Random boats swarming is absolutely insane
This is a RESCUE operation and they're getting in the way.
Not to mention, there's still plenty of extremely poisonous UDMH on that thing.
This is a RESCUE operation and they're getting in the way.
Not to mention, there's still plenty of extremely poisonous UDMH on that thing.
I expect they'll have more than one Coast Guard vessel on hand next time, and will probably look into not publicizing the landing zone.
I think you're right about there being some CG vessels around for the next landing.
But even if it's not technically secret there's a big difference between a NOTAM and putting out press releases with specific locations, which they did this time.
They probably have to make it as small as possible to minimize disruption to the public.
The right solution is probably to just have more Coast Guard on hand.
2) Bragging rights.
It is _extremely_ aggravating.
To think that random people would have so little self awareness is mindboggling.
I can totally understand that people want to see this. People also come to see launches, so why not this? But really, from a safe distance. Make sure you don't interfere in any way with the operation, and listen to instructions.
It seems one of the lessons is that if they continue to do splashdowns here, they need better spectator control.
Close enough that they had to be asked to back off after having already ignored Coast Guard requests.
————
As the capsule bobbed in the water, a recovery team instructed the boaters to stay away.
The Coast Guard warned boaters to stay clear of the area in a radio broadcast two hours before the splashdown, said the spokesman, Petty Officer Third Class John Michelli. “With limited assets available and with no formal authority to establish zones that would stop boaters from entering the area,” he said, “numerous boaters ignored the Coast Guard crews’ requests and decided to encroach the area, putting themselves and those involved in the operation in potential danger.”
If they have to get involved, IMO, they should send SpaceX the bill.
Most of the time, letting your kids play in a Superfund site won’t lead to a bad outcome. That doesn’t make it sensible.
Hydrazine didn’t leak this time. That’s good. But it’s a stupid dice to roll.
It's a fixed cost contract, while SpaceX might push back on accepting the bill in the first place, they are unlikely to be able to redirect it to NASA if they choose to accept the bill.
Of course, I would expect to see this cost reflected in all future contracts they and anyone else signs with NASA.
Government agencies can only impose fees and charges on private entities where those are authorised (directly or indirectly) by legislation. And agencies have far greater discretion to make contracts in which they are the customer than those in which they are the vendor. The later kind of contracts generally need approval at a far more senior level than the former (in some cases even requiring approval by the legislature).
If I recall right the SR-71 used similar propellants to get the afterburners lit which made fueling... interesting.
Hypergolic indicates when when two propellants (a fuel and an oxidizer) come in contact with each other, they ignite spontaneously.
Pyrophoric indicates that the fuel ignites when it contacts air (no oxidizer needed in a normal Earth atmosphere).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic_propellant#Common
They made a choice, and I really hope there are consequences for their decision.
Seems like a good thing to me, obviously not $STUPID_THING_SOMEONE_DID, but the openness.
I downvoted you; this kind of brash generalization about people because of their regional locality shouldn't be encouraged. It's expressing a silly and un-true meme as if it were the reality for all people living in Florida.
You aren't the only one in this thread to do so, either. I hope in the future that anyone , anywhere in the world, will double think when they say "X is from Y, they must be Z", because it's never true for the herd.