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RocketLab Discussion Thread


Kryten

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If there's a Rocket Lab thread, already I could not find it. 

 

Question is - who thought up trying to catch a stage with a helicopter?  Having flown in a lot of helos I know the pilots are gutsy - but this is crazy 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rocket-lab-booster-recovery-reusability/

That just seems like a recipe for having to pickle the load after it starts swinging uncontrollably. 

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7 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Question is - who thought up trying to catch a stage with a helicopter?  Having flown in a lot of helos I know the pilots are gutsy - but this is crazy 

I don't think the concept as a whole is new, but it's never been executed with a rocket booster. I think ULA wants to catch the Vulcan engines out of the air? 
It's been done with film canisters dropped from space, at least.

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4 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

@JoeSchmuckatelli This is the main Rocket Lab thread:

Also, they tested catching a stage mass sim and it looked pretty good:

 

That was studly as hell.  Gonna have to pass this on to my pilot friend and see if he'd do it.

 

EDIT - Okay, he say's "HELL NO" (and the dude was a jarhead 46 pilot - and they'll fly through or carry anything)

4 hours ago, cubinator said:

I don't think the concept as a whole is new, but it's never been executed with a rocket booster. I think ULA wants to catch the Vulcan engines out of the air? 
It's been done with film canisters dropped from space, at least.

there is (to my mind) a whole heck of a lot of difference between the weight of a film canister and a rocket stage.

 

However - having seen the video, some things made sense; not using a round chute, but rather a rectangular one made a hell of a lot of difference - those can have a predictable flight path.

Edited by JoeSchmuckatelli
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15 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Question is - who thought up trying to catch a stage with a helicopter?  Having flown in a lot of helos I know the pilots are gutsy - but this is crazy 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rocket-lab-booster-recovery-reusability/

That just seems like a recipe for having to pickle the load after it starts swinging uncontrollably. 

Mad lads: https://thespacereview.com/article/3741/1

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15 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

If there's a Rocket Lab thread, already I could not find it. 

 

Question is - who thought up trying to catch a stage with a helicopter?  Having flown in a lot of helos I know the pilots are gutsy - but this is crazy 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rocket-lab-booster-recovery-reusability/

That just seems like a recipe for having to pickle the load after it starts swinging uncontrollably. 

They did an test of this with an mass simulator. Dropped from one helicopter, parachute deploy and catch it with another. 

Now catching the booster will be harder but the idea is pretty solid. 

They can carry pretty heavy or bulky loads under helicopters, stuff like trucks and artillery. Putting it on the boat might be an challenge, an net might help here. 

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59 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

They did an test of this with an mass simulator. Dropped from one helicopter, parachute deploy and catch it with another. 

Now catching the booster will be harder but the idea is pretty solid. 

They can carry pretty heavy or bulky loads under helicopters, stuff like trucks and artillery. Putting it on the boat might be an challenge, an net might help here. 

One of my many tasks I performed in my early days in the Corps was hooking up loads to CH - 46 and CH - 53 helicopters.  I've helped them schlep a lot of heavy gear across the sky, artillery included. 

 

I've also seen what happens when things go wrong - which was the impetus for my post. 

The idea of trying to capture a dynamic load with both the load and the bird on the move is... Creative. 

 

That they found pilots willing to do it... Stunning. 

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1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

One of my many tasks I performed in my early days in the Corps was hooking up loads to CH - 46 and CH - 53 helicopters.  I've helped them schlep a lot of heavy gear across the sky, artillery included. 

 

I've also seen what happens when things go wrong - which was the impetus for my post. 

The idea of trying to capture a dynamic load with both the load and the bird on the move is... Creative. 

 

That they found pilots willing to do it... Stunning. 

It is creative, now back in the 50 and 60's the US had an system for picking up an man from the ground with an plane who is weirder. 
I guess they do something similar here you grab and then you spool out cable to not get an large jolt. You can always winch in afterward. 

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57 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

It is creative, now back in the 50 and 60's the US had an system for picking up an man from the ground with an plane who is weirder. 
I guess they do something similar here you grab and then you spool out cable to not get an large jolt. You can always winch in afterward. 

 

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5 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Had you not posted that - I was thinking about SPIE rigging.   

 

What's the slowest a plane can fly?  Even a 40kt jerk from a rope does not sound fun.

No but it was used multiple times. And as they catch the rope with the hook at the front its no line to spool out who I assumed they used. 
Now controlling an hook hanging in the wind below the helicopter might be the hardest part. 

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7 hours ago, magnemoe said:

Now controlling an hook hanging in the wind below the helicopter might be the hardest part. 

Another one is how do they exactly latch the hook to the rope. I imagine aerodynamics plays no small part in keeping things attached.

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, YNM said:

I'll be having an exam...

At least you will likely be awake...

Spoiler

Once, years ago I was in a lower level mechanics class (the one that year 1-2 physics people took, but was mostly engineering people). Prof was out of town, and he had Cal, his demo guy act as a proctor (lecture hall with like 150 people in it). I sat as usual front row, and took exam. When they were handed back, the prof told me to see him after class, didn't hand me mine.

I went and saw him, and he asked how things were, was I having a tough time, etc. I think I might have had some issue with a girl or something, and was a little tired, etc. He said that he had been concerned about someone in the class possibly cheating, and had a camera set up watching the exam... and I had put my head down on my desk, and slept through most all of the exam, then sort of blew through it in the last few minutes, and didn't apparently do so well as I didn't finish. So he told me to go to the blackboard and started asking me questions (problems), which I did on the board—nothing from the test, though similar material. He said, "Get more rest." and I ended up with an A on that (verbal for me) exam.

 

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3 hours ago, tater said:
5 hours ago, YNM said:

I'll be having an exam...

At least you will likely be awake...

Well, my exam is over now, thought it was going to be when I'm doing it XD (by the livestream it looked as such, but based on the T-0 given in the tweet it's well after).

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