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SpaceX Discussion Thread


Skylon

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4 minutes ago, ThatGuyWithALongUsername said:

I still don't get why the Air Force asked for this, there isn't any extra risk involved on their end... if they still want to be picky about reused cores, then that's fine, but what difference does the landing make if the payload is so lightweight?

Probably didn't want to make ULA feel upstaged. It is the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, after all. :rolleyes:

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4 hours ago, tater said:
That related to the fact there might be a couple day slip from the current January date for operational reasons at SpaceX, since it would be better for them to only have to deal with 1 spacecraft at a time on this first D2 flight.

I sincerely hope there won't be a delay. I'm going to be in Florida within driving distance of the Cape on the 7th, but I'm flying home the next day.

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Alright... the entire DM-1 schedule is a complete mess/mystery at this point.

 

First, last month, NASA set the launch date for January 7th with their invite to media to watch the launch.

Next, NASA said that DM-1 won't be ready until spring or something because of problems with the parachutes and they only set the launch date to that so they could invite media.

Now, SpaceX is saying that DM-1 is still on track for a mid-January launch and has no problems with the parachute.

In retaliation, evidently, NASA now says that the first commercial crew spacecraft will launch when MS-12 is on the ISS, which is after Feb. 25.

 

There are a bunch of other confusing points, such as the idea that DM-1 might occur after CRS-16 leaves the space station in "early January," and the whole confusion on whether the booster without grid fins at LC-39 is B1051, the DM-1 booster (which launches from that launchpad and has been confirmed to be "at the cape") or B1054, the GPS III-A booster (which launches sooner and needs no grid fins).

 

:confused:

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2 hours ago, Scotius said:

No point of sending an experiment up, if specimens would die due to starvation or food poisoning. Not to mention it would be animal cruelty.

Well, the soviets used to send dogs up there with no method of rescue...

I guess liquiding off animal lovers is not a good thing.

But can't the rats tap into the ISS food reserve?

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On 12/3/2018 at 5:37 PM, ThatGuyWithALongUsername said:

Alright... the entire DM-1 schedule is a complete mess/mystery at this point.

 

First, last month, NASA set the launch date for January 7th with their invite to media to watch the launch.

Next, NASA said that DM-1 won't be ready until spring or something because of problems with the parachutes and they only set the launch date to that so they could invite media.

Now, SpaceX is saying that DM-1 is still on track for a mid-January launch and has no problems with the parachute.

In retaliation, evidently, NASA now says that the first commercial crew spacecraft will launch when MS-12 is on the ISS, which is after Feb. 25.

 

There are a bunch of other confusing points, such as the idea that DM-1 might occur after CRS-16 leaves the space station in "early January," and the whole confusion on whether the booster without grid fins at LC-39 is B1051, the DM-1 booster (which launches from that launchpad and has been confirmed to be "at the cape") or B1054, the GPS III-A booster (which launches sooner and needs no grid fins).

 

:confused:

Is the first mission planned to go to the ISS, or will it just be an orbit/recovery test? Will the first mission be manned or unmanned?

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3 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Is the first mission planned to go to the ISS, or will it just be an orbit/recovery test? Will the first mission be manned or unmanned?

DM-1 is an uncrewed flight of Dragon 2 to the ISS. It will bring along some cargo (equal to nominal crew mass, with supplies that would go on a normal mission?) apparently as well. It stays a while at ISS, then comes home.

There was some talk that SpaceX preferred CRS-16 (launching tomorrow) to leave ISS before DM-1, so that they need only track the one spacecraft on this first mission.

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Random thought - I wonder how consistent the scorching will be on multiply-flown Falcon 9s? As in, will it be possible to eyeball the booster and get an estimate of how many times it's flown?

And will the scorching ever become heavy enough to affect propellant loading? There's a reason that rockets don't tend to be painted black right?

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1 minute ago, KSK said:

And will the scorching ever become heavy enough to affect propellant loading? There's a reason that rockets don't tend to be painted black right?

No, the scorching wont be too heavy. Scorch (carbon deposits) are burnt off each time the rockets reenter.

2 minutes ago, KSK said:

Random thought - I wonder how consistent the scorching will be on multiply-flown Falcon 9s? As in, will it be possible to eyeball the booster and get an estimate of how many times it's flown?

Well, many scorching/totally black booster= flown multiple times.

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32 minutes ago, Xd the great said:

No, the scorching wont be too heavy. Scorch (carbon deposits) are burnt off each time the rockets reenter.

I think the concern here is that the darker tanks will absorb more heat, messing up the fuel.

I don't think it will be a problem, the losses are probably there but minimal. I mean... it's not paint, but we have an all-black launcher now, and it seems fine... although it does gain a cover of pure white frost when fuel is loaded.

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