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3 minutes ago, Delay said:

AMOS doesn't use ion drives, does it!?

Because that's no nozzle I've ever seen.

It's a dark liquid fuel nozzle in the very middle, surrounded by something white. (Probably the mount plate, underneath above behind which are fuel tanks.)

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38 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Isn't that only half of a fairing?

Yeah.  I don't think they're equipped to catch both halves yet.

 

I wish I could watch it, but it just jumped around and says the media cannot be displayed, as if the file's been corrupted.

Edited by Geonovast
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10 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

Yeah.  I don't think they're equipped to catch both halves yet.

 

I wish I could watch it, but it just jumped around and says the media cannot be displayed, as if the file's been corrupted.

Video works for me. And it looked great. I guess catching fairings is a thing now !

 

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I seem to recall in earlier F9 flights, the strongback pulled away from the rocket some time before launch.  This time, however, it didn't let go until liftoff.  Is it A) me mis-remembering, B) something new, or C) something they've been doing for a while that I haven't noticed?

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2 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

 

Yee yee!

That was a nice catch!

2 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

Isn't that only half of a fairing?

I’m a fairing half full kinda guy :P 

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3 hours ago, Delay said:

AMOS doesn't use ion drives, does it!?

Because that's no nozzle I've ever seen.

3 hours ago, Xd the great said:

No, [AMOS] has no propulsion.

It's a very rare satellite that has no propulsion.

AMOS-17 is on a Boeing 702MP bus. The 702MP has both a xenon ion thrust system and also a bipropellant rocket motor.

Edited by mikegarrison
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32 minutes ago, zolotiyeruki said:

I seem to recall in earlier F9 flights, the strongback pulled away from the rocket some time before launch.  This time, however, it didn't let go until liftoff.  Is it A) me mis-remembering, B) something new, or C) something they've been doing for a while that I haven't noticed?

C

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22 minutes ago, zolotiyeruki said:

I seem to recall in earlier F9 flights, the strongback pulled away from the rocket some time before launch.  This time, however, it didn't let go until liftoff.  Is it A) me mis-remembering, B) something new, or C) something they've been doing for a while that I haven't noticed?

Option C, but only for launches out of LC-39A and SLC-40. Vandenberg AFB (SLC-4E) still has the old strongback. They've been doing this for a few years now, if memory serves. According to SpaceX, it's safer this way since the strongback supports the rocket on the pad right up until liftoff. Also, it looks much more awesome, which I'm sure must have factored into it at some point.

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Please, can anyone of locals ask Musk to run a lunar rover just to realize the maximum distance a rover can pass? He will anyway need this.
None of the lunar/martian ones could exceed ~40 km limit. So, can we realistically plan a trip around, say, Olympus Mons or along the Nergal Valley? Or the base will look like a junkyard for cars?

Edited by kerbiloid
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1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Please, can anyone of locals ask Musk to run a lunar rover just to realize the maximum distance a rover can pass? He will anyway need this.
None of the lunar/martian ones could exceed ~40 km limit. So, can we realistically plan a trip around, say, Olympus Mons or along the Nergal Valley? Or the base will look like a junkyard for cars?

No actual range limits on rovers since they are solar powered or RTG in one case. 
This also makes them slow as you don't have much power. Not so much an issue on Mars because the lightspeed lag restrict you to short steps anyway but it would be an issue for an larger moon rover

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