SpaceX Falcon 9 Full Thrust - Iridium-2 NEXT - Launching June 25, 2017
Screenshot from SpaceX - Iridium-2 NEXT - Tim Dodd was too slow to have this shot
Mission Rundown: SpaceX FT - Iridium-2 NEXT
Written: January 26, 2021
The big bad Polar Bear job continues
SpaceX is targeting the launch of Iridium-2 from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 01:25:18 p.m. PDT, or 20:25:18 UTC, on Sunday, June 25.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit for Iridium, a global leader in mobile voice and data satellite communications. This is the second set of 10 satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT. The 10 satellites will be delivered to orbit plane 3 and 5 of them will drift into orbit plane 2 and 4 after launch.
Going straight south from Vandenberg Air Force Base past LA. Blue dot was JRTI - bad weather
Maiden flight of the “Bearclaw” titanium grid fins
SpaceX have redesigned the stereable grid fins made from aluminium, because during reentry into the atmosphere they melted, burned away and fragged the shielding covering the outside fluid pipes, power cables, data cables and gave the interstage a hefty sanding, removing paint and structural surface areas.
Seeing on earlier flights how the aluminium grid fins glowed, melted and covered the outside downlink camera with molten aluminium, it must have long been a design feature, SpaceX wished to change on Falcon 9. There is now better flight control of the first stage booster in supersonic speeds, a better glidepath during descent and a more controllable steering in stronger side winds.
The titanium grid fins are slower to open up to their horizontal operating position, where they will control Pitch, Yar and Roll in conjunction with the RCS thrusters, of which you can see one below the Stars & Stripes. Their major function is creating an artificial gravity kick forcing the propellant towards the intake valves, so the engines can reignite without sucking in “air bubbles” from the propellant tanks.
Closeups of the brand new titanium “Bearclaw” grid fins - 8 by 6 feet I think.
Here you also can see that the interstage is at least two inches thicker than the 12 feet thick fuselage on the booster below the interstage. And you can count the screws. Hit the enlargement and on the far right bearclaw you can read SN=003. Source foto. And after the landing it looked like this in the last picture.
If you look for it. You will find it.
By the way this is Tim Dodd's very first live stream. He is way better at it now, too bad the flight suit didn’t get replaced by a newer spacesuit.
Just follow Mythbuster Adam Savage's examples.