Quote from: adrianwyard on 01/08/2019 06:26 pmThis video shows more clearly that this FH booster touches down at ~1-2 m/s. Thankfully the compressed Helium in the legs damps that out in the subsequent bounce. If it were perfectly rigid all that energy would be absorbed by structure (as depicted on left). So I think we can be confident the hopper will have *some* means of damping landing loads. I imagine we'll see soon enough.The compressed helium in the legs doesn't have anything to do with that, the leg segments are locked and don't move at all anymore once the legs are extended. Apart from the crushable elements in the last segment any "bounce" is coming out of elasticity in the legs itself or the tank they're connected to.
This video shows more clearly that this FH booster touches down at ~1-2 m/s. Thankfully the compressed Helium in the legs damps that out in the subsequent bounce. If it were perfectly rigid all that energy would be absorbed by structure (as depicted on left). So I think we can be confident the hopper will have *some* means of damping landing loads. I imagine we'll see soon enough.
Yes, the pad GSE would be minimal for BFH, but the LNG and LOX tanks do need to be moved to the launch site, set on some sort of foundation, with the truck unloading facilities and BFH fueling lines installed. This is all vacuum insulated piping with cryogenic valves and safety interlock instrumentation. If it were installed today it could take a month to go through commissioning, de-bugging, and dry runs before BFH test flights. And there is still items 1, 3, 4, 5, etc from above to get done.
Based on Bocachicagal's latest photo clearly showing two layers of metal (one dull, one shiny), where do I collect my prize?
Is it possible they are doing first few flights from where it sits now?
Quote from: Restless on 01/08/2019 07:57 pmYes, the pad GSE would be minimal for BFH, but the LNG and LOX tanks do need to be moved to the launch site, set on some sort of foundation, with the truck unloading facilities and BFH fueling lines installed. This is all vacuum insulated piping with cryogenic valves and safety interlock instrumentation. If it were installed today it could take a month to go through commissioning, de-bugging, and dry runs before BFH test flights. And there is still items 1, 3, 4, 5, etc from above to get done.Think about how to compress the schedule.If their test plan is similar to the plan for Grasshopper, the first few flights won't last very long or go very high - they won't need the full tank capacity right away A couple tanker trucks will will do for those tests. If things go badly wrong the resulting kaboom will be smaller and it will be easier to find all the pieces, knock out a few dents and refly it.Full-scale fuelling infrastructure can be built in parallel with the first few flights.
Fire/lift from current location. No chance!Safety and exclusion zone - close to boca Chia village. !!! Not consistent with the plans in the EIS etc!So as an outsider, with no knowledge of how these work.... it sounds impossible from a regulation and safety pov. to fire or hop from where it was built.But with the current tempo, the hat has to come off so the tank dome (and what else?) can be fitted. The move to the official pad should be easy. A good slab of concrete as a (flat) initial pad could be fairly quick, and temporary partial fuelling arrangements using tanks on lorries is conceivable. ! Will a very small hop - like 10 feet be done before Dragon 2 flies - probably late Feb due to p*l***cs! ?
What I don't understand: the whole surface is (more or less) ready, but this vertical line is like a long opening between the two half part. What could it be?
another part of the opening/reflection.
Quote from: MTom on 01/08/2019 10:12 pmanother part of the opening/reflection. anyone think proportionally the hopper is more visually appealing than the "real" spaceship? Or just me?
It was together and now it is back apart!