Welcome home!! #spacex #falcon9 @CBSLA @KNX1070 #sanpedro
Coming across the flats. #Falcon9 headed to dock.
The @SpaceX booster photo gallery is up! She rolled into Port of LA at about noon on Just Read the Instructions: http://photos.dailybreeze.com/2017/06/photos-spacex-falcon-9-booster-towed-into-port-of-los-angeles-after-iridium-2-launch/#1
http://photos.dailybreeze.com/2017/06/photos-spacex-falcon-9-booster-towed-into-port-of-los-angeles-after-iridium-2-launch/#1In this particular picture, you can really see how close the bells are to the ground. Usually, you can almost walk right under them!
Quote from: tvg98 on 06/28/2017 11:26 pmhttp://photos.dailybreeze.com/2017/06/photos-spacex-falcon-9-booster-towed-into-port-of-los-angeles-after-iridium-2-launch/#1In this particular picture, you can really see how close the bells are to the ground. Usually, you can almost walk right under them!It is possible that this is a tweaked leg design that allows more piston compression. Both of the last two landings settled this low, so it is a possible explanation.
It would make a lot of sense for SpaceX to design the legs to have the back end of the first stage closer to the deck of the drone ship if possible. Most of the mass of the rocket is - presumably - in the engines and octoweb. Having the center of gravity even slightly closer to the deck would make the stage more stable, particularly in rough seas.
Close-up of returning grid fins from Matt Hartman's flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/81789298@N05/sets
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/29/2017 01:30 amClose-up of returning grid fins from Matt Hartman's flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/81789298@N05/setsAre you sure those are the same?? They look like they did before launch...
And I thought I heard that over time they would take on kind of a golden patina from oxidation...
Quote from: Coastal Ron on 06/29/2017 02:40 amAnd I thought I heard that over time they would take on kind of a golden patina from oxidation...Wasn't it titanium nitrate that us golden? Anyhow, not sure about the patina. If the soot from the reentry and landing burns is not cleaned, probably not. If the soot is cleaned away, it could easily scape off a thin titanium oxide or nitrate layer. Like you, I am hopeful they turn golden over time, would look neat :-)