RealKerbal3x Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 5 minutes ago, tater said: Anyone here have clear skies in Europe? Sadly it's cloudy (as normal) over here in the UK And there go the sats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, tater said: She referenced a "tensioner" release on the webcast -- I really wonder what the mechanism is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 1 minute ago, sevenperforce said: She referenced a "tensioner" release on the webcast -- I really wonder what the mechanism is like. Dunno, but it's brilliantly simple. Any constellation not doing this going forward can't possibly catch up. A bunch of "normal looking" sats can't get remotely as many even into a NG fairing. Regarding the fairings: Dunno how/if they get these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 13 minutes ago, tater said: Dunno, but it's brilliantly simple. Any constellation not doing this going forward can't possibly catch up. A bunch of "normal looking" sats can't get remotely as many even into a NG fairing. Per this screenshot there is apparently a tension rod of some kind involved. I wonder if it runs up the center and each of the sats somehow latches/grabs onto it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: Per this screenshot there is apparently a tension rod of some kind involved. I wonder if it runs up the center and each of the sats somehow latches/grabs onto it? There are usually 4 pieces of debris associated with Starlink (from watching people who track that on twitter). I think 2 tension rods, and maybe 2 caps? I think the sats are not "attached" to the rod at all, it merely constrains them by pressing them together (maybe passed through a hole in sat, but sats not "grabbing" it). Probably has a spring, and just shoots out, leaving the sats free to tumble around. Edited November 11, 2019 by tater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 16 minutes ago, tater said: There are usually 4 pieces of debris associated with Starlink (from watching people who track that on twitter). I think 2 tension rods, and maybe 2 caps? I think the sats are not "attached" to the rod at all, it merely constrains them by pressing them together (maybe passed through a hole in sat, but sats not "grabbing" it). Probably has a spring, and just shoots out, leaving the sats free to tumble around. I asked over at NSF, and it was explained that each sat has three cylindrical mounting points that nest into the next one down, preventing any tilting or planar motion during flight. There are four tension rods which keep the two stacks in compression; when the tension rods are dropped (evidently without much of a spring because we saw a tension rod drifting away quite slowly) the sats release each other and drift apart. The three mounting points are shown here: Spoiler I wonder if the tension rods fit over the topmost mounts? They certainly can't pass all the way through the rings or the sats would end up stuck on the rod. I wonder how they unload the reaction wheels. Maybe they can use the solar array in tidal tension? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 (edited) 24 minutes ago, tater said: There are usually 4 pieces of debris associated with Starlink (from watching people who track that on twitter). I think 2 tension rods, and maybe 2 caps? I think the sats are not "attached" to the rod at all, it merely constrains them by pressing them together (maybe passed through a hole in sat, but sats not "grabbing" it). Probably has a spring, and just shoots out, leaving the sats free to tumble around. Could be that sats are pushed in against a spring. Then the "tension rod is" slid in to hold them all there. When the rod is released, they all get pushed out by their springs. Edited November 11, 2019 by mikegarrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Just now, mikegarrison said: Could be that sats are pushed in against a spring. Then the "tension rod is slid in to hold them all there. When the rod is released, they all get pushed out by their springs. The tension rod cannot slide through the rings, though. Looks like I will get a view of the new constellation in my neck of the woods right at around 6 PM local time. 3.6 mag might be too low to be visible from the city though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: The tension rod cannot slide through the rings, though. No, but it doesn't have to. I picture this as something like a mousetrap but with much weaker springs. The sats are compressed against something slightly springy, and the "tension rod" is on the outside holding them there. When the rod is released, the sats are pushed out. Or something like that. Edited November 11, 2019 by mikegarrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Get ready, Oz: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 1 hour ago, mikegarrison said: Or something like that. Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Thor Wotansen said: That landing was epicly casual, lol. The booster was like "man, I got this." Well of course, it’s got the most experience. Professionals always make it look easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 It'll be interesting to see when the next Starlink flight is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 55 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said: Well of course, it’s got the most experience. Professionals always make it look easy. The first stage has landed 3 or 4 times already so it has some experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 4 times now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, tater said: 6 cranes in action Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Landing F9s is old and boring. Steel Starships are the new hotness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 (edited) Here's a placeholder prediction of the current batch's position based on estimates from before today's launch: https://www.heavens-above.com/starlink.aspx No idea if it's accurate. Edited November 11, 2019 by cubinator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 2 hours ago, cubinator said: Here's a placeholder prediction of the current batch's position based on estimates from before today's launch: https://www.heavens-above.com/starlink.aspx No idea if it's accurate. Yup, looks like the next pass will be right overhead. Aaaaaaaaaand it’s cloudy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 F9 B5 has now had 19 successes from 19 missions. The success rate based on Bayesian statistics is: P{S} = (n{S}+1)/(n+2) Where: P{S}= Probability of mission success n{S}= Number of successes n = Number of attempts P{S}= 95.2% For falcon 9 as a whole, it's 76 successes from 78, or 96.3% That has to be close to an industry leader surely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 1 hour ago, RCgothic said: F9 B5 has now had 19 successes from 19 missions. The success rate based on Bayesian statistics is: P{S} = (n{S}+1)/(n+2) Where: P{S}= Probability of mission success n{S}= Number of successes n = Number of attempts P{S}= 95.2% For falcon 9 as a whole, it's 76 successes from 78, or 96.3% That has to be close to an industry leader surely. That's just 1% less than Soyuz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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