IncongruousGoat

Delta-IV Heavy has a high-energy hydrolox upper stage. New Glenn most definitely does not. In this case, it seems that's enough of an advantage in LEO dV terms to make Delta-IV Heavy the winner in the payload-to-GTO category.

*insert obligatory rant about BulgariaSat-1 here*

And another one bytes the dust... One of these days, I need to compile a list of rocket/spacecraft failures that occurred as a result of the flight computer freaking out.

It's happening. Static fire sometime this month, launch January 2018 (I think). The schedule was delayed by Zuma being delayed, among other things.

Pinstripes in the soot? I like it. White paint is all well and good, but I'm a sucker for Saturn-style black and white patterns.

I think Unity would choke, trying to render a model that big. There's a reason PQS exists.

It's a collage made by taking a lot of shots, using a camera on one of Curiosity's arms.

Fair enough. For some reason I thought the Roadster was heavier than that (don't ask me why).

Okay, now I'm very, very confused. Probably best to just come back tomorrow and see if it's gotten any clearer by then...

What the? What is even happening? I thought the car idea was pretty good, personally. Both funny and a solid demonstration of FH's capabilities (car are heavy).

He should put a teapot in the trunk, just to settle the whole Russell's teapot thing once and for all.

That reactor leak has me worried. Also, given Kenlie's remark, I think Walt may be off looking for a replacement fourth wall right about now...

The TEL at LC-40 will retract at launch time, like it does at LC-39A, and not several minutes before launch, like at LC-4E (Vandenberg). Not only does it look way more dramatic and cool, but it's better from a safety and stability perspective since the TEL provides support for the rocket up until T-0.

Rejoice! The story lives on! It may have been a while, but we haven't forgotten. We waited, patiently, and now that patience has been rewarded. I would say I can't wait to see more, but apparently I can.

To add on to what people here have been saying, put a fairing around the payload and slap some fins onto the bottom of the first stage. The fairing will reduce drag at the front, and the fins will keep the center of lift back, which is what you want.

Well, you called. And I came. Now what?

The tower is already there, since this is pad 39-A we're talking about. So they only need to add the crew gantry.

All this talk about fairings has me thinking that Zuma (whatever it is) is barely small enough to fit in the fairing. Now, to be fair, that didn't exactly stop the launch of the X-37b, but it may be the case that Zuma is tall as well as wide, and that there are concerns that it might get clobbered by the fairings on jettison. OTOH, SpaceX have never had fairing problems, and we know Zuma is a pretty light payload, which one would think implies it's pretty small too. I don't know.

Welcome back to the forums! If you're looking for maximum realism, I recommend Realism Overhaul and its associated mods. Although, if you've forgotten most things I recommend holding off on installing that particular set of mods, since they make the game much harder than it already is. Also, your English is anything but awful. I swear, every time someone apologizes for their English here they have nothing to apologize for.

Or an important government project in general, the kind of "it needs to be up there, 100% guarantee, ASAP, no questions asked" launch service the government usually goes to ULA for. On the bright side, if SpaceX is finally getting a foothold in that market it opens up a whole host of new contracts for them.

A chapter without a single whaguggle? What heresy is this? Seriously, though - great chapter! Keep up the good work.

Land bases. I can never seem to make them work properly. Either they're impossible to balance, or impossible to assemble once I've gotten all the bits where I want them to go. And wheel suspension makes the old put-it-on-wheels thing not work properly for me, ever. Also, a thread is not dead while its comments are still written.

Where are you getting this? r/spacex still has CCtCap 1 listed as April 2018, with the first crewed flight in August. Were you thinking that it would be this year? Because they've been saying Q2 2018 for a while now.

Click clack clunk

Definitely Laythe, because it's hands down the most interesting destination. Or, even better, do the entire Jool system. That place is so much fun.