SpaceX rockets and launches
- Thread starter rover07
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Not shot by me, but very close to where I was stood. It doesn't really do merit to the wall of sound that you get. We were 4 miles from the pad and it was still a pounding feeling from the sound. Apparently the crackling sound at continuing sonic booms from the exhaust. The exhaust leaves the chambers supersonically, as they decelerate you get the transition giving the shock waves.
I was easily able to see all the way to MEKO, separation and 2nd Stage start. Folks around me swore that they were able to see the return burns, but I couldn't. Walking back to the car I came across a group that had a speaker out to monitor the landing and was able to listen to the landing. Lots of cheers and high fives when they nailed it.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
god willing I'll be old and rich enough to watch the mars launch wherever it may go from. I know they haven't even built the rocket yet or put jobcentre notices up for crew but maybe 20 yrs...
Idaho
blah blah blah
A new life awaits you in the off world colonies.
2hats
Dust.
An upcoming GAO report apparently criticises SpaceX over F9 Merlin engine turbopump issues - namely blade cracks. It requires a redesign before the vehicle gets human rated which SpaceX are going to undertake for the block 5 engines (due towards the end of the year).
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The turbopump blade cracks were identified over a year ago and a redesigned version has flown twice already.
Exclusive: SpaceX to hit fastest launch pace with new Florida site - executive
Incidentally, Elon Musk has bought a used tunnel boring machine cos he was stuck in traffic and thought tunneling would be a good thing to get into. Informed specualtion is that it'll be a re-emergence of the Subterrene from the 70s, which would have used nucelar power to melt/fracture rock.
Atomic Skies: The Atomic Subterrene
Exclusive: SpaceX to hit fastest launch pace with new Florida site - executive
Incidentally, Elon Musk has bought a used tunnel boring machine cos he was stuck in traffic and thought tunneling would be a good thing to get into. Informed specualtion is that it'll be a re-emergence of the Subterrene from the 70s, which would have used nucelar power to melt/fracture rock.
Atomic Skies: The Atomic Subterrene
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Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
EastEnder
Brixton Barnacle
Shame it's nothing but publicity seeking bullshit though...
Exactly how many manned space flights have SpaceX achieved to date? Oh yeah, that'd be a big fat ZERO!
I applaud their ambition, but I do wish they'd tone down the unrealistic press releases. Yes, I'm sure they'll get there in the end, but making grandiose claims about a manned moon orbit mission by next year is more about raising their profile & boosting Musk's ego.
lefteri
Well-Known Member
Or he'll use it build the underground lair befitting of someone who's name sounds like a bond villain
editor
hiraethified
Mind you. I'll have a ticket if there's one going spare.
ferrelhadley
There is no love between us anymore.
And? 10 years ago they had not achieved orbit, no commercially funded vehicle had. Now they are regular suppliers of the ISS. The vehicle they use is pressurised and is successfully returned to Earth. Its almost a matter of strapping chairs in to turn it into a human vehicle. The two big obstacles are the new launch vehicle and the return velocity. Id happily put even money on them doing it by 2020.
EastEnder
Brixton Barnacle
I don't doubt they'll do it, I'm just highly sceptical of a manned trip round the moon by the end of next year. They've not yet completed a single manned flight, even to LEO. And if they rush things, and there's a fatal accident as a result, it'll put their efforts back considerably - the loss of confidence in their capabilities could be very grave. We're not in a race to the moon like in the 60's, so any impression that they ran before than could walk would be seriously bad.
They need to show that they can safely send humans to orbit, and return them, several times at least. They need to show they can send an unmanned human-certified craft around the moon, and return it safely. Only then could they even consider sending a manned craft around the moon, to do so sooner would be wholly reckless. So when Musk says he can do all that before the end of next year, I stand by my assertion that that is unrealistic & he's saying it more for the publicity, rather than because he genuinely believes it to be viable.
EastEnder
Brixton Barnacle
Seems I'm not the only one who's got an issue with SpaceX's overly ambitious press releases:
If you think NASA is frustrated with SpaceX, you’re probably right
If you think NASA is frustrated with SpaceX, you’re probably right
editor
hiraethified
Next launch is scheduled for tomorrow (30-Mar-17) at 18:27 EDT, 23:27 BST (with a window of 2.5 hours). SES-10 will be the first to use a previously flown booster first stage. It was used to lift the CRS-8 payload to ISS in April last year and took four months to refurbish. They are aiming to recover the booster again on the drone-ship OCISLU, but it will have been used much harder than the previous flight since SES-10 is aiming for a GTO orbit. The static test fire has already been completed without issues.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Great news
Do we have any figures, however approximate, on how much they could save by reusing the rocket? I realise it'd depend on how many uses they can get out of a typical unit..
They've said that they are giving discounts of 10% at the moment and SES got more for this flight, I would expect that to increase as reliability and re-use increases. The Block-5 version will start to be used later this year and will have a host of improvements, IIRC that they are aiming for 10 flights per booster. I think one of the cores on the Falcon Heavy demo flight is also going to be a previously flown core.
They are also improving ground operations, trialling a device that's been nicknamed Roomba, a low height tracked vehicle that can run under a landed booster and swing four arms up to grab the booster.
SpaceX Droneship 'Roomba' Envisioning
They are also improving ground operations, trialling a device that's been nicknamed Roomba, a low height tracked vehicle that can run under a landed booster and swing four arms up to grab the booster.
SpaceX Droneship 'Roomba' Envisioning
The Octagon
Stop...Hammertime
Historic stuff 
Now, let's get our asses to Mars.
Now, let's get our asses to Mars.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Depends entirely on the cost of refurb (and of course there's the devlopment cost of all this reusability tech to pay off). Musk reckons 30% discount for near-term re-flown stages.Great news
Do we have any figures, however approximate, on how much they could save by reusing the rocket? I realise it'd depend on how many uses they can get out of a typical unit..
ferrelhadley
There is no love between us anymore.
They are operating in an environment of high cost low frequency launches. This gives the the cash per flight of a disposable rocket. The interesting thing is that follower companies will not have this if SpaceX are able to achieve 10 launches per rocket. They will see falling costs from material and fabrication plus increasing customers as costs fall. If you are not already on this tread mill it could be a very hard act to learn the skills of reusable cheap rockets in an economy where one dominant player has the volume and the skills already. If they pull this off and they are maybe 2/3rds there, this will be one of the disruptive technologies of the next 30 years.
They also have a good chance of growing their market by creating demand from falling costs.
I think the driver for the super-fast turnaround times is Elon Musk's project for a low-cost satellite based broadband. He would require >4000 LEO satellites for the full network. To deliver that in a realistic timescale, as well as trying to relieve the backlog of launches that they are suffering from, he will need a much higher launch cadence. From the articles I've seen, his potential income from that project has the ability to be far greater than that from SpaceX, I believe he's looking at that to fund his Mars Colonization project.
It's one hell of a target, but it does imply that he his looking forwards to almost airliner levels of reliability (Ok, you don't refurb an airliner after 10 flights, but then even Concorde go through the same stresses).
