SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System (updates)

[DocM]

I'm thinking they either need an autoclave or oven with a door the width of a Keeper-class Coast Guard cutters beam (11m), or they're using a NONA (no autoclave, no oven) process.

[Blue-Vision]

At this scale they're gonna have to go no oven for the underlay, and the overlay will have to be individual (smaller) panels that are form-fitted. This is totally uncharted territory; the largest things they've made with CCF have been those super-designer Yachts, and even those were only CCF panels, then a few layers overtop (then baked in sections) then an enamel gloss coat on top of that for additional stiffening much like schellacking.

 

I'm really interested to find out what they're doing, inside and out. I wanna know if they went with the super-dense CCF structural materials to save on the weight. Hell, the whole thing is interesting to me.  

[DocM]

Yup, this whole thing is an example of an Undiscovered Country, charting new territory as they go.  

 

Ascent Aerospace and SpaceX have a great licensing opportunity here as the processes developed could be very lucrative for both.

[Blue-Vision]

Oh yeah. ALL of this is going to filter down into all aspects of Industry, Science, Construction ... the applications are quite literally unlimited.

 

Working on the ideas they figure out here they'll have the groundwork for the next great revolutions in Structural & Capitol Engineering, Architecture, you name it, that'll carry us through the next 50+ years.

 

This is where the "Industrial-Scale" CCF Applications begin to get sorted out. The one area the technologies haven't seen much growth because the Logistics haven't been worked out yet -- nobody has taken the plunge until now on this scale.

[EDIT] Good GRAVY, think of the patent returns on the IP ... residuals and licensing for YEARS.  

[DocM]

SpaceX is recruiting "Naval Architects" to build "launch sites." 

 

Hmmmm....

 

[Blue-Vision]

Ooooh booooy ....  

[FloatingFatMan]

16 hours ago, DocM said:

SpaceX is recruiting "Naval Architects" to build "launch sites." 

 

Hmmmm....

 

The picture looks great, but there's no way they'd be allowed to launch so close to a city.  Ignoring the normal launch shockwave damage that would happen at that close proximity, imagine if there was an incident on the pad?  The damage that city would suffer would be unreal...

[DocM]

33 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

The picture looks great, but there's no way they'd be allowed to launch so close to a city.  Ignoring the normal launch shockwave damage that would happen at that close proximity, imagine if there was an incident on the pad?  The damage that city would suffer would be unreal..

 

Not really. Explosive yeild and damage to a given location don't  scale linearly, so a rocket with 10x the propellants may only have a blast radius 2x as great. The vast majority of the energy would go up or in directions away from the city.

 

Also, the result is a conflagration; a fast burning fire and not a detonation. This means the impulse is spread over a longer time, greatly reducing the peak pressure wave and overpressure at a given distance.  

 

Example: a Falcon Heavy has about 3x the propellants of a Falcon 9, but its safety zones radius, established by the FAA, is only 50% larger.  Conflagration ≠ detonation.

 

BFR is about 3x the Falcon Heavy, so.....

 

Depiction aside - while a pad explosion on a platform 10+ miles offshore may put on a big show for the city folks there won't be a nuke  scale shockwave hitting them.

[FloatingFatMan]

1 minute ago, DocM said:

Depiction aside - while a pad explosion on a platform 10+ miles offshore may put on a big show for the city folks there won't be a nuke  scale shockwave hitting them.

Sure, but that depiction isn't anywhere near 10 miles.  It's barely even 1!

 

[DocM]

Graphic artists aren't usually engineers or experienced in munitions. 

[DocM]

SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell today at a conference, talking about Earth P2P happening within 10 years. The moderator was skeptical about it being 'Elon time.'

 

Shotwell: "That's my time, not Elon time."

 

Before SpaceX Shotwell worked for The Aerospace Corporation, which advises DoD and NASA.  Her focus; advanced thermal analysis for military projects, and she's been published many times. 

[DocM]

 

Ahh-rou?

(E2E = Earth to Earth, Point to Point etc.)

The TED video is unreleased, but a few people caught it on their cellphones and did comparisons.

Looks to be ≥400 feet.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

Better shot, less distortion, via Reddit and put into context.

 

 

LOL!!

 

 

[Blue-Vision]

The specific information that we've garnered in Academia is embargoed right now. SpaceX will release it when they're ready. There have been some additional changes to BFR/BFS, but those changes add capability and redundancy in Earth SOI (including SSTO refinements for BFS previously thought unworkable).

 

Here's a teaser: BFS will be taking over ALL Falcon-9 and Falcon Heavy roles, except for Dragon & Dragon 2 OPS to the ISS because of NASA requirements. SOON. 

 

Plenty more to come in short order. PLENTY.

[DocM]

 

[Blue-Vision]

Bwahaha ... that image doesn't look real, does it. Like a model almost. Neat!  

[DocM]

1 hour ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Bwahaha ... that image doesn't look real, does it. Like a model almost. Neat!  

It's called the tilt-shift effect, which makes a real world pic look like one taken of a model. It can be done either with a special lens or in editing software.

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by DocM

[FloatingFatMan]

37 minutes ago, DocM said:

It's called the tilt-shift effect, which makes a real world pic look like one taken of a model. It can be done either with a special lens or in editing software.

So THAT'S how Gerry Anderson did Thunderbirds! I knew those models looked too good! It was all real!!!

 

[DocM]

19 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

So THAT'S how Gerry Anderson did Thunderbirds! I knew those models looked too good! It was all real!!!

 

It can also make a great model look even more fake

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

It's official!!

 

 

[DocM]

LA Times....

 

The initial 10-year lease, which has two options for 10-year extensions, has an initial annual rent of about $1.38 million with annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. SpaceX can offset about $44.1 million of rent in exchange for improving the site in its first 20 years of tenancy.

[Beittil]

Lol, thats next to nothing for them

[DocM]

The rubber stamp (Mayor Garcetti appointees) Port of LA board gave final approval Thursday.

Phase 1: 80,000 sq/ft facility with no columns and an 80 foot ceiling. 

Phase 2: expand to 200,000+ sq/ft. 

[Beittil]

Or... 

 

Phase 1: 7432 Square Meters

Phase 2: 18580+ Square Meters

 

For those of us that use a proper measuring system