Total Members Voted: 97
Voting closed: 02/03/2018 01:05 pm
so if someone said "$1 billion to the next commercial company to put people into space"
I don't think BO even plans on manned flights in 2018, so that counts them out.
a Blue Origin executive said Dec. 18 that the company was now about a year away from starting to fly people
Neither company will send people to space, BO will launch unmanned NS rocket, VG will have powered rocket flights
In theory SpaceX could omitted the upper stage from their Falcon 9 stack with a slightly modified Dragon 2 for sub-orbital flight profile in 2018.
Not likely IMO. SpaceX will need a new TEL and new crew access hardware along with several fast recovery ships and dedicated search & recovery air assets.
However, if block 5 cores is used in this role. Then only maybe a pair of cores and a pair of Dragon 2 is all the flight hardware required
So I voted for "Neither company will send people to space, only VG will conduct gliding or powered tests." Doubly wrong. BO did an unmanned flight and VG did a manned flight above the arbitrary 80km mark.Quote from: Zed_Noir on 12/19/2017 06:51 amIn theory SpaceX could omitted the upper stage from their Falcon 9 stack with a slightly modified Dragon 2 for sub-orbital flight profile in 2018.The F9-1S is way overpowered for this. You'd want to launch it partially fuelled with perhaps 5 engines at launch, shutting down 2 more during ascent to keep the g-force down.
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 12/19/2017 06:51 amNot likely IMO. SpaceX will need a new TEL and new crew access hardware along with several fast recovery ships and dedicated search & recovery air assets.You wouldn't need much for recovery. For a suborbital flight, you don't need to launch 100's of km down range. Both the capsule and the first stage would RTLS. The capsule splashing in the water just off the coast (as with the recent aborted first stage RTLS), while the first stage ideally lands on land. So you only need the existing crane-ship plus a fast RIB for rescue divers. Optional S&R helo launched from shore, if the poo hits the prop.
Similarly, wouldn't need a permanent crew access gantry for a single show-off flight, instead you might just add a temporary scaffold for the crew loading. You could even use a mobile crane with a crew basket. (Plus a zip-line escape system attached to the TEL.)The TEL would need the top cradle temporarily moved to the middle if the hold-downs aren't strong enough alone. But the second and third sections of the TEL seem to be designed to be removable. Similarly, a simple scaffold deck added to the TEL at the new level of the capsule, which also serves the emergency zip-line, and receives the crane-basket. So the crane-basket brings the closeout crew then the flight crew to the mid-TEL platform. Flight crew are tucked into the capsule. Closeout crew descend in the crane basket. In an emergency during refuelling that isn't immediately fatal, the flight crew exit the capsule and zip-line to an bunker, or for a one-off an armoured safety truck.....
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 12/19/2017 06:51 amHowever, if block 5 cores is used in this role. Then only maybe a pair of cores and a pair of Dragon 2 is all the flight hardware required Pair?
Just burn off the extra propellants with some hovering before touch down.
So a new smaller TEL with integrated passenger access hardware.
Quote from: Paul451 on 12/15/2018 04:18 amBoth the capsule and the first stage would RTLS. The capsule splashing in the water just off the coast (as with the recent aborted first stage RTLS), The capsule will not be RTLS unless it remains attached to the core during the reentry burn. So it will either splash down at sea
Both the capsule and the first stage would RTLS. The capsule splashing in the water just off the coast (as with the recent aborted first stage RTLS),
Presuming there will be additional ride takers after the first flight.
Quote from: Paul451 on 12/15/2018 04:18 amPair?Presuming there will be additional ride takers after the first flight. [hence backup]
Pair?