Author Topic: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion  (Read 204277 times)

Offline Oersted

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #540 on: 01/12/2018 09:42 pm »
Here's a vid of the payload, BTW:


Offline IanThePineapple

Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #541 on: 01/12/2018 10:01 pm »
Here's a vid of the payload, BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8PEnK3aoFQ?t=27

I thought that would be a video of someone walking around the roadster on the PAF or something like that, not just a vid of the car driving

Online dnavas

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #542 on: 02/05/2018 12:47 pm »
A further, but very important, payload detail:


Seems to me the Roadster needs a driver, and while Buzz Lightyear is an amusing thought, Musk is the best driver for his own car.  And since he's not really available, I nominate IronMan.  In particular, a lego replica seems appropriate to be launched by a Heavy....

Well, it's not Ironman, but using a prototype / mockup spacesuit was inspired.  150 points to Gryffindor.
Whoever made that happen ... that's gotta be a story worth telling.

Online Johnnyhinbos

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #543 on: 02/05/2018 02:22 pm »
Here's a vid of the payload, BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8PEnK3aoFQ?t=27

I thought that would be a video of someone walking around the roadster on the PAF or something like that, not just a vid of the car driving
I don’t know, I thought it was kind of poignant - it showed Elon showing off the beautiful Roadster doing what it was made to do. Wonder Elon then would have thought if he knew what Elon Now was going to do with that car. I mean - the vehicle has its own storied history, and is about to become historic (one way or another...)
John Hanzl. Author, action / adventure www.johnhanzl.com

Offline CorvusCorax

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #544 on: 02/05/2018 03:31 pm »
I wonder if they put a crash test dummy inside the spacesuit and if its actially instrumented.

Thats likely not info SpaceX would share, but it kinda would make sense - if you put a spacesuit through an interplanetary test, u might as well get some data from it. At least some basics - temperature, pressure, maybe radiation, acceleration? ( although the regular 2nd stage telemetry already gices them that )

Offline oldAtlas_Eguy

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #545 on: 02/05/2018 03:41 pm »
I think the GrassHopper Cowboy changed his outfit.

Offline ThePonjaX

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #546 on: 02/06/2018 03:42 am »
I wonder if they put a crash test dummy inside the spacesuit and if its actially instrumented.

Thats likely not info SpaceX would share, but it kinda would make sense - if you put a spacesuit through an interplanetary test, u might as well get some data from it. At least some basics - temperature, pressure, maybe radiation, acceleration? ( although the regular 2nd stage telemetry already gices them that )

I think you're right, this is a great opportunity to a real test for the suit. I understand the S2 is going for some hours through the Van Hallen belt , the radiation information inside the suit could be priceless.

Offline hkultala

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #547 on: 02/06/2018 02:59 pm »
Speculation:

So, if everything does well today, we then know the return payload of one of the BFS outer space missions:

Elon Musk's Tesla roadster.

He will bring it back, and then drive it again on earth.


« Last Edit: 02/06/2018 03:01 pm by hkultala »

Offline speedevil

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #548 on: 02/06/2018 06:37 pm »
He will bring it back, and then drive it again on earth.

Or not on Earth.

Offline lcs

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #549 on: 02/06/2018 06:46 pm »
I wonder if they put a crash test dummy inside the spacesuit and if its actially instrumented.

Somehow I refuse to believe they did not put a video camera pointing at the driver's seat with a 'crash dummy' that resembles Elon Musk.

Offline FlokiViking

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #550 on: 02/06/2018 06:51 pm »
Worthwhile, I think, to realize/remember that the Tesla Roadster being launched today will be, if all goes well, the fourth electric car to leave low earth orbit.  ;)

https://www.space.com/39606-spacex-falcon-heavy-fourth-car-space.html

I'm proud to say that some of the managers that I worked with early in my career worked on those first three cars earlier in their careers.  It was fun and educational to listen to their stories about it.  I'm still amazed at what they were able to do.

Offline oiorionsbelt

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #551 on: 02/06/2018 09:35 pm »
Over 220,000 viewers are currently watching SpaceX's mass simulator.

Offline Lars-J

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #552 on: 02/06/2018 09:36 pm »
Don’t worry, Space Ghost 1962 will soon post another informal poll amongst his Silicon Valley friends, describing what terrible marketing this is. ;)

Offline sanman

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #553 on: 02/06/2018 09:42 pm »
So it was mentioned that there was also a storage device called the "ark" which had Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy on it. Was that all it had? No Library of Congress, or anything like that?

Offline PeterAlt

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #554 on: 02/06/2018 11:42 pm »
Will we see a lunar flyby of the current mission? If so, when? Thanks

Offline Oersted

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #555 on: 02/06/2018 11:51 pm »
In the post Falcon Heavy launch presser Elon confirmed that Starman is indeed wearing a test article of their actual spacesuit. Not instrumented, "but you can wear it in a vacuum chamber, it works", Elon said (words to that effect).

Offline speedevil

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #556 on: 02/06/2018 11:54 pm »
Will we see a lunar flyby of the current mission? If so, when? Thanks

I saw the moon, on the camera, if that counts.
However no, the current mission will not be flying by the moon.

Offline PeterAlt

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #557 on: 02/07/2018 12:23 am »
Will we see a lunar flyby of the current mission? If so, when? Thanks

I saw the moon, on the camera, if that counts.
However no, the current mission will not be flying by the moon.
Will there still be communication when it flys by Mars? If so, how? It won’t still be attached to the second stage, or will it? It could get closer to the moon on a subsequent Earth flyby, right? And will it still have power then?

Offline Lars-J

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #558 on: 02/07/2018 12:29 am »
Will we see a lunar flyby of the current mission? If so, when? Thanks

I saw the moon, on the camera, if that counts.
However no, the current mission will not be flying by the moon.
Will there still be communication when it flys by Mars? If so, how? It won’t still be attached to the second stage, or will it? It could get closer to the moon on a subsequent Earth flyby, right? And will it still have power then?

It will likely stay attached to the upper stage, which provides the power for the current video and telemetry being broadcast. But that power will be gone just a few hours from now.

Offline the_other_Doug

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #559 on: 02/07/2018 12:49 am »
Will we see a lunar flyby of the current mission? If so, when? Thanks

I saw the moon, on the camera, if that counts.
However no, the current mission will not be flying by the moon.
Will there still be communication when it flys by Mars? If so, how? It won’t still be attached to the second stage, or will it? It could get closer to the moon on a subsequent Earth flyby, right? And will it still have power then?

No.  The Tesla is not a Mars probe.  It's a mass simulator that Musk decided to use instead of concrete blocks, to let the rocket have something to lift.  (For various reasons, you don't want to launch without any payload at all -- it affects how they rocket bends and vibrates as it flies.)

The power is all coming from batteries in the second stage.  They will last a total of about 12 hours.  The stage won't do its injection into the trajectory outbound for beyond where Mars orbits the Sun (it won't actually go near Mars, at least any time in the next several thousand years) until about six hours after launch.  So, we will get these pictures for six hours in this lopsided Earth orbit, with a high point of about 7,000 km, and another six hours watching the Earth shrink in the rearview mirror.

Then, except for the data reduction SpaceX will do from the flight, it's all over.

That's all there is.
-Doug  (With my shield, not yet upon it)

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