Falcon 9 - Dragon CRS-6 ISS resupply flight Aprl 13

[Dr Mordrid]

Dragon CRS-6 is a resupply mission to ISS.

About 8.5 minutes after launch the Falcon 9 first stage will attempt to land on the ASDS-1 Just Read the Instructions landing ship, which is harbored in Jacksonville Florida. If successful it will be returned to Jacksonville, removed from ASDS-1, examined, then it will go to Spaceport America in New Mexico for further re-use flight testing.

Besides the usual supplies there will be a live cargo of mice for zero-G experiments; a replacement for the Planetary Resources 'Arkyd 3' asteroid hunter testbed lost in the Antares launcher explosion; and 14 Planet Labs 'Dove' Earth imaging satellites.

There is no pressurized Trunk cargo on this flight. The hardware scheduled for this flight wasn't ready in time.

Launch : Monday April 13, 2015
Window: 1633 Eastern (instantaneous)

NASA TV (1530 Eastern)

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

LiveStream (20-30 min before launch)

http://livestream.com/spacex/events/3959775/

SpaceX (LiveStream mirror)

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

YouTube Event (appears launch day)
http://www.YouTube.com./spacexchannel/

Mission patch

[Wulfman]

nearly ready to go...

[Dr Mordrid]

Scrubbed for weather. Next attempt 1610;40 Eastern tomorrow.

[Fat Tone]

I came here looking for an update but Doc hasn't posted yet, so I went and found this:

http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/04/14/liftoff-falcon-9-and-dragon-begin-crs-6-mission-resupply-international-space-station

Nearly there on the landings...fingers crossed for CRS#7 in June.

[Dr Mordrid]

Yeah, been busy.

The launch was PICTURE PERFECT, just as we've come to expect from Falcon 9 v1.1.

Launch webcast....

However the stage landing suffered an engine throttle valve malfunction which caused another crash landing. Basically, stiction caused it to lag behind sensor inputs, causing the stage to oscillate and land with a sideways motion. In spite of appearances the ASDS Just Read the Instructions sustained only minor damage. The bada-boom was more of a flashover fire.

Enhanced landing video stream....

This Aviation Week article gives more details.

The malfunction is easy enough to fix, and another landing will be attempted with the June 22ish CRS-7 launch. SpaceX is discussing with the USAF it being a land touchdown at KSC.

In other news, Falcon 9 will be getting MAJOR upgrades later this summer,

15% more thrust (engine upgrade)

10% propellant tank stretch of the upper stage

Propellant densification, meaning superchilling the LOX and RP-1 to make them denser & fit more in the tanks

Overall, a 30% performance boost. Some engineers are estimating 20+ tonnes to LEO as an expendable. Enough to allow stage landings with ~5.5 tonne geostationary launches.This upgrade hasn't been named yet, but Falcon 9 v1.2 is on the table.

Also, the Raptor Mars vehicle engine should be going to the test stand in a few months. They've been testing the injectors and thrust chamber at NASA Stennis, and the precombustors and turbopumps are under construction at Hawthorne.

[Dr Mordrid]

View of the landing attempt from the barge. Looks like 2 legs failed, but otherwise it was in great shape.

https://vid.me/i6o5

[Dr Mordrid]

Dragon is at the grapple capture point.

The ISS approach has been textbook - almost as if it were on rails.

[Dr Mordrid]

@elonmusk
Cause of hard rocket landing confirmed as due to slower than expected throttle valve response. Next attempt in 2 months.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/589577558942822400

[Umfriend]

Still, impressive. I have no doubt they'll get it to work. So close already it seems. Would not have thought it possible 5 yrs ago.