PB666 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 2 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said: They should have at least one used B5 for the side boosters by then, but the center cores are built specifically reinforced for the Heavy, and are the hardest to recover. So the center for the second FH launch will be brand new and I imagine they will really hope to recover it the first time, but in Elon's words, it will be hauling some serious S. I think it will be quite awhile before they have a payload where they need to deliberately expend the center. Thats good, cause they really can't reuse or expend cores they don't have. With FH, though, given they have the extra fuel they no longer need to expend cores, because if its upgraded to heavy the core easily has enough fuel left to return. So the only one they would ever _need_ to expend are either fully depreciated cores or heavy cores that are pushing the limits of the rocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAL59 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-10a Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Paper rockets are as revolutionary to industries as are the dreams of those behind the pencil/pen/keyboard. Only when the hardware flies will its capability to revolutionise spaceflight (or hinder it) will be revealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 BFR is not a paper rocket. Nor is NG. Both are being worked on. Sea Dragon was a paper rocket, literally none of it was even tested, vs tanks, and engines being tested. It’s nowhere near flying, but it’s at least being worked on. The idea that a company would work on the next rocket without huge piles of gov money already lined up is somewhat revolutionary. It’s not like companies built flight article space Shuttles to see which was best. Think LockMart plans to build a test article of their cool Mars lander if no money is forthcoming? That’s the benefit of a commercial “race,” each side needs to work on the next big thing ahead of competition. Paper plans don’t mean anything, capability does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Thanks alot, ULA. Hmph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 (edited) Honestly, I've never thought that my KSP purchase would after many years lead to me being really concerned whether some ships left their port or not. Edited March 4, 2018 by sh1pman grammar >_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PakledHostage Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 41 minutes ago, sh1pman said: Honestly, I've never thought that my KSP purchase would after many years lead to me being really concerned whether some ships left their port or not. Sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Also possibly interesting: going thru the launch manifest here, and there’s only two on the books for March. The upcoming HispaSat from the Cape (which will be the 50th Falcon launch ), then another slew of Iridiums out of Vandy near the end of the month. Seems odd. Then in April, there’s currently four five! on the list: CRS-14 on the 2nd, Bangabandhu (and the debut of Block 5) on the 5th, TESS on the 16th, more Iridiums on the 28th, and SES-12 on the 30th. Now obviously somethings going to slip, but that’s a busy month! I wonder what the chances are they’ll move something forward into March, or perhaps the lull is to prepare for B5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 (edited) Bit of a change of pace here but I've just been to an excellent talk by Dr Ellen Stofan, former Chief Scientist at NASA. It was a women-in-science style of event so space exploration was kind of the backdrop to the talk rather than its raison d'etre (if that makes any sense) but even so, several namechecks for our favourite reusable rocket company! TL: DR Much lower launch costs plus satellites also becoming far cheaper = great science excitement. Also Mars (and obviously this is totally unofficial) will be a grand partnership: public, private and international. Musk is doing great things but he can't afford Mars. Interestingly, a certain other launch vehicle didn't garner a mention as I recall, although as I said, space per se wasn't really the focus of the talk. Oh, and in the interests of balance, I should mention that SpaceX did get dinged on diversity issues, so it wasn't all unicorns and rose-tinted glasses. Even so, I sensed much excitement about what they're doing. Edit the Second. Very happy to chat about the diversity parts of the talk too because that was it's (very important) raison d'etre, but sadly it's probably best to take that to private messages rather than derail this thread. Edited March 5, 2018 by KSK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 (edited) Quote No landing attempt now due to high seas in the recovery zone. However: Also: Edited March 5, 2018 by CatastrophicFailure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XB-70A Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said: However: I knew I should have chose the blue pill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 33 minutes ago, XB-70A said: I knew I should have chose the blue pill... Since I have a cold at the moment, I’ve just been taking both and hoping for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB666 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 6 hours ago, tater said: I never knew that OCISLY got sea-sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 18 minutes ago, PB666 said: I never knew that OCISLY got sea-sick. Sea sickness is just an excuse, the real reason is that it’s afraid to go out after being bombed by FH central core Landing during a thunderstorm would surely be awesome to watch though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Elon tweets that this is the "largest Geostationary satellite Falcon 9 has ever launched" but Intelsat was larger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Noooo, titanium fins! Doomed! Couldn’t they, I dunno, replace them with aluminum ones during the hold-up? What a waste! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 10 minutes ago, sh1pman said: Noooo, titanium fins! Doomed! Couldn’t they, I dunno, replace them with aluminum ones during the hold-up? What a waste! My guess is, they’re still planning to test their previously planned super hot re-entry, even if the booster just goes splash. Note it still has landing legs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh1pman Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 11 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said: My guess is, they’re still planning to test their previously planned super hot re-entry, even if the booster just goes splash. Note it still has landing legs too. But they did this sort of fake landing before with aluminum fins, and it worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 43 minutes ago, sh1pman said: But they did this sort of fake landing before with aluminum fins, and it worked great. They’re trying to do more with a lot less fuel. This is a big, heavy satellite they wouldn’t have attempted recovery on at all not long ago. So the booster be coming in with no boostback burn, no entry burn, and a 3 engine landing burn. The larger titanium grid fins let them do more aerodynamically to slow it down by “gliding” farther. My personal guess is that this whole landing try is an attempt to verify new procedures after the FH core mishap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Here's tonight's launch.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zolotiyeruki Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 5 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said: They’re trying to do more with a lot less fuel. This is a big, heavy satellite they wouldn’t have attempted recovery on at all not long ago. So the booster be coming in with no boostback burn, no entry burn, and a 3 engine landing burn. The larger titanium grid fins let them do more aerodynamically to slow it down by “gliding” farther. My personal guess is that this whole landing try is an attempt to verify new procedures after the FH core mishap. Whoa, no boostback or entry burns? Hmmm, that might get a bit toasty on the way down, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Augustus_ Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 6 hours ago, sh1pman said: But they did this sort of fake landing before with aluminum fins, and it worked great. The booster corrodes in salt water, so it can't really be re-used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 31 minutes ago, zolotiyeruki said: Whoa, no boostback or entry burns? Hmmm, that might get a bit toasty on the way down, eh? That’s why they’re doing it with an “expendable” booster they don’t need to count on recovering, anyway. I think it speaks a lot to how the design has matured that they can attempt any kind of landing at all with a sat this heavy, and still spare the mass for legs, fins, and a smidge of fuel. Today’s hype train: (just a bit less hypey than usual) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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