SpaceX Updates (Thread 9)

[anthdci]

2 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Oh goodness ...  /danceparty

 

 

Hahaha that’s awesome

[PaulRocket]

Block 5:

-7–8% more thrust by uprating the engines,

-an improved flight control system for an optimized angle of attack on the descent, lowering landing fuel requirements

-Forged, more temperature-resistant titanium grid fins

-a thermal protection coating on the first stage to limit reentry heating damage

-a set of retractable landing legs for rapid recovery and shipping

-a reusable heat shield protecting the engines and plumbing at the base of the rocket

-redesigned and requalified valves for higher levels and much longer duration

 

Did I forget anything? I heard the interstage will be unpainted, have we seen any pictures yet? 

Will the heat shield be made out of inconel?

In other words I'm desperate for more Block 5 details 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

So are we, bud. There hasn't been a lot of information out on Block 5 yet. SpaceX is still flying Blocks 3 and 4 for now. The S2 is sort of a "Frankenstage" at the moment, with some new Block 4 upgrades in a Block 3.x chassis. They haven't fully started flying Block 4 anything just yet. There was one flight where SpaceX really cranked up the power on the S1, and it was magnificent but we already discussed that one to the moon and back.

 

Block 5 will be flying soon. SpaceX just wanted to use up the rest of the Block 3 and 4's that they built.  

[Beittil]

How to properly one up your rivals in front of the vice president and his pals... 

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Bwahaha that's great  ...

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Here comes vertical integration,

 

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-20m-us-air-force-contract-spy-satellites/amp/

Quote

US Air Force awards SpaceX $20m contract to support its biggest spy satellites

Slipping beneath the watchful eye of many skilled defense journalists, the government contracting database FPDS.gov indicates that the US Air Force awarded SpaceX more than $20 million in November 2017 to conduct a design study of vertical integration capabilities (VIC). Describing what exactly this means first requires some background.
>
Its clear that the Air Force itself is the main impetus pushing SpaceX to develop vertical integration capabilities, a reasonable continuation of the militarys general desire for assured access to orbit in the event of a vehicle failure grounding flights for the indefinite future. 
>
More likely than not, SpaceX would choose to take advantage of the fixed tower (known as the Fixed Service Structure, FSS) currently present at Pad 39A, atop which a crane and work platforms could presumably be attached
>

[Unobscured Vision]

There's really no advantage to vertical integration. All it does, from an Engineering standpoint, is make your spacecraft and rockets less structurally sound because it lets designers take shortcuts.

 

SpaceX's (and Russia's) horizontal design approaches are infinitely better because the hardware is built to handle a/x, b/y, and c/z. Once we add the rest of the loads & other forces, they're already mostly accounted for. Can't really do that if the design approach is vertical.

 

The USAF and such want SpaceX's launch services ... cool. They want to "get with the times" ... also cool. They need to get with the times all the way, then. Vertical integration is TRASH.

 

And yes, I said that out loud.

[DocM]

True enough, but Vertical Integration will be used for BFS p and it's variants. This let's SpaceX mod LC-39A and get some practice in  on the USAFs dime. B It also makes them eligible for some fat Falcon Heavy contracts.

[Unobscured Vision]

Hmm .. yeah. It'd almost have to be vertical with BFR/BFS. The masses they'll be dealing with on Cargo BFS alone make it mandatory. And they aren't gonna mess with two assembly schemes for the sake of convenience. They'll do it one way then streamline & perfect it.

 

They're gonna have some impressive elevators to haul gear up top, though. I don't see SpaceX loading the BFS section until it's actually out at the pad -- they'll wanna keep the weight at the bottom, roll it out to the pad, then load 'er up with gear when it's out there. That'd be the safest way. I've never trusted that much mass in motion, especially mass that's got weight at the top, no matter how slowly it's moving.

 

Or, another idea, have a MVSS (Movable Vehicle Service Structure) out at the pad, do what they have to do, then roll the MVSS away when finished. Even safer yet, and the BFR/BFS doesn't have to move at all.  

[DocM]

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

Fairing 2.0 via r/SpaceX

 

Grain of salt until confirmed, but it fits several rumors. Easier to build & stronger would go with being able to build a stretched version  for long DoD payloads, Bigelow habs etc.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7z9am2/information_about_fairing_20/

 

Quote

I was fortunate enough to go Vandenberg for the Paz mission along with some SpaceX employees and members of Spanish government. We got some information about the new fairing and why they are using it, here are the highlights.

Slightly bigger: 4 inches taller and 4 inches wider.

Easier to build: Takes less pieces to put together.

Lighter: Strength is more optimized for the places that need it, resulting in a lighter fairing.

Easier for recovery: Has designated points for a steerable parachute/parafoil, allowing it to be caught by boat.

[Unobscured Vision]

 Don't forget the slightest amount of heat shielding, enough to deal with the rather unusual reentry forces placed upon it. More like a leaf in the wind by comparison, but still.  Gets a little bit warm.

[DocM]

"I am a leaf in the wind, watch how I soar!"

~~ Hoban "Wash" Washburne

 

[+John. Subscriber¹]

14 hours ago, DocM said:

"I am a leaf in the wind, watch how I soar!"

~~ Hoban "Wash" Washburne

[DocM]

Serenity - one of the best space operas EVAH!

[DocM]

 

[Unobscured Vision]

The first Block-5 Falcon 9 is on the test stand at McGregor.  

 

 

[+Sledge Subscriber²]

46 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

The first Block-5 Falcon 9 is on the test stand at McGregor.  

 

 

Cows: 'They are at the stage when we ######ed everything up and decided as a species to revert to a pastoral existence; hopefully they don't take us out like we did to the Aurochs'

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

 

 

[DocM]

Visiting the Apollo 17 site, via a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.

 

Quote

Vodaphone and Nokia To Create First  4G Network On Moon

 

27 Feb 2018 @VodafoneGroup

* PTScientists will lead Mission to the Moon in 2019.

* Vodafone Germany appoints Nokia as technology partner to develop space-grade network weighing less than a bag of sugar.

* Vodafone 4G network will enable first live-streaming of HD video from the Moons surface to a global audience.

The Moon will get 4G coverage next year, 50 years after the first NASA astronauts walked on its surface. Vodafone plans to create the first 4G network on the Moon to support a mission by PTScientists in 2019 and has today appointed Nokia as its technology partner.   

Berlin-based company, PTScientists is working with Vodafone Germany and Audi to achieve the first privately-funded Moon landing. Mission to the Moon is due to launch in 2019 from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Vodafones network expertise will be used to set up the Moons first 4G network, connecting two Audi lunar quattro rovers to a base station in the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA). Nokia, through Nokia Bell Labs, will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that will be the lightest ever developed - weighing less than one kilo, the same as a bag of sugar.

The 4G network will enable the Audi lunar quattro rovers to communicate and transfer scientific data and HD video while they carefully approach and study NASAs Apollo 17 lunar roving vehicle that was used by the last astronauts to walk on the Moon (Commander Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt) to explore the Taurus-Littrow valley in December 1972.

Vodafone testing indicates that the base station should be able to broadcast 4G using the 1800 MHz frequency band and send back the first ever live HD video feed of the Moons surface, which will be broadcast to a global audience via a deep space link that interconnects with the PTScientists server in the Mission Control Centre in Berlin.

A 4G network is highly energy efficient compared to analogue radio and that will be crucial to Mission to the Moon and is the first step to building communications infrastructure for future missions.

Vodafone Germany CEO, Dr Hannes Ametsreiter, commented: This project involves a radically innovative approach to the development of mobile network infrastructure. It is also a great example of an independent, multi-skilled team achieving an objective of immense significance through their courage, pioneering spirit and inventiveness.

Robert Böhme, CEO and Founder of PTScientists, said: This is a crucial first step for sustainable exploration of the solar system. In order for humanity to leave the cradle of Earth, we need to develop infrastructures beyond our home planet. With Mission to the Moon we will establish and test the first elements of a dedicated communications network on the Moon. The great thing about this LTE solution is that it saves so much power, and the less energy we use sending data, the more we have to do science!

Nokia Chief Technology Officer and Bell Labs President, Marcus Weldon, said: We are very pleased to have been selected by Vodafone to be their technology partner. This important mission is supporting, among other things, the development of new space-grade technologies for future data networking, processing and storage, and will help advance the communications infrastructure required for academics, industry and educational institutions in conducting lunar research. These aims have potentially wide-ranging implications for many stakeholders and humanity as a whole, and we look forward to working closely with Vodafone and the other partners in the coming months, prior to the launch in 2019.

For further information:

Vodafone Group

Media Relations

www.vodafone.com/media/contact

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

Here we go....

 

But, Georgia is not as attractive for equatorial or BEO launches.

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

 She'll be up and fit-checking this time next year. They don't have to contend with upgrading-in-place, and they've had a couple of years to prepare the area already. It'll go hot and heavy, barring weather events.

[DocM]

I'm thinking a single very large flame trench with a movable diverter and two launch mounts; F9/FH and BFR/S. Similar to the future LC-39A concept NSF published a few months ago (about half way down), 

 

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/09/the-moon-mars-earth-musk-updates-bfr-plans/

 

The vertical integration crane we've seen parts for is so flipping ginormous it could reach both.

Edited March 2, 2018 by DocM