TheEpicSquared Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/05/given-the-hazards-of-landing-on-mars-spacex-may-send-two-dragons-in-2020/ Cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerbal01 Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Inmarsat 5 F4 is being mated to the payload adapter/fairings. Static fire tomorrow, window unknown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 4 hours ago, Kartoffelkuchen said: I don't want to stop or slow down the hype train for FH, but actually, even if the hardware might be closer to being ready than ever, and evenwhen it is ready, FH will need to wait for SLC-40 to be back in business. And that might still take a while... I think FH could launch from SLC-4E right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojourner Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said: I think FH could launch from SLC-4E right now. Nope, they have to do some final work to make LC-39a compatible with FH and they can't afford the downtime until they get SLC-40 back in operation. Edited May 10, 2017 by sojourner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEpicSquared Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Just now, sojourner said: LC-39 Do you mean SLC-40? SpaceX is using 39A already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojourner Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 minute ago, TheEpicSquared said: Do you mean SLC-40? SpaceX is using 39A already. Doh, fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinhero100 Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Hello people of Ksp! I've been think about spacex lately, after there acheivment of landing used boosters, as well as re-using them. Do you think that spacex will make it to Mars by the time they want to? Why or why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozen_Heart Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I'm a big fan of them and everything they have achieved, though Elon does get carried away... Also as a rule of thumb multiply any timescales by 1.88 as they work in Mars years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 15 minutes ago, sojourner said: Nope, they have to do some final work to make LC-39a compatible with FH and they can't afford the downtime until they get SLC-40 back in operation. SLC-4E is the VAFB launch site. I believe it is ready for FH as it already has the FH strongback. It might need to be modified for the "throwback," though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojourner Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 2 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said: SLC-4E is the VAFB launch site. I believe it is ready for FH as it already has the FH strongback. It might need to be modified for the "throwback," though. I believe that's the old strongback and probably no longer works for FH. Regardless, SpaceX has already said that debut launch of FH will be from LC-39a and that updating the pad is the long pole now on when it will launch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaarst Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 They do cool stuff. They can't keep a schedule, but so far they have achieved what they tried to. They still need to prove that what they are doing is worth the trouble and stop promising making whatever comes to Musk's mind in 3 days though. Falcon Heavy has a 50/50 chance of launching this summer or being delayed over and over again. They won't go to Mars in any delay they announced, not even doubling the timescales. ITS will never fly. They might find a way to make reusable launchers profitable and lower costs a bit further, but I don't think it will be that significant. My opinion would probably be higher if I didn't have to make up for the insufferable fanboyism going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 47 minutes ago, Frozen_Heart said: I'm a big fan of them and everything they have achieved, though Elon does get carried away... Also as a rule of thumb multiply any timescales by 1.88 as they work in Mars years. At least 1.88, perhaps a Mars Earth synod would be more accurate . (2.14 years) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 49 minutes ago, sojourner said: I believe that's the old strongback and probably no longer works for FH. Regardless, SpaceX has already said that debut launch of FH will be from LC-39a and that updating the pad is the long pole now on when it will launch. Everything I have seen up to this point suggests that SLC-40 won't be ready until August, and that 39A will take a further 60-90 days after that to ready for FH. 1 hour ago, TheEpicSquared said: Do you mean SLC-40? SpaceX is using 39A already. He was right the first time. 39A is ready for F9, but NOT ready for FH. They are seeking to get SLC-40 ready for F9 use again, THEN they can finish the work on 39A that was interrupted by the accident at 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) On 5/10/2017 at 6:02 PM, Gaarst said: My opinion would probably be higher if I didn't have to make up for the insufferable fanboyism going on. I dont personally mind the fanboyism. Its something space flight has been without. However what i dont like is the the extent upon which said fanboys and people in general put Musk in the limelight. Hes a great man with a great vision, but he is nothing without the TEAM of people he put together and id like to see more admiration for the company as a whole instead of on the man at the top. Im pretty sure ITS will fly though. Will it be called "ITS: by time it does? No. Will it be in any resemblance to the concept we've seen drawn out? Heck no. But in some way shape or form im confident that project will fly eventually. Especially if they can hit their turn-around time goal. That remains to be seen however. Edited May 11, 2017 by Motokid600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 hour ago, sojourner said: I believe that's the old strongback and probably no longer works for FH. Regardless, SpaceX has already said that debut launch of FH will be from LC-39a and that updating the pad is the long pole now on when it will launch. 16 minutes ago, tater said: Everything I have seen up to this point suggests that SLC-40 won't be ready until August, and that 39A will take a further 60-90 days after that to ready for FH. He was right the first time. 39A is ready for F9, but NOT ready for FH. They are seeking to get SLC-40 ready for F9 use again, THEN they can finish the work on 39A that was interrupted by the accident at 40. I see. I wonder what changes will be required at SLC-4E, and when they'll complete those. Probably not for a while, their manifest doesn't show a west coast FH launch at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 They seem to have the one pad building crew, so late this year they will be free again to work on VAFB, and Boca Chica. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Phil Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 SpaceX is a commercial company that's managed to do some cool things with NASA's money. I'd love it if they can reduce launch costs by a large amount, but that's very hard to do, and they're not guaranteed to succeed. There's a difference between landing and reusing a rocket and actually making it cheaper. Do I want them to succeed? Yes. Would I be surprised if they didn't? No. I would like to point out that BO is doing some cool stuff as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooNamedGames Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Elon Musk is way to full of himself as far as what he can do. He's made huge leaps but Mars and beyond will require more than he can offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I think Musk is going to keep working towards his goals until his death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 8 hours ago, Bill Phil said: SpaceX is a commercial company that's managed to do some cool things with NASA's money. I'd love it if they can reduce launch costs by a large amount, but that's very hard to do, and they're not guaranteed to succeed. There's a difference between landing and reusing a rocket and actually making it cheaper. Do I want them to succeed? Yes. Would I be surprised if they didn't? No. I would like to point out that BO is doing some cool stuff as well. Yes they have but NASA got themselves a pretty good (and comparatively cheap) new cargo launcher out of the deal. SpaceX have also managed to do cool things with a lot of other people's money: Musk's, his investors and quite a handful of private customers. Check out this list - I'm counting fifteen purely commercial launches (as in not NASA or other space agencies) for the various iterations of Falcon 9, out of the 33 launches to date. NASA have absolutely been key to SpaceX's success but describing them as 'a commercial company that's managed to do some cool things with NASA's money' isn't really telling the whole story to my mind. To answer OP's question, it depends what you mean by making it to Mars. Red Dragon - I would think so but almost certainly not launching by 2018. Boots on the ground - I'd love to see it but I'm not counting on it. A colony - see previous comment but even more so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 One thing I can't understand: why SpaceX is "the first commercial/private company". Aren't Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop, McDonnel, Thiokol commercial and private? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 33 minutes ago, kerbiloid said: One thing I can't understand: why SpaceX is "the first commercial/private company". Aren't Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop, McDonnel, Thiokol commercial and private? Private - I believe so. Commercial - that gets murky. Without wishing to derail this thread with politics, the launch services market is complicated with various actors there for a number of reasons - national prestige, national security, desire to maintain (or build) a technological base, restrictions on technology exports... etc. Whereas SpaceX is fairly unequivocally private, commercial and set up with the sole aim of building and launching space vehicles. It's just a clearer picture (especially for the media) compared to some of the more traditional aerospace contractors who had a healthy business doing other stuff and then got into space (quite understandably) because, amongst other reasons, there was good government money to be had by doing so. Which is not to say that the media always get the details right. I'm sure I could pick holes in quite a few of SpaceX's 'first private company to do X' stories. I'm also not disparaging those traditional contractors and their workers. There may have been solid commercial considerations that led Grumman (to pick a random example) to bid on the construction contract for the LEM but I'd be astonished if there wasn't also a healthy dose of starry-eyed idealism in there as well. And I can hardly imagine what it would be like to watch Neil Armstrong climbing out of a Moon lander that you, or your company had built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSEP Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I like SpaceX, the fact they keep on fighting is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafni Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I like SpaceX a lot too, watch all the footage and even collect the mission shirts. And Falcon9 is one of the coolest rockets ever, nobody can argue with that. I have no doubt that Elons lofty goals and speeches will accelerate our way to Mars and beyond in some way. And for that alone I give him heaps of credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerbal01 Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Live view of F9-34 as today's the static fire http://original.livestream.com/spaceflightnow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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