SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
Interesting what was said about the 1st stage engine chamber pressures
Previously they have maintained a constant combustion chamber pressure during flight, which means that as atmospheric pressure reduced the engine thrust increased. Taken together with the reduction in mass as fuel is consumed this results in large G forces on the vehicle & payload as it neared burnout.
With Block 5 they are now running the engines at constant thrust, reducing the loads ( though of course there will still be an increase due to propellant usage ) .
I wonder if the throttling which is being done to achieve this is giving a longer burn time, and what the overall effect is on performance
Previously they have maintained a constant combustion chamber pressure during flight, which means that as atmospheric pressure reduced the engine thrust increased. Taken together with the reduction in mass as fuel is consumed this results in large G forces on the vehicle & payload as it neared burnout.
With Block 5 they are now running the engines at constant thrust, reducing the loads ( though of course there will still be an increase due to propellant usage ) .
I wonder if the throttling which is being done to achieve this is giving a longer burn time, and what the overall effect is on performance
SpaceX flies 'lessons learned' rocket http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4408...
“Big Falcon Rocket”
Even the phonetics hint at it
“Big Falcon Rocket”
Even the phonetics hint at it
MartG said:
Previously they have maintained a constant combustion chamber pressure during flight, which means that as atmospheric pressure reduced the engine thrust increased.
This can't be correct - they throttle down at Max Q and throttle back up after they've cleared it. That's inconsistent with having constant chamber pressure.Jimbo. said:
SpaceX flies 'lessons learned' rocket http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4408...
“Big Falcon Rocket”
Even the phonetics hint at it
The other word is the correct term, this is the PC media friendly name.“Big Falcon Rocket”
Even the phonetics hint at it
What was a clearly a huge disappointment for Warmfuzzies was fortunate for me. My brother arrived here on Thursday and after the scrub we decided to head to KSC on Friday. So having spent the morning looking at the exhibits we went to the Saturn V hall early afternoon, looked around there and then settled down to watch the launch. From the lawn outside the Saturn V hall. It was an amazing sight, not as loud as FH (even though we were about 4 miles closer), but still fantastic to see. It timed so well with my brother's visit which I was pleased about.
The first Block 5 Falcon 9 is back in Florida:
https://imgur.com/a/rVTXJ9d
At least one of the fairings was picked up and taken back too.
https://imgur.com/a/rVTXJ9d
At least one of the fairings was picked up and taken back too.
Nice to see. Like a still from a science fiction film.
The first (unmanned) Dragon 2 test mission is pencilled in for August.
If it all goes well with the capsule and the Block 5s in general, they'll go for a manned mission in December-ish.
Coming up soon though is another Iridium mission from Vandenberg. It'll have only 5 Iridium NEXT satellites this time, instead of the usual 10. That's because it'll also be carrying a couple of GRACE-FO satellites for NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences. These will monitor water and ice changes on Earth.
https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/
They completed the static fire on Friday with the actual launch scheduled for Tuesday 22nd May.
They'll be trying again to rescue a fairing or two using Mr Steven, who was out practicing the other day.
The rocket itself is a previously flown Block 4 (ex-Zuma mission in January), so will likely be ditched in the Pacific.
The first (unmanned) Dragon 2 test mission is pencilled in for August.
If it all goes well with the capsule and the Block 5s in general, they'll go for a manned mission in December-ish.
Coming up soon though is another Iridium mission from Vandenberg. It'll have only 5 Iridium NEXT satellites this time, instead of the usual 10. That's because it'll also be carrying a couple of GRACE-FO satellites for NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences. These will monitor water and ice changes on Earth.
https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/
They completed the static fire on Friday with the actual launch scheduled for Tuesday 22nd May.
They'll be trying again to rescue a fairing or two using Mr Steven, who was out practicing the other day.
The rocket itself is a previously flown Block 4 (ex-Zuma mission in January), so will likely be ditched in the Pacific.
As I arrived, the forklift was taking in 4 or 5 rocket nozzles.
Then the UFO comes along and as I left, there's another low loader with a flat rectangular bit all wrapped up about to come in.
It must be a hive of activity in that assembly hall. And you can just drive in and use the Supercharger while you watch this all going on.
Amazing stuff.
MartG said:
Looks a lot more businesslike than the mock up they have in the factory:
Typical bloody Californians though; can't go anywhere without a hot tub.
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