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8 hours ago, Scotius said:

We would finally have something praise-worthy to comment on. And probably SLS thread would be 200+ pages long by now :P

Except that the aerospikes developed for X-33 had worse performance compared to the SSMEs. SL ISP, vac ISP, thrust, T/W, you name it. We could probably do better now though.

So how many reflights do they think Block 5 cores can get away with?

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30 minutes ago, Bill Phil said:

So how many reflights do they think Block 5 cores can get away with?

That's the million(s) dollar question, right?

I'm really interested in if they try and turn this booster around really quickly. The next Iridium flight is with the Zuma booster, right? It's May 16 (?) and it flew the first week of Jan. That's 4 months. I'd be really interested how quickly they turn the block 5 around.

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43 minutes ago, Bill Phil said:

So how many reflights do they think Block 5 cores can get away with?

IIRC it's 10 flights with zero refurbishment, and practically unlimited with.

 

10 minutes ago, tater said:

I'm really interested in if they try and turn this booster around really quickly. The next Iridium flight is with the Zuma booster, right? It's May 16 (?) and it flew the first week of Jan. That's 4 months. I'd be really interested how quickly they turn the block 5 around.

This booster, I think not. I'm betting the very first Block 5 will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb before it flies again. The second one we might see turned around quick.

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8 hours ago, tater said:

Only saw this one in the vid. Maybe this one just fell into the water from space, and the other had a chute.

I'm pretty sure I saw some info somewhere that only 1 would have a parafoil. Can Mr. Stevens even catch 2 at the same time?

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17 minutes ago, Wjolcz said:

I'm pretty sure I saw some info somewhere that only 1 would have a parafoil. Can Mr. Stevens even catch 2 at the same time?

I think the general idea was that once they get good at landing the first fairing, they'll buy more boats.

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20 hours ago, tater said:

Large NASA projects are necessarily always going to be multiple contractors following the Apollo example. I'd prefer they work on pure spacecraft exclusively (manned and unmanned).

This makes all the sense.

17 hours ago, DAL59 said:

What if the SLS used aerospikes?

I wonder how small you could build a VTHL SSTO using an expander-cycle tripropellant linear aerospike.

14 hours ago, sh1pman said:

Speaking of fairing recovery...

Looks pretty wrecked. Seawater must be like acid to fairings.

Whoa!

10 hours ago, tater said:

 

That's not just seawater; it hit hard. Wonder if the parafoil lines got fouled.

8 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

Except that the aerospikes developed for X-33 had worse performance compared to the SSMEs. SL ISP, vac ISP, thrust, T/W, you name it. We could probably do better now though.

So how many reflights do they think Block 5 cores can get away with?

Which is why we need something brilliant like a tripropellant aerospike.

7 hours ago, tater said:

I'm really interested in if they try and turn this booster around really quickly. The next Iridium flight is with the Zuma booster, right? It's May 16 (?) and it flew the first week of Jan. That's 4 months. I'd be really interested how quickly they turn the block 5 around.

The Zuma booster's turnaround will be the fastest yet, followed by this one. After that, the next reflight will probably be B5.

56 minutes ago, cubinator said:

I think the general idea was that once they get good at landing the first fairing, they'll buy more boats.

"You're gonna need a bigger nother boat."

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For today’s thankful Thursday the local radio station was reading texts from people on the air. And they actually read my text on the air which said “I am thankful that I can listen to CFOX in the morning at work. I am also thankful to SpaceX for giving us hope that I can see boots on Mars in my lifetime.” The DJ followed that up by saying “I don’t know why people would want to go there. Elon Musk said ‘I can get you there but I  can’t get you back.’ ”

 Of course the first part was just the requisite S-kissing to help get my text on the air. 

Edit: Now that I saw my post on PC, I could notice where the mobile somehow duplicated stuff. Fixed.

Edited by StrandedonEarth
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What is that thing at 3:01? Of that video?

29 minutes ago, tater said:

 

(for anyone job-hunting)

I really want to work at SpaceX, too bad im not a US citizen. Hmmmm, how about i just start my own spaceflight company.

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31 minutes ago, NSEP said:

What is that thing at 3:01? Of that video?

I really want to work at SpaceX, too bad im not a US citizen. Hmmmm, how about i just start my own spaceflight company.

You'll note in the video one of the guys was clearly born in the UK.

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43 minutes ago, NSEP said:

What is that thing at 3:01? Of that video?

It's a view looking up inside the F9 upper stage LOX tank with the composite helium tanks.

Edited by Nibb31
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54 minutes ago, NSEP said:

I really want to work at SpaceX, too bad im not a US citizen. Hmmmm, how about i just start my own spaceflight company.

I've actually considered doing that, doing R&D and construction of Martian habitats (compact in the transfer ship, deployable, easily buildable, radiation resistant, pressure holding, modular, etc), which are something that would be needed once exploration of Mars starts. However, I have four things going against me - I don't know as much about those as I think I know, I don't have any money to start doing work, I have no idea how to manage a business in general, and I'm sixteen so nobody would take me seriously.

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1 minute ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I've actually considered doing that, doing R&D and construction of Martian habitats (compact in the transfer ship, deployable, easily buildable, radiation resistant, pressure holding, modular, etc), which are something that would be needed once exploration of Mars starts. However, I have four things going against me - I don't know as much about those as I think I know, I don't have any money to start doing work, I have no idea how to manage a business in general, and I'm sixteen so nobody would take me seriously.

Fun fact, i had the same idea in mind. I also wanted to build Tin cans for Mars, and i still want to do it, to this day. Although i have the same problems as you.

Hey, maybe you should PM me, we could work together, and maybe it will become a real deal!

 

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37 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I've actually considered doing that, doing R&D and construction of Martian habitats (compact in the transfer ship, deployable, easily buildable, radiation resistant, pressure holding, modular, etc), which are something that would be needed once exploration of Mars starts. However, I have four things going against me - I don't know as much about those as I think I know, I don't have any money to start doing work, I have no idea how to manage a business in general, and I'm sixteen so nobody would take me seriously.

Dude, you know WAY more than I did when I was sixteen.

Take AP classes, try to get dual credit, and try to write whitepapers with professors. Don't give it up.

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Just now, sevenperforce said:

Materials/inorganic chem?

Organic/biochem :)

But I took some material science courses (quite a few, actually). Got a lot of credits for those. But all of my papers are on anticancer drugs, enzymes and DNA modification.

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2 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I've actually considered doing that, doing R&D and construction of Martian habitats (compact in the transfer ship, deployable, easily buildable, radiation resistant, pressure holding, modular, etc), which are something that would be needed once exploration of Mars starts. However, I have four things going against me - I don't know as much about those as I think I know, I don't have any money to start doing work, I have no idea how to manage a business in general, and I'm sixteen so nobody would take me seriously.

I have no evidence to back this up, but I'd say you're in just the right age group for what you're proposing. By the time BFR is (IS!) up and running, the race to being the best provider for living situations on places off of Earth (orbit/Moon/asteroid mining) is going to be on, and you may be far enough along in your studies by then or your career to really jump in and collaborate. Even if you aren't the first to start something by then, you're sure to find some start-up with enough venture capitalist funding behind it to join and contribute your skills towards.

Even if those above-mentioned things don't end up happening, a strong engineering background couldn't hurt looking forward, as it has many applications elsewhere.

But if this current period of lowered launch costs and reusability is "Step One" on the path to more business and potentially people beyond Earth's surface, then your generation is probably the prime group for innovating for "Step Two," living out there.

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