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SpaceX successfully deploys the Star man

167 points by vanwilder77 9y ago

KiDD 9y ago
Mars Orbit? Really?
- cosban 9y ago
  It is not a Mars orbit. It's an orbit around the sun which reaches into the same orbital path Mars has. It will not interact with the planet in that way.
- bluesroo 9y ago
  That's the plan, but this article is way too premature and the title is a little misleading. They want to put it into solar orbit at Mars' distance. However, they are going to wait 6 hours to fire the second stage for a third burn which would actually put it in orbit. They want it to be exposed to radiation and test how well the booster holds up before the final burn.
- pikchurn 9y ago
  No, it's a Martian transfer orbit, albeit without Mars at the other end.
  - ars 9y ago
    Meaning it could have reached Mars, they just chose not to?
    - CobrastanJorji 9y ago
      Yes, depending on time of year. They could probably have aimed to hit Mars, but stopping in Mars orbit would (probably) require another burn on the Mars end. Regardless, like other posts have said, they haven't actually left Earth orbit yet. There's one more burn in about 5 hours.
    - bpicolo 9y ago
      It would reach it if they lined up the dates, yeah. Landing something on mars just wasn't the goal here
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - pikchurn 9y ago
      Meaning that they didn't launch at the right time to arrive at Mars, due to where Mars is in its orbit currently. It'll pass through the imaginary circle around the sun which is Mars' orbit, it's just that Mars will at a different part of the orbit at that time. But actually, it seems they decided to just empty the tanks and get as much delta-v as possible, and it'll go all the way into the asteroid belt as a result.
themanual 9y ago
What happened to the core booster did that return?
- nicolashahn 9y ago
  It suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly, unfortunately
Upas 9y ago
The title of this post is incorrect. We have to wait a few hours to know if the rocket man has made it to Mars orbit. EDIT: It's not a Mars orbit, its a solar orbit that puts it close to Mars at times. From the linked article: "If all phases of the flight are successful - and that will not be known until at least 6.5 hours after lift-off - the Tesla and its passenger will be despatched into an elliptical orbit around the Sun that reaches out as far as the Planet Mars."
- oh_sigh 9y ago
  'made it to mars orbit' is a weird way of saying it too - it will be going out as far as mars is, but it won't be orbiting mars - it will be orbiting the sun.
- pikchurn 9y ago
  Actually, no, once the 2nd stage cuts off the trajectory is mostly fixed and we know what orbit it is in. There are, I believe, two more small burns that will be done to adjust the trajectory, but these are more of an adjustment to what kind of Martian transfer orbit it is in. It already has the hyperbolic velocity to leave Earth's orbit, and enter solar orbit with an apogee at the same distance as Mars. In 6.5 hours SpaceX will have finished everything they wanted to test with this flight I believe, including a number of post-launch checks of various systems and sensors on the payload, and those re-ignition tests of the 2nd stage.
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    Unless I'm mistaken, it's not on a trajectory out of Earth orbit currently. It is in a parking orbit, where it will sit for a few hours and then will reignite and will be set on a trajectory toward "martian orbit". IIRC currently they are testing (or proving depending on how confident they are) that they can have the second stage sit for several hours in space before reignighting.
    - teraflop 9y ago
      I think you're correct. At stage 2 cutoff, they were showing a speed of ~26,000 km/h, which is approximately orbital velocity, not escape velocity.
dirkdk 9y ago
Center core is gone, didn't land successfully. Well it was a test and most of the flight succeeded https://twitter.com/kimballclark/status/960986447770656768 https://twitter.com/kimballclark/status/960986447770656768
- selckin 9y ago
  This could reference the video feed, was before 1&2 landed?
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    The core looked like it had some engine fire just before the 2 boosters landed and it wasn’t from the central engine.
    - mrguyorama 9y ago
      It also looked like it was falling sideways, but I didn't know the camera orientation so I had no idea
- bargl 9y ago
  This could refer to the signal, not the actual rocket. They might have lost it, but it isn't certain yet.
mewm 9y ago
To be accurate, I believe they call the the dummy "Star man", just if you wanna edit the title
MontagFTB 9y ago
The Starman has his own live stream: https://youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M https://youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M

167 points by vanwilder77 9y ago

KiDD 9y ago

Mars Orbit? Really?

cosban 9y ago
It is not a Mars orbit. It's an orbit around the sun which reaches into the same orbital path Mars has. It will not interact with the planet in that way.
bluesroo 9y ago
That's the plan, but this article is way too premature and the title is a little misleading. They want to put it into solar orbit at Mars' distance. However, they are going to wait 6 hours to fire the second stage for a third burn which would actually put it in orbit. They want it to be exposed to radiation and test how well the booster holds up before the final burn.
pikchurn 9y ago
No, it's a Martian transfer orbit, albeit without Mars at the other end.
- ars 9y ago
  Meaning it could have reached Mars, they just chose not to?
  - CobrastanJorji 9y ago
    Yes, depending on time of year. They could probably have aimed to hit Mars, but stopping in Mars orbit would (probably) require another burn on the Mars end. Regardless, like other posts have said, they haven't actually left Earth orbit yet. There's one more burn in about 5 hours.
  - bpicolo 9y ago
    It would reach it if they lined up the dates, yeah. Landing something on mars just wasn't the goal here
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - pikchurn 9y ago
    Meaning that they didn't launch at the right time to arrive at Mars, due to where Mars is in its orbit currently. It'll pass through the imaginary circle around the sun which is Mars' orbit, it's just that Mars will at a different part of the orbit at that time. But actually, it seems they decided to just empty the tanks and get as much delta-v as possible, and it'll go all the way into the asteroid belt as a result.

themanual 9y ago

What happened to the core booster did that return?

nicolashahn 9y ago
It suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly, unfortunately

Upas 9y ago

The title of this post is incorrect. We have to wait a few hours to know if the rocket man has made it to Mars orbit. EDIT: It's not a Mars orbit, its a solar orbit that puts it close to Mars at times. From the linked article: "If all phases of the flight are successful - and that will not be known until at least 6.5 hours after lift-off - the Tesla and its passenger will be despatched into an elliptical orbit around the Sun that reaches out as far as the Planet Mars."

oh_sigh 9y ago
'made it to mars orbit' is a weird way of saying it too - it will be going out as far as mars is, but it won't be orbiting mars - it will be orbiting the sun.
pikchurn 9y ago
Actually, no, once the 2nd stage cuts off the trajectory is mostly fixed and we know what orbit it is in. There are, I believe, two more small burns that will be done to adjust the trajectory, but these are more of an adjustment to what kind of Martian transfer orbit it is in. It already has the hyperbolic velocity to leave Earth's orbit, and enter solar orbit with an apogee at the same distance as Mars. In 6.5 hours SpaceX will have finished everything they wanted to test with this flight I believe, including a number of post-launch checks of various systems and sensors on the payload, and those re-ignition tests of the 2nd stage.
- Klathmon 9y ago
  Unless I'm mistaken, it's not on a trajectory out of Earth orbit currently. It is in a parking orbit, where it will sit for a few hours and then will reignite and will be set on a trajectory toward "martian orbit". IIRC currently they are testing (or proving depending on how confident they are) that they can have the second stage sit for several hours in space before reignighting.
  - teraflop 9y ago
    I think you're correct. At stage 2 cutoff, they were showing a speed of ~26,000 km/h, which is approximately orbital velocity, not escape velocity.

dirkdk 9y ago

Center core is gone, didn't land successfully. Well it was a test and most of the flight succeeded https://twitter.com/kimballclark/status/960986447770656768 https://twitter.com/kimballclark/status/960986447770656768

selckin 9y ago
This could reference the video feed, was before 1&2 landed?
- dogma1138 9y ago
  The core looked like it had some engine fire just before the 2 boosters landed and it wasn’t from the central engine.
  - mrguyorama 9y ago
    It also looked like it was falling sideways, but I didn't know the camera orientation so I had no idea
bargl 9y ago
This could refer to the signal, not the actual rocket. They might have lost it, but it isn't certain yet.

mewm 9y ago

To be accurate, I believe they call the the dummy "Star man", just if you wanna edit the title

MontagFTB 9y ago

The Starman has his own live stream: https://youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M https://youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M