SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
Has anyone been following the construction of the two Starship prototypes?
They are working weekends on them and really ramming through the process, it's feels like sort of pace you would see in a "World War" type newsreel, with prototypes thrown together in a matter of months.
The SLS project makes a big deal about "we rotated the engine section through 180 degrees" as their only news for weeks; in the same time SpaceX seem to have welded together half a rocket.
They are working weekends on them and really ramming through the process, it's feels like sort of pace you would see in a "World War" type newsreel, with prototypes thrown together in a matter of months.
The SLS project makes a big deal about "we rotated the engine section through 180 degrees" as their only news for weeks; in the same time SpaceX seem to have welded together half a rocket.
Not dissimilar to how the pair of Mars rovers were built for NASA. Built by competent engineers who were essentially just left to get on with it. No messing around having to develop whole new technologies or go through long expensive tendering processes, only to be told politics has got involved and you need to start again.
Talking of which, here's the next Mars rover being spin tested to determine its center of gravity.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Beati Dogu said:
Talking of which, here's the next Mars rover being spin tested to determine its center of gravity.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Wow, 20kg of dead weight - when you calculate cost to orbit that's nearly half a million dollars gone!https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Flooble said:
Beati Dogu said:
Talking of which, here's the next Mars rover being spin tested to determine its center of gravity.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Wow, 20kg of dead weight - when you calculate cost to orbit that's nearly half a million dollars gone!https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
MartG said:
And 20kg which could have been used for something useful - could it not be designed in such a way that some equipment could be moved to adjust the CG instead of adding dead weight ?
I suppose that since it's going anyway and there's no other payload, the extra 20 Kg is neither here nor there really.Plus it makes it simpler & easier to design, thus saving costs at that end. They do it for quite large objects too, including whole satellites. This is the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft being spin tested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi6wZj2bFI4
It was launched in 2016 and it currently orbiting the asteroid, Bennu.
They do all sorts of other separate tests before launch. Like rattling their teeth out on shaker tables, putting them in a giant centrifuge & bombarding them with loud noise, all to simulate launch conditions.
MartG said:
Flooble said:
Beati Dogu said:
Talking of which, here's the next Mars rover being spin tested to determine its center of gravity.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Wow, 20kg of dead weight - when you calculate cost to orbit that's nearly half a million dollars gone!https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
annodomini2 said:
MartG said:
Flooble said:
Beati Dogu said:
Talking of which, here's the next Mars rover being spin tested to determine its center of gravity.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
Wow, 20kg of dead weight - when you calculate cost to orbit that's nearly half a million dollars gone!https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=749...
Like balancing a tyre, they add weights to even it out.
Meanwhile, SpaceX have launched 10 times this year and aim to launch 7-8 more before the year is out. Including their first manned flight - they hope. They've finally caught up with the backlog of launches delayed after the Falcon 9 pad explosion it seems.
Next year may see as many as 24 launches according to Gwynne Shotwell. Many of them Starlink.
MartG said:
A bit annoying though if you have an experiment which masses less than 20kg but hasn't been approved due to weight limitations of the spacecraft
Not a big deal if you know there is another SpaceX launch due any day now now. They are a bit like tube trains these days, - miss one, there'll be another along in a few weeks.
Eric Mc said:
MartG said:
A bit annoying though if you have an experiment which masses less than 20kg but hasn't been approved due to weight limitations of the spacecraft
Not a big deal if you know there is another SpaceX launch due any day now now. They are a bit like tube trains these days, - miss one, there'll be another along in a few weeks.
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