Well did a quick search on the state site, a person is given as the manager of the LLC. But all adresses are the same and are that of SeaTran Marine.See attached for the details.
There's definitely something interesting going on: the boat was bought from the builder for $1 (!) which suggests that some other form of compensation was made. Perhaps the builder created the LLC, then sold the LLC to SeaTran instead of the boat. Perhaps the $22 million number is the actual cost of the boat, and the $50 million loan includes other assets (a second boat?) transferred to Mr Steven LLC as additional collateral for that mortgage. Maybe those two boats were split into separate mortgages in the latest transaction.Financial engineering.
I saw a picture a few days ago on how JRTI wasn't in fit shape for a landing, and had a lot of required parts missing:https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7y95lz/just_read_the_instructions_taken_today_in_long/?sort=newIridium5 is due to land on it in a month - what are the odds it will be fixed by then?Is there a possibility that it ends up being expendable?
One thing that struck me about the photos of the Octograbber, and as commented on on that thread, was the lack of any cabling. Either they just haven't hooked it up yet, or they've made it self-contained. I can't see any sign that they've put any kind of shielding over the Octograbber lair, right behind the door but forward of the white container. I figured they would, given that it got blasted by a landing F9 (if I remember right). I also wonder if the state of JRTI (apparently out of service at the moment) is due in part to SpaceX doing a bit of rearranging in order to create an Octograbber lair on it. And in possible other ASDS news, do we know if Elsbeth III is still an ASDS tug? The reason I ask is that, per Vesslefinder https://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=367017460 She's been in Morgan City Beach (where, I think, the ASDS were converted) since Feb 24th. It made me wonder if the reason is that that's where the new ASDS is being built?
GO Searcher is back to doing something within a few miles of the Port entrance, lots and lots of arrival/departure notices similar to what she was doing during Crew Dragon recovery ops validation. Anyone at the Port?
SpaceX’s drone ship fleet spied prepping for future rocket recoveries
...nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber...
Optimus Prime. Octopus prime. Not Roomba.
New article with nice Roomba image:QuoteSpaceX’s drone ship fleet spied prepping for future rocket recoveriesQuote...nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber...https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-drone-ship-fleet-spied-rocket-recovery/Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/19/2018 12:36 amOptimus Prime. Octopus prime. Not Roomba.
What's up ASoG?
Quote from: OxCartMark on 04/06/2018 06:16 pmWhat's up ASoG?It's been a mystery. A reliable source familiar with the two existing Marmac-based ASDS's says McDonough Marine is not part of any new ASDS procurement, and doesn't have any idea where it might be happening. He thinks SpaceX may have gone to a different builder on the West Coast, which would explain why the usual folks in Louisiana don't seem to be involved this time.
Also possible that ASoG will be a new design, closer to the BFS launcher animations. Elon's announcement might have just marked the start of design work; actual construction might be some way off.
Well, by hopper tests, I mean kind of like, where we had the Grasshopper program for Falcon 9, where we just had the rocket take off and land in Texas, at our Texas test site. So that would be, we'll either do that at our South Texas launch site, near Brownsville, or do ship to ship. We're not sure yet whether ship to ship or Brownsville, but most likely it's going to happen at our Brownsville location, because we've got a lot of land with nobody around, and so if it blows up, it's cool.
Let me speculate further and state that the new ASDS under construction may actually ultimately be used for BFR/S.First here is what we know:A. SpaceX is flexible and is uses continuing improvement as seen in Falcon 9 airframe and engines, GSE, and ASDS.B. There has surprisingly has been less construction activity at BC than we would have expected by now considering the schedule for BFS.C. BC EIS currently has limits on numbers of launches per year. Yes we know this could be modified but we have not seen evidence of that yet.D. SpaceX wants to retire Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy as soon as BFR/S comes on line, ASAP.E. SpaceX has stated that they are looking at BFS hopes possibly from shore to ship or even ship to ship.F. The 2017 IAC video shows the point to point BFR/S being launched off a large sea platform that also contains the GSE for refueling.Given all of the above, I would speculate that the ASDS under construction is much larger than OCISLY and ultimately could develop into the sea point to point configuration shown in the 2017 IAC video. Here is why:1. Why would you spend capital funds on a OCISLY clone when you already know you want to retire it ASAP. Possibly before you could recover your return on investment (ROI)?2. Building a large ASDS now that could ultimately be modified to a full sea launch BFR/S could explain why construction at BC currently appears sparse.3. The large ASDS could initially be used for Falcon Heavy recoveries. We know already that will not be in high demand and will be relatively short lived.4. The large ASDS if used for BFS would get around the EIS restrictions and could explain the lack of EIS modification activity.5. BFS hops, I believe could be launched of a concrete pad just as Grasshopper was. After all that is a better platform that it will initially have on MARS. The initial hoppers could land on the large ASDS to midegate fears of the BC community.6. Fuel/oxidizer tanks an GSE equipment could be added to the large ASDS latter when it could be used for BFR/S launches.7. Not sure I see a need for a causeway or fuel and oxidizer lines running out to the large ADDS. Why not just transport by ship to fill the tanks on the ASDS. Control of GSE could simply be performed from a shore control room linked via a fire optic network.It would be exciting, at least to me if SpaceX was using this approach because it would indicate that they are progressing faster than many perceive. Thoughts?