SpaceX Updates (Thread 7)

[DocM]

This may mean nothing, or it could be one of Elon Musk's dropped hints. Musk's Instagram account thumbnail may have a BFS clue - enlarged for clarity,

 

https://www.instagram.com/elonmusk/?hl=en

 

 

Looks like Musk, but see what's on the right? Cropped and enhanced,

 

 

Hmmmm.....

 

Doing a Google image search finds zero - it's only on his account and those of his followers.  And, perhaps, those who have noticed this.

Edited December 30, 2015 by DocM

[Beittil]

Funny thing is that there is at least 3 of them visible in the image

 

The image seems more like ships abandoning a devastated Earth to me than landing at a colony on Mars, anyone else have this to?

[Draggendrop Veteran]

My first instinct was late 50's, main 60's sci fi novel covers. Have been checking artwork for Asimov, Clarke and Herbert, so far no luck. This artwork is very distinct in the suit style...old yet modern, if that makes sense. The difficulty is that many novels had various covers related to print dates. This could also be short story magazine art.

 

One would have to see what authors that  Elon read for general sci fi, when he was younger.

 

My guess would be, that this is a hint. He is aware of the great interest in his projects and particularly, the level to which speculation has risen. IMO, this would be a detective game for him....bread crumb clues.

 

A closer look at those ships would lead one to believe that they could be a streamlined larger Dragon with large thrusters of the same placement as draco's. This is a very interesting ship artwork....and IMO, not a fluke that it is represented in "his" context.

 

I really like this artwork and will continue to look for it's source.

 

6 hours ago, Beittil said:

The image seems more like ships abandoning a devastated Earth to me than landing at a colony on Mars, anyone else have this to?

yes...this is what I would perceive.

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by Draggendrop

[Draggendrop Veteran]

click bait title when this is actually a compliment....

 

Elon Musk `Stepping on Toes' in Space Race, Russia Official Says

 

Quote

Elon Musk’s success in launching reusable space rockets means Russia must make its own projects cheaper as the cash-strapped country struggles to retain its share of the market, the country’s defense-industry chief said.

“The main goal today is to make space cheap,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who’s in charge of defense, told Rossiya 24 TV in an interview on Wednesday in Moscow. “Competitors are stepping on our toes. Look at what billionaire Musk is doing with his projects. This is very interesting, well done, and we treat this work with respect.”

 

Rogozin’s comments follow the first successful liftoff and landing of a reusable spacecraft this month by Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The South African-born mogul says the technology will dramatically cut the cost of space launches.

At the same time, Russia’s space industry has been hit by systemic under-financing and a brain drain after the collapse of the Soviet Union, while also suffering a series of botched space launches in recent years. Russia is one of the global leaders in the multibillion-dollar civilian space business.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-30/elon-musk-stepping-on-toes-in-space-race-russia-official-says

 

[Blue-Vision]

"Stepping on our toes" for a Russian is actually a compliment, meaning that someone has done a good job and that the person saying it needs to catch up.  Remember the context, people. Different culture, different ideas about slang. He's complimenting SpaceX in a lot of different ways with that statement.

 

Nice.  

 

We all respect Russia's accomplishments, past and present. Nobody does it like they do. They see how they can do things even better, and plan to follow SpaceX's model. I say "good on you!" and "tally ho!", with equal respect and wishing them the best in all their endeavors.

 

Goodness, the next fifteen years are going to be exciting.  

[DocM]

A compliment yes, making up a tad for the trampolines comment last year. My, how attitudes change  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

1 hour ago, DocM said:

A compliment yes, making up a tad for the trampolines comment last year. My, how attitudes change  

I liked Elon's response to that.....

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

SpaceX booster to be tested at historic KSC pad

 

Quote

The booster will be placed on a transporter designed to roll rockets horizontally from the hangar up to the pad’s stand on rails, then push them upright. Tests will confirm that mechanical, electrical and fueling systems are working properly.

 

“They have made huge strides in this past year to go get that (pad) ready to where they’re ready to start doing some processing,” said Carol Scott of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a media tour in early December.

 

Then, with the booster bolted to the pad, SpaceX plans to fire its nine Merlin main engines again at full thrust in a test, to show it could have been launched again.

 

That would be the first smoke and fire to pour through the flame trench at pad 39A since Atlantis blasted off on the space shuttle program’s final mission in July 2011.

 

Musk thinks another Falcon booster could be recovered and re-launched sometime in 2016.

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2015/12/30/spacex-booster-will-be-tested-at-historic-kennedy-space-center-launch-pad-39a/78010074/

 

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Still trying to track down that art work Doc has shown us. It has been tough to isolate artist or writer. Did come across two funny ones though...

 

 

 

OK...not quite there yet, but I'm trying....

 

[DocM]

Job postings often reveal nuggets

 

Quote

 

http://www.spacex.com/careers/position/8642

 

Vehicle Operations Engineer (Launch Engineering)

 

Identify areas for improvement in ... rapid and reliable processing, and work ... to implement changes to equipment, tooling, operations, and the launch vehicle to serve the company’s long term processing goals (48 hour turnaround from stage arrival to launch, and a 4 hour stage acceptance series in Texas)

 

 

Quote

 

http://www.spacex.com/careers/position/7829

 

Tooling Manager (Travel Team)

 

Help SpaceX achieve its long-term goal of creating the world’s first fully automated launch system capable of rolling the vehicle to the pad, raising it to position, fueling, and executing a full launch sequence in a single hour

 

 

[DocM]

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Marmac 303 shots from west coast.....starting to paint the middle deck.... ( probably not Mr Bill )

http://imgur.com/a/wFQjF

 

That stage looks great with "service wear"....who needs new paint, other than severe exposure areas.....

 

Those job postings speak volumes, as you alluded to.....that is aiming for more than a slight future cadence change.....and the "fully automated launch system" is quite intriguing.......

 

[DocM]

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

" Fill er up and go"

 

odds and ends...

 

 

 

 

Instrument panel comparison to Apollo

http://imgur.com/mT4ERDq

 

 

[Blue-Vision]

5 hours ago, Draggendrop said:

" Fill er up and go"

 

odds and ends...

 

 

 

 

Instrument panel comparison to Apollo

http://imgur.com/mT4ERDq

 

 

Ohhhh that's quite a statement ... "When we convert to LOX/Methane for Mars" ... bwaahaha love it.  

 

And get a load of that lovely instrument panel & interface. I assume all components are fault-tolerant as well as "zap-tolerant" with redundancy systems in place in case of mishap. And it's a fair statement to say that the weight savings are orders of magnitude better.

[DocM]

Any one of the three "glass cockpit" panels can fly Dragon 2, double redundancy, it can be flown from the ground, and within range the ISS Crew can fly it remotely using a dedicated control panel. There are also manual controls on another panel including for the deorbit burn, trunk jettison, thrusters and parachute deploy. 

[DocM]

 

Dragon 2 manual panel prototype shown at GDC. SpaceX was there headhunting for game coders. Apparently the same skills translate to simulations and real-time systems coding.

 

[Blue-Vision]

And it's a safe bet that they'd have TWO redundant consoles at different geographical locations ready to go at a moments' notice if needed.  

 

Yep .. gotta love the safety margins at SpaceX. They aren't fooling around.

[DocM]

Orbcomm 2 landed stage in LC-39A's HIF

 

 

Cropped & gamma boosted view of the Octaweb & engines. Looks like they hit the one at 6 o'clock with a Scotch-Brite pad.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Looks good and it appears they have been busy analysing the unit. I imagine the "soot" is to be expected with the propellant in use. Hopefully methane in other engine designs will run cleaner. These are great images Doc...thanks for posting....I can't wait till they test fire this...

[DocM]

The soot is from RP-1, the kerosine based fuel, burning a bit fuel rich (normal.) The clean area is the LOX tank, which covers in frost. When the frost melts the soot deposited on it goes bye bye with it. With a liquid  methane launcher like BFR the vast majority of the launcher will be frosted, and create far less soot.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Ahhh...nice....

 

The usual sources have put up there tentative launch schedules, all are slightly different and subject to change. Here is a list for SpaceX launches from Spaceflightnow.com, which probably has stuff mixed up or missing, but helps with a baseline for excitement.....

 

Quote

Jan. 17, 10:42 AM PST: Falcon 9 / Jason 3 (VAFB SLC-4E)

January: Falcon 9 / SES 9 (CCAFS SLC-40)

Feb. 7: Falcon 9 / CRS-8 (CCAFS SLC-40)

Early 2016: Falcon 9 / Eutelsat 117 West B & ABS 2A (CCAFS SLC-40)

Early 2016: Falcon 9 / JCSAT 14 (CCAFS SLC-40)

1st Quarter: Falcon 9 / Amos 6 (CCAFS SLC-40)

March 21: Falcon 9 / CRS-9 (CCAFS SLC-40)

April: Falcon Heavy / Demo Flight (KSC LC-39A)

June 10: Falcon 9 / CRS-10 (CCAFS SLC-40)

Aug. 15: Falcon 9 / CRS-11 (CCAFS SLC-40)

August: Falcon 9 / Iridium Next 3-12 (VAFB SLC-4E)

October: Falcon 9 / Iridium Next 13-22 (VAFB SLC-4E)

October: Falcon Heavy / STP-2 (KSC LC-39A)

Dec. 15: Falcon 9 / CRS-12 (CCAFS SLC-40)

December: Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon Demo 1 (KSC LC-39A)

http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/     and reddit schedules, which are as different as Spaceflightinsider.  

 

15 days to "battle stations"

 

edit.. Almost forgot Doc...when this fires, will it be the first since the shuttle....because that photo will be neat.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Draggendrop

[DocM]

Yup, the flown core static fire will be 39A's first use since the last Shuttle flight. No word yet on how Iong they plan the burn to be; the usual 3-4 seconds, a full launch duration, or somewhere between.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

just found some info and a great picture.....

Here we go...

 

Quote

Pad 39A launch history
Status	Facility modifications underway for 2016Falcon Heavy launch
Launches	92 (12 Saturn V, 80 Shuttle)
First launch	November 9, 1967 Saturn V / Apollo 4
Last launch	July 8, 2011 Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-135
Associated rockets	Saturn V (former) Space Shuttle (former) Falcon 9 v1.1 (future) Falcon Heavy (future)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Space_Center_Launch_Complex_39

 

Image above: Space shuttle Atlantis launches July 8, 2011 on the STS-135 mission, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program. Image credit: NASA

 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/

 

 

Image above: Shuttle Endeavour is silhouetted against the dawn sky as it rolls to Launch Pad 39A for STS-130 launch preparations. Image credit: NASA/Amanda Diller

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/

 

edit... Refire of F9 FT.....then ......Falcon Heavy images to be next great shots here....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Looks like Arianespace is "feeling a little bit of pressure"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another collection of Arianespace's  "famous last words".

 

[+John. Subscriber¹]

seems Arianespace is limited payload-wise? No way they'll be able to compete once Heavy is proven and the launch prices tumble