SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
It is "seeing" of course - only using radio waves (in the form of radar) and GPS systems to work out where it is and its altitude, rate of descent etc.
To be honest, for the past 40 plus years we have been landing craft on other planets using similar techniques - so doing it on earth should be possible. There are of course, specific issues with returning boosters to earth in one piece and I think SpaceX are doing a fantastic job.
To be honest, for the past 40 plus years we have been landing craft on other planets using similar techniques - so doing it on earth should be possible. There are of course, specific issues with returning boosters to earth in one piece and I think SpaceX are doing a fantastic job.
Eric Mc said:
It is "seeing" of course - only using radio waves (in the form of radar) and GPS systems to work out where it is and its altitude, rate of descent etc.
To be honest, for the past 40 plus years we have been landing craft on other planets using similar techniques - so doing it on earth should be possible. There are of course, specific issues with returning boosters to earth in one piece and I think SpaceX are doing a fantastic job.
Yup, I guess the only real difference is there a people here we can hit if we cock-up.To be honest, for the past 40 plus years we have been landing craft on other planets using similar techniques - so doing it on earth should be possible. There are of course, specific issues with returning boosters to earth in one piece and I think SpaceX are doing a fantastic job.
I still think the amazingly complex Mars Rover Skycrane landing takes the biscuit for most audacious landing ever, there was almost no chance of that all working properly :-)
Great to see another successful launch and landing. The Dragon capsule is working its way up the ISS and should be close enough for them to grapple on Wednesday, about midday. The Russians launched a rocket on Saturday with a Progress resupply capsule, which should be with the ISS on Tuesday evening.
In the post-mission press conference, Spacex's Hans Koenigsmann (VP of Flight Reliability) confirmed that they intend for the two side boosters of the Falcon 9 Heavy to return to land; The centre section either returns to land or continues on to the drone ship, depending on the mission profile.
In the post-mission press conference, Spacex's Hans Koenigsmann (VP of Flight Reliability) confirmed that they intend for the two side boosters of the Falcon 9 Heavy to return to land; The centre section either returns to land or continues on to the drone ship, depending on the mission profile.
We're in Florida at the moment, and stayed up to watch the launch (walked 2 mins from the hotel onto Cocoa Beach!). Pretty impressive to watch, although it was fairly quiet (guess we were 15-20 miles from the launch site) until the double sonic boom as the first stage came down. We were far enough away that the boom arrived a few seconds after the thing had actually landed!
Really glad we saw it.
We spent Sunday at Kennedy Space Centre, which is amazing, changed a lot in the 20 years since I went before. The Atlantis exhibition is just superb.
Really glad we saw it.
We spent Sunday at Kennedy Space Centre, which is amazing, changed a lot in the 20 years since I went before. The Atlantis exhibition is just superb.
London424 said:
Getting 3 boosters to come back and land almost simultaneously will be something to see :-) At this rate SpaceX will need to rent more space to store all their Used rockets in!!
Hmmm - I can see them doing this at some point, though it is an order of magnitude harder than recovering the 1st stage. The mass of the heatshield could be the killer I guess.
Maybe they could put them in a safe parking orbit instead, so they can be retrieved later and refuelled and used as boosters for the Mars ship
MartG said:
Hmmm - I can see them doing this at some point, though it is an order of magnitude harder than recovering the 1st stage. The mass of the heatshield could be the killer I guess.
Maybe they could put them in a safe parking orbit instead, so they can be retrieved later and refuelled and used as boosters for the Mars ship
SpaceX was tagged as a contributor in a paper examining the use of rocket trust as a heat shield, so you just reenter backwards with the throttle on idle and the thrust is sufficient to deflect the air/plasma around the craft... I haven't been able to find the link for a while though, makes me think someone was working on it :-)Maybe they could put them in a safe parking orbit instead, so they can be retrieved later and refuelled and used as boosters for the Mars ship
scubadude said:
MartG said:
Hmmm - I can see them doing this at some point, though it is an order of magnitude harder than recovering the 1st stage. The mass of the heatshield could be the killer I guess.
Maybe they could put them in a safe parking orbit instead, so they can be retrieved later and refuelled and used as boosters for the Mars ship
SpaceX was tagged as a contributor in a paper examining the use of rocket trust as a heat shield, so you just reenter backwards with the throttle on idle and the thrust is sufficient to deflect the air/plasma around the craft... I haven't been able to find the link for a while though, makes me think someone was working on it :-)Maybe they could put them in a safe parking orbit instead, so they can be retrieved later and refuelled and used as boosters for the Mars ship
Eric Mc said:
MartG said:
Eric Mc said:
That takes me back - all described in this book -
Is there much different between that edition and the earlier one ?
) so I can compare 
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