Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 (F9-23 : S/N 1021) KSC Reuse Testing Coverage  (Read 126249 times)

Offline litton4

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Quote from: Terry Pratchett
This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation . . . but is this not the nine hundred-year-old axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe, y'know. Pretty good.

Quote from: me
This, milord, is my family's core. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new fuel tank. And sometimes it has required a new flight computer, new designs on the grid fins, a little refreshing of the engines . . . but is this not the nine hundred-year-old core of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good core, y'know. Pretty good.

So, when is a core still the one from its first flight?
In US law, the lower receiver is the gun. What's the "lower receiver" of a rocket stage?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus


Here in the UK, we call it Trigger's Broom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_%28Only_Fools_and_Horses%29
Dave Condliffe

Offline envy887

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In US law, the lower receiver is the gun. What's the "lower receiver" of a rocket stage?

It's the structural airframe, which is the combination of the thrust structure and fuel tanks. For all practical purposes, those are not replaceable, and if the airframe is worn or damaged to the point where it cannot be repaired the booster is toast.

Offline old_sellsword

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In US law, the lower receiver is the gun. What's the "lower receiver" of a rocket stage?

It's the structural airframe, which is the combination of the thrust structure and fuel tanks. For all practical purposes, those are not replaceable, and if the airframe is worn or damaged to the point where it cannot be repaired the booster is toast.

What about 1023? It was the Thaicom 8 first stage that's being converted to a FH side booster, and apparently the octaweb is being ripped apart as part of this conversion process. Will we count that as reflight of a stage?
« Last Edit: 02/02/2017 02:51 pm by old_sellsword »

Offline envy887

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In US law, the lower receiver is the gun. What's the "lower receiver" of a rocket stage?

It's the structural airframe, which is the combination of the thrust structure and fuel tanks. For all practical purposes, those are not replaceable, and if the airframe is worn or damaged to the point where it cannot be repaired the booster is toast.

What about 1023? It was the Thaicom 8 first stage that's being converted to a FH side booster, and apparently the octaweb is being ripped apart as part of this conversion process. Will we count that as reflight of a stage?

It sounds like SpaceX is putting quite a bit of work into upgrading rather than replacing the octaweb. So it's the same octaweb, same tanks, same booster.

It's like the unibody of a car. You can weld in more sheet steel to strengthen certain sections, but you can't replace the whole unibody and call it the same vehicle.

Offline starhawk92

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Two cases for "end" of reuse:  We see it scrapped or parted out (most awesomest junkyard ever -- U-Wrench-It-Max, anyone??)

They change the Serial Number(?).

Otherwise, it's reuse, right?

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