totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[Brotoro]

Shiny. 

It could make such a splat.

[tater]

 

Tropical storm Eta might still be causing weather around the time Crew-1 is supposed to go, have to wait for the weather report, but it is likely not great.

[RealKerbal3x]

Elon wants SH to land directly on the launch pad again:

Though presumably for at least the first few flights it'll still be landing on a separate pad.

[cubinator]

I am wondering what the launch pad is going to be made of. The MLP of the Saturn V had ablative paint to keep it cool - I can't imagine 28-however many Raptors it is now are better than 5 F-1s for that.

[RealKerbal3x]

5 minutes ago, cubinator said:

I am wondering what the launch pad is going to be made of. The MLP of the Saturn V had ablative paint to keep it cool - I can't imagine 28-however many Raptors it is now are better than 5 F-1s for that.

Raptor has higher chamber pressure (330 bar vs 70) and higher exhaust velocity (3.2km/s vs 2.58) than F-1, and Super Heavy will have nearly twice the thrust of Saturn V (65 MN vs 35.1). They also can't use ablative paint on a launch pad designed for rapid turnaround, so they're either going to have to install TPS tiles on the pad () or have a really efficiently cooled flame diverter.

[Spaceception]

Stacking has begun.

That means SN8 is on the pad, SN9 has its wings and it getting ready for pre-flight preps in the high bay, SN10 has its tank section finishing up, and SN11 has started stacking as well now that SN9 is out. By the end of the month, could we see SN12 begin stacking too?

Edited November 8, 2020 by Spaceception

[magnemoe]

23 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Raptor has higher chamber pressure (330 bar vs 70) and higher exhaust velocity (3.2km/s vs 2.58) than F-1, and Super Heavy will have nearly twice the thrust of Saturn V (65 MN vs 35.1). They also can't use ablative paint on a launch pad designed for rapid turnaround, so they're either going to have to install TPS tiles on the pad () or have a really efficiently cooled flame diverter.

Either active cooling or TPS perhaps an combination, musk talked about having no flame diverter who I doubt will work also wonder if they can have flame go in all directions, down the line they will need an fixed crane and launch tower. 
Now you could use the water for sound suppression first for cooling. 
Remember they will also do superheavy static fires who is probably worse than launches as the heating last longer. 

[cubinator]

41 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Raptor has higher chamber pressure (330 bar vs 70) and higher exhaust velocity (3.2km/s vs 2.58) than F-1, and Super Heavy will have nearly twice the thrust of Saturn V (65 MN vs 35.1). They also can't use ablative paint on a launch pad designed for rapid turnaround, so they're either going to have to install TPS tiles on the pad () or have a really efficiently cooled flame diverter.

Maybe a LN2 deluge instead of water? Though water has a much higher specific heat...It's gonna be toasty. Superchilled saltwater?  

Edited November 8, 2020 by cubinator

[Spacescifi]

12 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Maybe a LN2 deluge instead of water? Though water has a much higher specific heat...It's gonna be toasty. Superchilled saltwater?  

 

Tons of chilled Liquid helium flowing through the pad from elsewhere through pipes?

Helium is the element with lowest boiling temperature is 4K at normal atmospheric pressure. It is also the only element which does not freeze solid at all — at temperatures very close to absolute zero it instead becomes a “superfluid”: Superfluidity - Wikipedia

So helium is the coldest liquid.

[tater]

Ooops, didn't realize this was just up the thread.  Super loud storm last night woke me up, I was a little loopy.

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by tater

[Scotius]

I can see one way around the threat of landing rocket utterly frying the launchpad. Catch it in a cradle high enough, exhaust isn't quite reaching the ground to wreck things.

It will require insane level of precision. It will be all kinds of dangerous.

I'd call it insane... but i watched this:

So... maybe?

[magnemoe]

25 minutes ago, Spacescifi said:

 

Tons of chilled Liquid helium flowing through the pad from elsewhere through pipes?

Helium is the element with lowest boiling temperature is 4K at normal atmospheric pressure. It is also the only element which does not freeze solid at all — at temperatures very close to absolute zero it instead becomes a “superfluid”: Superfluidity - Wikipedia

So helium is the coldest liquid.

Helium is expensive, they get almost free liquid nitrogen making LOX and 3x the LOX. 
Not enough to cool an full duration superheavy static fire but an launch would not be an problem. 

[Deddly]

Doesn't methane burn cooler than RP1? 

[RealKerbal3x]

1 minute ago, Deddly said:

Doesn't methane burn cooler than RP1? 

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that SpaceX had to invent some new high-temperature alloys for Raptor to not melt.

[RCgothic]

2 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Stacking has begun.

That means SN8 is on the pad, SN9 has its wings and it getting ready for pre-flight preps in the high bay, SN10 has its tank section finishing up, and SN11 has started stacking as well now that SN9 is out. By the end of the month, could we see SN12 begin stacking too?

Second SH1 tank section has been stacked in the high bay. Rapid progress!

 

 

[RealKerbal3x]

They're not even waiting on the high bay to be fully finished before starting SH stacking, wow!

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that SpaceX had to invent some new high-temperature alloys for Raptor to not melt.

The turbo pump are not very hot as they run either extremely oxidizer or fuel rich.  Engine itself is probably hotter but they cool it with liquid methane. But I assume supercooling the RP1 help cooling the merlins.

[kerbiloid]

Meanwhile.
Their boring company was so boring, that the corresponding thread got lost somewhere in the past.

A maiden flight.

Spoiler

 

 

[Ultimate Steve]

11 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Meanwhile.
Their boring company was so boring, that the corresponding thread got lost somewhere in the past.

A maiden flight.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I'm confused, should this go in the SpaceX thread because it was partially their concept, the boring thread because they planned to do that at one point, or the virgin galactic thread because this loop is a virgin project?

[RealKerbal3x]

6 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

I'm confused, should this go in the SpaceX thread because it was partially their concept, the boring thread because they planned to do that at one point, or the virgin galactic thread because this loop is a virgin project?

Maybe we need a Hyperloop thread and/or a 'miscellaneous Elon Musk companies' thread.

[mikegarrison]

(shrug)

Good luck to them, but this has even more issues than maglev trains, and those have been "the future" for about 100 years now. I guess we'll see.

[tater]

5 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Meanwhile.
Their boring company was so boring, that the corresponding thread got lost somewhere in the past.

A maiden flight.

  Hide contents

 

 

This ^^^ is Virgin, and they have a thread for their space stuff, too

 

 

3 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

Good luck to them, but this has even more issues than maglev trains, and those have been "the future" for about 100 years now. I guess we'll see.

yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Closer to on-topic for this thread, goofy as it is, hyperloop "train" cars makes more sense than Boring Company tubes using Model 3 Teslas to me.

 

Even more on topic, the pad is closed at Boca Chica for a Wet Dress Rehearsal, and maybe static fire?

[RealKerbal3x]

12 hours ago, tater said:

the pad is closed at Boca Chica for a Wet Dress Rehearsal, and maybe static fire?

I'm quite late, but the test was either a completed WDR or an aborted static fire.

Edited November 10, 2020 by RealKerbal3x

[tater]

 

 

[RealKerbal3x]

The worm is on the upper stage this time, I don't think the first stage has one.