Quote from: cscott on 12/29/2015 12:32 pmI find the idea that a booster can navigate from 100km up and then find itself in need of a "rally point" only 150m away from its proper target rather cute.Quote from: Jim on 12/29/2015 12:42 pmQuote from: georgegassaway on 12/29/2015 03:56 amAbsurdity factor = 0. Not true at all. RC copters have nothing in common with thisI'll add this then.The contingency pads would only be utilized in order to enable the safe landing of a single vehicle should last-second navigation and landing diversion be required.- George Gassaway
I find the idea that a booster can navigate from 100km up and then find itself in need of a "rally point" only 150m away from its proper target rather cute.
Quote from: georgegassaway on 12/29/2015 03:56 amAbsurdity factor = 0. Not true at all. RC copters have nothing in common with this
Absurdity factor = 0.
@meekGee with all respect, the way you've formulated your theory it is unfalsifiable.Occam's Razor might suggest, "just build a single pad to start with, and build it as large as you can in case the first few landings run into trouble. Later on, once the bugs are shaken out, you can build a few more (as needed) and make them smaller."Isn't that a simpler explanation?
Quote from: Craig_VG on 12/26/2015 04:28 pmYesterday I was flying to Miami and realized I would pass by the cape. I took out my 300mm and got a couple good shots of the landing pad. If you'd like I can post the original RAW files as you guys are pros at photo editing.Awesome!Can see the logistics area (rectangular) which supports the idea that the stage was driven by the crane (what an awesome sight!) to a common area where "de-legging" occurs. (The crane is still there)Too cool.
Yesterday I was flying to Miami and realized I would pass by the cape. I took out my 300mm and got a couple good shots of the landing pad. If you'd like I can post the original RAW files as you guys are pros at photo editing.
http://spacenews.com/spacex-leases-cape-canaveral-launch-pad-for-falcon-landings/SpaceX’s plan calls for constructing a 60-meter by 60-meter square concrete landing pad surrounded by fouradditional 45-meter diameter “contingency” pads, according to a 2014 environmental impact statement prepared for SpaceX and the Air Force.“The contingency pads would only be utilized in order to enable the safe landing of a single vehicle should last-second navigation and landing diversion be required. There are no plans to utilize the contingency pads in order to enable landing multiple stages” at once, the assessment said. The document was prepared by Gator Engineering and Aquifer Restoration, Inc. of Lake Mary, Florida.In addition, SpaceX plans to build a steel stand to secure the stage during “post-landing operations” the impact statement said. The company does not expect more than 12 landings a year.
My last message was a bit of a trick, and unfortunately it worked. Sorry, I got tired of the attitude that no way would SpaceX use the contingency pads that way, when I know (remember) better.Because that is exactly their justification for being allowed to build the contingency pads in the first place.So, I quoted the exact words from the environmental impact study that SpaceX commissioned,as their own justification and explanation for why they needed those other pads. A little surprised nobody recognized it, and very surprised at the attitudes that SpaceX would never plan to do such a thing. You can find it here, in a Feb 10th article about SpaceX leasing LC-13:Quotehttp://spacenews.com/spacex-leases-cape-canaveral-launch-pad-for-falcon-landings/SpaceX’s plan calls for constructing a 60-meter by 60-meter square concrete landing pad surrounded by fouradditional 45-meter diameter “contingency” pads, according to a 2014 environmental impact statement prepared for SpaceX and the Air Force.“The contingency pads would only be utilized in order to enable the safe landing of a single vehicle should last-second navigation and landing diversion be required. There are no plans to utilize the contingency pads in order to enable landing multiple stages” at once, the assessment said. The document was prepared by Gator Engineering and Aquifer Restoration, Inc. of Lake Mary, Florida.In addition, SpaceX plans to build a steel stand to secure the stage during “post-landing operations” the impact statement said. The company does not expect more than 12 landings a year.The full environmental impact study is here, see page #17:http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-141107-004.pdfSo, this is what SpaceX says the contingency pads were for, in the environmental impact study created for their behalf.Now if you do not not believe it, still want to call it absurd, take it up with Musk. - George Gassaway
.Now if you do not not believe it, still want to call it absurd, take it up with Musk.
For LC11 my best guess would be that it puts incoming rocket stages a wee bit to close to LC36 where BO is planning on building their launch facilities and where Moon Express also has facilities.
Quote from: the_other_Doug on 12/19/2015 06:43 pmSo -- no clue either way as to whether or not a big circle-X has been painted onto the main landing pad at Landing Complex 1, in preparation for tomorrow's landing attempt?No September image is available on the TerraServer, so the latest remains the one from August which has no X.There are other resources for overhead photography, but a better hope is for a ground based image Tuesday morning with a smudged, shadowed Space-X.
So -- no clue either way as to whether or not a big circle-X has been painted onto the main landing pad at Landing Complex 1, in preparation for tomorrow's landing attempt?
NMFS has received a request from Space Explorations Technology Corporation (SpaceX), for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to boost-backs and landings of Falcon 9 rockets at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and at a contingency landing location approximately 30 miles offshore. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to SpaceX to incidentally take marine mammals, by Level B Harassment only, during the specified activity.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/03/31/2016-07191/takes-of-marine-mammals-incidental-to-specified-activities-taking-marine-mammals-incidental-to
Quote from: Beittil on 01/04/2016 12:22 pmFor LC11 my best guess would be that it puts incoming rocket stages a wee bit to close to LC36 where BO is planning on building their launch facilities and where Moon Express also has facilities.Might be an opportunity for CCAFB to establish a consolidated landing zone for both SpaceX and BO.
Other facts:SpaceX expect to never miss the barge so the question of a stage hitting the water was not studied.The maximum explosive force in a barge impact is 503ibs of TNT equivalent.
Quote from: chalz on 04/04/2016 06:20 amOther facts:SpaceX expect to never miss the barge so the question of a stage hitting the water was not studied.The maximum explosive force in a barge impact is 503ibs of TNT equivalent.That's interesting.. and especially so when SpX have performed 'water landings' several times before and IIRC have publicly stated that 'divert to water' is their plan if they consider it too rough to land (explosively or otherwise) on the barge.Surely having a mostly-empty stage land on your head is going to be a bad day for any seal caught in the wrong place at the wrong second.. no?