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  On 12/9/2019 at 5:05 AM, magnemoe said:

Now the patch next to the grind fin makes my much more curious. 
That is going on here? kind of looks like an inspection port but with lots of strengthening. Is it for the helium tanks? 

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Yeah, that's interesting. At least three layers of doublers.

Edited by mikegarrison
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  On 12/12/2019 at 6:32 AM, magnemoe said:

Why? First stage is only flying for a few minutes? 
Now having them on upper stage makes some sense if it has to work for many hours like the last mission. 

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The panels/batteries aren’t powering the stage, they’re powering the lifting equipment for putting the stage on the transporter.

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  On 12/12/2019 at 6:42 AM, RealKerbal3x said:

The panels/batteries aren’t powering the stage, they’re powering the lifting equipment for putting the stage on the transporter.

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Quite so. A rather elegant solution, really: it’s entirely self-contained, no need for “shore power” to retract the legs, makes for a more streamlined process, etc. I would venture a guess it might also power some systems on board the booster, too, like if they monitor its status using existing sensors or some such. 

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  On 12/12/2019 at 9:25 AM, CatastrophicFailure said:

Quite so. A rather elegant solution, really: it’s entirely self-contained, no need for “shore power” to retract the legs, makes for a more streamlined process, etc. I would venture a guess it might also power some systems on board the booster, too, like if they monitor its status using existing sensors or some such. 

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See now its part of the cap and not the stage, makes more sense. 

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That's really neat but I don't think the solar panels power everything directly. It's more likely that they charge batteries when the equipment is not in use and then they use the power stored in those to lift the legs and do everything else.

Edited by Wjolcz
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  On 12/12/2019 at 10:59 AM, Wjolcz said:

That's really neat but I don't think the solar panels power everything directly. It's more likely that they charge batteries when the equipment is not in use and then they use the power stored in those to lift the legs and do everything else.

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Yes, that's in fact what the tweet says. "it needs solar power to recharge the batteries"

Powering stuff off the grid by solar and batteries probably works fine in Florida, Texas, or California. It's a little less reliable in Seattle, where I live.

Edited by mikegarrison
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