totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[RCgothic]

I heard someone else say they're trying to avoid interrupting construction at 39A if possible.

[Beccab]

3 hours ago, RCgothic said:

I heard someone else say they're trying to avoid interrupting construction at 39A if possible.

A faster pad turnaround is also needed for next year's 100 falcon launches goal, given that 39A is going to be interrupted more and more by Starship, FH and crew launches in the near future

[tater]

This is around a half hour after Delta IV H in CA. Fun evening.

[tater]

live

[tater]

143rd landing.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by tater

[tater]

By the end of the year SpaceX will have landed more rockets than ULA has flown.

[sevenperforce]

Was not expecting to see this tonight but the trajectory of the Starlink launch brought it right over the horizon at sunset.

Really cool to see with my kids.

 

[tater]

10 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Was not expecting to see this tonight but the trajectory of the Starlink launch brought it right over the horizon at sunset.

Really cool to see with my kids.

Awesome!

 

 

[sevenperforce]

Looks like this launch was prime viewing for the entire eastern seaboard.

I have a friend in NC who saw the first-stage re-entry burn as well as the upper stage pass. 

[Beccab]

Endeavour being prepared for Crew-5, I highly doubt it will launch before Ian has passed however

[tater]

20 minutes ago, Beccab said:

Endeavour being prepared for Crew-5, I highly doubt it will launch before Ian has passed however

Crew-5 is Oct 3.

Ian will be gone by then (a rain storm in VA, maybe).

 

[Pthigrivi]

I spent a bit of time last night explaining to my parents what the chopsticks are and what starship is planning to do and I think their brains exploded. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Pthigrivi

[sevenperforce]

On 9/24/2022 at 8:31 PM, tater said:

 

 

Felt like it came down much farther from the bulls-eye than I'm used to seeing.

[mikegarrison]

15 hours ago, Pthigrivi said:

I spent a bit of time last night explaining to my parents what the chopsticks are and what starship is planning to do and I think their brains exploded. 

That's understandable. I kind of expect a fair number of explosions, actually, although I guess we'll see what happens.

[tater]

 

[Terwin]

Makes you wonder if those plates are being added because something got scorched or if it is preventative.

But 'best part is no part' would suggest reactionary instead of preventative, unless this somehow allows something to not be on the rocket.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

1 hour ago, Terwin said:

But 'best part is no part' would suggest reactionary instead of preventative, unless this somehow allows something to not be on the rocket

I'd have to agree with you - but I think it is 'reactionary' towards protecting the table itself from the RUD threat rather than the latter.  IIRC they pulled B7 back in to install shields for Raptor protection as well. 

Reusable is the key word. BPINP works until *when* you learn you need something put back on! 

 

Edit: fixed! 

Edited September 27, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[sevenperforce]

43 minutes ago, Terwin said:

Makes you wonder if those plates are being added because something got scorched or if it is preventative.

But 'best part is no part' would suggest reactionary instead of preventative, unless this somehow allows something to not be on the rocket.

My best guess is that the 7-engine static fire toasted a few sensors a little more than expected and so they realized they needed to add extra shielding.

What was it Elon said about BPINP? "If you don't find yourself needing to add parts back into the design, you're not removing enough." Or something like that.

[Terwin]

17 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

My best guess is that the 7-engine static fire toasted a few sensors a little more than expected and so they realized they needed to add extra shielding.

That sounds very plausible, especially since I saw something on youtube about a 'blast proof' camera that was thrown quite a ways during the test.

17 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

What was it Elon said about BPINP? "If you don't find yourself needing to add parts back into the design, you're not removing enough." Or something like that.

I think the goal is 10% of the parts removed need to be put back on, or you are not trying hard enough to remove parts.

[tater]

 

 

[Beccab]

The starship QD claw is making a return soonish

[tater]

Zach is a great follow, he's sharp as hell on the GSE end of things.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Just going to reiterate:  I find it incredible that the grid fins don't matter on the way up... But they do on the way down. 

Very Kerbal 

[Meecrob]

24 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Just going to reiterate:  I find it incredible that the grid fins don't matter on the way up... But they do on the way down. 

Very Kerbal 

Well, to be fair, they don't "matter" on the way down either unless you give them angle of attack.

[sevenperforce]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Just going to reiterate:  I find it incredible that the grid fins don't matter on the way up... But they do on the way down. 

Very Kerbal 

The grid fins are much closer to the center of mass on the way up so their moment effect on the ascent is negligible.

There's a little drag of course but probably less than if they were folded. Drag on a big vehicle like this is pretty low regardless. You're already out of most of the atmosphere by the time you hit supersonic speeds, at least on ascent. Descent is another issue altogether.