totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[Spaceception]

2 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Taken from Elon's personal notes... 

T-00:00: Don't explode.

T+00:01: Don't explode.

T+00:02: Don't explode.

and so on, and so forth for about 10 minutes. 

 

On a related note, I see SES-11 delayed till October.  Any details on why?

Irma maybe? IDK, haven't taken a look at it, but it seems like a logical reason.

[cubinator]

3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Taken from Elon's personal notes... 

T-00:00: Don't explode.

T+00:01: Don't explode.

T+00:02: Don't explode.

and so on, and so forth for about 10 minutes. 

 

 

Yeah, I figured there was nothing. Every launch is a little different, so it's hard to write music to it in advance.

[CatastrophicFailure]

1 minute ago, cubinator said:

Yeah, I figured there was nothing. Every launch is a little different, so it's hard to write music to it in advance.

We'll all be happy as long as it's not the 1812 Overture. 

[cubinator]

20 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

We'll all be happy as long as it's not the 1812 Overture. 

I'm thinking an original piece, composed specifically for the FH launch.

[Ultimate Steve]

16 minutes ago, cubinator said:

I'm thinking an original piece, composed specifically for the FH launch.

Hmm, good idea. I may just try to do that as well, provided the flight timeline is released early enough.

[Bill Phil]

47 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

We'll all be happy as long as it's not the 1812 Overture. 

Why not 2112 Overture? 

 

And the meek shall inherit the Earth...

[tater]

Now that's stuck in my head.

[CatastrophicFailure]

3 minutes ago, tater said:

Now that's stuck in my head.

There's a thread for that... 

[Nefrums]

11 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

On a related note, I see SES-11 delayed till October.  Any details on why?

So they have time to repair the pad and build a new VAB after the old one blew away?

Edit:  Seriously thou, Irma has the potential to cause serous damage to KSC.  Lets hope it does not as that could be very bad for spaceX 

Edited September 6, 2017 by Nefrums

[KSK]

12 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Taken from Elon's personal notes... 

T-00:00: Don't explode.

T+00:01: Don't explode.

T+00:02: Don't explode.

T+01:30 (ish): Please stage.
T+01:31 (ish): Please stage.

After main engine start, staging the strap-on boosters is going to be the major pucker factor I'm thinking.

[cubinator]

24 minutes ago, KSK said:

T+01:30 (ish): Please stage.
T+01:31 (ish): Please stage.

After main engine start, staging the strap-on boosters is going to be the major pucker factor I'm thinking.

What sort of mechanism holds the strap-ons in place and stages them? I know SpaceX is proud of their non-explosive staging on F9, so I wonder what they will do on FH. Are there other rockets that use non-explosive staging for strap-on boosters?

[tater]

I wonder why new facilities like the SpaceX hanger or BO are not bermed.

[Racescort666]

4 hours ago, Nefrums said:

So they have time to repair the pad and build a new VAB after the old one blew away?

Edit:  Seriously thou, Irma has the potential to cause serous damage to KSC.  Lets hope it does not as that could be very bad for spaceX 

I've been keeping an eye on this and I'm calling it now: FH is delayed until 2018. Even if OTV-5 launches on time, they're going to be behind on 39A upgrades and FH won't be launching in November.

Sorry for the pessimism, I'm super excited about this launch but lets be realistic.

[Nefrums]

Quote

If the hurricane does track into Florida, SpaceX and NASA could have bigger problems on its hands. Cape Canaveral is basically built on a large sandbar and the high winds and tidal surges a mega-storm produces could damage the facility.

Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, all new buildings at the location have been built to withstand wind speeds of up to 130mph. However, Irma is, right now, producing winds in excess of 180mph and may pick up more strength before it hits the coast.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/05/hurricane_irma_imperils_spacex_launching_its_first_space_shuttle/

[wumpus]

10 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

Why not 2112 Overture? 

And the meek shall inherit the Earth...

Because Countdown was already recorded?

[Nightfury]

15 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Taken from Elon's personal notes... 

T-00:00: Don't explode.

T+00:01: Don't explode.

T+00:02: Don't explode.

and so on, and so forth for about 10 minutes.

If I remember correctly he once said, that he know the rocket will explode, because of the difficult construction and aerodynamics(engine exhaust, ...)

The only hope is not on the launchpad to prevent damage

[Silavite]

1 hour ago, Nefrums said:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/05/hurricane_irma_imperils_spacex_launching_its_first_space_shuttle/

Irma, as of now, is forecast to slowly weaken before it reaches Florida.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/061448.shtml? 

Quote

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INIT  06/1500Z 18.2N  64.0W  160 KT 185 MPH
 12H  07/0000Z 19.0N  66.2W  155 KT 180 MPH
 24H  07/1200Z 20.2N  69.0W  150 KT 175 MPH
 36H  08/0000Z 21.2N  71.7W  145 KT 165 MPH
 48H  08/1200Z 21.9N  74.2W  140 KT 160 MPH
 72H  09/1200Z 22.9N  78.1W  135 KT 155 MPH
 96H  10/1200Z 25.2N  80.0W  125 KT 145 MPH
120H  11/1200Z 29.0N  80.5W  110 KT 125 MPH

Also, Irma is forecast to stay well south of Cape Canaveral. Though, as with any forecast, it is subject to change.

[KSK]

4 hours ago, cubinator said:

What sort of mechanism holds the strap-ons in place and stages them? I know SpaceX is proud of their non-explosive staging on F9, so I wonder what they will do on FH. Are there other rockets that use non-explosive staging for strap-on boosters?

Good grief but trying to edit forum posts on a mobile device is like trying to do brain surgery wearing mittens. Awkward, messy and something is almost guaranteed to go wrong.

Going back to the actual questions - I have no idea. I presume that whatever they use is fairly hefty though if they're planning to have both strap-ons do boostback burns.

"And stage and spin and... #NoCarrier."

Edited September 6, 2017 by KSK

[CatastrophicFailure]

51 minutes ago, KSK said:

Good grief but trying to edit forum posts on a mobile device is like trying to do brain surgery wearing mittens

Well this is a Kerbal forum, after all... they wear mittens constantly. 

I seem to recall hearing something a while back that the boosters don't just get knocked away, they'll keep a center engine running for a time, specifically to make a fully controlled separation maneuver. So all the staging mechanism really needs to do is unhook the boosters, they themselves will see to departing the area in a spectacular but not too spectacular manner. 

[KSK]

10 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Well this is a Kerbal forum, after all... they wear mittens constantly. 

I seem to recall hearing something a while back that the boosters don't just get knocked away, they'll keep a center engine running for a time, specifically to make a fully controlled separation maneuver. So all the staging mechanism really needs to do is unhook the boosters, they themselves will see to departing the area in a spectacular but not too spectacular manner. 

Oh man - if they manage to follow that with a camera...

[Silavite]

I derped, the NOAA's Hurricane Center official forecast has Irma moving along Florida's East Coast, not far to the South.

Spoiler

Some other models seem to agree with this track (GFS Model and ECMWF Model). Hopefully it stays off the coast. We won't have a solid of idea where it will hit (if at all) yet... right now it's a wait-and-see.

[tater]

If it follows the center of that guidance, the eye wall likely comes close, or hits KSC. That said, if it does follow that path, at least it's the W side of the storm---it will probably slow down after landfall, too, if only a little.

Right now, what happens to FL hangs on when the storm turns north, by even a handful of miles.

[CSE]

2 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

I seem to recall hearing something a while back that the boosters don't just get knocked away, they'll keep a center engine running for a time, specifically to make a fully controlled separation maneuver. So all the staging mechanism really needs to do is unhook the boosters, they themselves will see to departing the area in a spectacular but not too spectacular manner.

I'd guess that the throttle setting will be chosen so that the booster's acceleration matches the core acceleration at that point so that there's litte shear force at right angles to the decoupling direction, which should help it separate cleanly - especially if not using explosive decoupling. (I don't know how the F9H booster decouplers will actually work.) It makes sense: once you've got deep throttle capability and a fuel reserve for landing then using them at separation is free of development costs, or as nearly free as any space thing can be.

[tater]

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

Just cuz I haven't seen it mentioned yet:

Launch is on for tomorrow, window opens @ 6:50am PDT, 9:50 EDT, 13:50GMT. 

And doing that much math at this hour just made my brain hurt. A lot. 

Edit... or, I could have just looked at the post above. 

(We need a shake-my-head smiley.)

Edited September 7, 2017 by CatastrophicFailure