SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
RobDickinson said:
So the plan is to launch a 122m rocket with space ship into LEO
Land the rocket back at the launch pad, drop on a fuel tank , refuel
launch that up to the space ship to refuel it in LEO
Then land the booster and fuel tank back on earth
Then fly 100 people to mars.
Rinse/repeat...
I think the quote was 1000 on the go for full scale colonisation.Land the rocket back at the launch pad, drop on a fuel tank , refuel
launch that up to the space ship to refuel it in LEO
Then land the booster and fuel tank back on earth
Then fly 100 people to mars.
Rinse/repeat...
Quite disappointed. I thought he would-be talking to his peers or those adjacent but it seems a greyhound blue or three had shed its load. I mean ffs can I come and kiss your children?
I think SpaceX have been set up.
Is that the sound of PR people packing their bags??
So many questions on the rocket and space ship you could ask.
Have you modelled so many engines so close together, is 9 engines gimballing enough if you loose 1 or 2? Does the space ship have the same ability as dragon II to abort? Is 200mwh enough power to support 100 people for a trip to mars? etc etc
out of all the questions only 1 really made sense
Have you modelled so many engines so close together, is 9 engines gimballing enough if you loose 1 or 2? Does the space ship have the same ability as dragon II to abort? Is 200mwh enough power to support 100 people for a trip to mars? etc etc
out of all the questions only 1 really made sense
Never mind the launch, seeing it land back at its launchpad is going to be something else.
The booster stage is 77.5m (254.3 ft) tall and 12m (39.37 ft) wide.
The Falcon 9 booster is 41.2m (135.2 ft) tall and 3.66m (12 ft) wide.
42 sodding engines though. That's an awful lot of plumbing. Even the Soviet N1 moon rocket "only" had 30 engines and they were a nightmare to manage. Broken fuel lines, fires.... ugh......it didn't end well.
Decent article on the presentation up already:
http://gizmodo.com/this-is-how-elon-musk-plans-to-...
The booster stage is 77.5m (254.3 ft) tall and 12m (39.37 ft) wide.
The Falcon 9 booster is 41.2m (135.2 ft) tall and 3.66m (12 ft) wide.
42 sodding engines though. That's an awful lot of plumbing. Even the Soviet N1 moon rocket "only" had 30 engines and they were a nightmare to manage. Broken fuel lines, fires.... ugh......it didn't end well.
Decent article on the presentation up already:
http://gizmodo.com/this-is-how-elon-musk-plans-to-...
SystemParanoia said:
i dont understand how the IPT rocket stage is so efficient / powerful
The transfer stage gets put up in orbit almost empty, it will carry enough Fuel to circularise then its re-fuelled with 4/5 more launches of 'tankers' It only needs enough Fuel to get from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to mars and a small amount to land (at which point its tanks are almost empty so a lot lighter) EM mentioned about the 6 racial engines with a higher vacuum ISP - these engines are basically more efficient when used in a vacuum.
It takes much more fuel to get from Earths surface to LEO than it does from LEO to Mars, Earth to mars is about 4.3 km/s at optimal angles. surface to LEO is about ~11km/s (I think?)
Then its re-fuelled for the return journey, and if its going back with no passengers, again a lot lighter so less fuel needed.
Plus construction methods as detailed above helps a lot too.
There does seem to be a "mine is bigger" contest between Bezos and Musk.
I have to say that the video looks awfully fanciful. I have no issues with ambitions and aiming high. But as a serious company wanting to be taken seriously they do need to be careful with how they portray themselves so that they maintain credibility.
Coming on the back of their most recent Falcon 9 failure, they do need to work hard to restore confidence in their current technology.
I have to say that the video looks awfully fanciful. I have no issues with ambitions and aiming high. But as a serious company wanting to be taken seriously they do need to be careful with how they portray themselves so that they maintain credibility.
Coming on the back of their most recent Falcon 9 failure, they do need to work hard to restore confidence in their current technology.
Its was interesting but I have to admit to being unsurprised, given SpaceX's direction so far a 2stage to orbit system with a big reusable launcher was a no brainer (although its smaller than I though given the payload) goes to show how light they think they can make it!
The questions at the end were stupidly painful, who let so many morons into the hall and why wasn't the chimp running around with the mike screening the questions? I felt a bit sorry for Elon when the guy went on a rant about there being no toilets on Mars and it'll be "a dusty place full of sh*t like Burning Man" that was actually the second question at a scientific conference FFS!
The carbon O2 tank was very impressive, I guess he's going to need a CF Gigafactory to go next to his Battery factory at the rate he'll be needing the stuff?!
I do wonder at the ability of even our best CF pressure vessels (I have some experience with CF Diving cylinders and it is not good, yet) to have a 30+yr lifespan and at least 12 round trips to Mars, which looks like at least 36fills using their flight model, that's alot of heating, cooling, expanding, contracting, vibration and impact... but then I guess they know what they are doing?
As an aside, my first though after the presentation was- make one of the Spaceships with a big hatch and use it to recover, repair, refuel and de orbit satellites as a sideline- the beast is big enough to drag a whole satellite (or 2+) inside and tinker with it... call it some sort of Shuttle.... :-)
The questions at the end were stupidly painful, who let so many morons into the hall and why wasn't the chimp running around with the mike screening the questions? I felt a bit sorry for Elon when the guy went on a rant about there being no toilets on Mars and it'll be "a dusty place full of sh*t like Burning Man" that was actually the second question at a scientific conference FFS!
The carbon O2 tank was very impressive, I guess he's going to need a CF Gigafactory to go next to his Battery factory at the rate he'll be needing the stuff?!
I do wonder at the ability of even our best CF pressure vessels (I have some experience with CF Diving cylinders and it is not good, yet) to have a 30+yr lifespan and at least 12 round trips to Mars, which looks like at least 36fills using their flight model, that's alot of heating, cooling, expanding, contracting, vibration and impact... but then I guess they know what they are doing?
As an aside, my first though after the presentation was- make one of the Spaceships with a big hatch and use it to recover, repair, refuel and de orbit satellites as a sideline- the beast is big enough to drag a whole satellite (or 2+) inside and tinker with it... call it some sort of Shuttle.... :-)
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