Space and Science BS Thread

SN10 landed just fine with stand-in legs....

 

My moneys on them getting it eventually. Fireballs are fun to watch, but so is progress.

 

And updated raptor design.

 

I think that and the aero surface upgrades will be the big ones. I'm sure the software side has seen a bunch of changes on every iteration but that's not really a thing we can see.

 

tl;dr

It's a test programme with a lot of progress, and building new ones is a little behind the testing. Going from 'belly flop' to 'landing on legs' is a hard problem with lots of sloshing fuel and needing to restart rocket engines. SN15 is the first of a series with updated tankage designs compared to the previous bunch - also it supports a newer revision of the 'raptor' methane/oxygen engine. The next several will also be of this design.

As for landing legs - the first revision were simple crush cores that swung down and locked in via gravity, as a 'rough in' stand-in kinda leg.

 

Eh, that's way down the list for me. Getting that relight ontime and good raptor performance with lots of appropriate fuel flow is gonna be key. Parameter tweaking, next - but this whole thing doesn't work without the engines doing what they need to throughout the whole maneuver.

 

Here's a nice video that shows differences btw - not a ton of aero surface changes (some, of course) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c4Z6Iv2A8E

But yeah the big difference is going to be the thrust puck, gas pressurization system, and just general improvements.

Also, I laughed at this - hopefully it launches for the May the Fourth.

https://twitter.com/DJSnM/status/1389284388039499788

 

The legs they have are good enough for what they're doing right now, attempting to land on a nice solid, level, concrete pad. Sure with their crumple zones they are 1 time use, but so are the rockets they're installing them on. "Real" legs wouldn't really be any better, but it would consume a lot more time and resources to install them on a rocket with a decent probability of going boom.

 

Nope. They’ll stick this one for sure.

If only as a major FU to BO and NASA...

 

Wasn’t that something... So cool to see for however long it lasted.

 

What’s the opposite of “Rapid Reusability”?

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/05/forward-work-artemis-1-launch/

 

rapid insolvency?

 

Antiquated dinosaur?

 

Oh, yeah...that too.

 

SN15 scrubbed for today

On a positive note- my Inspiration4 patch is on it’s way

 

The Fourth is weak with this one.....

 

Wish I was going, but yeah.

 

WATCH LIVE: STARLINK MISSION

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, May 4 for launch of 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The instantaneous window is at 3:01 p.m. EDT, or 19:01 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Wednesday, May 5 at 2:39 p.m. EDT, or 18:39 UTC.

The Falcon 9 first stage rocket booster supporting this mission previously supported launch of Telstar 18 VANTAGE, Iridium-8, and six Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be located in the Atlantic Ocean. One half of Falcon 9’s fairing previously supported two Starlink missions.

You can watch the launch webcast live starting about 15 minutes before liftoff. To see if Starlink is available in your area, visit starlink.com.

 

9th recovery in the bag. Damn impressive (although you'd think they'd have figured how to not have the video cut out at touchdown).

 

I assumed it was intentional - you know, just in case...