Wjolcz Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 34 minutes ago, Streetwind said: Your assumptions regarding Falcon Heavy are largely correct, with one exception: the center core will be going much faster than a F9 returning from a LEO mission (careful with those KSP terms, btw ). Even if Falcon Heavy goes to LEO, its center core will be going at least as fast, if not faster, than a F9 core going to GTO. Not sure if it was Elon Musk himself who said it, but I believe the words "really hauling ass" were thrown around. I assume they'll combat that with longer boostback and reentry burns, but it'll still be the most aggressive return they'll have flown. Oh, snap. I didn't even notice I used LKO instead of LEO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racescort666 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 5 hours ago, Streetwind said: This was true for the original Merlin 1D. But the engine has been uprated in max thrust so much since then, the throttle point is now closer to 30%-40% That's quite the throttle range. The only other engine I can think of that's got that kind of throttle range is the LMDE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncongruousGoat Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 55 minutes ago, Racescort666 said: That's quite the throttle range. The only other engine I can think of that's got that kind of throttle range is the LMDE. It's also the only other engine I can think of to use a pintle injector, which in both cases is a big part of enabling the deep throttling. Although, as point of reference, the LDME could throttle as deep as 11%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WuphonsReach Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 (edited) LDME is, I assume, referring to the Lunar Descent Module Engine (or DPS): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_Propulsion_System http://heroicrelics.org/info/lm/mech-design-lmde.html Edited January 9, 2017 by WuphonsReach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 9 hours ago, WuphonsReach said: LDME is, I assume, referring to the Lunar Descent Module Engine (or DPS): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_Propulsion_System http://heroicrelics.org/info/lm/mech-design-lmde.html Thanks, interesting notes about the Apollo lander, like how it had an helium burst in decent stage but this was designed unlike in Falcon 9 upper stage. Raises an OT issue about Apollo 13, the helium tank busted on day 6 but they could do the mid course correction with RCS. Could the dump the decent module at this time and do the burn with the accent engine? Yes I assume an inaccuracy in burn as it would be an hot staging but an abort mode for landing module would be to stage while flying above the surface. One option was to go full kerbal and dump the service module, this was not done as it would expose the heat shield to the temperatures of space over long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethon Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Big test stand construction completed in preparation to test SLS Hydrogen fuel tank. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2017/construction-complete-stand-prepares-to-test-sls-s-largest-fuel-tank.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarStreak2109 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Servo Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I assume that this is old hat to you guys, but I wanted to share some images that one of my friends took this summer while we were at the Drop Test Gantry at NASA Langley. They were preparing a splash test of the capsule from the same gantry that the Apollo astronauts trained for the moon landing on. The gantry swings back something like 15 degrees, then releases. Explosive bolts (they were checking them while we were there) fire and drop the capsule (well, a mass-distributed model of one) into the pool at left. The squares are photoanalysis gates, and the net catches it at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchz95 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/spacex-details-its-plans-for-landing-three-falcon-heavy-boosters-at-once/ Interesting... it looks like they plan to bring back all three FH boosers on land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEpicSquared Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 10 minutes ago, Mitchz95 said: http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/spacex-details-its-plans-for-landing-three-falcon-heavy-boosters-at-once/ Interesting... it looks like they plan to bring back all three FH boosers on land. That's going to be difficult, won't the center core be going faster than a falcon 9 first stage on a GTO mission? I think it would be much better to land the center on the drone ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Maybe the core will have enough fuel to slow itself down suficiently before reentry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwind Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Perhaps their demonstration mission will be way below the capabilities of the launcher - for example, a generic Falcon 9 size payload. Like lifting 12 tons to LEO, or a single 4-ton commsat to GTO. Then the entire three-core assembly only needs to push the second stage as hard and as far as a single F9 core would. In such a case, the sheer overprovisioning of fuel would allow the center core to easily reverse its trajectory even from the speed of a GTO launch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 That's my thought. Since it's a demo flight it won't have a real payload, just a dummy mass if anything. I remember some of the early demo videos showing all three cores returning. Maybe they've got some specific data they're looking to get from it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarStreak2109 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Note that the 3-engined F9 Dev2 booster is still stored near the site, at the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 What time is the launch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchz95 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 1 hour ago, Veeltch said: What time is the launch? 12:54 pm EST. 60% chance of favorable conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 5 minutes ago, Mitchz95 said: 12:54 pm EST. 60% chance of favorable conditions. Nooooooooo... 11:54 for me. I've got to be somewhere until 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemetal Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Under 16 hours! Hypeeeee! Trust me. This is one of my most hyped launches ever. Been counting down for ages. Go Falcon! Go Iridium! Fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Any idea if the launch would be visible from Santa Barbara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, insert_name said: Any idea if the launch would be visible from Santa Barbara? Unlikely there is so much kerosene inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 46 minutes ago, kerbiloid said: Unlikely there is so much kerosene inside. What would that have to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 47 minutes ago, insert_name said: What would that have to do with it? I mean the previous one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchz95 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 So... anyone want to take bets they'll get through this year without losing any? Also, are they going to be landing on the launch pad or the drone ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 3 minutes ago, Mitchz95 said: So... anyone want to take bets they'll get through this year without losing any? Also, are they going to be landing on the launch pad or the drone ship? They'll be landing on the drone ship JRTI today. Alright, I'll be watching in person, so I have to leave soon. Hoping for it to be better than Jason-3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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