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SpaceX Discussion Thread


Skylon

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11 hours ago, tater said:

At least some images of the concept.

BTW, this is what I was thinking in terms of FSH/BFS:

rWVEdvH.png

 

I prefer this approach, but my biggest concern is that each F9 leg is designed to handle 1/4 the core's weight. Your design only has room for 6 legs on 7 cores, more than a 75% reduction in leg-per-mass.

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I see a flaw. They’re building a rocket in what is quite clearly a space plane hangar. Which means their symmetry settings will be all borked.

And on a serious note, I don’t have anything much more than woaaaaah. Said in a very small voice.

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1 minute ago, KSK said:

I see a flaw. They’re building a rocket in what is quite clearly a space plane hangar. Which means their symmetry settings will be all borked.

And on a serious note, I don’t have anything much more than woaaaaah. Said in a very small voice.

Well, judging from the latest (confirmed) redesign, they’re going to need that mirror symmetry for the new fins... -_-

I do wonder how they’re curing those massive things, tho. Doesn’t making carbon fiber structures require baking them in a huge oven?

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36 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

I do wonder how they’re curing those massive things, tho. Doesn’t making carbon fiber structures require baking them in a huge oven?

It's probably going to be similar to however they make airliners.

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1 hour ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Well, judging from the latest (confirmed) redesign, they’re going to need that mirror symmetry for the new fins... -_-

I do wonder how they’re curing those massive things, tho. Doesn’t making carbon fiber structures require baking them in a huge oven?

Look up “out of autoclave.”

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1 hour ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Well, judging from the latest (confirmed) redesign, they’re going to need that mirror symmetry for the new fins... -_-

I do wonder how they’re curing those massive things, tho. Doesn’t making carbon fiber structures require baking them in a huge oven?

Spoiler

 

Nah - you just need 100 spliff-toking workers doing their bit. Each equipped with a steam iron and all with immaculately pressed trousers. In much the same way that Apollo era heatshields were hand-built by a lot of very patient workers with caulking guns.

Shhh - don't tell NASA.

 

 

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15 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Well, judging from the latest (confirmed) redesign, they’re going to need that mirror symmetry for the new fins... -_-

I do wonder how they’re curing those massive things, tho. Doesn’t making carbon fiber structures require baking them in a huge oven?

Yes, that is why spaceX has a giant oven. Along with waffle makers on falcon 9s.

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Maybe they've discovered a new way to wrap or treat carbon fiber that is beneficial for their needs?

Or maybe they're moving away from Carbon Fiber... I highly doubt it, as they have already set up a lot of CF infrastructure, and didn't we get those tank dome pictures after the tweet?

Hmm...

He says something about the heat shield as well. Maybe they found a way to make CF extremely heat resistant?

Wait

Weren't the shuttle tiles carbon as well? A different type of carbon... What if they found a way to use that type of carbon, along with a heat shield strength resin, to make a giant monolithic heat shield/hull combo?

Probably not, but just taking wild guesses.

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Actually now that I think about it, and based on discussions on Reddit, they may be going back to Aluminum-Lithium alloy. They know more about it, they are set up for it, and it would allow for BFR/Starship to be on the table earlier, with fewer unproven technologies.

But that would make the mass ratio pretty bad, and that plus the lack of vacuum Raptors could push the payload down even further, maybe to 70 tons. That's just beyond the theoretical FH range, not good.

Also, isn't that interview on HBO supposed to be on right now? Is anyone watching? Sorry for the triple post, if this one doesn't merge...

Edited by Ultimate Steve
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