Xd the great Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Block 4 is trashed, anyway. Aluminium gridfins melt like ice in a furnance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperFastJellyfish Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Does the 4x larger net mean they were just missing the fairing by about that much, or is it just to increase their chances and was an easy upgrade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 30 minutes ago, SuperFastJellyfish said: Does the 4x larger net mean they were just missing the fairing by about that much, or is it just to increase their chances and was an easy upgrade? As I understand it, they were missing by around 50 meters. They are getting better at aiming the fairing, but increasing the net size also increases their margin for error, so it’s a little of both. Herr Steve is, after all, essentially a prototype for several more boats, so they want to get the bugs out now. and that thing could catch some scary-big bugs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Probably nothing significant, but... So... (like the other guy said), December, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xd the great Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 The engines are firing good, its just the heat shield and calibrating the landing. Flip maneourvers are hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 10 hours ago, Xd the great said: Well the fairing is a pain for gliding. Parasails suck. Also, it is not tossed form orbit, so I do not care about the heating. And about the dragon abort test, SpaceX will use a block 4, as they dont plan on reusing it. AFAIK they don't have any block 4s left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 8 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said: So... (like the other guy said), December, then? I think October, at IAC 2018 congress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xd the great Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 59 minutes ago, Wjolcz said: AFAIK they don't have any block 4s left. I thought they saved 1. Whatever, recycling the booster should be simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 6 hours ago, Xd the great said: I thought they saved 1. Whatever, recycling the booster should be simple. Recycling in what sense? Because I don't see recycling a stage after an in-flight abort test. Especially if the Dragon has to perform it during Max Q. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xd the great Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 8 hours ago, Wjolcz said: Recycling in what sense? Because I don't see recycling a stage after an in-flight abort test. Especially if the Dragon has to perform it during Max Q. Recycling it can save the cost of making a new booster. Assuming the booster does not break apart. They can do a boostback turn anyway right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 During the abort rocket will be blasted by four Super-Dracos exhaust plumes. Straight in the unprotected sides and the top. It can't be healthy for a quite fragile construction. And it will be just test. During real in-flight abort Falcon will still be fueled - which raises probability of the explosion quite a bit. There might not be much left after Dragon tears away to protect the crew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 On 7/14/2018 at 3:24 AM, CatastrophicFailure said: As I understand it, they were missing by around 50 meters. They are getting better at aiming the fairing, but increasing the net size also increases their margin for error, so it’s a little of both. Herr Steve is, after all, essentially a prototype for several more boats, so they want to get the bugs out now. and that thing could catch some scary-big bugs... "Hey, Elon. We caught a hornet in the net. Pilot's not looking too happy about it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.50calBMG Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Scotius said: During the abort rocket will be blasted by four Super-Dracos exhaust plumes. Straight in the unprotected sides and the top. It can't be healthy for a quite fragile construction. And it will be just test. During real in-flight abort Falcon will still be fueled - which raises probability of the explosion quite a bit. There might not be much left after Dragon tears away to protect the crew New Shepard survived its max-Q abort intact and made its landing, and that plume was directly in the center of the stage. At least the Superdracos are canted outward away from the upper tank dome. Makes me think it might be worth the attempt if they do plan to use a Block 5. Edited July 15, 2018 by .50calBMG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 5 minutes ago, .50calBMG said: New Shepard survived its max-Q abort intact and made its landing, and that plume was directly in the center of the stage. At least the Superdracos are canted outward away from the upper tank dome. Makes me think it might be worth the attempt if they do plan to use a Block 5. NS was also going a lot slower at Max Q, less than 500mph. F9 will be supersonic, so even with the engines canted away, I think that shockwave right on the tank front is gonna kill it. I imagine they’ll expect the worst but hope for the best with a downrange recovery. Or, come to think of it, they might use the opportunity to test their new automatic FTS system, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xd the great Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 1 hour ago, CatastrophicFailure said: NS was also going a lot slower at Max Q, less than 500mph. F9 will be supersonic, so even with the engines canted away, I think that shockwave right on the tank front is gonna kill it. I imagine they’ll expect the worst but hope for the best with a downrange recovery. Or, come to think of it, they might use the opportunity to test their new automatic FTS system, too... EXPLOSIONS. EXCITEMENT. Lol Anyway, without the payload and the aerodynamic nosecone, the biister can easily flip out of control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 10 hours ago, Scotius said: During the abort rocket will be blasted by four Super-Dracos exhaust plumes. Straight in the unprotected sides and the top. It can't be healthy for a quite fragile construction. And it will be just test. During real in-flight abort Falcon will still be fueled - which raises probability of the explosion quite a bit. There might not be much left after Dragon tears away to protect the crew Assuming Dragon is on top of S1, without a dummy stage 2. With a dummy S2, you get MaxQ, abort, S2 sep, then S1 can do whatever. Maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 17 minutes ago, tater said: Assuming Dragon is on top of S1, without a dummy stage 2. With a dummy S2, you get MaxQ, abort, S2 sep, then S1 can do whatever. Maybe. When a rocket necessitates a crew abort, I'll be very impressed if any part of it besides the cabin can be salvaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 2 hours ago, cubinator said: When a rocket necessitates a crew abort, I'll be very impressed if any part of it besides the cabin can be salvaged. Um, yeah. I agree, abort would be because of an RUD. The question is this particular test at maxq. Wreck a booster with remaining life, or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 12 minutes ago, tater said: Um, yeah. I agree, abort would be because of an RUD. The question is this particular test at maxq. Wreck a booster with remaining life, or not. How many still-usable Falcon 9 boosters are they ever going to discard after this one? I think they can afford to discard this one if necessary for the very important crew milestone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Since an abort sequence will generally try to shut down the engines if they’re still burning, and F9 starts its recovery maneuvering in space, I really doubt this booster will be able to save itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 13 minutes ago, cubinator said: How many still-usable Falcon 9 boosters are they ever going to discard after this one? I think they can afford to discard this one if necessary for the very important crew milestone. Exactly. They got really good at building and landing their boosters. Pre-block 5 F9 was very reliable considering that it flew so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said: Since an abort sequence will generally try to shut down the engines if they’re still burning, and F9 starts its recovery maneuvering in space, I really doubt this booster will be able to save itself. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to recover it anyway, just to see whether it's possible. After all, the abort will be over the ocean, and they can always blow it up if it goes wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Well, maybe they could try touching it down on water. I wouldn't risk damaging the barge if I was them, but then the stage is always aimed at the water in case the hoverslam fails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 (edited) Knowing SpaceX, I bet they’re going to try to recover the booster as well, or at least make a soft splashdown. They’d never pass up the opportunity to try new landing profiles or to get some data that might be useful for future launches. Edited July 15, 2018 by sh1pman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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