This pre-flight story said the ship was to be about 185 miles northeast of the launch site..... http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/04/0...-space-station/

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Bernard Cawley
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Here is SpaceX's CRS-8 Technical Webcast (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh8V0COrrzE ), which has better and longer camera views, but is free from the "host chatter" (I appreciate the PR value of the hosted webcasts, but I like to see operations that they frequently cut away from too quickly for my liking). The strongback retraction occurs just after the 23:00 point. To use a musical simile, these technical webcasts are like studio albums, as opposed to "live in concert" albums. Also:

Here (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIkPP2LM8DU ) is the SES-9 (the last mission, about a month ago) Technical Webcast (launch occured at 9:58, landing [unsuccessful] at 18:20).

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NAR #54895 SR

Another SpaceFlightNow.com article, which I saw while reading the one you linked to (this one: http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/04/0...esupply-launch/ ) says that:

"SpaceX is working on recovering the Falcon 9’s clamshell-like nose cone after launches. If achieved, that would offer savings on the order of several million dollars, according to Musk.

"There is no near-term plan to get the Falcon 9’s upper stage back. That piece enters orbit on each launch and would need a cumbersome heat shield to survive the journey back into Earth’s atmosphere at a velocity of 5 miles per second.

"The reuse emphasis now is on recovering the Falcon 9’s first stage, and the strap-on boosters aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, which is set to debut at the end of this year." ALSO:

Here is a video taken from a Falcon 9 fairing half as it fell to Earth (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_sLTe6-7SE )--with music from "2001: A Space Odyssey" for whimsical effect... :-)

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NAR #54895 SR

Thank you! I was annoyed that they split screened the 2nd stage Merlin with the two chatterboxes, especially since one of the cameras gave a very nicely focused shot of the bell with the Cape underneath. This one gives it the full screen it deserves.

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Not sure exactly, probably about 200 miles, maybe a little more, or a little less.

Yeah, they'd head northeast... They have to in order to get to the 51.7 degree orbital inclination of the ISS, which was necessary for Russian spacecraft launched from Baikonur to access the station. (Lower latitude launch sites can access higher inclination orbits, all the way up to 90 degree inclination polar orbits, but basically an orbital inclination lower than the launch site's latitude requires a fuel-intensive plane-change maneuver once in orbit to lower the orbital inclination.) Since the KSC location is at about 29 degrees south latitude, the ISS launches have to fly northeast to insert into an orbital inclination of 51.7 degrees to match ground tracks and orbits with the ISS in order to rendezvous and berth. The high orbital inclination is another reason that launching "exploration missions" using the ISS as an orbital assembly point or orbital stopover or launching point is a bad idea. The orbital inclination affects the payload and trajectory of the entire mission, and reduces the payload capability as well, and can require plane changes in the orbits.

Later! OL J R

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Well, I didn't mind the ONE chatterbox-- the gorgeous one with the long, thick, blonde hair... WHOA!

Didn't care too much for the "Gen X" rather dumbed down play-by-play... but at least she was easy on the eyes. Same reason I don't like watching professional sports-- too much stupid commentary from idiotic "talking head" sports announcers, which are THE most vacuous talkers on the planet, perhaps with the exception of lawyers and politicians.

Later! OL J R

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You're welcome. I found only two SpaceX technical webcasts on YouTube (for last month's SES-9 mission and for yesterday's CRS-8 launch & first stage landing, both linked-to above), so this may be a new feature that they started offering with SES-9 (which I'd like to see continue), so:

I just e-mailed SpaceX (at media@spacex.com ) to congratulate them on yesterday's launch & ASDS landing and to praise their technical webcasts and request that they "keep 'em coming" (along with their hosted webcasts). If more of us let SpaceX know that we like their technical webcasts, that will encourage them to make these webcasts a regular feature. Here is what I wrote to them:

Hello All,

In addition to congratulating the SpaceX team for yesterday’s successful CRS-8 launch and first stage ASDS landing, I want to thank you for posting the technical webcasts of SpaceX missions on YouTube (as well as the hosted webcasts), and I encourage you to keep posting *both* webcast types. For those of us who are rocketry and space flight aficionados, the quieter technical webcasts—with their longer (and frequently non-split-screen) views of scenes, flight events, and pre-/post-launch activities—are fascinating, informative, inspiring, and put the viewer into an enthusiastic yet contemplative frame of mind. (These aren’t just my feelings about the technical webcasts; other rocketry and space flight enthusiasts with whom I correspond also appreciate the technical webcasts for these reasons.) Even the strictly utilitarian engineering views (such as of the interior of the second stage LOX tank during that stage’s burn) are of great interest to us. Also:

The technical webcasts are useful to teachers, who can play them and describe what is happening and why, without having to conflict with commentary audio. The velocity and altitude indicators on the screen, plus the computer-generated Earth and trajectory visualizations that are shown between second stage engine burns (for missions that utilize two burns, such as SES-9 last month) enable students to see how the peculiar dynamics of orbital flight (“speeding up to slow down at a higher apogee,” for example) work, in a way that static diagrams cannot. To use a musical simile, the technical webcasts are like studio albums, while the hosted webcasts with commentary are like “live in concert” albums. Both are enjoyable, and cater to different tastes (and to different moods, even in the same individual, as I like both, and so do others I know). I look forward to seeing both types of webcasts covering your future missions, and keep up the good work!



Sincerely Yours,



J. Jason Wentworth

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NAR #54895 SR

Well said, Jason!

I'll have to look at the technical replays. I may well opt for that stream next time (though I'll also have to second Luke's comment )

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I would not mind--in my own way and natural form--making her boyfriend or husband jealous ("You spend more time on that galloping shag rug's back than you do with me!" -- "Maybe so, but he appreciates the slightest kind word or peck on the cheek, and I appreciate how he demurely eats out of my hand -without- being servile..."). I'm glad that SpaceX's hosted webcasts show that being a knowledgeable professional (an engineer, technician, or scientist) and being an attractive woman are not mutually exclusive (I never thought that they were, but that's a common notion in society). Also:

Regarding the question of how far out at sea the ASDS was stationed, one of the above-linked articles (on Space Daily or SpaceFlightNow) gave a figure of 300 km, which is about 186 miles.

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NAR #54895 SR

Thank you! But there's no need to be apologetic (about seconding Luke's comment), unless someone else at home--your home--might read it... :-)

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http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR