Author Topic: SpaceX core and second stage spotting  (Read 369529 times)

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #260 on: 08/30/2018 01:02 am »
We know there is at least one FH core somewhere in the build/testing flow, for STP-2, and probably also one for Arabsat 6A, as I doubt that SpaceX have gambled on definitely getting the first FH B5 core back for re-use. So almost certainly either core 1050 or 1052 is the FH centre for STP-2, my guess being 1050.

B1050 didn't have any FH-related hardware. I haven't seen B1052 but it seems it isn't FH-related too.
FH hardware can be installed in florida now. It doesn't have to be installed before transport. The exception is the Center core but some of this can done in Florida.

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #261 on: 08/30/2018 02:02 am »
We know there is at least one FH core somewhere in the build/testing flow, for STP-2, and probably also one for Arabsat 6A, as I doubt that SpaceX have gambled on definitely getting the first FH B5 core back for re-use. So almost certainly either core 1050 or 1052 is the FH centre for STP-2, my guess being 1050.

B1050 didn't have any FH-related hardware. I haven't seen B1052 but it seems it isn't FH-related too.
FH hardware can be installed in florida now. It doesn't have to be installed before transport. The exception is the Center core but some of this can done in Florida.

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.

Offline LouScheffer

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #262 on: 08/30/2018 01:49 pm »

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.
I'm not sure the boosters would have the nosecone installed at the factory.  At least some tests at McGregor require the load device on top (presumably this is the long duration tests - otherwise as the tanks empty the rocket might overstress the hold-downs.).  So it might make sense to build the boosters with no cap, install the load device and perform the test at McGregor, then install the nosecone at McGregor or the launch site.

Offline aero

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #263 on: 08/30/2018 03:38 pm »

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.
I'm not sure the boosters would have the nosecone installed at the factory.  At least some tests at McGregor require the load device on top (presumably this is the long duration tests - otherwise as the tanks empty the rocket might overstress the hold-downs.).  So it might make sense to build the boosters with no cap, install the load device and perform the test at McGregor, then install the nosecone at McGregor or the launch site.

How much extra length do the nosecones add to the basic F9 first stage? Would the FH boosters with nosecones attached still be transportable on the existing "over the road" transporters?
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Offline cppetrie

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #264 on: 08/30/2018 04:02 pm »

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.
I'm not sure the boosters would have the nosecone installed at the factory.  At least some tests at McGregor require the load device on top (presumably this is the long duration tests - otherwise as the tanks empty the rocket might overstress the hold-downs.).  So it might make sense to build the boosters with no cap, install the load device and perform the test at McGregor, then install the nosecone at McGregor or the launch site.

How much extra length do the nosecones add to the basic F9 first stage? Would the FH boosters with nosecones attached still be transportable on the existing "over the road" transporters?
None. They are actually shorter with nose cone than with the usual interstage attached.

Edit: autocorrect typo
« Last Edit: 08/30/2018 04:03 pm by cppetrie »

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #265 on: 08/30/2018 04:10 pm »

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.
I'm not sure the boosters would have the nosecone installed at the factory.  At least some tests at McGregor require the load device on top (presumably this is the long duration tests - otherwise as the tanks empty the rocket might overstress the hold-downs.).  So it might make sense to build the boosters with no cap, install the load device and perform the test at McGregor, then install the nosecone at McGregor or the launch site.

How much extra length do the nosecones add to the basic F9 first stage? Would the FH boosters with nosecones attached still be transportable on the existing "over the road" transporters?

They don't add any length, they are actually shorter with them than with the interstage and they have already been transported a few times on those transporters. Also, they don't need to remove the nosecones for testing at McGregor, they already have done the testing with the nosecones and if you remove the nosecone you're left only with the top of the LOX tank, there is no place to attach the load cap on it.

Offline ZachF

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #266 on: 08/30/2018 06:51 pm »

The side boosters have to have the nosecones for McGregor testing and the center core would have that thing that connects to the hinges of the side boosters on the interstage and, obviously, the "Falcon Heavy" logo would be painted on the booster. I know that all of the added things are added at Florida, but there are certain things FH-related that are not on every booster and will be once they begin to roll out to McGregor.
initially yes but the side boosters can be converted at the launch site. This was evidenced by the Block-3 side booster cores on the first FH. It will be much easier to do Block-5 onwards.

That would make sense if the boosters were being reused but these are new so they'll leave Hawthorne with the nosecones already installed. I know they can convert them at the launch site, B1025 was converted there after CRS-9, but these will be leaving directly from Hawthorne to McGregor and the same will happen with the center core.
I'm not sure the boosters would have the nosecone installed at the factory.  At least some tests at McGregor require the load device on top (presumably this is the long duration tests - otherwise as the tanks empty the rocket might overstress the hold-downs.).  So it might make sense to build the boosters with no cap, install the load device and perform the test at McGregor, then install the nosecone at McGregor or the launch site.

How much extra length do the nosecones add to the basic F9 first stage? Would the FH boosters with nosecones attached still be transportable on the existing "over the road" transporters?
None. They are actually shorter with nose cone than with the usual interstage attached.

Edit: autocorrect typo

Will Block 5 nosecones be black like the new interstages?
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Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #267 on: 08/30/2018 07:15 pm »
No, they're white, look at the left side of this picture

 
« Last Edit: 08/30/2018 07:15 pm by Alexphysics »

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #268 on: 08/30/2018 07:30 pm »
No, they're white, look at the left side of this picture
Correct. Current nose cone heating doesn't necessitate the need for the black TPS as the core stage requires. If they ever decide to do ASDS booster landings in the future the black TPS might be needed.

Offline Michael Baylor

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #269 on: 09/21/2018 06:15 pm »
« Last Edit: 09/21/2018 06:15 pm by Michael Baylor »

Online ThatOldJanxSpirit

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #270 on: 09/21/2018 06:54 pm »
It looks more like a pipe to me!

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #271 on: 09/21/2018 07:20 pm »
It looks exactly like a Falcon 9 booster should look in transit.  That would be a really big pipe segment.

Offline Draggendrop

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #272 on: 09/21/2018 07:52 pm »
The pickup and it's float parked in front of the main rig threw me off for a second....nicely lined up.
 :)

Offline IanThePineapple

Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #273 on: 09/21/2018 08:19 pm »
It looks exactly like a Falcon 9 booster should look in transit.  That would be a really big pipe segment.

If that were a pipe I wonder why they wouldn't have shipped it in multiple smaller segments, it would be better in almost every way than transporting it fully assembled.

Offline Kansan52

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #274 on: 09/21/2018 08:55 pm »
It looks exactly like a Falcon 9 booster should look in transit.  That would be a really big pipe segment.

If that were a pipe I wonder why they wouldn't have shipped it in multiple smaller segments, it would be better in almost every way than transporting it fully assembled.

Speeds up installation. And fewer connections typically increases reliability.

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #275 on: 09/21/2018 11:12 pm »
Well, we know it's not a pipe, it's a booster. Now, which booster it could be and what's more probable? It could be B1050, B1051 or B1052 (B1053 is still probably being tested at McGregor, if not finishing it). B1051 makes sense, as DM-1 is approaching but we know that, if they don't need a booster inmediately, they usually keep them at McGregor and DM-1 is not until December. There's a F9 GTO launch sometime in early November from 39A per the FCC permits, it is most probably Es'Hail 2 and if it doesn't use a flight proven booster I can see them moving its booster now so it can be slowly prepared (so it could be B1050, for example). We have no idea from where B1052 is going to launch or in which missions (My guess is Iridium 8 from SLC-4E, but I have no idea, it's just a mere feeling based on previous movements). We'll know which one it is but at least we know it could only be one of 3 boosters.

Offline gemmy0I

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #276 on: 09/22/2018 06:30 pm »
Well, we know it's not a pipe, it's a booster. Now, which booster it could be and what's more probable? It could be B1050, B1051 or B1052 (B1053 is still probably being tested at McGregor, if not finishing it). B1051 makes sense, as DM-1 is approaching but we know that, if they don't need a booster inmediately, they usually keep them at McGregor and DM-1 is not until December. There's a F9 GTO launch sometime in early November from 39A per the FCC permits, it is most probably Es'Hail 2 and if it doesn't use a flight proven booster I can see them moving its booster now so it can be slowly prepared (so it could be B1050, for example). We have no idea from where B1052 is going to launch or in which missions (My guess is Iridium 8 from SLC-4E, but I have no idea, it's just a mere feeling based on previous movements). We'll know which one it is but at least we know it could only be one of 3 boosters.
Isn't B1050 supposed to have been at the Cape for a while now? Reddit's core tracking page has it "en route to the Cape as of July 31", based on this source, and currently presumed to be "at LC-39A" (unsourced). Is Reddit's info hogwash/out of date in this case?

Did we ever find out more about that core that was seen going west from the Cape? I know there was a huge range of speculation on that: that it could be B1050 going back for more testing, or the twice-flown B1046, or that it wasn't actually going to McGregor after all and its departure just happened to align with a sighting of another core arriving there from Hawthorne.

Also, I know I read somewhere that B1050 was determined to be for GPS III based on permits or certification documents people saw. Don't know how reliable that was either though.

Is there any chance that B1052 might be a FH center, or has that been categorically disproven (e.g. by seeing a F9 logo on it at McGregor)? The two Telstar boosters sitting around at the Cape seem like a tempting pair to turn into FH side boosters for ArabSat, since they've flown nearly identical mission profiles (if that matters at all, which it may not). They're just missing a center...and of course a satellite. :)

Offline Alexphysics

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #277 on: 09/22/2018 07:06 pm »
Well, we know it's not a pipe, it's a booster. Now, which booster it could be and what's more probable? It could be B1050, B1051 or B1052 (B1053 is still probably being tested at McGregor, if not finishing it). B1051 makes sense, as DM-1 is approaching but we know that, if they don't need a booster inmediately, they usually keep them at McGregor and DM-1 is not until December. There's a F9 GTO launch sometime in early November from 39A per the FCC permits, it is most probably Es'Hail 2 and if it doesn't use a flight proven booster I can see them moving its booster now so it can be slowly prepared (so it could be B1050, for example). We have no idea from where B1052 is going to launch or in which missions (My guess is Iridium 8 from SLC-4E, but I have no idea, it's just a mere feeling based on previous movements). We'll know which one it is but at least we know it could only be one of 3 boosters.
Isn't B1050 supposed to have been at the Cape for a while now? Reddit's core tracking page has it "en route to the Cape as of July 31", based on this source, and currently presumed to be "at LC-39A" (unsourced). Is Reddit's info hogwash/out of date in this case?

Did we ever find out more about that core that was seen going west from the Cape? I know there was a huge range of speculation on that: that it could be B1050 going back for more testing, or the twice-flown B1046, or that it wasn't actually going to McGregor after all and its departure just happened to align with a sighting of another core arriving there from Hawthorne.

Also, I know I read somewhere that B1050 was determined to be for GPS III based on permits or certification documents people saw. Don't know how reliable that was either though.

Is there any chance that B1052 might be a FH center, or has that been categorically disproven (e.g. by seeing a F9 logo on it at McGregor)? The two Telstar boosters sitting around at the Cape seem like a tempting pair to turn into FH side boosters for ArabSat, since they've flown nearly identical mission profiles (if that matters at all, which it may not). They're just missing a center...and of course a satellite. :)

I think the one seen arriving at the cape back then was B1049, Jakusb thought the same and I, at first, thought about B1050 but thinking it more I think it was B1049 too. There was a booster being moved west and I think it could be B1046. Someone said it was going to McGregor just because another person around the same time saw B1052 entering McGregor. There's L2 info on to what core might be for the GPS mission and pictures of the boosters at McGregor. I don't know if I can tell at least this, but I don't see anything on them that indicates any of them is a center core. It's true what you said that there's a decent chance we might see any of these past boosters being converted into side boosters, but there's nothing that can tell us which boosters are.
« Last Edit: 09/23/2018 01:48 pm by Alexphysics »

Offline Jakusb

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Re: SpaceX core and second stage spotting
« Reply #278 on: 09/23/2018 01:41 pm »
I agree. Most likely 1050, or possibly 1052.
1051 unlikely as it would be very early.
All three unseen since they were tested at McGregor.
1053 likely just finishing its testing at McGregor, 1054 about to leave Hawthorne any day now.

So my money is on 1050 for Es’hail mission.

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