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3 minutes ago, tater said:

 

I think I said that would never happen in this thread somewhere. Not that I think it will, but still, the mere fact that they have considered it deserves me munching a little crow,

I still say they won't. This is clearly a Muskism.

BUT STILL FALCON SUPER HEAVY

They'd need to build a whole new core to be able to handle even higher thrust loading. Core recovery would be virtually impossible, too; the upper stage would basically just be for circularization.

More thrust than the Saturn V, though.

7 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Meanwhile, SLS is still...

Interesting... Apollo LM was right around 16 tonnes...

Any back-of-the-envelope calculation on what kinda LOX boiloff there would be en route?

If you want to do the hard math, you can always dig into Nasa's GR&As for cislunar missions:

Spoiler

Boil-off assumptions:
LOX/LH2:   0.35% per day.
LOX/CH4:   0.20% per day.
LOX/RP1:   0.20% per day.
MMH/N2O4:   0.00% per day.
Max Loiter in LEO:   4 days.
Max TLI Transit Time:   3 days.
Max LLO Loiter Time:   3 days.

dV Budget assumptions:

Direct to LLO (3 days to LLO):
TLI:   3,175.00m/s + 1% = 3,206.75m/s (performed by MPS)
TCM:   2.00m/s + 1% = 2.02m/s (performed by RCS)
LOI to HLO (100x10,000km):   503.00m/s + 1% = 508.03m/s (performed by MPS)
Plane Change (90deg):   476.00m/s + 1% = 480.76m/s (performed by MPS)
Circularization to LLO (100x100km):   515.00m/s + 1% = 520.15m/s (performed by MPS)

Direct to EML-1 (4 days to LLO):
TLI to EML-1:   3,125m/s + 1% = 3,156.25m/s (performed by MPS)
TCM:   2.00m/s + 1% = 2.02m/s (performed by RCS)
EML-1 Insertion:   640m/s + 1% = 646.40m/s (performed by MPS)
EML-1 to LLO (100x100km):   1,333m/s + 1% = 1,346.33m/s (performed by MPS)

Swingby to EML-2 (6 days to LLO):
TLI:   3,225.00m/s + 1% = 3,257.25m/s (performed by MPS)
TCM:   2.00m/s + 1% = 2.02m/s (performed by RCS)
Perilune:   184.00m/s + 1% = 185.84 (performed by MPS)
EML-2 Insertion:   147.00m/s + 1% = 148.47m/s (performed by MPS)
EML-2 to LLO (100x100km):   1,333m/s + 1% = 1,346.33m/s (performed by MPS)

Descent from 100x100km:
LLO Attitude Control:   5.50m/s + 1% = 5.56m/s
DOI:   19.40m/s + 1% = 19.56m/s (performed by RCS)
Settling:   2.7m/s + 1% =2.73m/s (performed by RCS)
Descent RCS:   11.00m/s + 1% = 11.1m/s (performed by RCS)
Powered Descent:   2,030.00m/s + 1% = 2,050.30m/s (performed by MPS)
   (For staged descent:   75% = 1,537.72m/s & 25% = 512.58m/s)

 

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3 minutes ago, Canopus said:

Would this Falcon über heavy still have the normal, dinky little fairing? Only useful for launching payloads composed entirely out of lead?

It would be less about launching 150-tonne payloads and more about launching 30-40-tonne payloads BLEO.

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7 minutes ago, Canopus said:

Would this Falcon über heavy still have the normal, dinky little fairing? Only useful for launching payloads composed entirely out of lead?

Something something so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn’t stop to think if they should...

...and that, Class of 2296, is why to this day Mars is infested with dinosaurs...

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9 minutes ago, Canopus said:

They should put some thought into a better second stage then. 

RAPTOR UPPER STAGE!

But in all seriousness, SpaceX will never plumb a launchpad for both methalox and kerolox on the same vehicle, no matter what their AF funding application may have said.

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4 minutes ago, Canopus said:

Would this Falcon über heavy still have the normal, dinky little fairing? Only useful for launching payloads composed entirely out of lead?

FH primary marked is GTO with larger satellites while reusing boosters and first stage. Fairing is large enough for this. 
If some want to launch an oversize payload say an lunar lander as we discuss in that tread an larger fairing can be developed, max expendable payload to LEO might well require an reinforced second stage. 
As we know no customers ask for this so why should spaceX develop it. 

If you plan of doing an honeymoon on the moon, other requirements like the lunar lander will give spacex good time to develop an larger fairing and bill you for it :)

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2 minutes ago, IncongruousGoat said:

The FH live stream (which, mind you, is unlisted and not due to start for another 19 hours) has 2,300 viewers already. The hype train is rolling, and it has no brakes.

I'm probably going to write "spacex.com/webcast" on a few whiteboards tomorrow morning. The hype is reaching critical mass.

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6 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

FH primary marked is GTO with larger satellites while reusing boosters and first stage. Fairing is large enough for this. 
If some want to launch an oversize payload say an lunar lander as we discuss in that tread an larger fairing can be developed, max expendable payload to LEO might well require an reinforced second stage.

This is why i don‘t get the whole hype around this thing. This Launcher, composed of essentially flight proven components will mostly launch some Comsats and at best a discovery class probe, and people behave like its the second coming of christ.

Edited by Canopus
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2 minutes ago, Canopus said:

This is why i don‘t get the whole hype around this thing. This Launcher, composed of essentially flight proven components will mostly launch some Comsats and at best a discovery class probe, and people behave like its the second coming of christ.

Because...moar boosters?

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8 minutes ago, Exploro said:

So this whole time the FH test was a front for SpaceX to send our extraterrestial tamed-racing driver back to the stars...with wheels no less.

Obvious response, and no any who has played KSP know that don't make sense, use of parachute is pretty kerbal however. 
Honorable mention to Valentina who was dropped from LKO in an MK2 capsule, parachute burned up during reentry but she landed and could walk away from it. 
Extra bonus for the mothership. OE3Ld2Nh.png

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11 minutes ago, Canopus said:

This is why i don‘t get the whole hype around this thing. This Launcher, composed of essentially flight proven components will mostly launch some Comsats and at best a discovery class probe, and people behave like its the second coming of christ.

But it is the first coming of Falcon Heavy.

And its return to Earth occurs not once, but three times, only a few minutes after launch. Meanwhile, it's twenty centuries later and we're STILL waiting for Christ's boostback, entry, and landing burns.

no disrespect to any religion meant; the above is purely satire

21 minutes ago, Exploro said:

So this whole time the FH test was a front for SpaceX to send our extraterrestial tamed-racing driver back to the stars...with wheels no less.

You know, I believe this is the first time we've gotten a good look at the pneumatic pushing mechanism on the fairings.

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20 minutes ago, Canopus said:

This is why i don‘t get the whole hype around this thing. This Launcher, composed of essentially flight proven components will mostly launch some Comsats and at best a discovery class probe, and people behave like its the second coming of christ.

Because things are happening. They may only be smol things, baby steps in the grand scheme and what not, but they’re some of the things that were “promised” to all of us decades ago, that many of us had already given up on, and now finally, after all this time, here comes this guy who says, “I’m gonna do the thing” and then unlike everyone else, he actually goes out and starts doing it!

This is the attraction of NewSpace to people, while old space is still plodding along saying “yeah, maybe in 30 years, also we have no funding” or repeating the same boring, if necessary, stuff over and over. 

Tomorrow represents real, tangible innovation. Like someone said back a page, we’re finally making all this cool  lunar landing speculation on a real rocket that’s actually sitting on the  pad right now.   I can only imagine that maybe this is what it felt like say in 1967 or 68, when space nerds really had some hope for what was to come. 

Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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23 minutes ago, Canopus said:

This is why i don‘t get the whole hype around this thing.

Are you kiddin' me?? They're gonna do 2 simultaneous first stage recoveries (I don't believe they're going for 3 on this one) and flinging a sportscar to Mars with the radio blasting "Space Oddity" from the most powerful launcher in existence. And nobody knows if it's going to work or just blow up! I mean... not Mars, Mars, but still... :D

 How is this not the most hypey, awesome spectacle of the 21st century?

Best,
-Slashy
 

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Whoa. They are doing a SIX HOUR COAST to demonstrate EXTENDED DELAY FALCON UPPER STAGE RESTARTS. So they can demonstrate capability to do GEO insertions.

2 minutes ago, GoSlash27 said:

Are you kiddin' me?? They're gonna do 2 simultaneous first stage recoveries (I don't believe they're going for 3 on this one) and flinging a sportscar to Mars with the radio blasting "Space Oddity" from the most powerful launcher in existence. And nobody knows if it's going to work or just blow up! I mean... not Mars, Mars, but still... :D

 How is this not the most hypey, awesome spectacle of the 21st century?

Best,
-Slashy
 

They are recovering the core, but downrange on the ASDS some time after the side-booster RTLS landings.

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