totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[StrandedonEarth]

I couldn’t quite tell what that was visible in the window. At first I thought it might be Jeb 

[Bill Phil]

3 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I couldn’t quite tell what that was visible in the window. At first I thought it might be Jeb 

Fuzzy dice.

[TheSaint]

2 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I couldn’t quite tell what that was visible in the window. At first I thought it might be Jeb 

I thought it was Mr. Bill, which carries its own set of bad omens....

[regex]

7 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

I thought it was Mr. Bill, which carries its own set of bad omens....

Oh no!

[_Augustus_]

3 hours ago, regex said:

#fuzzydice

That's a heavy little spaceplane.

Centaur really isn't designed for payloads like Dream Chaser and Starliner.

[regex]

20 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

Centaur really isn't designed for payloads like Dream Chaser and Starliner.

I know Dream Chaser carries, supposedly, five tons of payload, are there any hard figures on how much the craft masses? Is this a case where they've stripped Centaur from the Atlas V? 552 is a DEC with 5 SRBs lifting some 20 tons to LEO.

E: Or are you saying that DEC is going to be "clumsy" because of Dream Chaser?

Edited November 6, 2017 by regex

[Racescort666]

19 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

Centaur really isn't designed for payloads like Dream Chaser and Starliner.

Keep in mind, Centaur was used on Titan which lifted some pretty big payloads. Also, ULA has the final say in that.

[Bill Phil]

53 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

Centaur really isn't designed for payloads like Dream Chaser and Starliner.

Which version? A 552 has a centaur with two engines. Of course, they wouldn't launch it if it constitutes a major risk.

[_Augustus_]

 

1 hour ago, Bill Phil said:

Which version? A 552 has a centaur with two engines. Of course, they wouldn't launch it if it constitutes a major risk.

Just because Centaur CAN lift Dream Chaser and Starliner doesn't mean it's optimal. If you've noticed, the Starliner has had to undergo several aerodynamic changes because the Centaur is smaller than the booster and capsule.

[Bill Phil]

8 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

 

Just because Centaur CAN lift Dream Chaser and Starliner doesn't mean it's optimal. If you've noticed, the Starliner has had to undergo several aerodynamic changes because the Centaur is smaller than the booster and capsule.

It doesn't have to be optimal, so long as it can do it with a high degree of confidence and doesn't constitute a major risk. SLS having just four engines on the core isn't optimal, either, but they're doing it.

[wumpus]

On 7/20/2017 at 6:06 PM, DeltaDizzy said:

I thought it lost out to spacex.

I'd be somewhat surprised if spacex bid on that.  Presumably the latest Falcon-9 can lift almost anything an Atlas V can, but it would likely be expendable.  Falcon heavy could lift it, but it would be tricky to write the contract with a workable rocket available and a preferred vehicle in development.  The real kicker is that it is unlikely to fit in the fairing, and probably requires all kinds of engineering to deal with the aero issues of having a dreamchaser (and all of its aero characteristics) on top.

[tater]

Dreamchaser has a gross mass of around 9,000 tons I think.

(LOL, oops)

Edited November 7, 2017 by tater

[linuxgurugamer]

14 minutes ago, tater said:

Dreamchaser has a gross mass of around 9,000 tons I think.

That's rather, ummm, heavy

[regex]

49 minutes ago, tater said:

Dreamchaser has a gross mass of around 9,000 kg I think.

That makes sense for the original launch vehicle of an Atlas V 412 which was supposed to be human-rated. So the cargo version carries five tons on top of that within a 5.4m fairing with folded wings to ISS orbit... Seems fairly legit.

Now we need to see what crewed Dream Chaser launches on.

E: Ah, the 412 is also a DEC, seems Dream Chaser was always intended to launch on top of a two-engine Centaur.

Edited November 7, 2017 by regex

[tater]

kgs

LOL.

9 tons.

[regex]

Just now, tater said:

kgs

LOL.

9 tons.

Hahahaha, I totally missed that!

[tater]

It'll be cool to see the glide test, as long as it doesn't look like the beginning of the 6 Million Dollar Man. 

[PakledHostage]

1 hour ago, tater said:

It'll be cool to see the glide test, as long as it doesn't look like the beginning of the 6 Million Dollar Man. 

You're dating yourself... 

[tater]

That was intentional, for @regex

 

[regex]

I eagerly await our future in space.

[tater]

 

Likely a Merlin being tested for Block 5.

[CatastrophicFailure]

Bleh, they’re just trying to copy Blue Origin. 

Seriously, tho, “latest in a string of problems?” Really? Who’s writing this drivel??  

[tater]

It was WashPo... owned by Bezos.  

 

[HebaruSan]

1 minute ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Who’s writing this drivel??  

I loved:

"In 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket exploded a couple of minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral en route to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. No one was on board and no was injured."

You know, in case you confused it with all of those manned Falcon 9 launches.

[tater]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/in-depth-study-commercial-cargo-program-a-bargain-for-nasa/

Quote

In-depth study: Commercial cargo program a bargain for NASA

"It is arguable that the US Treasury has already made that initial investment back."

Resupply via SpaceX and OATK including all COTS investment has cost 2-3 times less than shuttle per delivered kg.

The paper as well:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170008895.pdf