For the three of you here on Hubski right now, this is the engineering stream without the "banter" and more of the web cams.
Launch and landing attempt!!!!!
And Fuck. Hopefully they get everything back together fix the issue and try again.
EDIT TO ADD LINKS TO THE ACTUAL LAUNCH!
http://spacenews.com/spacex-launches-ses-9-satellite/
They launched and placed a satellite into the correct orbit. The landing, was a failure, but they hit the drone ship, so not a total failure. One of these launches they are going to stick the landing on the drone ships, and I hope to be watching it live... the crowd is going to go mental.
I've heard that they had to be very judicious with their trajectory adjustments for the first stage landing, since it was such a large payload/high orbit (can't remember which, too lazy/busy to google) and they burned a lot of fuel fulfilling their contractual duties. So maybe it's not an equivalent scenario to other landing attempts. They might seem reckless, but what they're doing is collecting data that's arguably worth more than the actual cost of building another first stage engine assembly. Data like the kind they're generating is precious. You probably know all this, franc, just sayin'.
The orbit of this launch was such that they could not come back to the launchpad like they did in December when they were successful in landing a first stage. They said in a few interviews that every failure is a learning experience that gives them more and more data. When the Falcon Heavy flies, the middle "first stage" will need to land on one of the barges if they want to return and reuse the segment.I've heard that they had to be very judicious with their trajectory adjustments for the first stage landing, since it was such a large payload/high orbit
I'm not certain. I do know that the fins at the top of the rocket are there due to lessons learned from the first failed attempt. They have also changed the way the landing legs work. The California landing attempt failed when one of the legs did not deploy correctly due to all the fog and moisture in the air turning to ice on the side of the rocket. I'd assume that each attempt helps them refine the flight control software and gives them more data on how much fuel they need for landing etc. I'm still amazed that they have hit that barge every attempt. Now they just need the rocket to stay upright at landing to pull this off.