Talk:SpaceX fairing recovery program

Mr. Steven is not really a "spaceflight technology"
The article as of 31 Jan 2019 is categorized as

I'd argue that this marine vessel is not a spaceflight technology, and that is a miscategorization. However, if someone were to describe the technology of mixed automated and manual control system technology for guiding a descending mass onto a moving marine vessel as a concept or as a technology to facilitate more economic spaceflight, then that would be properly categorized as one of the "Spaceflight technologies" on Wikipedia. This is already being done today by SpaceX with Mr. Steven experiments; and is planned by Blue Origin with New Glenn booster landings on the (currently under construction in a shipyard) Blue Origin landing platform ship after 2020. N2e (talk) 14:31, 1 February 2019 (UTC)

Current status of Mr. Steven
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-fairing-recovery-vessel-mr-steven-legal-owner-bankrupt/ is from November 2018. I don't have he time to chase down if Seatran is still operating and if SpaceX / Guice Offshore (GO) is still using Mr. Steven. --Marc Kupper&#124;talk 23:15, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Vessel has been sold, and renamed, to Ms. Tree
Vessel has been sold to Guice Offshore, operator of many of the various vessels that SpaceX contracts for or straight-out leases. Guice has renamed it to "Go Ms. Tree". We'll have better sources, and something we can use in the article, in the next few days. Cheers. N2e (talk) 04:48, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Agreed. Perhaps maybe we could move the article to "GO Ms. Tree" once more reliable sources confirm this (like you said). But maybe "Mr. Steven" could still stay as the WP:COMMONNAME, in that case we might have to create a redirect from "Go Ms Tree" to 'Mr. Steven" (like BFR (rocket) vs. Starship-Superheavy, yes Starship-Superheavy is its official name, but everybody calls it BFR so we have BFR as the name of the article). But again, probably still too early to do anything yet. I'm thinking that most likely Elon Musk or the SpaceX Webcast would officially confirm this. OkayKenG (talk) 22:22, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
 * spacexfleet web site has the same information on it, confirming the name change. https://www.spacexfleet.com/go-ms-tree — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.230.118.139 (talk) 19:24, 22 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the link! 173.52.238.41 (talk) 20:27, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I am, can't sign in right now. I noted the new name of Mr. Steven. 173.52.238.41 (talk) 20:27, 25 June 2019 (UTC) resigned, OkayKenG (talk) 04:47, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

✅, article is cleaned up now; new vessel name represented; older history fully retained; and the article has been moved to the ship's new name. Cheers. N2e (talk) 03:27, 3 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your work! OkayKenji (talk page) 03:29, 3 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Not much doubt that the new name is GO Ms. Tree, as per Spacex, Tesla, the ship's own AIS data and appearance. Just awaiting updating of US Coast Guard database to confirm official name.Davidships (talk) 21:23, 3 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Sorry, forget to recheck this. USCG do now confirm official name as GO MS. TREE (similarly with GO MS. CHIEF). Davidships (talk) 03:32, 24 November 2019 (UTC)

A sister ship? (a second fairing catcher)
Keep your eye on this. When confirmed and sourced with reliable secondary sources, Ms. Tree may get a sister fairing catcher in Ms. Chief. [https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1159960168320372737 INTRODUCING....! GO Ms. Chief !! Mr. Tree's sister ship has been renamed from Capt. Elliot to GO Ms. Chief and is en-route to Port Canaveral to join the SpaceX Fleet! She will arrive at midnight tonight. So... @elonmusk ... is this your plan for catching both fairing halves?] Cheers. N2e (talk) 07:31, 10 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Next launch later this month may be a Starlink launch, with two fairings, perhaps SpaceX may use the two ships, thus there is a chance that SpaceX will officially confirm this? https://www.space.com/spacex-second-boat-catch-payload-fairings.html and https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-ms-tree-catch-second-fairing-recovery-ship/ . Also thinking about "Go Searcher" and "Go Navigator", perhaps we could create one article that has Go Ms. Tree/Go Ms. Chief/Go Searcher/Go Navigator? We already have a good amount of articles about SpaceX, so an article dedicated to each may not be needed, but perhaps a list like article may be appropriate about all of SpaceX's main ocean going vessels, important to Dragon 2 recovery and faring recovery. I was thinking we can even join them into Autonomous spaceport drone ship, but the term ASDS is not specific to SpaceX... OkayKenji (talk page) 04:10, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Since spacexofficially confirmed "Ms. Chief" will be recovering fairings, how would we incorporate that ship into this article? OkayKenji (talk page) 17:54, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Ms. Chief is mentioned, but I understand the article should be more clear. Since the ships are very similar, I think this single article is enough. Perhaps the page should be renamed to Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief or something else to make it clear both ships are covered here. --Frmorrison (talk) 20:02, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Perhaps we could ask a editor over at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ships? OkayKenji (talk page) 20:15, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Seems like a good idea OkayKenji. While I think we can form a consensus on this Talk page if we'd like, on how best to handle two apparently quite similarly-tasked ships with somewhat symmetric roles to play in a fairing recovery mission, it is likely the case that the Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ships editors might have some pretty good ideas on effective ways to handle it that they've used in similar situations in the past.  It is quite clear that both ships will be rather notable in the sense that we can expect a lot of media coverage on every mission:  when coming in to port, when leaving port, when the ships are reconfigured, etc.  N2e (talk) 23:18, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Done! OkayKenji (talk page) 03:06, 21 November 2019 (UTC)

Here is a dual picture
Here is a link to a video showing both boats ready to recovery but they missed). Not sure if this picture should be used over the one already there. https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1206725882162794496 --Frmorrison (talk) 20:01, 18 December 2019 (UTC)

Shelia Bordelon — and the retirement of Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief as fairing "catchers"
SpaceX’s new fairing recovery vessel is named Shelia Bordelon. Mattise135 (talk) 18:02, 7 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, SpaceX is returning the fast ships Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief to their owner in New Orleans, having removed all special refit done to the ships for SpaceX use on the experimental program. I have updated the article, with sources.
 * Shelia Bordelon is being used just to hoist parachute-landed fairings up and out of the ocean. Cheers.   N2e (talk) 03:23, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
 * And Sheila Bordelon has now retired as well. https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1395033373874266120

Article should be renamed
This article is currently named after a single ship, Ms Tree; yet is clearly about both SpaceX fairing catcher ships Ms. Tree + Ms. Chief (Ms. Chief redirects to this article); and the article scope is really about the iterative and experimental fairing catching program from 2018 to 2021, of which the two ships were a part.

Now, both ships are no longer in this fairing catching service for SpaceX, on lease to SpaceX, and have been returned to their owner in New Orleans.

I believe the article should be renamed to better represent the actual article scope, a notable experiment in the history of spaceflight technology development. Not sure what short title best captures that scope. Here are a few ideas to start our thinking:
 * Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief
 * Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief, SpaceX fairing catcher ships
 * SpaceX fairing catcher ships
 * SpaceX experimental program to catch rocket payload fairings in a large net on a fast ship (obviously too long, but descriptive of what the article is today)
 * SpaceX payload fairing net recovery program
 * SpaceX payload fairing recovery program (which would describe the broader program, including the parts that are continuing beyond the fairing catcher ships: the high-altitude high-velocity atmospheric entry and decelleration, controlled descent, parachute terminal descent, water landing OR net catch, recovery, refurbishment, and reuse. The article would need to be expanded to describe the fuller program, and the two net ships would be only a part of it.)

What ideas do others have? N2e (talk) 11:21, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree the article should be renamed, especially since this program has taken a new direction. A name such as SpaceX fairing recovery program seems, since the plan is to continue to recover them just to do wet recoveries with a crane. The new boat's name is Shelia Bordelon. --Frmorrison (talk) 22:15, 16 April 2021 (UTC)


 * So it's been kind of quiet. I'll just accept the idea proposed by Frmorrison —SpaceX fairing recovery program—and call it better.  Other's can continue the discussion if they wish, but it's been well over a week, so I'll just move the article to the two-of-two consensus.  Cheers.  N2e (talk) 01:22, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
 * The title has changed, but it remains italic although it is no longer a ship's name. Also the infobox for a single ship now seems out of place.73.70.44.70 (talk) 23:21, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

✅ Article renamed SpaceX fairing recovery program; plus substantial article cleanup completed. N2e (talk) 04:47, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

Shorten lead section, move some content to main body
The lead currently contains about a third of the whole article. This seems unbalanced, especially since it contains some highly specific details, which could be moved to the main body or omitted completely (such as the part explaining ship names and their registration to Falcon Landing LLC). Some of that content should be moved to the main sections of the article. 5.31.13.222 (talk) 08:06, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

Agree, there are some interesting milestones, and the adapted vessels themselves are notable and worth finding an image for. Suggest the vessels themselves be listed in a new section or table with their history and specification.Davoloid (talk) 10:41, 3 May 2023 (UTC)