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News SpaceX heavy-lift vehicles: Launch Thread

XCV330 said:
I was playing around on heavens-above.com because insomnia and plotted out where the Tesla Roadster was. Sure enough it had a close mars approach a couple of weeks ago. I guess it even got reported on a couple of web pages. Starman got within 5mil km of Mars around Oct 9
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What will the aliens make of a small red sports car?
 
Gingerbread Demon said:
Yay!!!!! This looks freaking awesome. Can someone post the video if they do a live launch?
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I feel like the man who mistook his wife for a hat, or the poor woman with face blindness.

I see the image, and still can’t quite believe it.

It is as if, after having been told that Dinos had feathers and were ugly- that someone took me back in time to see a T-Rex, and it looked like Harryhausen’s Gwangi after all.
 
lab-padre-11022020.png

the big crane retracted for now while work continues. will probably be a lot of checks done with a 15km hop by the end of the month, including the belly flop manouver
 
Marc said:
SpaceX has discovered an issue with the Merlin engines on the Falcon9s that has cause some delays.

After an abort on October 2nd, a fleck of lacquer was found in the ignition system but they aren't sure why the problem didn't manifest it's self earlier.

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...-for-crew-launch-explain-merlin-engine-issue/
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good thing they found it before Crew I. Now they they know where the problem is and how to deal with it in the future, that is just another checklist item.

But it has slown down SN8 testing. Apparently the static fire for SN8 will wait till after the crew I flight.
 
Marc said:
SpaceX has discovered an issue with the Merlin engines on the Falcon9s that has cause some delays.

After an abort on October 2nd, a fleck of lacquer was found in the ignition system but they aren't sure why the problem didn't manifest it's self earlier.

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...-for-crew-launch-explain-merlin-engine-issue/
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It was like nail polish huh?

I told them to keep Jamie Farr off the floor, but noooo...

I am told that the yellow stuff you see on airframes where they meet composites is a primer called BR-127. Airframes can get Alodine coatings to be marinized, IIRC.
 
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SpaceX now has a competitor in the re-usable market with Rocket Labs a company out of New Zealand. They are have successfully tested a parachute based recovery system and for their smaller rockets will be looking at helicopter capture.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonath...-to-launch-and-land-a-rocket/?sh=606a9563d450

Meanwhile SpaceX has been busy launching 2 Falcon 9s in a single day which include the 7th flight for one the the 1st stages.
https://www.cnet.com/news/next-spac...to-hit-a-big-milestone-how-to-watch-saturday/
 
Don’t pay them any mind.

Something I was thinking about:

Imagine a Falcon Heavy launching a Dragon atop a hypergolic second stage/service module combo.

Such a fuel fat spacecraft would be the most agile vehicle ever put in LEO, perhaps with the ability to go to different orbits, shove ISS a bit, etc.

I wonder if one with no capsule could move Hubble to ISS...

Most things in LEO just coast, with very little maneuverability,

A 60 ton tug? That is a family car (almost).

When I think of a spaceship, I think of something you ‘drive.’

Most capsules are little more than diving bells.

Themis--the Euro Falcon
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47498.40
 
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SN8 three engine static fire test might happen this afternoon at Boca Chica. All pad rats are being told to clear out at 11:30 am central.
 
With the engine starts a success it looks like it might be Dec 2, for the 15km Starship flight, with road closures posted.
 
 
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Marc said:
SpaceX now has a competitor in the re-usable market with Rocket Labs a company out of New Zealand. They are have successfully tested a parachute based recovery system and for their smaller rockets will be looking at helicopter capture.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonath...-to-launch-and-land-a-rocket/?sh=606a9563d450

Meanwhile SpaceX has been busy launching 2 Falcon 9s in a single day which include the 7th flight for one the the 1st stages.
https://www.cnet.com/news/next-spac...to-hit-a-big-milestone-how-to-watch-saturday/
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Smaller rockets might be able to be recovered using a parachute, on Earth. But the overall goal is to develop a reusable rocket that can land on the Moon, delivery its cargo and then return to Earth or at least a refueling station in orbit around the Moon and then to Earth.
 
Festivus-Nacelle said:
pushed back till the 8th (tomorrow)
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Launch was aborted at T-1 second.

Was able to launch on the 9th. Looks like it achieved most of flight objectives. It performed the landing flip maneuver after reaching an altitude of 40,000' but looked like there might have been an issue with restarting the engines and the vehicle underwent kinetic disassembly after it thermally reconfigured itself. Elon Musk had given the flight one-in-three chance of success.

Note there was a 40 minute delay. Launch occurred around 1:48:00 into clip.
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Oh, well. Failure is an opportunity to learn.
 
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