Space X

josip · 29-07-2019 9:57pm

Half a fairing recovered recently.

https://www.space.com/spacex-reuse-payload-fairing-starlink-launch.html

They'll eventually try to recover the exhaust gasses...

Westernyelp · 29-07-2019 10:07pm

Mr Steven is a mad looking yoke. Private companies are obviously the future of space exploration. For the US at least. It would be great though if we could remove Geopolitical constraints somehow and work together as a species. Imagine what we could do then

vargoo · 29-07-2019 11:49pm

Westernyelp wrote: »

Mr Steven is a mad looking yoke. Private companies are obviously the future of space exploration. For the US at least. It would be great though if we could remove Geopolitical constraints somehow and work together as a species. Imagine what we could do then

Imagine what the US Defence budget could do!

tjhook · 31-07-2019 9:16am

Westernyelp wrote: »

It would be great though if we could remove Geopolitical constraints somehow and work together as a species. Imagine what we could do then

I wonder if the opposite also applies though - Could Kennedy could have started a 8-year Apollo programme to go to the moon ("and do the other things") without the cold war and the competition that sprang from it?

In many ways it was a reckless programme, but it delivered what may very well be the peak of human achievement so far.

Capt'n Midnight · 31-07-2019 8:42pm

vargoo wrote: »

Imagine what the US Defence budget could do!

2001 A Space Odyssey cost about $10m to make, Kubrick pointed out that NASA were spending that much every day.

Apollo cost $25.4 Billion

The US spent more on Economic and Military aid to South Vietnam ($28.5 Billion) during the war.

Including that the direct cost fo the war was $168 billion. Add multiples of that for interest costs and support for veterans.

Apollo was a casualty of Vietnam. And as one comment said like a dog cocking it's leg at a car, they'd put their mark on the moon and had no more interest in it.

Oddly enough the computer boom from the minimization for Apollo came about because NASA fired everyone after Apollo was canned. So they went in to industry.

Capt'n Midnight · 14-08-2019 6:13pm

SpaceX have caught another payload shroud. The fairings cost a couple a million a go which adds up.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/14/spacex_falcon_9_atlas_v_and_ariane_5_soar_while_vector_returns_to_earth_with_a_bump/

One half of the payload shroud was caught in a net strung across the top of the Ms Tree recovery vessel. The other half landed in the ocean.

The capture marked the second time SpaceX had netted a fairing half. The next step will be to catch both (using different ships) for easier reuse

josip · 29-08-2019 11:43am

Water tower lift off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYb3bfA6_sQ

Stan27 · 24-10-2019 11:33am

josip wrote: »

Water tower lift off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYb3bfA6_sQ

Cant wait to see the starship when its finally built

FFVII · 01-11-2019 2:33am

Stan27 wrote: »

Cant wait to see the starship when its finally built

https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/10/29/the-spacex-starship-is-a-very-big-deal/?utm_source=digg

read for anyone wanting to know what comes next

josip · 21-11-2019 11:23am

Gonna need a stronger Starship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=3nTSubYzQOM&feature=emb_logo

A little background.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50500980

Westernyelp · 21-11-2019 6:40pm

That's what testing is for I suppose. I don't think it's a huge setback

Capt'n Midnight · 21-11-2019 7:14pm

Westernyelp wrote: »

That's what testing is for I suppose. I don't think it's a huge setback

Capt'n Midnight · 23-07-2020 4:22pm

This should make each mission a little cheaper.

SpaceX pulls off an incredible catch, netting both halves of its Falcon fairing as they fell Earthwards after latest launch

Cold nitrogen thrusters on each piece are used to stabilize it and create a predictable descent. Then location equipment using GPS is turned on and five miles above the ground a steerable parachute is deployed to both slow it down and help guide it.

Meanwhile on the ocean below the Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief (Mystery and Mischief) ships – each equipped with 3,700 m2 nets on extended arms, got into position and caught the falling fairings before they hit the ocean.
...

But just as importantly, it comes with big cost savings, as each fairing costs around $6m to manufacture.

Westernyelp · 03-08-2020 10:33pm

Looks like they are going for the 150m hop with SN5 tonight at ~12 midnight

namloc1980 · 05-08-2020 10:04am

And it flew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1HA9LlFNM0

josip · 05-08-2020 12:22pm

Damn, I was up last night and when I checked I thought it had been scrubbed for a 2nd night.
Questions, some of which I could google, others not

It seemed to get quite a few degrees off the vertical early on, would it have been close to irrecoverable in anyone's opinion?
Afterwards the diamonds seemed to be also quite a few degrees off vertical, would that have been due to wind shear?
It looked from the video that there was only 1 motor? How many motors will this thing have when complete and how many of them will be used to land it?
Are the Starship Motors the same as in the Falcon?

Hmmzis · 05-08-2020 12:33pm

josip wrote: »

Damn, I was up last night and when I checked I thought it had been scrubbed for a 2nd night.
Questions, some of which I could google, others not

It seemed to get quite a few degrees off the vertical early on, would it have been close to irrecoverable in anyone's opinion?

Afterwards the diamonds seemed to be also quite a few degrees off vertical, would that have been due to wind shear?

It looked from the video that there was only 1 motor? How many motors will this thing have when complete and how many of them will be used to land it?

Are the Starship Motors the same as in the Falcon?

The motor (Raptor engine) is off axis in this vehicle, hence the odd looking flight profile.
The full Starship configuration will have 6 engines, 3 sea level and 3 vacuum optimized.
The Starship motors are called Raptor(s) and they are an entirely different beast than Merlin(s). Raptor uses methane and LOX, while Merlin uses RP-1 and LOX, Raptor is also a lot more efficient due to its full-flow staged combustion cycle with much higher chamber pressures and is bigger and therefore more thrust is produced.

namloc1980 · 05-08-2020 1:57pm

Hmmzis wrote: »

The motor (Raptor engine) is off axis in this vehicle, hence the odd looking flight profile.
The full Starship configuration will have 6 engines, 3 sea level and 3 vacuum optimized.
The Starship motors are called Raptor(s) and they are an entirely different beast than Merlin(s). Raptor uses methane and LOX, while Merlin uses RP-1 and LOX, Raptor is also a lot more efficient due to its full-flow staged combustion cycle with much higher chamber pressures and is bigger and therefore more thrust is produced.

In addition the full Starship configuration will have 31 Raptor engines in the first stage known as SuperHeavy. SuperHeavy is the rocket to get Starship to orbit.

jogdish · 05-08-2020 10:09pm

Hi,
I am just a bit confused after googleing with all the names. So there seems to be:
1) the tank section that flew yesterday
2) A section that will have people/payload

Then I see images of how it will be used to land on the moon, but that's called Artemis ? Is there an easy guide as to what starship/falcon heavy/Artemis all are?

Westernyelp · 05-08-2020 11:24pm

jogdish wrote: »

Hi,
I am just a bit confused after googleing with all the names. So there seems to be:
1) the tank section that flew yesterday
2) A section that will have people/payload

Then I see images of how it will be used to land on the moon, but that's called Artemis ? Is there an easy guide as to what starship/falcon heavy/Artemis all are?

Artemis is the name of the NASA moon mission (she was Apollo's sister) aiming to return astronauts to the moon by 2024.

SpaceX has been contracted to work on a Starship variant to be used as a moon lander.

The Tank section you seen yesterday will have a payload cone section on top and will all sit on top the super heavy launch system to get Starship to orbit.

https://www.spacex.com/

Starship https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Artemis https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/

Timmaay · 06-08-2020 12:02am

Hmmzis wrote: »

The motor (Raptor engine) is off axis in this vehicle, hence the odd looking flight profile.
The full Starship configuration will have 6 engines, 3 sea level and 3 vacuum optimized.
The Starship motors are called Raptor(s) and they are an entirely different beast than Merlin(s). Raptor uses methane and LOX, while Merlin uses RP-1 and LOX, Raptor is also a lot more efficient due to its full-flow staged combustion cycle with much higher chamber pressures and is bigger and therefore more thrust is produced.

The most significant difference between this and the star hopper which did a similar 150m jump last August is the legs have shrunk to only a fraction of the size of the overall structure, and indeed a fraction of the size of the legs on the falcon 9 also. That's the most amazing part of last night's flight for me, the fact that it largely nailed the landing (aside from being out afew degrees, but maybe that was due to the single offset engine?). I assume Spacex has made a big advancement in the flight control system to allow a much more precise landing?

Capt'n Midnight · 06-08-2020 12:14am

Timmaay wrote: »

I assume Spacex has made a big advancement in the flight control system to allow a much more precise landing?

DC-X was doing similar manoeuvrers back in 1993

It's incremental engineering. For space flight, like airliners the heavy lifting was done in the 1950's. 737's and R7's are still being built and still flying. They are mostly better than the earlier versions but only because of a lifetime of incremental improvements.

Methane is an interesting fuel. You need bigger tanks because of it's lower density so it's not half way to hydrogen. It's much better at regenerative cooling on reusable engines because it doesn't create as much gunk at high temperatures, as it's much easier to purify than RP-1.

New Origins are also using methane, but the proof of the pudding is the eating.

josip · 06-08-2020 12:26am

Will Starship need a hard packed landing area on Mars?
At the moment the Falcon lands on an 80m+ diameter landing pad made of concrete/asphalt.

Cookiemunster · 06-08-2020 9:26am

josip wrote: »

Will Starship need a hard packed landing area on Mars?
At the moment the Falcon lands on an 80m+ diameter landing pad made of concrete/asphalt.

The drone ships where most of the Falcon 9s land are roughly 90mx50m.

MayoForSam · 06-08-2020 12:32pm

josip wrote: »

Will Starship need a hard packed landing area on Mars?
At the moment the Falcon lands on an 80m+ diameter landing pad made of concrete/asphalt.

I'm sure someone will send a few robot landers in advance to find a nice, flat, hard surface before Starship touches down, might even lay a bit of "marscrete" if that's what it takes. That will be some occasion.

xper · 06-08-2020 9:47pm

Timmaay wrote: »

The most significant difference between this and the star hopper which did a similar 150m jump last August is the legs have shrunk to only a fraction of the size of the overall structure, and indeed a fraction of the size of the legs on the falcon 9 also. ...

josip wrote: »

Will Starship need a hard packed landing area on Mars?
At the moment the Falcon lands on an 80m+ diameter landing pad made of concrete/asphalt.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Tweeted: @TrevorMahlmann @arstechnica V1.1 legs will be ~60% longer. V2.0 legs will be much wider & taller — like Falcon, but capable of landing on unimproved surfaces & auto-leveling.

(Edit: of course, everything future that Elon tweets is subject to change)

Capt'n Midnight · 08-08-2020 3:14am

SpaceX and Boeing win launch contracts and quasi-legal subsidies for the 737 debacle respectively IMHO. :pac:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/07/spacex-and-ula-win-2022-pentagon-rocket-launch-contracts.html

The U.S. Air Force on Friday awarded rocket builders United Launch Alliance and Elon Musk’s SpaceX contracts worth billions to launch national security missions.
ULA, which won 60% of the launches, and SpaceX, which won the remaining 40%, beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
The military has said it expects to spend about $1 billion per year on launches.

jogdish · 25-08-2020 12:40pm

SN6 had a static test fire, and seems to be due a hop this weekend. Will be amazing to see the whole then when the payload/nose is also on it - then you have it ontop of the super heavy.

Timmaay · 25-08-2020 7:56pm

Sn5 outside, so I wounder will it see action again soon also?

The whole twitter debate about the water tower or starship heavy base is interesting also, it's an absolute monster. Elon hinted it's the starship heavy base but I wounder was there some sarcasm there.

jogdish · 25-08-2020 8:29pm

How many raptors will a full starship have ?

Also can some explain what all the fuss about the high bay is? what is a high bay? Im getting mixed up with various steel tanks.

Space X

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