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SpaceX Discussion Thread


Skylon

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3 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

So how much do they charge for a fligh-proven Dragon and a first stage? Same as if it was a new F9? They are probably making more money if that's the case.

Less, but still more than the actual cost of the flight, so they still make a significant profit on every launch while being the cheapest provider on the market.

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5 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

I wonder what happens with LOP-G once people start flying on BFR. IIRC it will have a similar living volume to ISS and LOP-G will be smaller. So if BFR is operational they could use it instead.

They can probably turn the entire BFS into a web workshop, wouldn't that be cool? Does the BFB also function as SSTO? If so, we can probably make a big space hotel out of it.

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5 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

So how much do they charge for a fligh-proven Dragon and a first stage? Same as if it was a new F9? They are probably making more money if that's the case.

Dragon missions are covered under the CRS contract for a number of flights / amount of cargo. So I don't think NASA got a discount on used boosters or capsules. SpaceX gets more profit to plow back into R&D and BFS

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11 minutes ago, Elthy said:

The landing looks realy smooth, but maybe thats just the camera orientation...

I was just thinking that looked pretty rough on the back. :/ Probably preferable to dying horribly, tho. Probably.

That chute opening seems pretty complex, too, I wonder how they control the different “stages” of the mains opening? 

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11 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

I was just thinking that looked pretty rough on the back. :/ Probably preferable to dying horribly, tho. Probably.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. Dragon is supposed to be water landing in normal operation?

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3 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

KSP NEEDS THIS!:o

KSP already has this. When the chutes are first deployed they are reefed in, and then when you hit your target altitude they fully deploy.

20 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

With propulsive landing, hopefully! 

That seems unlikely. I doubt if it is being designed for both propulsive and parachute landing depending on whether it has cargo or crew on board.

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1 minute ago, cubinator said:

Why can't they just land the capsule in the desert every time? Seems like it works well enough, and makes it way easier to reuse the capsule. 

Also, what's the heat shield made of? Is it ablative?

 

PICA-X I believe. And the descent looks gentle, but I'd guess it's not as gentle as it looks, those things are deceptively huge. The parachutes were mounted off-center which would cushion a water landing, but a land landing like that would damage at least that corner significantly.

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Just now, Ultimate Steve said:

 

PICA-X I believe. And the descent looks gentle, but I'd guess it's not as gentle as it looks, those things are deceptively huge. The parachutes were mounted off-center which would cushion a water landing, but a land landing like that would damage at least that corner significantly.

Just land it on a big pillow right, parachutes are not precise like rockets...

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44 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

KSP already has this. When the chutes are first deployed they are reefed in, and then when you hit your target altitude they fully deploy.

Yeah but SpaceX has better graphics. <_<

15 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Why can't they just land the capsule in the desert every time? Seems like it works well enough, and makes it way easier to reuse the capsule. 

Also, what's the heat shield made of? Is it ablative?

Like the others said, not as gentle as it looks. There’s a reason Soyuz uses retrorockets and Vostok bailed out... ;)

Apollo could make a land landing in an emergency, too, but much like the D2 here, risk of injury to the crew was extremely high. But better than dying horribly. Probably. 

14 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Just land it on a big pillow 

That’s exactly what Boeing is doing. :P

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10 hours ago, cubinator said:

Just land it on a big pillow right...

It worked for Project Mercury so why not. :) 

13 hours ago, tater said:

 

Another view:

 

Oh yeaaahhhh.

"Copy that, Dragon. We see you on the mains. Welcome home."

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35 minutes ago, Cassel said:

what about landing with engines?

The fuel and exhaust products are too toxic.

Edit: from Wikipedia:

"On 24 July 1975, NTO poisoning affected three U.S. astronauts on the final descent to Earth after the Apollo-Soyuz Test Projectflight. This was due to a switch accidentally left in the wrong position, which allowed the attitude control thrusters to fire after the cabin fresh air intake was opened, allowing NTO fumes to enter the cabin. One crew member lost consciousness during descent. Upon landing, the crew was hospitalized for five days for chemical-induced pneumonia and edema."

 

NTO is what Dragon 2 will be using. I'd imagine it will be for in-space manouvering and LES only.

Edited by Wjolcz
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