Quote from: RyanC on 01/20/2019 01:28 pmI wonder if Musk is thinking about buying Stratolauncher for transport of SpaceX BFR components? It would sure simplify a lot of transportation options...Won't fit. The vertical clearance under the wing is about 23 ft. as I recall from when Burt briefed it to me back in 2007.
I wonder if Musk is thinking about buying Stratolauncher for transport of SpaceX BFR components? It would sure simplify a lot of transportation options...
Quote from: HMXHMX on 01/20/2019 02:36 pmQuote from: RyanC on 01/20/2019 01:28 pmI wonder if Musk is thinking about buying Stratolauncher for transport of SpaceX BFR components? It would sure simplify a lot of transportation options...Won't fit. The vertical clearance under the wing is about 23 ft. as I recall from when Burt briefed it to me back in 2007.How about mounting the cargo above the wing?
Or NASA would use it for a next-gen telescope even larger than JWST.
QuoteOr NASA would use it for a next-gen telescope even larger than JWST. Hell of an idea here. Unfortunately SOFIA cost an arm and a leg and took nearly two decades to replace old C-141 KAO.
We should have a "Roc speculative missions / future " thread. My personal favorite would be to fit a removable cargo / passenger pod under that big wing. think XC-120 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_XC-120_PackplaneI'm quite sure that a with a well designed cargo pod the Roc could beat the An-225 into a pulp when carrying oversized cargo.
Too-wide-set and not-so-strong-looking landing gears.
Quote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 03:44 pmQuote from: Nomadd on 01/20/2019 02:14 pmQuote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 12:35 amFor VG to build SS3, they need to build a man-rated orbital-class rocket and vehicle. They are incredibly far from that (though less far than Stratolaunch was).But even if they could - how large can their vehicle be? The whole GLOW for the rocket would be 250 tons. That's closer to a Falcon 5 than it is to a Falcon 9. So they can almost-orbit a 3-person capsule? At what cost per seat?Which of course begs the question for VG: "SS3 - how exactly?" But that's for another thread. A Falcon 5 was the original plan.Original plan for what? Stratolaunch? You know what? I think that rings a bell.Was SpaceX fully on board and then walked away? Or was it more speculative than that?Either way, it is obvious in retrospect: you have to build the rocket first.What you have are people who are first and foremost airplane people creating space projects that revolve around what they love most (airplanes) and so the first thing you see are carrier planes, hangars, taxi tests, etc - and the rocket thing is "outsourced" - leading to the usual result.Can't outsource core competency. or rather, shouldn't.It was an early F9 with heavy mods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9_Air) using four Merlins. (So sayeth Wikipedia, though I recall five...) From the start they had a problem, which was deployment off the Roc. One of the SpaceX engineers tasked with fixing the issue contacted me (based on our AirLaunch LLC t/LAD demonstrated technology) but couldn't seemingly get his head around our solution. I heard no more from them, and then the deal was cancelled in 2012.Amusing anecdote: I asked Gwynne, some time after the deal went away, what happened. She was typically succinct. "I didn't sign up to build a rocket with wings."
Quote from: Nomadd on 01/20/2019 02:14 pmQuote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 12:35 amFor VG to build SS3, they need to build a man-rated orbital-class rocket and vehicle. They are incredibly far from that (though less far than Stratolaunch was).But even if they could - how large can their vehicle be? The whole GLOW for the rocket would be 250 tons. That's closer to a Falcon 5 than it is to a Falcon 9. So they can almost-orbit a 3-person capsule? At what cost per seat?Which of course begs the question for VG: "SS3 - how exactly?" But that's for another thread. A Falcon 5 was the original plan.Original plan for what? Stratolaunch? You know what? I think that rings a bell.Was SpaceX fully on board and then walked away? Or was it more speculative than that?Either way, it is obvious in retrospect: you have to build the rocket first.What you have are people who are first and foremost airplane people creating space projects that revolve around what they love most (airplanes) and so the first thing you see are carrier planes, hangars, taxi tests, etc - and the rocket thing is "outsourced" - leading to the usual result.Can't outsource core competency. or rather, shouldn't.
Quote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 12:35 amFor VG to build SS3, they need to build a man-rated orbital-class rocket and vehicle. They are incredibly far from that (though less far than Stratolaunch was).But even if they could - how large can their vehicle be? The whole GLOW for the rocket would be 250 tons. That's closer to a Falcon 5 than it is to a Falcon 9. So they can almost-orbit a 3-person capsule? At what cost per seat?Which of course begs the question for VG: "SS3 - how exactly?" But that's for another thread. A Falcon 5 was the original plan.
For VG to build SS3, they need to build a man-rated orbital-class rocket and vehicle. They are incredibly far from that (though less far than Stratolaunch was).But even if they could - how large can their vehicle be? The whole GLOW for the rocket would be 250 tons. That's closer to a Falcon 5 than it is to a Falcon 9. So they can almost-orbit a 3-person capsule? At what cost per seat?Which of course begs the question for VG: "SS3 - how exactly?" But that's for another thread.
Quote from: HMXHMX on 01/20/2019 05:10 pmQuote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 03:44 pmQuote from: Nomadd on 01/20/2019 02:14 pmQuote from: meekGee on 01/20/2019 12:35 amFor VG to build SS3, they need to build a man-rated orbital-class rocket and vehicle. They are incredibly far from that (though less far than Stratolaunch was).But even if they could - how large can their vehicle be? The whole GLOW for the rocket would be 250 tons. That's closer to a Falcon 5 than it is to a Falcon 9. So they can almost-orbit a 3-person capsule? At what cost per seat?Which of course begs the question for VG: "SS3 - how exactly?" But that's for another thread. A Falcon 5 was the original plan.Original plan for what? Stratolaunch? You know what? I think that rings a bell.Was SpaceX fully on board and then walked away? Or was it more speculative than that?Either way, it is obvious in retrospect: you have to build the rocket first.What you have are people who are first and foremost airplane people creating space projects that revolve around what they love most (airplanes) and so the first thing you see are carrier planes, hangars, taxi tests, etc - and the rocket thing is "outsourced" - leading to the usual result.Can't outsource core competency. or rather, shouldn't.It was an early F9 with heavy mods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9_Air) using four Merlins. (So sayeth Wikipedia, though I recall five...) From the start they had a problem, which was deployment off the Roc. One of the SpaceX engineers tasked with fixing the issue contacted me (based on our AirLaunch LLC t/LAD demonstrated technology) but couldn't seemingly get his head around our solution. I heard no more from them, and then the deal was cancelled in 2012.Amusing anecdote: I asked Gwynne, some time after the deal went away, what happened. She was typically succinct. "I didn't sign up to build a rocket with wings."Which is kind of funny given the current Starship Design...~Jon
The Roc was going to fly on the twelfth of January, more than a month later is it safe to assume the high speed taxi tests turned up an issue?
Behold, the largest aircraft in the world **by wingspan** the @Stratolaunch “Roc”. Look how it absolutely dwarfs that F-35!
Report out of Mojave on #Stratolaunch. The aircraft made two taxi runs down runway 12-30. Vehicle now heading back to its hangar. Looks like they're done for the day.
In December, they had planned to do four additional taxi tests before conducting a flight test. They hoped to get all that done in December. However, the rains started and that led to flooding on the Edwards Air Force Base lake bed which is their divert landing area.
May have been two taxi tests in January. The lake bed is now green so taxi tests could resume as happened today. So, Stratolaunch has moved a lot closer to first flight after a weather delay that has continued on and off since December.