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11 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

I doubt it. The Falcon 1 used a gimballed preburner exhaust nozzle for roll control on its single first-stage engine, but per the Falcon 9 User's Guide, second-stage roll control is provided only by cold-gas thrusters. The Merlin 1D Vacuum vents preburner exhaust into the nozzle extension for extra thrust and specific impulse (this takes advantage of the fact that the static pressure in the nozzle is very low even though the axial dynamic pressure is rather high).

But CRS-1 and 2 were on the Falcon 9 1.0, which used the Merlin 1Cs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 1C vacuum version did have the gimballed exhaust for the preburner.

Edited by .50calBMg
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1 hour ago, .50calBMg said:

But CRS-1 and 2 were on the Falcon 9 1.0, which used the Merlin 1Cs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 1C vacuum version did have the gimballed exhaust for the preburner.

You're right. I dug up the old Falcon 9v1.0 user guide: https://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/f9guide.pdf

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To be honest, I'd rather SpaceX produce a practical suit that's a measurable improvement over current pressure suits than one that just looks cool. Obviously, Musk being Musk, it's going to look cool regardless, but hopefully the rule of cool doesn't supersede practical considerations. Better it look bland than be bland.

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3 minutes ago, tater said:

2 weeks after this one is the OTV launch, then 3 weeks until SES-11, and a few days after that Iridium from VAFB.

 

Nowhere near their best of, what was it? Like 11 days from the same pad?

Great video too, you can really see the angle of attack it comes in at. I wonder what sort of glide ratio it has?

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I think I remember Musk saying at one point that under the right conditions they could get a 1:1 glide ratio on returning stages, just can"t remember where. I think it may have been at the IAC last year, but I could be wrong.

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On 8/20/2017 at 7:31 PM, sevenperforce said:

The 1:1 glide ratio is with the Block 5 grid fins.

That video was hella cool, though. I was amazed to see the transonic shock forming around the tail just before the landing burn ignition. Also surprised by how long the landing burn was. 

Are the boosters that use three engines useable?  Those burns cut the landing time by a lot (I don't think a single engine can get a TWR>2, so gravity losses add up).  Not sure if they need fuel in separate tanks for side engine cutoff or simply use the main tank (obviously they need some reserves to avoid fuel-out, landing with separate fuel reserves would hurt dry mass).

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24 minutes ago, wumpus said:

Are the boosters that use three engines useable?  Those burns cut the landing time by a lot (I don't think a single engine can get a TWR>2, so gravity losses add up).  Not sure if they need fuel in separate tanks for side engine cutoff or simply use the main tank (obviously they need some reserves to avoid fuel-out, landing with separate fuel reserves would hurt dry mass).

Uh, what?

All nine engines feed from the same tank.

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20 minutes ago, wumpus said:

Are the boosters that use three engines useable?  Those burns cut the landing time by a lot (I don't think a single engine can get a TWR>2, so gravity losses add up).  Not sure if they need fuel in separate tanks for side engine cutoff or simply use the main tank (obviously they need some reserves to avoid fuel-out, landing with separate fuel reserves would hurt dry mass).

A single engine gets a twr of ~4 when dry, (no fuel left).

Looking at the videos the first stage appears to be in the transonic region when the landing burn starts. And as the landing burn lasts for about 30s, so it appear to be about twr 2.

It would not be a good idea to make the landing burn shorter as the first stage needs to change course. Before the landing burn starts it is on a ballistic trajectory into the sea. So it won't do damage in case of engine faliure.

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