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Everything posted by CatastrophicFailure
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totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Apparently this gem got lost in the shuffle: -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Well, there’s the fact that they just bolted all that hardware on the outside in a very Kerbal way, and that apparently it will only have a single Raptor. It’d need all three for a 20km hop, and I don’t see the utility in a sub-20km hop. SN2 sounds like a significant improvement to the point that pushing SN1 may no longer be needed. -
totm march 2020 So what song is stuck in your head today?
CatastrophicFailure replied to SmileyTRex's topic in The Lounge
This. All the black-lungs riding dramatically to their inevitable doom in the house say HO—ack hack cough <gasp>! -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
This. There's a tweet upthread from Musk saying SN2 will finally lack the "post-Thanksgiving bloat" look between each of the segments, that sounds like a significant improvement in manufacturing to me, probably learned from building all the others, and I suppose there comes a time in a given iteration where the improvements learned for the next iteration make it no longer worthwhile to put much more effort into the current one. SpaceX is well known, after all, for rejecting that sunk-cost fallacy. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
I used to be with it, but then they changed what 'it' was, and now what I'm with isn't it. And what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me... ...and... er.. anyways... could it, tho? And would there be much data to be gleaned? What they really need/want to test is the whole skydiver thing, I don’t think a single-engined SN could get high enough for that. I suppose that’s the downside of rapid iteration and rejection of sunk cost fallacy, lots of rocket parts left lying by the side of the road... -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
It’s sounding like SN1 is no longer a flight candidate: like @RCgothic posted, probably SN2 now. Which following SpaceX tradition will be called Block 3 by then. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Guysguysguysguysguys -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
But them corners, tho... seems very strange on anything meant to hold pressure. The Mk’s always used an oval hole for that. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
I think that’s on the exposed skirt below the tank, where the engines and thrust structure are. I agree it’s odd to have such sharp angles tho. Maybe it’s an eventual hookup for GSE? And then just imagine that Superheavy coming back down, glinting in the sun, disappearing into a hellscape of flame and smoke only to emerge unscathed moments later like some unsullied hero. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Dang... I forget how surreal that still looks... -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
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totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
100 is the long term goal there. I think the first crews will be closer to a dozen maybe, making all that... logistical unpleasantness a bit easier to deal with. By the time 100 at a time are going (presumably with less training), they’ll have probably figured out some solution to lack of gravity (spinning two Starships around a tether, etc) or perhaps take a shorter path. I think the transit can be cut down to just a couple months with a higher delta-V route. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
...and the fewer regulations need to be hurdled by not involving the ISS partners... -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Interesting... apparently the mission will not go to the ISS, instead it’ll be a 5-day free flier with a peak altitude “3x” higher than the ISS , providing views not seen since Gemini/Apollo. Up to 4 people, 2021-22 timeframe, so Dragon 2 will have plenty of flights under its space-belt. Your move, Jeff. -
Today the wife and I used an impressive combination of coordination, leverage, muscle, a small tractor and numerous four letter words to wrestle this beast of a generator out of that shed back there... ...without destroying it or each other. Thing’s gotta weigh over a thousand pounds. And of course, is just a tiny bit too big to fit through the door. And by tiny I mean like a foot. Next challenge: how to get it out of the driveway. And then there was this. I live in a very rural, idyllic area without any real industry... except a random shipyard just kinda shoved in the back. So we’ll be going around the bend on a pretty little road and suddenly Tuggy McTugface is just sitting there on blocks in the mudflat waiting for high tide. Apparently every time they need to launch a boat they literally build a railroad across the street and down into the water, then rip it all up again before the tide comes back.
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totm march 2020 So what song is stuck in your head today?
CatastrophicFailure replied to SmileyTRex's topic in The Lounge
I had to hear this and now so did you. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
Ninja’d. Still w00t. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
I recall Musk saying that the new Solarglass panels are largely self-cleaning or dust-repellent or some such. But given what else he’s up to, a Martian Roomba couldn’t be that difficult. No, really... flat, contiguous field of Solarglass tiles and some robot periodically cleaning it, both with brushes and compressed Martian air. Probably light years easier than getting regulatory approval to launch a nuclear reactor to another planet by a private company, since such regulations don’t really exist, and the only thing more contentious than changing existing regulations is making new ones. Hmm... thought occurs to me... Solarglass is supposed to be really durable... wonder if they could just use that for the landing pad..? -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight
This is why solar makes so much more sense for them (not to mention they’re about to get a ton of experience with it thru Tesla Energy). A purpose built solar farm on Mars would have one huge advantage poor Oppy never did: the solar panels can be cleaned, whether by robots or colonists. If they’ve got multiple football-fields worth of panels for making fuel, then that’s still probably enough to power the colony thru a month-long dust storm if they suspend fuel production during that time. -
totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread
CatastrophicFailure replied to Skylon's topic in Science & Spaceflight