Mission:   Falcon 9, BlueBird Block 1

1)  Mission Description:  "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first five satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s in-orbit cellular service. Each BlueBird satellite has a communications array measuring 693 square feet. The Falcon 9 booster will return to a landing at Cape Canaveral’s LZ-1."    SpaceFlightNow source

2)  Launch window:   4:52 - around 8:52 AM EDT (12 September 2024).  

3)  Launch site:   SLC-40,  Florida

4)  Launch direction:  Northeast

5)  Webcast viewing option:



6)  Observation comments:   None.  

7)  Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out:

Go Cosmos departed PC on Sep 7 @ 6:12pm ET

Source:  NASASpaceFlight.com

b.  Satellites:



c.  Ready for launch:    Not found

d.  Navigation Warnings:


Source:  NASASpaceFlight.com

8)  First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:    Return to Landing Zone 1.

9)  Launch to deployment events/timeline:    

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:01:10 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:18 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:22 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:26 Stage 1 flip
00:02:29 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:34 1st stage boostback burn starts
00:03:11 Fairing separation
00:03:29 1st stage boostback burn ends
00:06:04 1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:17 1st stage entry burn ends
00:07:08 1st stage landing burn begins
00:07:32 1st stage landing
00:08:23 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:53:57 BlueBird 1 deploys
00:55:32 BlueBird 2 deploys
00:58:37 BlueBird 3 deploys
01:02:22 BlueBird 4 deploys
01:07:53 BlueBird 5 deploys

10)  Orbit insertion:

That is an interesting looking setup. Looks heavy as fuck but I guess not since it's a land landing.

Polaris Dawn Flight Day 2 Update

The Polaris Dawn crew began Flight Day 2 with an incredible milestone – Dragon reached an apogee of more than 1,400 kilometers, marking the farthest humans have traveled in space since the completion of the Apollo program over 50 years ago.… pic.twitter.com/rDTwmzkTML

Polaris  (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024

Polaris Dawn Flight Day 2 Update

The Polaris Dawn crew began Flight Day 2 with an incredible milestone – Dragon reached an apogee of more than 1,400 kilometers, marking the farthest humans have traveled in space since the completion of the Apollo program over 50 years ago. Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon also became the first two women to have travelled this far in space! Mission Commander Jared Isaacman also passed the torch to the NASA Artemis crew, saying he’s looking forward to their upcoming flight.

After completing six orbits of Earth at this altitude, Dragon performed a series of descent burns to reach an orbit of ~190 x 700 km for Thursday’s spacewalk while simultaneously continuing to safely lower its interior’s pressure, bringing the cabin environment closer to conditions required for the EVA. The crew also spent a few hours demonstrating the suit’s pressurized mobility, verifying positions and accessibility in microgravity along with preparing the cabin for the EVA.

In addition to EVA prep, the crew conducted a series of activities on-orbit, including time dedicated to science and research. The crew focused on monitoring initial changes to eye sight and ocular health, studying how fluid shifts and exposure to microgravity affect blood flow, and assessed how medications are processed by the body while on-orbit.

The entire crew met with representatives from Folds of Honor — an organization providing educational scholarships to spouses and children of America's fallen and disabled military service-members and first responders — honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of the United States.

Anna then read her book, Kisses from Space, to a group of St. Jude patients and her family, followed by a Q&A session. Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East joined the crew via video transmission to host the book reading.

Jared, Kidd, Sarah, and Anna ended their day with individual family calls conducted over Starlink connections and preparing a special message for fans later in the mission before settling in for a good night’s sleep ahead of tomorrow’s world-first commercial spacewalk.

video

Orbital sunset from Dragon pic.twitter.com/maDHdiSxNH

Polaris  (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024

only about 4.5 hours from the spacewalk

NSF coverage starts at 1:15am EDT

No, it's possible that I misremembered or the discussions at that time were mistaken. I can't imagine SpaceX would have voluntarily chosen to sacrifice one of their boosters if they thought they could have received certification without it.
I'm not sure when the decision to conduct the in flight test was made, but the flight was about 18 months after Musk's appearance on Joe Rogan and NASA's subsequent investigation and scrutiny into him and the culture at SpaceX.

https://archive.ph/hvCaC

All systems are looking good for the Polaris Dawn crew to perform the first spacewalk from Dragon today. The EVA webcast begins at 4:55 a.m. ET ? https://t.co/WpSw0gzeT0 pic.twitter.com/aRDJYaruTO

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

Watch Falcon 9 launch the @AST_SpaceMobile BlueBird 1-5 mission to orbit https://t.co/jlMgoopOvr

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

5 a.m. wake up !
Double sonic boom startled the birds too.
Didn't expect a launch, they really snuck that in this morning with the rain so close by.

Pic credit to LabPadre and the Gator cam at Port Canaveral.

Attached File

Visors are about to close on Polaris astronauts to begin the EVA.

Depressurizing the cabin now.

ETA they're going out.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=polarisdawn

Hatch opening.

Ready to open hatch.

Go to open the hatch.

Unlatching.

Unseated the hatch.

Hatch looking sticky.

Automated opening canceled, going for manual opening.

Go to manually open the hatch.

Of COURSE it's opened between ground station relays without video.

Dragon’s hatch is open, marking the first time four humans are simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

Helmet cam view is awesome.

Helmet cam.



Exterior cam, EV1 testing the suit mobility.

where's the Helmet cam view?

The live stream switched from the helmet cam to the exterior view.

Awesome show!

Helmet cam again.



He's back inside.

That's good to hear they are keeping a positive air flow into the cabin so hyper vapors won't be coming in causing a problem

EV2 starting.

yes, I wanted helmet cam view when Jared was out

Suits seem to be decently flexible.

Did they just say the suits are getting warm and no way to cool them?

And the EVA is over and they closed the hatch.

That was cool. Congrats to the Polaris team on the first private spacewalk!

Very neat.
Kudos to SpaceX for bringing back the heyday of NASA.

The spacewalk time using my 5kPa rule was 33min 25s. The hatch open/close time was about 26m 40s.   Isaacman was outside hatch for 7 min 56m; Gillis for about 7m15s.

Jonathan McDowell  (@planet4589) September 12, 2024

Dragon uses pure nitrogen during repress, which mixes with the pure oxygen being released into the cabin via the open loop system that keeps the EVA suits pressurized. This process is unique to Dragon which acts as its own airlock

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

"that tunnel is longer than you think."
That's what she said.
Come on man... Slipping.

The Polaris Dawn spacewalk is now complete, marking the first time commercial astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft! Congratulations to @rookisaacman, @Gillis_SarahE, @KiddPoteet, @annawmenon, and to all the SpaceX teams!

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

Polaris Dawn Flight Day 3 Update

Early Thursday morning at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed the world’s first spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 732.2 km above Earth. 
 
Shortly after arriving in space on… pic.twitter.com/ASEH6G3sR9

Polaris  (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024

Polaris Dawn Flight Day 3 Update

Early Thursday morning at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed the world’s first spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 732.2 km above Earth.

Shortly after arriving in space on Tuesday, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe process, designed to prevent decompression sickness while also preparing the crew for the environment inside the EVA suits by gradually lowering Dragon’s cabin pressure and increasing the oxygen concentration.

Then on Thursday, the crew donned their suits and initiated Dragon seat rotation, suit tare, and the heads-up display and helmet camera checkouts. The 106-minute spacewalk officially began at 6:12 a.m. ET when suit pressurization started, the nitrogen purge was initiated, and pure oxygen (O2) was flowing into the suits. A secondary flow of oxygen primarily helped provide cooling to the suits, which would come in handy during the spacewalk.

Once suit leak checks were complete, the crew and ground teams gave the go for Dragon to initiate venting, which took the cabin’s pressure down from ~8 psi to below 1 psi – nearly to the vacuum of space. Simultaneously, Dragon repositioned its trunk to face the sun ahead of the hatch opening.

Mission Commander Jared Isaacman opened the hatch and for the first time, four astronauts were simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space. Jared and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis separately exited the spacecraft and individually performed a series of suit mobility demonstrations to test the performance of the spacesuit in the vacuum environment of space. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist Anna Menon remained seated, managing suit umbilicals and monitoring vital support systems and telemetry on Dragon’s displays.

Upon completion of their individual EVAs, the hatch was closed, Dragon re-pressurized to 14 psi, cabin oxygen and pressure levels confirmed, officially completing the suit testing alongside the first commercial spacewalk and the first EVA from a Dragon spacecraft.

Throughout the EVA, stunning visuals were afforded by Dragon’s cameras and the spacesuits helmet cameras as the crew orbited between 184.9 x 732.2 km above Earth.

Following the spacewalk, the crew took time to rest and recuperate, enjoying a well-deserved meal before posting from space for the first time on X using Starlink high-speed internet. The crew concluded the day by connecting with their families and settling in for their sleep period ahead of Flight Day 4.

Hoping for another view from Nor Cal!

It looks like this one might be going in a little under 8 minutes.  I won't be able to see squat from San Diego.

And, no joy. I am not sure why. Basically the same due south trajectory as last week.

Was the one last week at night?

Yes. I still expected to see something. Might it have anything to do with the orbit inclination? It was 70 degrees last week, 53ish on Wednesday.

If you can provide a nearby city I can run the look angles for you.    It will be much harder to see it in daylight especially if you only see the second stage burn.

Early this morning via @Starlink space lasers, the Polaris Dawn crew chatted with SpaceX teams over coffee and donuts \uD83C\uDF69\uD83D\uDEF0? pic.twitter.com/nZ9v0VSyr5

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 14, 2024

During the 40+ minute uninterrupted video call, Dragon completed half an orbit over the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., cutting southeast over the Atlantic Ocean and rounding the Cape of Good Hope

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 14, 2024

The plaser in Dragon’s trunk and the partner Starlink satellite for the event maintained their laser link during 16 Draco thruster firings

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 14, 2024

Dragon and the @PolarisProgram Polaris Dawn astronauts are set to return to Earth and splash down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida on Sunday, September 15 at 3:36 a.m. ET ? https://t.co/WpSw0gzeT0 pic.twitter.com/DzgsQtmvqT

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) September 14, 2024