RCgothic Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Just now, tater said: Early on we saw those cleaned lines a lot for reused boosters. Maybe it's based on data they got during the previous launch that triggers a check? Well B1051.5 isn't the flight leader, so that agrees with what you're saying if they're being a little more cautious with B1049.6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 SSO-A was a third launch (B 1046.3) Expended on the Crew Dragon max q abort: Dunno if seams rechecked on that one as well, or still show stripy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Nice overview of the build site by RGV Aerial Photography. It's difficult to visualise how everything is laid out from ground-level shots but an aerial view really helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 9 hours ago, tater said: They've built 40 Raptors. ULA is still waiting on a "not pathfinder" Be-4, right? I need to keep this on hand for discussing hypotheticals, haha. It's very interesting. Raptor doesn't need the pintle injector because it is a gas-gas rocket, I believe? Interesting that the turbopump flameout is the limiting factor, rather than a loss of choke in the engine throat. I guess with a super high pressure engine that's to be expected. 4 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said: New downcomer, thrust puck and legs! (also, it's definitely a launch pad and not a water tower). Are those the new legs or the same design? 8 hours ago, Flavio hc16 said: So we now know that Starship can hover I think we always knew that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 SpaceX FM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 9 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: Are those the new legs or the same design? SN5 had miniscule v1.0 legs, these are apparently 60% longer v1.1 legs, possibly for SN8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 9 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said: SN5 had miniscule v1.0 legs, these are apparently 60% longer v1.1 legs, possibly for SN8. Hard to tell just by looking. I wonder if they use hydraulics or if they are single-use crush cores. From the webcast: Is this the first look we've gotten at the resting-nests for the fairing halves? Looks like an inflatable. Falcon 9 is in startup. Liftoff. Go Starlink! Go Falcon 9! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Max Q. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Look at that beautiful vapor cone. MECO, successful stage separation, and MVac light! Successful fairing separation. These are reused Starlink fairings. She says they will be doing a single-engine landing burn all the way, which makes sense given that this is their first time doing a sixth landing with one booster. Entry burn complete. It feels like it is coming in faster than normal? Or maybe it is just a clearer picture. Falcon has landed!! Congrats SpaceX on the sixth sequential landing of a booster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Never gets old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Nice landing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Maybe its just me not having watched a landing for a while but that one seemed especially smooth with very little use of the cold-gas thrusters on the way back down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 3 minutes ago, KSK said: Maybe its just me not having watched a landing for a while but that one seemed especially smooth with very little use of the cold-gas thrusters on the way back down. I got the impression they were taking it real easy the whole way up. MECO happened at like 90 kilometers, and they took over two minutes to get above 100 km. No pushing envelopes, just a slow, paced ride to orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 7 minutes ago, cubinator said: I got the impression they were taking it real easy the whole way up. MECO happened at like 90 kilometers, and they took over two minutes to get above 100 km. No pushing envelopes, just a slow, paced ride to orbit. Apart from the 6th landing. That was pushing the envelope a bit and why the nice slow-paced ride to orbit makes perfect sense. *knocks on wood* They're certainly starting to creep up on that 10x reuse goal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 13 minutes ago, KSK said: Maybe its just me not having watched a landing for a while but that one seemed especially smooth with very little use of the cold-gas thrusters on the way back down. Guess they hit the mark pretty well and its no boostback burn here, just the braking burn so no need to turn around fast, they probably also do correction during the braking burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 FAIRING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 They caught one of the fairing halves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 (edited) Those Starlink sats have to be really helping livestream coverage. I don't think we've ever seen consistent landing feeds on several launches back to back before. I thought SN6 would get SN30+ Raptors. I guess SN8 will get those. I wonder if the September presentation for Starship will be postponed. A lot of milestones are coming up within the next couple months or so: SN6 and possibly more 5 hops, Raptor SN50, SN8 belly flop attempt, SN9 stacking, High bay completion, and the start of Superheavy construction. I think it'd be really cool if we saw a Superheavy prototype and SN8 (if it survives) or 9 standing together for the presentation. That would go a long way if they talk about orbital attempts in 2021. Edited August 18, 2020 by Spaceception Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 And looks like a successful Starlink deploy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 And another precisely timed loss of signal during the deployment. I wonder why that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 50 minutes ago, tater said: Given that things are still very much in flux I wonder if they would ever consider doing multiple downcomers from the small tank to follow the heat shield and provide secondary cooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 8 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: Given that things are still very much in flux I wonder if they would ever consider doing multiple downcomers from the small tank to follow the heat shield and provide secondary cooling. As it will probably be empty during reentry that would be pointless, if its filled heating it up will just get more LOX to boil off. If follows the wall outside in the LOX tank as they don't want to push it trough the bulkheads to close to the edge. Benefit of having it inside the tank is that pressure difference is lower Now you could probably put it in the raceway but it might not be room. Now one idea could be to use an thicker methane downcommer and use that as the header tank for methane. it don't looks to be an valve between the header tank and the downcommer anyway. But they might want it high for balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 1 hour ago, magnemoe said: As it will probably be empty during reentry that would be pointless, if its filled heating it up will just get more LOX to boil off. That would be the point. The header tank will be full and downcomers would be as well, so you end up with heat transfer from the plasma to the tiles, from the tiles to the steel, and from the steel to the LOX. LOX boil-off maintains main tank gas pressure, which you need for RCS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Posted on NSF I knew this already, but it's pretty cool how they started off with Hydrolox. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47506.msg2121675#msg2121675 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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