SpaceX Updates (Thread 9)

[DocM]

1 hour ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Yeah, you want to be standing WELL back when they test that bugger...

Not so much the Spaceship. Its hop, suborbital cruise & SSTO (single stage to orbit) liftoff thrust will be a little bit less than a Falcon Heavy, but the Booster is going to be one loud sonofabitch.

[Unobscured Vision]

Wonder what Walter Kronkite would characterize the entire experience like? We all remember the play-by-play during Saturn/Apollo 4's launch. Too bad he's no longer with us to witness it when it happens.

[DocM]

Either Walter Kronkite (CBS) or Jules Bergman (ABC.) Both were iconic narrators of the Space Race. They broke the stories which were both tragic and inspirational. 

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Frank Reynolds too. He was great during the beginnings of the Shuttle era also.

[DocM]

SpaceX test facility; Merlin, SuperDraco, Raptor  and Rocket Cows! Oh My!!!

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

More properly, the BF Spaceship. Adding the BF  Booster more than doubles its length, plus since this is a subscale the implication is that there is a much larger BF vehicle in the pipeline.

[DocM]

SpaceX once again aligning their activities to what NASAs leash holders want to do.

 

ISTM once BFR/BFS  start doing lunar missions SLS/Orion are on life support

 

 

Edited November 16, 2017 by DocM

[Unobscured Vision]

"Sea Change" inbound, per Academia sources. Management is not gonna let this go any further than it has already, and OldSpace influences have collectively lost face to the point of embarrassment. Expect that trend to continue.

[DocM]

ULA: 3,400, and shrinking

 

 

[DocM]

Paging Dr. McCoy...

 

 

[DocM]

1) the Eastern Range is down for maintenance until December 1. 

 

2) ZUMA cannot fly until it reopens.

 

3) LC-39A FH mods continuing.

 

4: LC-40 returns to active status for CRS-13 on December 4. 

[flyingskippy]

I know the Zuma contract came with a time constraint. Any idea if this is going to affect future Gov't contracts?

[DocM]

Like everything Zuma, no idea. It could just be that its owner wanted it launched before their fiscal year ends. 

[Unobscured Vision]

And there's no word on what the fairing issue was either. Too much kinetic energy with the firing bolts that cut it loose that could impact something on the bird? Too much flex on the bottom ends of the fairing that could possibly strike the birds' bottom end when they separate? Who knows?

[DocM]

 

Previous launches were done either on a reused NASA CRS launcher or one used by a different company.

[Unobscured Vision]

 Same launchpad too. Can't wait.

[flyingskippy]

I know The Big Bang Theory show has been mentioned on the forum  a few times. I was wondering if anyone has caught the spin off Young Sheldon. The latest episode, A Patch, A Modem, And A Zantac, has a cameo of Elon. The episode is about Sheldon proving NASA wrong in the early 90s. Worth a watch. 

[DocM]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

From a Port of LA board meeting

 

Quote

On November 15, 2017, SpaceX submitted an application for additional premises in order to accommodate the MA/Mr. Steven, a 205-foot long vessel dedicated to recovering the fairing portion of rockets which protect the spacecraft and reduce drag during flight.

 

plus other tidbits about their facilities.

 

https://www.portoflosangeles.org/Board/2017/December 2017/121417_Regular_Agenda_Item_8.pdf

[DocM]

http://m.yna.co.kr/kr/contents/?cid=AKR20171218046600063&site=0800000000

 

Korea's test moon orbit line shoots in America 'Space X'

Korea Aerospace Research Institute has selected SpaceX (USA) as a launching service for the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), which will be launched in 2020, Said.

Space X's launch vehicle is Falcon 9.

It is 70 meters long and weighs 549 tons. 1 and 2 stage liquid propulsion engine.

The launch will be the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, USA.

Antexis of India participated in the open bidding for the trial lunar launch service.

The company chose Space X as the preferred bidder through the evaluation and negotiated the final contract on the 15th.

In his first phase of the moon exploration project (2016-2020), he cooperated with NASA to develop and operate a trial lunar orbiter.

Based on this plan, we plan to acquire lunar orbiter design and core technology, establishment of deep space communication ground station, development of lunar missions payload, space internet, space navigation and navigation technology.

The Korean lunar orbit line is 550kg.

Five domestic development payloads (high-resolution camera, wide-field polarized camera, lunar gamma-ray spectrometer, moon magnetic field detector, space Internet) and one NASA development payload (shadow camera) are installed.

The test lunar orbiter enters the lunar orbit with its own propulsion system after the launch and then travels around the lunar polar orbit and transmits high resolution video and observation data to the earth.

NASA uses deep space ground stations to support the communications, tracking and navigation required for the successful operation of the moon orbit.

According to an official from the company, "The trial lunar orbiter is undergoing a detailed design review after the system preliminary design review in September." If the successful completion of the integrated electrical function test, structural model verification test, We will be able to fire as scheduled, "he said.

walden@yna.co.kr

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

LC-39A's RSS (rotating service structure) is almost gone with both legs removed and the platform gone. This is in preparation for Falcon Heavy, and the attachment of the Commercial Crew access arm. The arm probably won't be attached until after Falcon Heavy launches.

 

Zoom/crop

 

Before

[DocM]

 

And 50 more Merlin 1C's in the 5 Falcon 9 1.0's. 450 Merlin engines  in 7.5 years

Edited December 21, 2017 by DocM

[DocM]

The above engine, SN-400, on the shop floor.

 

Merlin 1D Block 5 is now 205,000 lbf / 277,943 Newtons 

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

A bit more powerful than predicted. I called it at 204,000 lbf (and change) in calculations, and its' official stats came in at 205,000. Nice. Most efficient rocket engine ever. We'll be studying it for years and years in Academia, I think.

 

And it broke the 200:1 TWR ceiling ....  .... that's a huge deal. No other engine has been able to do that, in any Space Program.

 

So at the end of SpaceX's KeroLOX engine development, they achieve what nobody else could ... and I bet they do the same with the CH4/LOX engines. They're already in uncharted territory with Raptor, and so is Blue with the BE-4.

 

It'll be an interesting couple of years.