What is Spacex going to do with there core first stage of the Falcon 9?

[Cloakedwand72]

Hi what is Spacex going to do with there core first stage of the Falcon 9?Spacex is silent on the Public relations campaign.Are they going to reprocess the first core stage for there Jason 3 mission in January?Or keep it as a trophy?Do they have to refubish the the Merlin engines?Like what NASA did with the Orbiter main engines in the shuttle era?

[Stone Blue]

IIRC, they are going to take it apart, inspect it, put it back together/refurbish it as if they WERE going to reuse it, which they WONT...They will just do static equipment and engine tests with it... I think I read they wont plan on actually re-flying a 1st stage from the next several launches, until sometime late next year (though they probably WILL attempt recoveries on every launch from now on...)

[Cloakedwand72]

3 minutes ago, Stone Blue said:

IIRC, they are going to take it apart, inspect it, put it back together/refurbish it as if they WERE going to reuse it, which they WONT...They will just do static equipment and engine tests with it... I think I read they wont plan on actually re-flying a 1st stage from the next several launches, until sometime late next year (though they probably WILL attempt recoveries on every launch from now on...)

So this is a one time deal just to prove it can be done like landing on the moon?

[Stone Blue]

LOL... I doubt it... There is REAL, tangible, HUGE $$ to be saved if its a sustainable, repeatable, stable technology... Not like a faked Moon landing...
If they can regularly, and safely get at least 5 to 10 uses out of a single 1st stage, I bet they'll do it ALL the time, and you'll see other manufacturers looking into the technology/designs...

The thing is, right now, they need to be SURE they can safely, and reliably get more than just a couple uses from a single unit... Hence, all the testing they will undoubtedly do on the next few recoveries, BEFORE attempting an actual launch with a refurb...

And while I could be wrong, I wouldnt doubt if they only use the refurbs for UN-manned launches, for the first few years...

Edited December 26, 2015 by Stone Blue

[Frybert]

Since the only current client for manned launches would be NASA, I doubt seeing anything reused on a manned flight for quite some time. Its one of the reasons they aren't trying to refly dragons (NASA said no reused components and NASA is currently the only customer that uses dragons).

 

[Stone Blue]

^^
You're absolutely correct....

But I'm sure even IF they were flying manned missions right now for NASA or others, they STILL probably wouldnt use refurbs for manned launches for a few years, until the technology has been proven with MANY, MANY unmanned launches....

[NovaSilisko]

The core returned on the recent Orbcomm mission will be sent to pad 39A at Cape Canaveral (in fact, it's in the hangar there right now), for a static-fire at the pad early next year. It won't refly, though, and will probably be kept around for posterity. After that, stages will be reflown on future missions after SpaceX can figure out how they are faring after their descent through the atmosphere. I am not sure about the Jason 3 first stage, however, as it's an older version of the Falcon 9.

[Stone Blue]

43 minutes ago, NovaSilisko said:

It won't refly, though, and will probably be kept around for posterity.

Yes, I DID read that, IIRC, Elon tweeted that it would basically be placed somewhere as a revered static display...

[NovaSilisko]

By the way, here's a picture of the stage being sent into the hangar, because it seems relevant for this thread:

 

You can see they've fitted a cap over the interstage and taken the legs off, and it currently resides in the usual sort of mount they hold F9s in during processing.

Edited December 27, 2015 by NovaSilisko

[Stone Blue]

So weird how the middle section is so clean, and has such a clear demarcation line toward the "business" end...

[Camacha]

23 hours ago, Cloakedwand72 said:

So this is a one time deal just to prove it can be done like landing on the moon?

Of course not, do not be silly They just use this one for testing. After that, they keep it safe. It is a pretty historic craft. One of the next successfully landed stages will actually be flown. They are just trying to thoroughly understand their craft and keep the first one around as a historic piece.

Relaunching first stages on a large scale was, and remains, the goal.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Camacha

[Hcube]

On 27/12/2015 at 2:14 AM, Stone Blue said:

So weird how the middle section is so clean, and has such a clear demarcation line toward the "business" end...

I think it's because of the very cold liquid oxygen tank that occupies this portion of the rocket.

[Motokid600]

You know something is big when the mac truck carrying it looks small. That's the newest picture I've seen since the night of the landing. I wonder why Space X is being so quiet.

[Cloakedwand72]

1 hour ago, Motokid600 said:

You know something is big when the mac truck carrying it looks small. That's the newest picture I've seen since the night of the landing. I wonder why Space X is being so quiet.

Its the Space race all over.Spacex as the USA & Blue origin as the USSR.That is one reason they might be quiet.Or they are just partying.Witch they won fair and square.Sorry if this comment sounds confusing. 

[Motokid600]

I just can't believe they haven't released any on board video. Saying as if they have any. Itd be dark and the exhaust would cover everything. But... I'd still wanna see it.

Edited December 28, 2015 by Motokid600