SpaceX Updates (Thread 9)

[DocM]

Crew & Cargo Dragon 2 get a Cape Canaveral  home; Area 56, formerly used for USAF and GPS satellite preps.

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2018/01/01/spacex-leases-cape-canaveral-home-crew-dragon/982606001/

[DocM]

 

[Blue-Vision]

We pretty much already knew it wasn't SpaceX's fault anyway.

[DocM]

Later in 2018 Canada's MDA, Sweden's RUAG and SpaceX will team up on launching MDA's 3-satellite RADARSAT ground imaging constellation for the Canadian Space Agency.

 

Each RADARSAT will mass ~475kg and will be dispensed using a custom RUAG adapter. RUAG adapters have a 100% success rate. 

 

Launch will be done using a Flight Proven™ Falcon 9, with an RTLS landing likely.

 

 

 

[Blue-Vision]

I wanna see those birds at Mars.  The whole thing looks friggin' useful!

 

It's all about how data is presented, folks. Make the user experience fast & the data all available quickly (as shown in the video) and the system as a whole will attract customers.

 

One more "tool of tools" at Mars will be what's needed to get the very, very best out of both equipment and humanpower alike.

 

Thanks a ton, @DocM. Those look great.

[DocM]

Someone put a lot of work into their BFR/BFS and F9 3D printer models

 

 

[Beittil]

He also sells those kits, although without any logos or decals due to copyright issues. 

[DocM]

 

 

 

[DocM]

Sparing you the reading of a mind-numbing federal PDF, the important paragraphs of SpaceX's permission to do RTLS (landing pad) landings at Vandenberg. ASDS (drone ship) has to be offshore as a backup.

 

IHA: incidental harrassment authorization 

 

Quote

Endangered Species Act 

There is one marine mammal species 
(Guadalupe fur seal) listed under the 
ESA with confirmed occurrence in the 
area expected to be impacted by the 
planned activities. The NMFS West 
Coast Region has determined that NMFS 
OPRs issuance of the IHA to SpaceX for 
the take of marine mammals incidental 
to Falcon 9 First Stage recovery 
activities is not likely to adversely affect 
the Guadalupe fur seal. Therefore, 
formal ESA section 7 consultation on 
this IHA is not required. 

Authorization 

NMFS has issued an IHA to SpaceX 
for the potential harassment of small 
numbers of six marine mammal species 
incidental to Falcon 9 First Stage 
recovery activities in California and at 
contingency landing locations offshore, 
provided the previously mentioned 
mitigation, monitoring and reporting 
requirements are incorporated. 

Dated: December 20, 2017. 
Donna S. Wieting, 
Director, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 
[FR Doc. 201727761 Filed 122217; 8:45 am] 
BILLING CODE 351022P

Edited January 21, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

Because launching isn't (apparently) considered harassment ... sheesh. Gotta love bureaucracy.

[DocM]

At some point, you have to wonder what the environmental impact of all these environmental impact studies is. Tree cutting, paper processing & disposal, power used, transportation, consumables, traipsing around the area under study, etc.  

[Blue-Vision]

Yep. More paperwork that is meant to eliminate the paperwork ... brought to you by your Government, folks. Taking something simple and complicating it since time immemorial! 

[DocM]

Definitely sounding like either a fake failure or Northrop Grumman Grumman's payload adapter failed.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/spacex-gets-good-news-from-the-air-force-on-the-zuma-mission/

 

Quote

SpaceX gets good news from the Air Force on the Zuma mission

 

A little more than two weeks have passed since the apparent loss of the highly classified Zuma mission. Since then, SpaceX has publicly and privately stated that its Falcon 9 rocket performed nominally throughout the flightwith both its first and second stages firing as anticipated.

Now, the US Air Force seems to be backing the rocket company up. "Based on the data available, our team did not identify any information that would change SpaceX's Falcon 9 certification status," Lieutenant General John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, told Bloomberg News. 
>
No one has officially confirmed this on the record, but sources have told Ars that, after the launch, the Zuma payload never successfully separated from the rocket. Instead, it remained partially or completely attached to the second stage and re-entered Earth's atmosphere after 1.5 orbits.
>

 

[flyingskippy]

It will be interesting to see if SpaceX changes their policy on outside manufactured payload adapters. Guess the only real sign is if they allow another NG payload adapter to fly. 

[DocM]

It's not as if the Falcon 9/FH deployment system can't play well with others. 

 

SpaceX has rolled their own adapter, used MOOG ESPA rings for ORBCOMM, designed a custom adapter for Iridium NEXT and had it built by RUAG, and this N-G adapter is the first to mess up. N-G is definitely the one who now has to redeem themselves.

 

Unless, of course, this is all smoke and ZUMA is pulling a MISTY - a stealthy bird disappearing behind a failure cover story.

Edited January 23, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

 

IridiumBoss weighs in. 

 

He has SpaceX's back 

 

 

[AnotherITguy]

Would not surprise me if ZUMA was up there doing its thing like DOC said.

[flyingskippy]

There's just too many things that didn't happen if it were to be true. 

 

- Grounding and investigation of F9

 

- Classified sessions with congressional subcommittees

 

-Decertification of F9 for classified payloads.

[Blue-Vision]

Remember, the payload separator was built by N/G. I'd venture an educated guess that N/G insisted on it as a condition of the contract with SpaceX. 

 

This thing was completely outside of SpaceX's control, if indeed this is what happened, so ... yeah. And it's pretty likely that N/G and the USAF had "eyes-on" the payload the entire time the S2 was on-mission, too -- and there are a bevvy of sensors and indicators that'd tell them what's what at any given moment.

 

Make no mistake, friends ... N/G knows what transpired and it wasn't SpaceX's systems, or the platform. They just choose not to be forthcoming with that information and I'd even venture to say that ZUMA is sitting pretty in its' operational orbit right now. I'm with @DocM on this one. The fact that SpaceX'ers removed mission patches really doesn't mean a lot.

[DocM]

GRACE = Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment

 

 

[philcruicks]

Falcon Heavy Static Fire completed successfully.

Awesome news, lets hope the NET Feb becomes a more solid date soon.

 

 

 

[+John. Subscriber¹]

13 minutes ago, philcruicks said:

Falcon Heavy Static Fire completed successfully.

Awesome news, lets hope the NET Feb becomes a more solid date soon.

 

But yes, very good news! It exploded, but in the right way.

[DocM]

Interesting job posting

 

http://www.spacex.com/careers/position/213755

 

THERMAL ENGINEER, REUSABLE THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS

SpaceX plans to revolutionize the launch market through use of reusable technology to drive down price and increase accessibility. Atmospheric reentry and the extreme environments associated are one of the top challenges of making a reusable spacecraft. The Thermal Engineer, Reusable Thermal Protection Systems will tackle some of the most vital systems to protect the spacecraft from reentry while allowing for rapid reuse and economical re-flight.  

Responsibilities:

Develop materials necessary to make thermal protection systems reusable for thousands of low earth orbit reentry flights on future SpaceX vehicles.

Develop robust and affordable manufacturing processes for reusable thermal protection materials scalable to SpaceXs thermal protection systems usage needs.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or related technical discipline.

5 years direct experience with design and development of reusable thermal protection systems for spacecraft.

5 years direct experience with manufacturing reusable thermal protection systems for spacecraft.
>
>

[DocM]

 

[Blue-Vision]

 What a deal! I was eyeballin' one of those just the other day outside of Vandenberg! Oo-whee!

 

(Those burn marks ain't nothin', that'll buff right out.)