RCgothic Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, tater said: Pathfinders. Ie: not flight articles. But they have been hot fired, which seems unusual for pathfinders maybe. Not disputing that they won't fly. Edited December 8, 2020 by RCgothic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, RCgothic said: But they have been hot fired, which seems unusual for pathfinders maybe. Isn't that the norm ? LE-9 of MHI/JAXA's new H-3 launcher has also been test-fired (in fact up to the launch config of 3 simultaneous engines) but it won't be used on the first flight - they've been tested multiple times, and in multiple design iteration, since years ago. If anything now the first H-3 launch has been delayed to next year (2021, initially expected to be about now - end of 2020) so it's unlikely that the latest article would get to fly, probably more of finalizing the design. Edited December 8, 2020 by YNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannu2 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 3 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said: Raptor SN2 was originally intended to fly. These won't. So that wouldn't be snarky enough. If these can be fired for ground tests they could probably do small hop with test device. But ULA does not test so intensively (or do not tell about their tests) and need more developed motors to their test devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Hannu2 said: they could probably do small hop Kinda pointless if you're not doing propulsive landing back. If you're willing to loose some grain silo and you do intend to land said grain silo propulsively back, then it'd make more sense. Edited December 8, 2020 by YNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 It sounds to me like these are test articles that revealed some problem in the design which can't be economically retrofitted, so they are now being used as dummy engines to "pathfind" manufacturing processes at ULA. When SpaceX does this sort of thing, a lot of people on this website adore them for their supposedly unique approach to vehicle design. But if BO and ULA do it, then it's a scam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 9 hours ago, mikegarrison said: When SpaceX does this sort of thing, a lot of people on this website adore them for their supposedly unique approach to vehicle design. But if BO and ULA do it, then it's a scam? Yeah, this seems not only normal, but an excellent use of flawed test engines. Assuming the interface design is not the problem, all the plumbing is in the same place for dry fits to thrust structures, etc. The not flight articles dig was just, well, a dig at BO—they literally have all the money in the world, and they seem to be running behind schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, tater said: they literally have all the money in the world, and they seem to be running behind schedule. Eh, not the first time it ever happened, so... Also I should note that it seems to go about the same pace as H-3's LE-9 : conceived 2013/2014, tests starting 2014, first flight 2021. F1/F9's Merlin dated back from all the way in 2002, and it only get to the 9-engine phase in 2010. Probably if they had a smaller launch vehicle to test it first on it'd get up faster since the requirements are much less than the final/latest requirements. Edited December 9, 2020 by YNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannu2 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 13 hours ago, mikegarrison said: When SpaceX does this sort of thing, a lot of people on this website adore them for their supposedly unique approach to vehicle design. But if BO and ULA do it, then it's a scam? It is return from intentional PR work. I think it is just fun for Musk to be popular among space nerds. Development process of Blue Origin seem to be very slow even Bezos has all benefits than Musk has and he is even richer. Musk's talks about Mars and aspirational schedules are what they are but SpaceX seem to bring every year something interesting to publicity or market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 4 hours ago, Hannu2 said: It is return from intentional PR work. I think it is just fun for Musk to be popular among space nerds. The Soviet style PR of BO is at least part of the problem in the other direction, they're substantially less transparent. ULA itself is maybe somewhere in between PR wise (largely because unlike Blue, they actually launch stuff, plus Tory Bruno is awesome). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Is that the wolf launch? It seems like they are cursed. Maybe it's actually a werewolf! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 Just now, mikegarrison said: Is that the wolf launch? It seems like they are cursed. Maybe it's actually a werewolf! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 This launch is cursed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Werewolf for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 Liftoff! Woot. Now, maybe they sing it's a small world after all or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Should've been "nominal" there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) 30 minutes ago, YNM said: Should've been "nominal" there Norminal. Also, this launch marks the end of this twitter account: https://twitter.com/BeforeNROL44 Edited December 11, 2020 by RealKerbal3x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 15, 2020 Author Share Posted December 15, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.