads fairings
and the arrival and docking of Falcon 9 booster
1049.3 at the droneships normal berthing port.
Liftoff of the Starlink 1 mission took place at 10:30 p.m.
EDT Thursday, May 23 (0230 GMT Friday) from Space
Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
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Up Close look at 4 landing
legs and Merlin 1D engines at base of recovered Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage craned off SpaceX recovery
ship OCISLY around 345 PM EDT
May 28, 2019 around four hours after noontime arrival atop OCISLY into Port
Canaveral. From May 23 SpaceX Starlink
1 launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
|
Eight minutes later the Falcon 9 first stage successfully made
a precision rocket assisted intact and upright touchdown on the ‘Of Course I Still
Love You’ droneship prepositioned in the Atlantic Coast off the Carolinas.
Falcon 9’s first stage
for this mission previously supported the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in
September 2018 and the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019.
The landing legs were not
retracted this time round- likely since the legs were recycled and not suited
for retraction due to aerodynamic stresses as did occur last time on the CRS-17
mission earlier in May.
Instead the crane crew
methodically detached all four by the normal procedures during the course of the
next day Wednesday May 29.
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4th landing pad detached from recovered Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage on May 29 that arrived
atop OCISLY into Port Canaveral on May 28. From May
23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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First the landing struts and
then the landing pads were detached by the crews as they manually slung up each
of the 8 pieces one leg after another and carried them away to a storage area
in back.
“The goal of the Starlink system is to provide
high bandwidth, low latency connectivity, ideally throughout the world that will offer an alternative to expensive services
and also provide internet options to places where no connectivity is currently
available,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in
a prelaunch media telecon.
Watch my SpaceX launch commentary and rocket photos at this Fox 35
Orlando report from May 16 launch attempt:
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.
………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
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