SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
Beati Dogu said:
ULA plans to eventually recovery just the engine section (i.e the most expensive bit) of their Vulcan rocket using parachutes.
First they'll use an inflatable heat shield for reentry. Then as it gets into the thicker atmosphere, they'll slow it down with conventional round, ringslot parachutes. After that, they'll jetison them and deploy a rectangular parafoil to better control the descent.
Before the seawater gets a chance to ruin it, they're going to have a helicopter pluck it out of the sky. This will then deposit the engine section on a recovery boat for return to the land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lftGq6QVFFI
Footage of Corona spy satellite film capsules picked up in mid air back in the 60s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2YQqAnEN_0
As if the complexity of this plan wasn't off putting enough, having a parafoil swinging underneath helicopter downdraft sounds like a particularly terrible idea.
That plan has the huge benefit of never having to actually be executed though. Otherwise all the other issues (the mechanisms for cutting the links to the tanks without the rocket self-immolating; the cost to put the recovered engines into a new stack) would be equally concerning.First they'll use an inflatable heat shield for reentry. Then as it gets into the thicker atmosphere, they'll slow it down with conventional round, ringslot parachutes. After that, they'll jetison them and deploy a rectangular parafoil to better control the descent.
Before the seawater gets a chance to ruin it, they're going to have a helicopter pluck it out of the sky. This will then deposit the engine section on a recovery boat for return to the land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lftGq6QVFFI
Footage of Corona spy satellite film capsules picked up in mid air back in the 60s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2YQqAnEN_0
As if the complexity of this plan wasn't off putting enough, having a parafoil swinging underneath helicopter downdraft sounds like a particularly terrible idea.
It's not a totally new idea and was used as recently as 2004 on Lockheed Martin's Atlas II rocket.
Both Atlas I and II rockets used to jettison 2 of their 3 engines on their way up. The centre rocket would then carry on without them for another 2 minutes.
This was to dump mass though, after they'd done their job of getting the heavy rocket stack off the pad. They didn't recover the module that contained the two engines because they didn't have any real competition. It worked fine though: sixty-three straight launches of the Atlas II before it was retired.
Both Atlas I and II rockets used to jettison 2 of their 3 engines on their way up. The centre rocket would then carry on without them for another 2 minutes.
This was to dump mass though, after they'd done their job of getting the heavy rocket stack off the pad. They didn't recover the module that contained the two engines because they didn't have any real competition. It worked fine though: sixty-three straight launches of the Atlas II before it was retired.
The reason why the Atlas was designed to work like that is because in the 1950s rocket engineers were not confident that they would be able to start a second or third stage set of engines during ascent - as you see with normal sequential staging. Parallel staging allowed all engines on all stages to fire when the rocket was still on the pad and then for elements of the stages to be discarded during ascent keeping the central sustainer engines running.
The R-7/Soyuz rocket still works on that principle as did the Space Shuttle.
The R-7/Soyuz rocket still works on that principle as did the Space Shuttle.
Point is that ULA / Lockheed Martin know how to detach & dump engines in flight without it blowing up.
Meanwhile, Mr Steven is back in port carrying what looks suspiciously like an intact half-fairing:
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-recovers-fairing-...
March recap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq9Cie8o2dQ
Meanwhile, Mr Steven is back in port carrying what looks suspiciously like an intact half-fairing:
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-recovers-fairing-...
March recap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq9Cie8o2dQ
Heads up - Dragon docking at ISS live from 10:30 BST - capture expected around 12:00 https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public
Edited by MartG on Wednesday 4th April 10:29
That's its second visit to the ISS.
It had a little ISS silhouette painted on under the SpaceX lettering after the first visit
Sadly it seems that 4 Britons were killed in a road accident soon after leaving Monday's launch:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-43634...
It had a little ISS silhouette painted on under the SpaceX lettering after the first visit
Sadly it seems that 4 Britons were killed in a road accident soon after leaving Monday's launch:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-43634...
From Aviation Week
"CAPE CANAVERAL—SpaceX is seeking permission from the FAA to land and recover up to six Dragon capsules per year in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a draft environmental assessment released on April 5.
The purpose of the request is to establish an additional landing option for Dragon capsules returning with International Space Station (ISS) crew. NASA has hired SpaceX, along with Boeing, for ISS crew ferry flights beginning in 2019. Both companies plan to conduct unmanned and crewed test flights this year under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP).
“With the introduction of the CCP, the ability to return crew to Earth in a safe and timely manner is extremely important, particularly in cases where human life or health may be in jeopardy,” according to the report, signed by George Nield, the FAA’s outgoing Commercial Space Transportation associate administrator.
The option to land Dragon capsules in the Gulf of Mexico “ensures that a secondary splashdown option is available to missions planned to splash down in either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans, which would provide the returning crew with a timely and safe return to Earth,” Nield wrote.
Under the proposal, FAA would issue a reentry license to SpaceX, authorizing up to six Dragon landing operations per year in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. “Landing Dragon in the Gulf of Mexico would not result in an increase in the number of Falcon launches,” the report noted.
Each landing operation would include orbital reentry, splashdown, and recovery.
SpaceX intends to debut its Dragon-2 capsule during an unmanned test flight slated for August. The capsules are similar to the Dragon cargo ships currently used to resupply the ISS. Dragon-2 capsules will be loaded with more propellant and include abort capabilities, a landing guidance system and life support systems.
“The Gulf of Mexico would act as a contingency landing site in the event of hazardous conditions in either the currently utilized Pacific Ocean landing site or the recently approved Atlantic Ocean landing site,” the report said.
A 30-day public review of the proposal ends on May 4."
Environmental assessment document - https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_...
"CAPE CANAVERAL—SpaceX is seeking permission from the FAA to land and recover up to six Dragon capsules per year in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a draft environmental assessment released on April 5.
The purpose of the request is to establish an additional landing option for Dragon capsules returning with International Space Station (ISS) crew. NASA has hired SpaceX, along with Boeing, for ISS crew ferry flights beginning in 2019. Both companies plan to conduct unmanned and crewed test flights this year under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP).
“With the introduction of the CCP, the ability to return crew to Earth in a safe and timely manner is extremely important, particularly in cases where human life or health may be in jeopardy,” according to the report, signed by George Nield, the FAA’s outgoing Commercial Space Transportation associate administrator.
The option to land Dragon capsules in the Gulf of Mexico “ensures that a secondary splashdown option is available to missions planned to splash down in either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans, which would provide the returning crew with a timely and safe return to Earth,” Nield wrote.
Under the proposal, FAA would issue a reentry license to SpaceX, authorizing up to six Dragon landing operations per year in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. “Landing Dragon in the Gulf of Mexico would not result in an increase in the number of Falcon launches,” the report noted.
Each landing operation would include orbital reentry, splashdown, and recovery.
SpaceX intends to debut its Dragon-2 capsule during an unmanned test flight slated for August. The capsules are similar to the Dragon cargo ships currently used to resupply the ISS. Dragon-2 capsules will be loaded with more propellant and include abort capabilities, a landing guidance system and life support systems.
“The Gulf of Mexico would act as a contingency landing site in the event of hazardous conditions in either the currently utilized Pacific Ocean landing site or the recently approved Atlantic Ocean landing site,” the report said.
A 30-day public review of the proposal ends on May 4."
Environmental assessment document - https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_...
How SpaceX moves the Falcon rockets around ...and Nasa the Saturn V.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW3j1HpzD30
He doesn't seem to know that they're going to have to move the BFR thousands of miles by ship as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW3j1HpzD30
He doesn't seem to know that they're going to have to move the BFR thousands of miles by ship as well.
For anyone wondering what that ^ is, it will be used when filament winding the rocket body - a much larger version of the process shown in this video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_CdlAOwj8Y&fe...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_CdlAOwj8Y&fe...
Impressive. Somewhat akin to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner aircraft family:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GDqxnahwbk
The company who is believed to be producing this technology for SpaceX is Janicki, who started off making composite boat hulls.
https://www.janicki.com/capabilities/composite-fab...
They've worked on other spacecraft, including Boeing's Starliner. They're based just up the road from Boeing's main facility near Seattle, so they very likely had a hand in the Dreamliner too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GDqxnahwbk
The company who is believed to be producing this technology for SpaceX is Janicki, who started off making composite boat hulls.
https://www.janicki.com/capabilities/composite-fab...
They've worked on other spacecraft, including Boeing's Starliner. They're based just up the road from Boeing's main facility near Seattle, so they very likely had a hand in the Dreamliner too.
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff