Vanamonde Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 While we all like KSP, it is not the subject of this thread. Please keep the discussion here on the actual SpaceX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Looks like Elon has confirmed that the launch of f9 heavy will be in 4 months https://futurism.com/elon-musk-the-rocket-that-will-eventually-take-humans-to-the-moon-will-launch-in-4-months/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 3 minutes ago, insert_name said: Looks like Elon has confirmed that the launch of f9 heavy will be in 4 months https://futurism.com/elon-musk-the-rocket-that-will-eventually-take-humans-to-the-moon-will-launch-in-4-months/ 2-3 months to cores at the launch site. Then 1 month to launch. September 8 earliest, otherwise October. They must think that they can get 39A totally ready faster than I had heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 1 hour ago, tater said: 2-3 months to cores at the launch site. Then 1 month to launch. September 8 earliest, otherwise October. They must think that they can get 39A totally ready faster than I had heard. This is ElonSpeak now, so realistically we're probably looking at 5-6 months... before the heat death of the universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Just follow geological principles of periodization. Not absolute position is significant, but sequence inside which those "absolute" dates define the sort order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Baron Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Sequence stratigraphy ? Like the youngest at the top ? And using the ingredients to obtain a date ? Valid if left alone in peace for a long time. Hmmm ... nah, to many discordances ('splosions) and unconformities (technical or other difficulties) here :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEpicSquared Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 5 hours ago, insert_name said: Looks like Elon has confirmed that the launch of f9 heavy will be in 4 months https://futurism.com/elon-musk-the-rocket-that-will-eventually-take-humans-to-the-moon-will-launch-in-4-months/ Does that account for Elon time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 (edited) 11 hours ago, TheEpicSquared said: Does that account for Elon time? Double it and add 30 Edited June 9, 2017 by StrandedonEarth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Apparently the X-37 launch is officially on the calendar for August 15 @ LC-39 according to spaceflightnow.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michal.don Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 On 9. 6. 2017 at 6:08 AM, insert_name said: Looks like Elon has confirmed that the launch of f9 heavy will be in 4 months It looks like we are making some serious progress then, the last five years it was supposed to fly in six months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monophonic Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 4 hours ago, michal.don said: It looks like we are making some serious progress then, the last five years it was supposed to fly in six months 5 years to shave a third off from the "first launch in" figure. At this rate it'll happen in... ten years? Did I do the math right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StupidAndy Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, monophonic said: 5 years to shave a third off from the "first launch in" figure. At this rate it'll happen in... ten years? Did I do the math right? I got 15, 5 per 2 months oh wait in 10 years...oh yeah, your right Edited June 10, 2017 by StupidAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codraroll Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) 12 hours ago, michal.don said: It looks like we are making some serious progress then, the last five years it was supposed to fly in six months On a weighted scale, a promise of less than six months is a great improvement, though. As a rule of thumb: Anything announced to happen more than two years into the future is just as likely to never happen at all. Announcements between two years and six months in the future may eventually be realised, but they can be postponed for one year at a time indefinitely. For anything announced to happen in less than six months, add 50 % to the time span between now and the scheduled event (min. value 1 day). For anything announced to happen today, the chance of it being postponed may always be approximated to 50 %. So if they say "it will happen in four months", it may happen in six months, rather than being postponed for longer periods of time again. Edited June 10, 2017 by Codraroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Calling it now. Falcon Heavy launch on December 5th. Heard it here first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 The difference between past predictions and now is that it's not vaporware. The cores are tested, it's basically ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 47 minutes ago, tater said: The difference between past predictions and now is that it's not vaporware. The cores are tested, it's basically ready to go. Good point. It should be a matter of simple construction of known equipment now (rebuilding/building launch facilities). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michal.don Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 7 hours ago, Motokid600 said: Falcon Heavy launch on December 5th. Heard it here first I'm still sticking with this page: http://whenwillfalconheavylaunch.com/ (just subtract 60, and it should work again) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 FWIW, a grainy photo taken last month of LC-40 last month by the Deimos satellite: via Spaceflightnow.com. Eeeeeehhhh... I'm no construction engineer and this was obviously taken with a high-resolution potato, but looks like a long way to go yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylon Posted June 11, 2017 Author Share Posted June 11, 2017 8 hours ago, Motokid600 said: Calling it now. Falcon Heavy launch on December 5th. Heard it here first December 25th, with a giant cardboard box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper as payload Very unlikely, because no one wants to work on Christmas, but maybe around then. Either way, if it launches in December I want a gift as a payload. I wish that they could land all three falcons next to each other, like in the animation video (the second one). Also, can we refer to 39A or any launch site as "the nest"? "Falcon has returned to the nest" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Makes me wonder, they will need an new tower for falcon heavy. They will also need an new tower for manned flights, this would need an elevator, an evacuation system and an walkway out to the capsule. Makes some sense to combine this with vertical integration of payload. Put an crane on top, then use the walkway for mounting the payload and fairing to the upper stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbinorbiter Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 2 hours ago, magnemoe said: Makes me wonder, they will need an new tower for falcon heavy. They will also need an new tower for manned flights, this would need an elevator, an evacuation system and an walkway out to the capsule. Makes some sense to combine this with vertical integration of payload. Put an crane on top, then use the walkway for mounting the payload and fairing to the upper stage. and use the crane for ITS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 3 hours ago, magnemoe said: Makes me wonder, they will need an new tower for falcon heavy. They will also need an new tower for manned flights, this would need an elevator, an evacuation system and an walkway out to the capsule. Makes some sense to combine this with vertical integration of payload. Put an crane on top, then use the walkway for mounting the payload and fairing to the upper stage. IIRC, these are exactly the upgrades planned for LC-39, but they can't work on any of them till LC-40 is back up. Modifying 39 for FH will be the first priority, about 60 days to do, upgrades for manned flights will follow once the bulk of flights are running out of 40 again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 19 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said: IIRC, these are exactly the upgrades planned for LC-39, but they can't work on any of them till LC-40 is back up. Modifying 39 for FH will be the first priority, about 60 days to do, upgrades for manned flights will follow once the bulk of flights are running out of 40 again Makes sense, as I understand just one of the pads works for FH because of the orientation of the flame trench. If you use an crawler and move rocket vertical you want the boosters in line with the ramp for reduced stress climbing up. With horizontal transport like FH you need to have boosters on the sides then moving the rocket so the rocket end up rotated 90 degree, On the other hand the FH tower can also handle falcon 9. ITS might be able to use an saturn 5 pad, it would need an tower far more massive than the saturn 5 however if you want to lift the upper stage on. Make me wonder if spacex has an new rocket in planing between the falcon heavy and ITS. Something who can take an normal satellite or dragon to orbit using merlin engines and reuse both first and second stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 1 hour ago, magnemoe said: ITS might be able to use an saturn 5 pad, it would need an tower far more massive than the saturn 5 however if you want to lift the upper stage on. Make me wonder if spacex has an new rocket in planing between the falcon heavy and ITS. Something who can take an normal satellite or dragon to orbit using merlin engines and reuse both first and second stage. Falcon Heavy can definitely reuse the second stage, if it takes a performance cut. Heck, Falcon 9 can reuse the second stage, though usable payload drops quite low. It's just something they haven't fully developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylon Posted June 11, 2017 Author Share Posted June 11, 2017 1 hour ago, sevenperforce said: Falcon Heavy can definitely reuse the second stage, if it takes a performance cut. Heck, Falcon 9 can reuse the second stage, though usable payload drops quite low. It's just something they haven't fully developed. Would second stage adaptations for reusability compromise structural strength? Will we ever see an upgraded Falcon 9 with better structural integrity so it can actually lift the payload so it says it can, a Falcon 9 Mk6 (to continue the naming scheme) of sorts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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