Author Topic: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion Thread 1  (Read 790197 times)

Online Chris Bergin

People keep asking for a wider shot (I thought the logo would be the thing people really wanted to see, so rushed that on the turnaround), so here's one from Gary Blair's L2 McGregor collection...well the one that's got as much of the core in it as trees and distance allow. Remember these shots are from a public area outside of the test center (obviously).

Article for this event (the static firing of the FH Center - we're not sure when it's due) and the Static Fire for NROL-76) will be early next week.
« Last Edit: 04/23/2017 01:58 pm by Chris Bergin »
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Online matthewkantar

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2075
  • Liked: 2506
  • Likes Given: 2211
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #21 on: 04/23/2017 03:08 pm »
So I guess the fold up struts that stayed on the center core in the FH CGI video are no longer the plan? It never made sense to me to have the weight of those on the core, better to send em home with the boosters.

Matthew

Offline old_sellsword

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 632
  • Liked: 531
  • Likes Given: 470
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #22 on: 04/23/2017 03:15 pm »
So I guess the fold up struts that stayed on the center core in the FH CGI video are no longer the plan? It never made sense to me to have the weight of those on the core, better to send em home with the boosters.

Matthew

That's definitely still the plan. But like fins and legs, they won't be attached until everything is ready for integration at the launch site. No reason to put them on for a static fire.

Offline mme

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1510
  • Santa Barbara, CA, USA, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Virgo Supercluster
  • Liked: 2034
  • Likes Given: 5381
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #23 on: 04/23/2017 06:49 pm »
So I guess the fold up struts that stayed on the center core in the FH CGI video are no longer the plan? It never made sense to me to have the weight of those on the core, better to send em home with the boosters.

Matthew
Nose cone vs. interstage: They cant't fold up on the boosters as there is no place to latch. I don't know if folding down is an option.

The interstage also has a lot more volume for whatever mechanical systems are involved and there may be tradeoffs related to sharing the mechanical systems in the center booster vs. duplicating them on the two side boosters.
Space is not Highlander.  There can, and will, be more than one.

Offline Lars-J

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6809
  • California
  • Liked: 8485
  • Likes Given: 5384
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #24 on: 04/24/2017 04:16 pm »
So I guess the fold up struts that stayed on the center core in the FH CGI video are no longer the plan? It never made sense to me to have the weight of those on the core, better to send em home with the boosters.

Matthew
Nose cone vs. interstage: They cant't fold up on the boosters as there is no place to latch. I don't know if folding down is an option.

The interstage also has a lot more volume for whatever mechanical systems are involved and there may be tradeoffs related to sharing the mechanical systems in the center booster vs. duplicating them on the two side boosters.

A good reason to have most of the mechanical booster attachment hardware on the center core is aerodynamic and mass balance... Yes, you add some mass to the center core (FH has margin), but it will at least make the side boosters "cleaner" from an aerodynamic point of view. Sure, the center core will have some extra hardware sticking out from the FH trunk, but it will be balanced there as well.

Offline JasonAW3

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2443
  • Claremore, Ok.
  • Liked: 410
  • Likes Given: 14
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #25 on: 04/24/2017 04:43 pm »
Ok, I'm a bit confused.

      I thought the idea with the first demo flight was to try to recover all three cores.

      Has that changed, or are they simply waiting until they have the cores at the Cape to mount the landing legs?
My God!  It's full of universes!

Ok, I'm a bit confused.

      I thought the idea with the first demo flight was to try to recover all three cores.

      Has that changed, or are they simply waiting until they have the cores at the Cape to mount the landing legs?

They always attach landing legs, fins, etc at the Cape IIRC. Also, Elon said that the two side boosters will land at LZ-1 and the centre core will land on OCISLY.
« Last Edit: 04/24/2017 07:46 pm by tvg98 »

Online Chris Bergin

Added a round up of the FH milestones at McGregor into the NROL-76 Static Fire article. Thanks again to Gary for his L2 McGregor coverage. Looks like they are close to firing up this center booster. Also another of Nathan's cool L2 renders for the booster landings.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/spacex-static-fire-tests-spy-sat-rocket-falcon-heavy-core/
« Last Edit: 04/25/2017 11:00 am by Chris Bergin »
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Offline Sesquipedalian

  • Whee!
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 729
  • Liked: 302
  • Likes Given: 988
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #28 on: 04/26/2017 02:04 am »
People keep asking for a wider shot (I thought the logo would be the thing people really wanted to see, so rushed that on the turnaround)

I suspect that if you had rushed the wider shot, people would have been clamoring to see the logo.

Offline dcporter

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 881
  • Liked: 266
  • Likes Given: 422
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #29 on: 04/26/2017 04:51 am »
People keep asking for a wider shot (I thought the logo would be the thing people really wanted to see, so rushed that on the turnaround)

I suspect that if you had rushed the wider shot, people would have been clamoring to see the logo.

Confirmed I got very excited for the logo closeup.

Offline qralt

  • Member
  • Posts: 36
  • Texas
  • Liked: 36
  • Likes Given: 1337
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #30 on: 05/09/2017 07:53 pm »
SpaceX tweeted a video of the center core static fire:

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/862017305911320577

Offline sanman

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5974
  • Liked: 1312
  • Likes Given: 8
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #31 on: 05/09/2017 09:54 pm »
Somebody put it up on Youtube, so here it is embedded:


Online Chris Bergin

SpaceX show video of side booster 1023.2 in action at McGregor:

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/867568781928701954
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81666
  • Likes Given: 36933
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #33 on: 05/25/2017 06:28 am »
SpaceX show video of side booster 1023.2 in action at McGregor:

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/867568781928701954

Video attached.

Offline Silmfeanor

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1254
  • Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • Liked: 403
  • Likes Given: 722
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #34 on: 05/25/2017 10:45 am »
Tweet by Elon Musk, confirmation of combined static fire - or perhaps a few static fires:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/867667009839931393

Quote
Quote
Felix Beuster‏ @FBeuster
Will there be a static fire test of the combined boosters as well, or will Heavy static fires always be separated?

Elon Musk @elonmusk
Replying to @FBeuster

There will be a combined booster static fire. Maybe a few.

Offline abaddon

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3051
  • Liked: 3900
  • Likes Given: 5273
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #35 on: 05/25/2017 03:04 pm »
Presumably that's just the regular static fire that SpaceX conducts at the pad before all launches, with the "perhaps a few" reflective of this being the maiden launch of a new configuration and (center) core variant?  Last I remember hearing, the McGregor core test capability wasn't sized for Heavy.

Offline wannamoonbase

  • Elite Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5413
  • Denver, CO
    • U.S. Metric Association
  • Liked: 3112
  • Likes Given: 3862
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #36 on: 05/25/2017 03:59 pm »
Presumably that's just the regular static fire that SpaceX conducts at the pad before all launches, with the "perhaps a few" reflective of this being the maiden launch of a new configuration and (center) core variant?  Last I remember hearing, the McGregor core test capability wasn't sized for Heavy.

Given it's a 3 body vehicle I could see them trying some simulated inputs to verify engine response.  But maybe they can do that with out the engines firing.
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline Navier–Stokes

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 367
  • Liked: 720
  • Likes Given: 6766
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #37 on: 06/08/2017 07:03 pm »
Elon Musk‏Verified account
@elonmusk 

Replying to @JohnnyZenith

All Falcon Heavy cores should be at the Cape in two to three months, so launch should happen a month after that

11:51 AM - 8 Jun 2017

Online envy887

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8144
  • Liked: 6801
  • Likes Given: 2965
Re: SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion
« Reply #38 on: 06/08/2017 07:16 pm »
Elon Musk‏Verified account
@elonmusk 

Replying to @JohnnyZenith

All Falcon Heavy cores should be at the Cape in two to three months, so launch should happen a month after that

11:51 AM - 8 Jun 2017

For those following along at home, that puts the launch NET Aug 8 to Sept 8, Standard Elon Time; which is roughly November, real world time.

Online cwr

Elon Musk‏Verified account
@elonmusk 

Replying to @JohnnyZenith

All Falcon Heavy cores should be at the Cape in two to three months, so launch should happen a month after that

11:51 AM - 8 Jun 2017

For those following along at home, that puts the launch NET Aug 8 to Sept 8, Standard Elon Time; which is roughly November, real world time.

Actually, that sounds like all cores at the Cape between Aug 8 and Sep 8 and the launch between Sep 8 and Oct 8 taking Elon's quote at face value.

Carl

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0