Tag: SpaceX
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Throttle valve blamed for Falcon 9’s unsuccessful landing
SpaceX engineers have narrowed the cause of last week’s unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 rocket booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean on a commanding issue with an engine throttle valve, according to Elon Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive. Musk posted the update on Twitter late Saturday, and he confirmed the…
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Dragon pad abort test set for early May
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon pad abort vehicle during a ground test. Credit: SpaceX A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday. The four-hour window for…
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Fine-tuning Falcon 9 landing focuses on throttle valve response
SpaceX is getting ever closer to successfully returning the first stage of its Falcon 9 v1.1, with the latest attempt showing the effort is now focused on fine-tuning. The return of the first stage used during the CRS-6 Dragon launch was the best landing attempt to date, with a slower than expected throttle valve response parameter…
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SpaceX supply ship joins up with space station
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule flies underneath the space station on final approach Friday. Credit: NASA/Terry Virts Packed with an array of experiments and provisions, including a custom-made Italian espresso maker, SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo capsule reached the International Space Station on Friday after a precise laser-guided rendezvous more than 250 miles above Earth. The commercial…
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Photos: SpaceX’s debris-strewn landing barge back in port
This image, shared with Spaceflight Now by Twitter user @petr_bourdais, was posted anonymously on Reddit. Returning to port late Thursday under the cover of darkness, SpaceX’s rocket recovery platform has moored at a dock in Jacksonville, Florida, for unloading of charred debris from Tuesday’s crash landing of a Falcon 9 booster. The 14-story booster was…
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No time wasted in SpaceX’s rapid-fire launch campaign
Updated with new launch date. File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket inside SpaceX’s hangar at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Hours after launching a batch of cargo and provisions to the International Space Station on Tuesday, SpaceX ground teams wheeled another Falcon 9 rocket into the hangar at Cape Canaveral for a commercial satellite launch…
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CRS-6 Dragon successfully completes ISS berthing
While the internet community continues its fascination with the Falcon 9 First Stage landing attempt on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), SpaceX’s primary mission objective – the CRS-6/SpX-6 Dragon – completed berthing operations with the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft was grappled by the Station’s “Big Arm” at 6:55am Eastern on Friday, ahead…
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Incredible video: SpaceX attempts to land Falcon 9 rocket on a barge, again
Just how close did SpaceX come to successfully landing its Falcon 9 rocket on its “autonomous drone ship” in the Atlantic after blasting its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station yesterday? See for yourself: Here’s the video posted by the company, from a chase plane monitoring the attempt. https://vine.co/v/euEpIVegiIx Here’s a better look: SpaceX…
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Photos: Tuesday’s SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral
A sun-splashed Florida afternoon was the setting for Tuesday’s liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket, which fired its nine-engine booster stage and climbed into space with a commercial cargo spacecraft en route to the International Space Station. Photo credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Scriptunas Images Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.