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16 minutes ago, RedKraken said:

This is interesting.

Is this the first time EM has managed expectations for raptor ?

And they are getting engineering iterations on their engines down to around 3 weeks from test to test?

Or, they knew that there were issues with #1and opted to test it anyways to test the powerpack and verify startup/shutdown stability, with #2 having already received the fixes for the known issues with #1.

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1 hour ago, MaverickSawyer said:

they knew that there were issues with #1and opted to test it anyways to test the powerpack and verify startup/shutdown stability, with #2 having already received the fixes for the known issues with #1

Tom Mueller's team is rocking.

I seriously hope we get a book out of that team and the test stand guys. Engineering text on modern LRE development. sans the itard stuff.

Also the structures team, software, gse, payload, Lars landing algorithms are papered, but EDL would be another awesome text.

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50 minutes ago, RedKraken said:

Tom Mueller's team is rocking.

I seriously hope we get a book out of that team and the test stand guys. Engineering text on modern LRE development. sans the itard stuff.

Also the structures team, software, gse, payload, Lars landing algorithms are papered, but EDL would be another awesome text.

Agreed! In the mean-time, it's not a book with great examples and specifics, but he's done a few talks over the years where he tells a bit about it. There's a transcript from one a couple years back about the Merlin.

https://zlsadesign.com/post/tom-mueller-interview-2017-05-02-transcription/

 

Here's an excerpt from the middle, if it's the sort of thing you're looking for.

Quote

" One of the things that we did with the Merlin 1D was; he [Musk] kept complaining— I talked earlier about how expensive the engine was. [inaudible] [I said,] “[the] only way is to get rid of all these valves. Because that’s what’s really driving the complexity and cost.” And how can you do that? And I said, “Well, on smaller engines, we’d go face-shutoff, but nobody’s done it on a really large engine. It’ll be really difficult.” And he said, “We need to do face-shutoff. Explain how that works?” So I drew it up, did some, you know, sketches, and said “here’s what we’d do,” and he said “That’s what we need to do.” And I advised him against it; I said it’s going to be too hard to do, and it’s not going to save that much. But he made the decision that we were going to do face-shutoff.

So we went and developed that engine; and it was hard. We blew up a lot of hardware. And we tried probably tried a hundred different combinations to make it work; but we made it work "

So, to summarize in my own words, to make it cheap, make it simple. Apparently even if it's hard.

 

 

As for the software, I think it's a different crew. Here's one of their talks about the FEA work they do. Really amazing stuff.

  Adam Lichtl and Stephen Jones talk about SpaceX's CFD (FEA simulation for fluid dynamics)

 

Edited by Cunjo Carl
Needed clarity.
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Hey, I actually got to watch most of this launch for once. Well. the booster's  portion of the mission, anyways. But while watching that Mvac burning, I realized where a lot of confusion over the emmissives on the KSP engine revamps was coming from. The Mvac doesn't glow at all above that ring near the throat. I assume it's for cooling the throat area. So depending on what engine is being modeled, having the bell look hotter than the throat makes sense, especially considering how the nozzle gets thinner in the areas farther away from the apparent heat sink.

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1 hour ago, XB-70A said:

And here is the beauty and the fun of a launch:

Pflcnehh.jpg

 

So many people present tonight!

I wish I was that close

 

58 minutes ago, Brotoro said:

Liftoff!

MECO

Grid fins were glowing at deployment...just reflected light from the upper stage, I assume.

fairing deployed.

Stage 1 entry burn.

Oooo...nice light show.

Stage 1 landed!

Stage 2 in coast phase.

 

Indeed, they should have a second camera that records in 4K and stores the data in the computer and then after the landing retrieve the files so it can be rewatched in 4K

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