Beittil Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Love this photo! DocM and Draggendrop 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted April 14, 2016 Veteran Share Posted April 14, 2016 Flown Falcon 9 booster hoisted off landing platform Quote SpaceX rocket technicians offloaded the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket from its landing platform Tuesday, beginning a pioneering test campaign to verify its readiness for another launch later this year. The 15-story booster arrived at Port Canaveral, a few miles south of the Falcon 9 launch site, around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) Tuesday. A heavy-duty lifting fixture moved into place on top of the vertical rocket booster a few hours later, and the rocket was craned off the landing ship around 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). The crane maneuvered the first stage on to a cradle, where ground crews were expected to complete procedures to “safe” the rocket — a process which includes draining the vehicle of its toxic igniter fluid, disarming of its pyrotechnic destruct system, and removal of propellants and high-pressure gases. Some of the safing procedures were accomplished at sea before the rocket booster, which also includes the “interstage” adapter to connect with the Falcon 9’s upper stage, arrived back on Florida’s Space Coast. The rocket’s four landing legs will be removed or retracted, and then the booster will be rotated horizontal and loaded on a trailer for transport to a nearby SpaceX facility for inspections and a series of “static fire” engine tests. SpaceX chief Elon Musk said last week the rocket will likely be test-fired at launch pad 39A, a former space shuttle launch facility. If all goes well, it could be launched again on a mission as soon as June. The rocket will also get a thorough scrubbing to clean off scorching marks its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere on the way to landing on the touchdown target in the Atlantic Ocean after Friday’s launch to the International Space Station. SpaceX does not plan to re-paint the rocket before flying it again. Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/04/13/flown-falcon-9-booster-hoisted-off-landing-platform/ As soon as you see a person for reference, this launcher gets that much larger....F9 continually amazes me..... Unobscured Vision and Jim K 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Is there an actual limit they are going for? I mean in terms of size? I'd reckon they could pretty much just keep expanding. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted April 14, 2016 Veteran Share Posted April 14, 2016 Just now, chrisj1968 said: Is there an actual limit they are going for? I mean in terms of size? I'd reckon they could pretty much just keep expanding. Falcon Heavy, a 3 core, will begin launch tests this year....and the monster BFR/MCT will be in the near future....and will dwarf F9 in size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 man if I had to sit in this new BFR/MCT.. imagine the G's you'd pull on liftoff. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted April 14, 2016 Global Moderator Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) 5 minutes ago, chrisj1968 said: Is there an actual limit they are going for? I mean in terms of size? I'd reckon they could pretty much just keep expanding. Well...the Falcon Heavy later this year ... the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V. And a much larger rocket (BFR) in the next few years ... probably will be announced later this year. Much more powerful than the Saturn V. Edit: Ninja'd Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted April 14, 2016 Veteran Share Posted April 14, 2016 2 minutes ago, chrisj1968 said: man if I had to sit in this new BFR/MCT.. imagine the G's you'd pull on liftoff. I'm not sure of the G's it will pull, but it will be human rated and carry around 100 colonists and supplies, around 100 tons...Doc has more data on it. It can also be used as a tanker and cargo hauler. It will be the largest monster created to launch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted April 14, 2016 Global Moderator Share Posted April 14, 2016 15 minutes ago, Draggendrop said: I'm not sure of the G's it will pull, but it will be human rated and carry around 100 colonists and supplies, around 100 tons...Doc has more data on it. It can also be used as a tanker and cargo hauler. It will be the largest monster created to launch. Aren't human launches typically around 1-3 g's (depending of course where they are at during the ascent). I think Soyuz is a bit "harsher" ... doing around 4'ish. Not sure about Apollo? I use to like watching the g force counter on the shuttle launches. Lift off to SRB sep was usually around 2 g's, after SRB sep it would be 1g but it would steadily climb to 3gs ... the higher and faster they got. Around 7 and half minutes they would start to throttle the SMEs down gradually so the crew wouldn't experience greater than 3gs. Anyway...regardless of how big the rocket is ... g's only matter with how fast you're going up. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 As far as we know, Falcon Heavy is going to essentially be three of these strapped together ... at first. Two of them will act as Boosters; the idea being that since they're relieved of the "bulk" of acting as solo launchers, they become formidably powerful as Boost Stages. They'll be the ones doing RTLS and ASDS landings at a 50/50 ratio. The Center FH Core is the one that will be doing all of the ASDS Landings since it will fly the farthest of the S1 sections -- nearly 100 km up. Think of how a Delta 4 Heavy first stage does things, and you'll get an idea of how FH will fly .. at least when it's pushing things. After stage separation that's when things get different. Oh, and the S2's will see evolutions over the next few years as SpaceX transitions to Raptor-powered engines. BFR/MCT is going to be disgustingly vulgar with how powerful it will be. There's never been anything like it -- Saturn V will look like an Atlas V launch in comparison ... that much of a difference in sheer brutality. Anyone within 10 miles will require ear protection from the noise alone ... and that's not an exaggeration. The preliminary numbers are saying the thrust could be as high as 15-17 MILLION pounds of thrust out of the first stage. if that's true, spectators might require eye protection too because it'll be too bright to look at directly. So while Falcon Heavy might not be as powerful as Apollo/Saturn, BFR/MCT sure as #### will be, and then some. Jim K and Draggendrop 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) Quote Is there an actual limit they are going for? I mean in terms of size? I'd reckon they could pretty much just keep expandin. Saturn V's first stage delivered 34,020 kN of thrust, and BFR will double that. So much that any existing launch pad would be pulverized. Saturn V was 10.1 meters across, and the Shuttle main tank and SLS both 8.4 meters. BFR is said to be 15 meters across. Most manned spacecraft have had less than 10 cubic meters of habitable volume, with the Shuttle having about 71.5 cubic meters. ISS has about 916 cubic meters. To meet its stated specs BFS will need to have several thousand cubic meters. Draggendrop and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Legs coming off now. Draggendrop and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Dragon CRS-8 is coming home today. Splashdown off Baja, California at 1455E. Departure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+John. Subscriber¹ Posted May 11, 2016 Subscriber¹ Share Posted May 11, 2016 Can't wait until it lands on Just Read The Instructions One day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 A propulsive cargo landing would be a CRS-2 Dragon 2 mission where NASA wants rapid return of experiments. Those will land at either KSC LZ-1 or the Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport. Perhaps also at the Vandenberg SLC-4W landing pad. Emn1ty 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Deorbit burn complete, trunk jettisoned. On the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Drogues deployed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 SpaceX @SpaceX Dragon's 3 main parachutes have been deployed. Splashdown in about 5 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 SpaceX @SpaceX Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, carrying thousands of pounds of @NASA science and research cargo back from the @Space_Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 11, 2016 Veteran Share Posted May 11, 2016 bits and bytes.... splashdown area image link NASA Press Release Quote May 11, 2016 RELEASE 16-052 Critical NASA Science Returns to Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 11, about 261 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA, and then be prepared for shipment to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing. A variety of technology and biology studies conducted in the unique microgravity environment of the space station returned aboard the commercial resupply spacecraft, including research in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. The Microchannel Diffusion study, for example, examined how microparticles interact with each other and their delivery channel in the absence of gravitational forces. In this one-of-a-kind laboratory, researchers were able to observe nanoscale behaviors at slightly larger scales – knowledge which may have implications for advancements in particle filtration, space exploration and drug delivery technologies. CASIS Protein Crystal Growth 4 also has applications in medicine – specifically, drug design and development. Growing protein crystals in microgravity can avoid some of the obstacles inherent to protein crystallization on Earth, such as sedimentation. One investigation explored the effect of microgravity on the co-crystallization of a membrane protein with a medically-relevant compound in order to determine its three-dimensional structure. This will enable scientists to use “designer” compounds to chemically target and inhibit an important human biological pathway thought to be responsible for several types of cancer. The spacecraft also returned to Earth the final batch of human research samples from former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s historic one-year mission. These samples will be analyzed for studies such as Biochemical Profile, Cardio Ox, Fluid Shifts, Microbiome, Salivary Markers and the Twins Study. Additional samples taken on the ground, as Kelly continues to support these studies, will provide insights relevant for NASA’s Journey to Mars as the agency learns more about how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight. The spacesuit worn by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra during a January spacewalk also was returned for additional analysis by engineers on the ground, as NASA continues to investigate the source of water that caused and early end to the spacewalk after Kopra reported a small water bubble inside his helmet. Dragon currently is the only station resupply spacecraft able to return a significant amount of cargo to Earth. The spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida April 8, and arrived at the space station April 10, carrying almost 7,000 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company’s eighth NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission. The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars. Get more information about SpaceX's mission to the International Space Station at: http://www.nasa.gov/spacex Get more information about the International Space Station at: http://www.nasa.gov/station -end- http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/critical-nasa-science-returns-to-earth-aboard-spacex-dragon-spacecraft DocM and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Ahhh I always like it when the Dragons come home with treasure. Draggendrop and DocM 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 12, 2016 Veteran Share Posted May 12, 2016 Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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