Author Topic: SpaceX's Fairing Catchers (GO Ms Tree, GO Ms Chief)  (Read 251441 times)

Offline Chris Bergin

The original fairing catcher ship was Mr. Steven, later renamed to GO Ms Tree.  In August 2019 GO Ms Chief (formerly named Capt Elliott McCall) was added to the fleet.



https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/02/spacexs-mr-steven-fsv-fairing-catcher/

- By Micheal Baylor

It includes an interview with Brian Herbert, a Senior Dynamic Positioning Officer who interacted with Mr. Steven before SpaceX leased her. Mr. Steven is a very capable ship!

Edit/Lar: It seems that the GO twins are out of the fairing business and Shelia Bordelon has taken their place
« Last Edit: 07/09/2021 04:28 pm by gongora »
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Offline cscott

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Got the Abstract of Title for Mr. Steven from the USCG today; posted in the ASDS discussion thread:
Somewhat heavier stalking: I requested the public "Abstract of Title" records from the Coast Guard (attached).

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Finally had time to read the article - it's great, thank you. Nice to see some info on the economics of this, well done for tracking done someone previously involved with Mr Steven.

Still struggling to get my head around how close SpaceX now is to being able to re-use a fairing. Amazing progress and doesn't appear to have been that technically difficult, certainly in comparison to booster re-use. No idea though what the stresses of re-entry are like and thus how many re-uses per fairing may be possible.

Will be very interesting to see if any other launch providers also attempt fairing recovery. True the savings are small compared to engine/booster re-use but the business case seems very positive.

Offline acsawdey

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a fairing can cost more than that boat.

If the boat was made out of carbon fiber, it would cost more than the fairing.

Offline hootowls

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Mr. Steven = GO Fairing

Offline cscott

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Mr. Steven = GO Fairing
I bet GO Pursuit will have a claim on that name too, in due course.

Offline deruch

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Nice article.  Really good intro the vessel.  My only criticism is related to the section that compared the costs to the value of the fairing halves.  It ignores the fact that the Operations and Maintenance costs for the ship will likely dwarf the hull lease cost.  So the used comparison isn't really useful on its own. 
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline IRobot

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It ignores the fact that the Operations and Maintenance costs for the ship will likely dwarf the hull lease cost.  So the used comparison isn't really useful on its own.
AFAIK, the hull lease cost includes the maintenance costs.

Offline CameronD

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It ignores the fact that the Operations and Maintenance costs for the ship will likely dwarf the hull lease cost.  So the used comparison isn't really useful on its own.
AFAIK, the hull lease cost includes the maintenance costs.

That's a tricky one.. it usually doesn't, but it depends on the specific terms of the lease.  If it's a "bareboat" lease, you get the boat itself and nothing else - but for specialised craft like Mr Steven folks typically lease the hull and crew as a per-day package that does not include fuel, oil, slipping, USCG surveys, food/beer or any other incidentals, paid for by the customer on an as-needs basis.

Having said that, there's no way operations and maintenance of this vessel would "dwarf" $7,500/day, given it spends most of it's time tied up to the dock.
« Last Edit: 03/01/2018 09:51 pm by CameronD »
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine - however, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

Offline Michael Baylor

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Nice article.  Really good intro the vessel.  My only criticism is related to the section that compared the costs to the value of the fairing halves.  It ignores the fact that the Operations and Maintenance costs for the ship will likely dwarf the hull lease cost.  So the used comparison isn't really useful on its own.
My understanding is that it's all included in the lease.

Primary costs for fairing recovery are the ship's lease, the dock space, and the development costs. All of which are mentioned in the article. Of course that's not everything, there are other smaller things here and there but they are not significant relative to the rest.
« Last Edit: 03/01/2018 11:47 pm by Michael Baylor »

Offline Raul

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https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/993530877014556673
Quote
Wasn’t able to see the unloading of Dragon this morning, but look who has his beautiful net strung! #spacex #mrsteven

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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A couple comparisons of Mr Steven's old vs new net.

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/994051730609336320

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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There was an extensive debate on that over at /r/SpaceX 😆 general consensus was some genre of nylon or kevlar fiber

https://twitter.com/13ericralph31/status/994072030503997440

Quote
Not sure if you can tell from these?

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/994077115082526720

Offline speedevil

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


More seriously, I wonder about the comments on the FH presser (?) that dragon could be caught in the net.
I wonder if they consider it possible that it's cheaper to catch it in the net, with associated possible damage costs,than spend the money refurbishing it.

(probably only for reused non-NASA flight dragons, or crew dragon test at this point).

Offline Doesitfloat

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I was thinking the same thing. Stronger net means they can catch Dragons or Stage 2.

Offline deruch

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Also means the net won't be so flappy in the wind.  The holes are bigger so it will act less like a sail and probably be easier to maneuver and deal with in windy/breezy conditions.
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline YEGLego



From reddit user /u/kegman83: "Brother works down at the LA docks, snapped this picture this morning. Any ideas?"

It shows the new yellow net underneath, and there was supposedly a drop test recently.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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It was pretty cool watching Mr Steven dock at what will eventually be SpaceX's BFR factory. Unloaded a flight-proven Falcon 9 fairing half after doing some odd laps with it on board just off the coast. 🤔 #MrSteven #SpaceX

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/996950927717232640

Quote
No net implies there were no drop tests.

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/996954152440709120

Quote
This back and forth racing happens regularly.

https://twitter.com/inoeth999/status/996958062769565701

Online Johnnyhinbos

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I’ll just add a reference to my own tweet here...

https://twitter.com/johnhanzl/status/997056007481241601?s=21

(You know, those yellow, net-shaped bits...)
« Last Edit: 05/17/2018 10:10 am by Johnnyhinbos »
John Hanzl. Author, action / adventure www.johnhanzl.com

Offline biosehnsucht

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I'm guessing they were testing that they could in fact haul boat from one recovery area to another with whatever amount of strapping down (if any) they're using for the fairing after it's caught, so go get another fairing. Making sure it doesn't slide around, etc.

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