totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[PakledHostage]

2 hours ago, Xd the great said:

You may head north...

And the Earth rotates.

Canaveral is always at 23 odd degrees north, no matter how much the Earth rotates (unless something terrible has happened) and CatastrophicFailure already constrained out "heading north".

Edit: Launch windows to GTO have been discussed here before. The thread includes a link that suggests thermal considerations during transfer are a major factor determining launch window timing.

Edited April 11, 2019 by PakledHostage

[tater]

 

(SpaceX graphic used by permission)

[Barzon]

Since the cargo bay door does not encounter the extreme heat of reentry, could it be made of some sort of material that rolls up, to allow a cargo bay like in the diagram?
@sevenperforce?

[Xd the great]

10 minutes ago, Barzon Kerman said:

Since the cargo bay door does not encounter the extreme heat of reentry, could it be made of some sort of material that rolls up, to allow a cargo bay like in the diagram?
@sevenperforce?

Dunno which is lighter and is less prone to faliure, a space shuttle-like door or a rolling door..

[Delay]

Curious that the launch is set to occur at 3:35 UTC+2, which is outside the launch window (8:32 pm EDT ; 2:32 UTC+2).

[tater]

You can see the hatch line in the image presented. I assume it opens like the old "chomper" image we have seen, folding backwards. Alternately, I suppose it could hinge at the front (like an old Saab hood).

[sh1pman]

1 hour ago, tater said:

 

(SpaceX graphic used by permission)

Is this the latest official render of Starship?

[tater]

Just now, sh1pman said:

Is this the latest official render of Starship?

I think so, because Goddard says they used the image with permission.

Full image:

[ThatGuyWithALongUsername]

Pretty sure this is the first time that I know of where NASA is seriously considering Starship. Hardly see it even mentioned anywhere else. Hmm...

 

Also, if this is official, than this is our first look at the updated cargo version, even including some nice detail on the inside.

Edited April 11, 2019 by ThatGuyWithALongUsername

[tater]

That telescope is way out in the future, however.

[StrandedonEarth]

17 minutes ago, tater said:

That telescope is way out in the future, however.

Looks like it based on a HECS or HECS II probe core...

[tater]

It was also designed to fit in SLS Block 2.

Starship is actually a more likely vehicle at this point. Engines exist, metal being bent on test vehicle. SLS Block 2 needs an upper stage that doesn't exist, advanced side boosters that don't exist, a fairing that doesn't exist (easy), and a new MLP, and reconfigured VAB (something that apparently takes loads of $, and 33 months from when they start).

Edited April 11, 2019 by tater

[StrandedonEarth]

It would be nice if those cost/time estimates were in Scotty-time, not Elon-time

[KSK]

35 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

It would be nice if those cost/time estimates were in Scotty-time, not Elon-time

Ye cannae break the laws of optimism Cap’n.

[Geonovast]

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Looks like it based on a HECS or HECS II probe core...

Actually, I think that's the payload adapter... complete with a robot arm to actually deploy the payload... 

[Racescort666]

3 hours ago, Xd the great said:

Dunno which is lighter and is less prone to faliure, a space shuttle-like door or a rolling door..

Shuttle-like door (I assume you mean like the shuttle payload bay). Rolling doors have way more failure points than a (relatively) simple 4-bar linkage like the Shuttle payload bay door.

[tater]

 

[magnemoe]

3 hours ago, ThatGuyWithALongUsername said:

Pretty sure this is the first time that I know of where NASA is seriously considering Starship. Hardly see it even mentioned anywhere else. Hmm...

 

Also, if this is official, than this is our first look at the updated cargo version, even including some nice detail on the inside.

Guess the top 2 meters will be closed off, RCS and canard control 
And they will not use bottom hinged doors, it would make it impossible to deploy payloads landed on Mars or Moon. 
It would also make it impossible to integrate them without using the KSC WAB or similar facilities. 
Shuttle style doors or top hinged 
 

1 hour ago, Racescort666 said:

Shuttle-like door (I assume you mean like the shuttle payload bay). Rolling doors have way more failure points than a (relatively) simple 4-bar linkage like the Shuttle payload bay door.

Yes, garage doors tend to break down way more often than barn doors. 

 

[tater]

True, and if it were to hinge at the top, with an appropriate structure, the door itself could be a crane.

Here's an image (crappy) I made and posted probably a couple years ago:

 

 

 

[magnemoe]

22 minutes ago, tater said:

True, and if it were to hinge at the top, with an appropriate structure, the door itself could be a crane.

Here's an image (crappy) I made and posted probably a couple years ago:

 

 

 

Works but would work just as well with an extendable arm ad shuttle doors. 
You could remove arm or replace it with an cadarm in orbit
Note that with starship you have the option to got to GEO and return an satellite to earth if you clip the solar panels. . 

[CatastrophicFailure]

Slightly relevant: the Beresheet lunar lander, launched on an F9 with PSN-6 a couple months ago, has failed.  Looks like the main engine cut out around 10km. They managed to restart it, but too late, hit the ground at 134m/s. The whole thing was very Kerbal to watch, I think we’ve all been in that position, obviously with much less on the line. 

 

Let’s hope that was a sink for any bad space karma floating around, with Falcon Heavy just a couple hours away. 

@Just Jim about that poop icon... 

[sh1pman]

18 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

hit the ground at 134m/s.

Horizontal velocity was north of 900 m/s.

[CatastrophicFailure]

1 minute ago, sh1pman said:

Horizontal velocity was north of 900 m/s.

Was it? I thought the other screen showed it much less, descending nearly vertically.  

[sh1pman]

7 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Was it? I thought the other screen showed it much less, descending nearly vertically.