Jump to content

SpaceX Discussion Thread


Skylon

Recommended Posts

21 minutes ago, Beccab said:

It's weird to think that the R7 that launched Sputnik was considerably more powerful than the rocket which put Glenn into orbit

On the other hand, you could also say that the Atlas rocket that launched Glenn was more efficient than the R7 that launched Sputnik. One of the efficiencies lies in the incredibly low dry mass of the balloon-tank Atlas core stage (a mere 2.35 tonnes) compared to the much beefier R-7 core (6.47 tonnes). Sputnik had a mass of 83.6 kg, while the Mercury capsule (including  John) had a mass of 1,352 kg, so the total mass placed in orbit by the Atlas (at burnout) was 44% lower than the total mass placed in orbit by R7.

It's not a direct comparison, anyway. Sputnik's core stage reached a 215x939 km orbit, which is substantially higher than the 150x248 km orbit reached by Glenn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

I had an absolutely awful dream that they initiated the startup sequence and 20 of the engines blew up in sequence within a split second, like balloons popping. 

I even remember thinking "is this a dream" so I came to this thread and nope, it wasn't a dream -- all of y'all were on here lamenting it. @tater and @Beccab were generally dour, @CatastrophicFailure expressed hope that the GSE weren't too badly fragged, and @kerbiloid was, well, @kerbiloid.

Could be worse. I dreamt I was being chased through an apocalyptic wasteland by a giant banana reminding me I was late to work. :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, tater said:

Since seeing Atlantis this has been on my mind...

x8RqNGK.jpg

 

(forgot to add a scale bar so it was clear they are to scale—I aligned the bottom of S24 with the bottom of the Orbiter, not the bottom of the SRBs)

Wouldn’t be able to see a “banana for scale” at that scale anyways. A blue whale, on the other hand…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mikegarrison said:

This is interfering with my vital factory expansion progress in Factorio. I may have to just wait and watch a replay.

I don’t know what setup you have, but for stuff like this I game on my laptop and put YouTube on the smart tv. 

OTOH, you could just leave the audio running in the background so you know when to pause the game and switch over to the feed. 

On the gripping hand, dual monitors are your friend, if your setup can handle it…

Meanwhile, I’m stuck at work, so all I can do is check for updates on my breaks (like now). Gotta keep production up, ya know…

Edited by StrandedonEarth
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Any word on the current countdown time? I'm not listening to the patter audio.

Fueling has begun!


Usually, fueling takes 40-45 minutes after the frost line appears + any hold time; this can change depending on the amount of fuel they want to load of course, but I'd say that it's likely a NET of 1 hour from now from the spin prime. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Tanks are loading. Methane tank is frostier than I was expecting.

On Starship, the LOX tank is under the CH4 tank, but last I recalled the LOX tank is on top with Superheavy. Is that still the case? If so, I agree -- more CH4 than I was expecting. LOX is much heavier and so I was expecting more LOX and less CH4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

On Starship, the LOX tank is under the CH4 tank, but last I recalled the LOX tank is on top with Superheavy. Is that still the case? If so, I agree -- more CH4 than I was expecting. LOX is much heavier and so I was expecting more LOX and less CH4.

Superheavy has the same arrangement as Starship (CH4 on top).

The first booster they built, BN1, had the opposite, but that was little more than a steel tube that never even left the high bay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...