Tag: block 4

The Final Block 4 Changes the Florida Sky

Smoke left over by CRS-15
The smoke stream left over by CRS-15 after the launch from Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: Marcus Cote.

On the 29th of June 2018, at 09:42 UTC the last Block 4 type Falcon 9 rocket launched a cargo mission to the International space station. Launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, the Falcon 9 was carrying CRS-15, a resupply for the International Space Station (ISS). This is the 15th mission of up to 20 CRS missions that have been contracted with NASA to resupply the ISS. Initially planned for April 2018, it was eventually pushed to the 29th of June. Previous resupply missions have been conducted by SpaceX and Orbital ATK.

Long Exposure CRS-15
A great long exposure image of the CRS-15 launch. Plenty of other versions of these out there, but this one has the great smoke shapes at the end. Credit: Marcus Cote.

B1045 (the first stage booster) was the seventh and final “Block 4” Falcon 9 v1.2 first stage manufactured by SpaceX. For this reason it is very likely that this was the final Block 4 first stage orbital vehicle. SpaceX has since developed the Block 5 the debuted in May. Together the seven Block 4 Falcon 9’s boosted twelve missions, with most being expended on the second flight. This stage was purposely expended at the end of the mission, the ninth purposeful expenditure in the last twelve launches. This stage was not equipped with landing legs or titanium steering grid fins. It was the 14th flight of a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage, and the eighth to be expended on the second flight.

CRS-15 by Spacex
The night launch of the CRS-15 mission to resupply the ISS with a Dragon capsule. Credit: SpaceX

B1045.2 had previously boosted NASA’s TESS towards orbit on April 18th 2018, I wrote about that launch here. With it returning to the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” downrange. For this mission it launched the two stage rocket and powered it for 2 minutes and 51 seconds. With a Dragon 11.2 refurbished spacecraft that was previously used on CRS-9 in July 2016 the main payload for the rocket. The first put the capsule and the second stage into a 227 x 387 km x 51.64 degree orbit. The block 5 second stage burned for about 8 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff, inserting Dragon into the required orbit. The burn was 36 seconds shorter than previous Block 4 launches as this rocket had higher thrust. Dragon rendezvoused with the ISS on the 2nd of July after an extended coast.

CRS-15 smoke
The great view of the remanence of the CRS-15 launch, taken from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral. Credit: Marcus Cote.

This launch left a particularly cool looking smoke cloud afterwards. With many Twitter users posting images of the smoke remnants hundreds of miles away. The night launch also allowed for some great photos by many of the keen photographers that are at every launch, capturing many of the images in this post. To see more of the awesome rocket launches, I have posted about many, and will continue to do so.

CRS-15 launch
The launch of the CRS-15 mission. You can see the flames from the 9 Merlin-1D engines. Credit: SpaceX

To find similar photos, and to buy reasonably priced prints of some of the above visit www.marcuscotephotography.com

The Exoplanet Hunter TESS Launched by Falcon 9

TESS taking off
The Falcon 9 taking off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral with TESS on board. Credit: SpaceX Flickr.

On April 18th, 2018 at 22:51 UTC a Falcon 9 took off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral AFB. Aboard was NASA’s latest research satellite TESS. A mission that cost $337 million, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)  is the latest in a line of space based observatories that are set to launch this decade. Launched into an arching elliptical orbit that will take the spacecraft over two thirds of the distance to the moon. The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed on the autonomous drone ship Of Course I Still Love You to be refurbished and reused.

falcon 9 engines
The sheer power of the Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines produce an awesome inferno. You can clearly see the 45 written on the side as the booster designator. Credit @marcuscotephoto on Twitter.

After a 5 day checkout of the spacecraft, basically a hardware check, the ground controllers will switch on the TESS cameras. TESS is designed to scan around 85% of the sky during the two year mission, with astronomers estimating as many as 20,000 new planets could be found. It plans to build on discoveries made by NASA’s Kepler telescope which was launched in 2009 to find earth like planets. TESS carries four 16.8-megapixel cameras, and will look for dips in light coming from 200,000 preselected nearby stars. The four cameras cover a square in the sky that measures 24 x 24 degrees, wide enough to fit the Orion constellation into a single camera. the cameras together study a set area of sky for 27 days before staring at the next section.

TESS orbit
An illustration of the orbits that TESS will go through to get to the final orbit P/2. Credit: NASA.

The orbit TESS is being launched into is known as P/2, and requires time and finesse to reach. TESS will slingshot by the moon at a distance of around 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers), using gravity to reshape its orbit, increasing the satellite’s orbital perigee, or low point, to the final planned altitude of around 67,000 miles. After the lunar flyby, the high point of the satellite’s elongated orbit will stretch well beyond the moon, and another thruster firing will nudge TESS into its final orbit in mid-June. Science data is planned to start in july, with the first year of the two year campaign aimed at the stars in the southern sky. TESS has been built to have enough fuel to last 20 or 30 years, assuming funding by NASA and the components on board continue to function correctly.

the TESS telescope
The TESS satellite before launch, the four cameras can be seen on the top of the spacecraft; Credit: NASA.

Each of TESS’s cameras have four custom built re-sensitive CCD sensors designed and developed by MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. The sensors are claimed to be the most perfect CCD’s ever flown by a science mission. The lenses used by the cameras are only about 4 inches (10mm) wide, meaning it has a fairly low light collecting power compared to other space telescopes. The James Webb Space Telescope for example launching in 2020 had a 21.3ft (6.5m) primary mirror, although the satellite has cost over $8 billion to make. TESS is a bit like a finder telescope, it will lay a bedrock for future missions such as Webb and ground based observatories to make better readings. It gives a good idea of the best places to look, where the most likely exoplanets are.

launch of TESS
The Falcon 9 launching the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to an orbit of P/2. Credit: SpaceX Flickr.

TESS works by looking at a star, in this case mainly M-dwarf stars, which are cooler than our sun. They are also known as red dwarfs and make up most of the stars in our galaxy. When a planet goes in front of the star the light received by TESS “dips” and changes slightly in colour. This change in the light it receives can tell scientists alot about the size of a planet, and other things like density and velocity. They expect TESS to find between 500 and 1,000 planets that are between one and three times the size of Earth, and 20,000 planets the size of Neptune or Jupiter. The readings will give a good idea of where to focus on and ‘follow up’ on future missions. Then missions such as JWST can probe and use more complex tools to find information such as atmospheric composition, and whether they could be habitable.

long exposure TESS
A long exposure of the Falcon 9 taking off over the SpaceX hangar at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Flickr.

The Falcon 9 used was a v1.2 with designation F9-54. It used a brand new “Block 4” first stage. The booster designated B1045 has a clear 45 written on the side in some of the close up booster images. The fist stage boosted for 2 minutes and 29 seconds, then detaching and slowing itself down. The booster landed downrange on the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You”. The first successful drone ship landing since October 2017. A total of 24 Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster stages have now been recovered in 30 attempts. Four of which were on “Just Read The Instructions” off the coast of California, ten at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1 and 2, and nine on the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” off the Florida Coast. 18 first stages have been recovered, 11 of which have flown twice, five have been lost during their second flight. B1045 was the last brand new “Block 4” Falcon 9 booster.

TESS taking off
An awesome photo of a Falcon 9 taking off from across the water, a perfect day for pictures! Credit: SpaceX Flickr.

To find similar photos, and to buy reasonably priced prints of some of the above visit www.marcuscotephotography.com