Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission

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Falcon Heavy demo
Phase : F / Status : completed

Tesla Roadster with Starman ;
in the background the earth
Type: Electric car
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Organization: SpaceX
COSPAR designation : 2018-017A
NORAD / SCN-ID : 43205
Mission dates
Start date: February 6, 2018
Starting place: KSC LC-39A
Launcher: Falcon Heavy
Mission duration: about 6 hours
End date: February 7, 2018
Landing place: Landing Complex 1 ;
Drone ship in the Atlantic
Orbit data
Origin of coordinates: Sun
Track height: 0.99-1.67 AU
Rotation time : 1.53 years
General spacecraft data
Takeoff mass: 1250 kg
Manufacturer: Tesla, Inc.

The Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission , or Falcon Heavy Demo for short , was a space mission of the US rocket manufacturer SpaceX . It took place on February 6th to 7th, 2018 and was used to demonstrate and test the new heavy-lift launch vehicle Falcon Heavy . A Tesla Roadster, owned by the company's founder, owner, director and chief engineer Elon Musk, was put into orbit around the sun as a payload replacement .

It was the so far and by far the most powerful launch of a privately built rocket. It was also the strongest thrust rocket launch since the second and last flight of Energija in November 1988. For the first time, a used car into space and the first time since the lunar rover from Apollo 17 (1972) a car .

Planning and preparation

Postponements of the first launch of the Falcon Heavy

The first flight of the Falcon Heavy was originally planned for 2012. In 2011, SpaceX began building a suitable launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California . However, the design of the missile turned out to be unexpectedly complicated. The first flight was postponed to 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The explosion of a Falcon 9 in September 2016 also contributed to the delay . SpaceX then converted Launch Complex 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Falcon Heavy and moved the first launch there. The new launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base was instead used for Falcon 9 missions. LC-39A is a historic launch pad from which all of the manned missions of the Apollo program and most of the space shuttle launches took place.

The first stage of the Falcon Heavy was first tested in May 2017 on the test bench at the SpaceX engine development and test center in McGregor , Texas . On September 1, 2017, SpaceX announced that the tests of the first stage and both sides booster had been completed. (SpaceX usually refers to all three together as the first stage.)

On December 20, the rocket arrived at the Kennedy Space Center. The start had meanwhile been postponed to January 2018. The usual SpaceX engine test of the finished rocket took place on January 24th on launch pad 39A. It was broadcast as a live webcast . After the launch date was finally set on February 6th, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the necessary launch permit on February 2nd.

rocket

The rocket was designed so that the first stage and booster were landable and reusable, even if reuse was not planned. The first stage had the construction number B1033 and was a new design based on a heavily revised design of the Falcon 9 version Block 4 . In particular, it had a reinforced structure in order to be able to absorb the forces exerted by the boosters. (The first stage of all further Falcon Heavy copies is derived in the same way from the Falcon 9 version Block 5. )

First take-off and landing of the later Falcon Heavy Booster B1025 on July 18, 2016

Two Falcon 9 first stages of the Block 3 version that had already flown were converted as boosters : No. B1023 on May 27, 2016 with Thaicom 8 and No. B1025 on July 18, 2016 with a supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Among other things, the grid fins required for landing have been revised, as the boosters have changed aerodynamics due to a conical attachment . In the course of this, the boosters were already equipped with the titanium fins introduced from block 4 , while old aluminum fins were used in the first central stage .

The second stage was an ordinary new Falcon-9 that was loaded with a larger amount of helium . The gas serves as a pressure medium for the fuel tanks.

payload

The processes involved in starting the Falcon Heavy are too complex to be fully simulated beforehand ; therefore there was a considerable risk that the initial start would fail. According to former NASA deputy director Lori Garver , SpaceX had offered NASA and the United States Air Force to use the flight free of charge; however, they would have refused. Instead of carrying a concrete block as a mass simulator - as is customary in such missions - Elon Musk announced in March 2017 that they would choose the silliest payload that one could imagine ( the silliest thing we can imagine ). On the first flight of the Dragon spaceship, it was a large, round wheel of cheese .

The car in a SpaceX parking lot (2010)

Six months later, Elon Musk announced that it would be a "cherry-red" Tesla Roadster electric sports car from his private collection; the vehicle should be sent to Mars . He used to use the two-seater convertible for trips to work, among other things. On the left side and the front of the roadster, booms with cameras were mounted to film it in space. Another camera in the back of the vehicle offered a view ahead. A human-sized doll consisting of a stuffed spacesuit was draped on the driver's side. It was a used, working, certified copy of the suit that SpaceX had developed for manned missions with the Dragon V2 space capsule . The doll was named Starman , a reference to the David Bowie song of the same name . A Hot Wheels model of the Tesla Roadster in the same color and with a miniature Starman was attached to the dashboard .

DON'T PANIC on the dashboard

The roadster was also equipped with some utensils from the cult novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams : a copy of the book and a towel in the glove compartment and the words DON'T PANIC (don't panic) on the screen of the in-flight entertainment system. A test copy of an optical data storage device from the Arch Mission Foundation , which has set itself the goal of archiving the knowledge of mankind on durable data carriers in space, among other places, was also taken along. The test copy contains Isaac Asimov's Foundation cycle and thus uses only 3  MB of the available 360  TB storage capacity.

The names of the more than 6,000 SpaceX employees were engraved on a metal plate on the payload adapter , which firmly connects the vehicle to the second rocket stage. A circuit board in the vehicle is labeled “Made on Earth by Humans”.

Mission goal

The aim of the mission was to bring the second rocket stage together with the Tesla Roadster into an elliptical orbit around the sun, the peri- and aphelion of which are in the area of ​​the Earth's or Martian orbit . For the first time and over a period of six hours, a Falcon second stage was supposed to cross the Van Allen radiation belt , which is a particular burden for the on-board electronics. Immediately after take-off, the two boosters should automatically fly back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and touch down on Landing Complex 1 almost at the same time . The first stage was supposed to land on the Autonomous spaceport drone ship Of Course I Still Love You about 500 kilometers off the coast of Florida .

The Falcon Heavy's thrust should be limited to 92% of the maximum possible 23 meganewtons .

Mission history

The Falcon Heavy takes off (T + 6 s)
Tesla Roadster in front of the earth
Landing the booster
Long-term recording of the landing

On February 6, 2018, a launch window was scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ( UTC ). Due to strong high winds it was almost completely used; the final start time was set at 8:45 p.m. UTC. The start then went exactly according to plan, including the first ( pneumatic ) booster disconnection. The highlight of the event was the dropping of the payload fairing. To the refrain of David Bowie's song Life on Mars? Musk's Roadster appeared against the background of the blue earth.

The double landing of the booster was also successful. Only the landing of the first stage failed: During the final braking process, only one of the three intended engines fired because there was no longer enough ignition fluid; the rocket part crashed into the sea at high speed next to the drone ship. Then live images of the car in space were transmitted for four hours. It rotated together with the second stage rocket and showed a constantly changing picture.

In detail, the final preparations, the launch and flight of the Falcon Heavy went as follows; of this, the section from T − 21 to T + 11 minutes (21 minutes before to 11 minutes after the rocket lifted off) was broadcast live:

Planned time Actual time approx. event
T − 01: 25: 00 Start of loading with RP-1 fuel
T − 00:45:00 Start of loading with liquid oxygen
T − 00: 07: 00 Start of engine cooling; Completion of the fuel loading
T − 00: 04: 00 T − 00: 04: 00 Open the retaining clip at the top of the support device
T − 00:02:40 The support device is swiveled back about 1.5 degrees
T − 00: 02: 00 T − 00: 01: 58 Completion of the oxygen loading
T − 00:01:42 Switching to the rocket-internal power supply
T − 00:01:30 The flight control computer takes over control
T − 00:01:05 Engine cooling is complete
T − 00: 01: 00 T − 00: 01: 00 Start of the system check by the flight control computer
T − 00: 01: 00 Pressure build-up in the fuel tank
T − 00:00:45 T − 00:00:22 Start clearance ( Go / No go )
T − 00:00:05 T − 00: 00: 06 Ignition of the 18 booster engines 1
T − 00: 00: 03 Ignition of the 9 first stage engines 1
Checking the engines
T − 00: 00: 00 T − 00: 00: 00 Opening the restraints at the base of the rocket
lift-off
support device pivots back
T + 00: 00: 50 Thrust reduction on the boosters
T + 00: 01: 06 T + 00: 01: 06 Max Q - maximum aerodynamic load
T + 00: 01: 20 Thrust increase on the boosters
T + 00: 02: 05 Thrust reduction on the boosters
T + 00: 02: 29 T + 00: 02: 30 Shutdown of the booster engines ( BECO )
T + 00: 02: 33 T + 00: 02: 33 Separation of the booster first above and then below
T + 00:02:50 T + 00:02:50 Ignition of the booster engines for reversal ( boostback burn )
T + 00: 03: 04 Shutdown of the first stage engines ( MECO )
T + 00: 03: 07 Separation of the first stage
T + 00: 03: 15 T + 00: 03: 15 Start of the second stage engine
T + 00: 03: 24 T + 00: 03: 24 Ignition of the main stage engine for braking
T + 00: 03: 49 T + 00: 03: 49 Throwing off the payload fairing
T + 00: 04: 12 Shutdown of the booster engines
T + 00: 04: 16 Shutdown of the first stage engine
T + 00: 06: 41 T + 00: 06: 35 Ignition of the booster engines for the reentry burn
(braking when entering the atmosphere)
T + 00: 06: 47 Shutdown of the booster engines
T + 00: 06: 47 T + 00: 06: 54 Ignition of the main stage engines for the reentry burn
T + 00: 07: 14 Shutdown of the main stage engines
T + 00: 07: 49 Ignition of the booster engines for the landing burn
T + 00: 07: 58 T + 00: 08: 06 Landing the booster
T + 00: 08: 19 T + 00: 08: 39 First stage crash instead of the planned landing
T + 00: 08: 31 T + 00: 08: 31 Shutdown of the second stage engine ( SECO 1 )
T + 00: 28: 22 Restart of the second stage engine
T + 00: 28: 52 Shutdown of the second stage engine ( SECO 2 )
Flight through the Van Allen Belt
approx T + 6 h approx T + 6 h Last ignition of the second stage engine to pivot
to the target orbit; Burns for about a minute
Orbit reached; red = Tesla Roadster, orange = Mars, blue = earth
1The staggered ignition of booster and first stage engines only took place during the demo mission. In the Block 5 Falcon Heavy, all 27 engines fire at the same time.

Orbit reached

Observations and calculations by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the two days following the launch indicated that the planned orbit around the sun had been reached. In July 2018, the Tesla will cross the orbit of Mars for the first time to reach aphelion on November 9, 1.67  AU from the sun. On August 15, 2019, he will be at the perihelion of 0.99 AU for the first time. A first close flyby to Earth is expected in 2091. The long-term trajectory is difficult to predict; In all likelihood, however, the vehicle will drift through space for a few million years before crashing onto a planet .

Web links

Commons : Falcon Heavy First Flight  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Alan Chamberlin: HORIZONS Web Interface. Retrieved February 8, 2018 ( click on Generate Ephemeris ).
  2. ↑ Marco Langbroek: There's a Starman Waiting in the Sky . SatTrackCam Leiden, February 8, 2018, updated February 15, 2018, accessed February 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Tesla Roadster (Starman) , Gunter's Space Page, accessed February 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b c Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission - Mission Overview (press material on the Falcon Heavy start). SpaceX, February 2018 (PDF).
  5. ^ Launch Manifest. In: SpaceX. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020 ; accessed on May 22, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Shit Elon Says - Transcript - Elon Musk on the future of SpaceX ( Memento from March 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) . shitelonsays.com, recorded at the Mars Society Conference , Boulder, Colorado; accessed on February 14, 2018.
  7. ^ SpaceX Breaks Ground on Launch Site for Falcon Heavy. SpaceX, July 13, 2011, accessed May 10, 2017 .
  8. ^ Christian Davenport: Elon Musk is set to launch his Falcon Heavy rocket, a flamethrower of another sort . The Washington Post, January 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ Ryan Rakib: F9 / Dragon: Preparing for ISS. In: SpaceX. August 15, 2011, accessed November 6, 2017 .
  10. ^ Karl Tate: SpaceX's Huge Falcon Heavy Rocket: How It Works (Infographic) . In: space.com , June 4, 2014.
  11. Jump up ↑ Clark: Launch Schedule . In: Spaceflight Now , October 14, 2017, archived October 18, 2017.
  12. ↑ Inmarsat Satellite switches from Falcon Heavy to Ariane 5, Falcon 9 Return to Flight slips to 2017 . spaceflight101.com, December 9, 2016.
  13. ↑ Chris Gebhardt: SpaceX aims for late-December launch of Falcon Heavy. In: nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017 (American English).
  14. ^ First static fire test of a Falcon Heavy center core completed at our McGregor, TX rocket development facility last week. SpaceX Twitter message, May 9, 2017.
  15. ↑ Falcon Heavy's 3 first stage cores have all completed testing at our rocket development facility in McGregor, TX . SpaceX Twitter message, September 2, 2017.
  16. ↑ Brendan Byrne: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Awaits Maiden Voyage From Kennedy Space Center . In: wmfe.org , December 20, 2018.
  17. ↑ Watch the Falcon Heavy roar to life . spaceflightnow.com, January 24, 2018.
  18. ↑ Commercial Space Transportation License, License Number LLS 18-107 ( Memento from February 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) , US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, February 2, 2018 (PDF, 5.6 MB).
  19. ↑ Elon Musk Press Conference Successful Falcon Heavy Launch , minutes 8: 30–8: 50.
  20. ^ Gunter Krebs: Falcon-Heavy . In: Gunter's Space Page , as of February 7, 2018, accessed on February 19, 2018.
  21. ↑ Elon Musk in an interview with Loren Grush: Elon Musk on how Falcon Heavy will change space travel . Youtube video from The Verge, February 7, 2018. Minute 1: 35–2: 10.
  22. ^ Elon Musk Press Conference Successful Falcon Heavy Launch , Minute 19: 45–20: 50 (Youtube video).
  23. ^ Elon Musk Press Conference Successful Falcon Heavy Launch , minutes 35: 42-35: 54 (Youtube video).
  24. ^ Falcon Heavy Test Flight , minute 3: 44-3.50; Youtube video from February 6, 2018.
  25. ↑ Dave Mosher: Launching Elon Musk's car toward Mars was a backup plan - here's what SpaceX actually wanted to do with Falcon Heavy's first flight . In: Business Insider , February 9, 2018.
  26. ↑ Elon Musk: Silliest thing we can imagine! ... . Twitter message, March 31, 2017.
  27. ↑ Stephen Clark: Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to launch his Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket . In. Spaceflight Now , December 2, 2017.
  28. ↑ Driving With Elon Musk , minutes 0: 40-0: 50. Forbe Live, March 27, 2012 (Youtube video).
  29. ↑ Elon Musk Press Conference Successful Falcon Heavy Launch , from minute 29:10 (Youtube video).
  30. ↑ By Frank Wunderlich-Pfeiffer: Falcon Heavy: With David Bowie into the solar system . In: golem.de , February 6, 2018.
  31. ↑ Brett Molina: Want a toy Tesla, like the one that launched with 'Starman'? eBay has them for $ 1,500 . In: USA Today , February 13, 2018.
  32. ^ Leonard David: Is the Tesla Roadster Flying on the Falcon Heavy's Maiden Flight Just Space Junk? In: space.com , February 5, 2018.
  33. ↑ Eric Olson: Backing Up Humanity: First Arch Launched on Falcon Heavy . In: IEEE GlobalSpec , February 14, 2018.
  34. ↑ On Space-Bound Tesla, A Hidden Message For Aliens From Elon Musk. In: ndtv.com. February 7, 2018, accessed April 10, 2019 .
  35. ↑ Falcon Heavy | Flight animation . SpaceX, simulation video of the planned launch on Youtube.
  36. ↑ Sean O'Kane: Here are four things we learned from Elon Musk before the first Falcon Heavy launch . The Verge, February 5, 2018.
  37. ↑ Elon Musk: Max thrust at lift-off is 5.1 million pounds or 2300 metric tons. First mission will run at 92%. Twitter message, December 20, 2017.
  38. ↑ George Dvorsky: Watch SpaceX Launch Its Falcon Heavy Rocket Live Right Here . In: Gismodo , February 6, 2018.
  39. ↑ a b Falcon Heavy Test Flight , February 6, 2018 (Youtube video)
  40. ↑ Elon Musk Press Conference Successful Falcon Heavy Launch on YouTube, from minute 5:50.
  41. ↑ Live Views of Starman . SpaceX, February 6, 2018 (Youtube video).
  42. ↑ Falcon Heavy Test Flight , minutes 10: 00–11: 35 and 15: 20–17: 15. SpaceX, February 6, 2018 (Youtube video)
  43. ^ William Harwood: 'Starman' puts Earth in the rearview mirror . In: CBS News / Spaceflight Now , February 8, 2018.
  44. ↑ Chris Gebhardt: Falcon Heavy soars; SpaceX lands critical NASA double asteroid redirect launch. In: Nasaspaceflight.com. April 12, 2019, accessed April 19, 2019 .
  45. ↑ William Harwood: Elon Musk's Tesla will have a close encounter with Earth in 2091 . In: CBS News / Spaceflight Now. February 14, 2018.