Quote from: catdlr on 03/03/2018 02:35 amThis is a question I get asked a lot in my launch videos, and Flight Club's excellent web-based simulator helps illustrate the answer.Orbital launches do appear to pitch down towards the horizon, but are you sure the simulation is accurate? The boosters appear to be landing about 70 kms downrange, and I would have expected something closer to parabolic trajectories for the ballistic phases.
This is a question I get asked a lot in my launch videos, and Flight Club's excellent web-based simulator helps illustrate the answer.
Quote from: OneSpeed on 03/03/2018 11:05 amOrbital launches do appear to pitch down towards the horizon, but are you sure the simulation is accurate? The boosters appear to be landing about 70 kms downrange, and I would have expected something closer to parabolic trajectories for the ballistic phases.It looks like a perspective view from a location on shore, so the ballistic trajectories do not look parabolic as they would from a side view.
Orbital launches do appear to pitch down towards the horizon, but are you sure the simulation is accurate? The boosters appear to be landing about 70 kms downrange, and I would have expected something closer to parabolic trajectories for the ballistic phases.
Here's an excellent article by Trevor Mahlmann (ArsTechnica's photographer and a great friend of mine) on what it was like to shoot Falcon Heavy and Elon Musk.https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/how-to-photograph-a-rocket-launch-from-a-rooftop-on-falcon-heavys-historic-day/
Further to the video in this post on the discussion thread.Counting frames at 1:13, I make the stage going very close to its own length in half a second as it hit, which would make it more like 180MPH than the reported 300MPH just after the landing.(not that 180MPH is remotely survivable of course).
the clip seems to show the crash slowed down..splash post crash seems like in slow mo... so can't time it to get accurate speed... ymmv
I guess this footage should end the debate of whether or not a stage will overshoot or undershoot it’s landing spot if the engines fail to light for the landing burn. (But who am I kidding, of course it won’t)
I'm pretty sure Elon said about 300 KPH which is about 180 MPH.
So I like the separation video showing the struts separating. Also is there any references/videos/diagrams of the center booster and side core separation/attachment system?