Author Topic: Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show  (Read 91222 times)

Offline gongora

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Tweet from Dr. David Livingston
Quote
Gwynne Shotwell of SpaceX today for 1 hour, 2PM PDT, 5PM EDT; Listen @ http://www.thespaceshow.com ; Call Gwynne @ 1-866 687-7223. #fb #in.

This is where you can listen to/download the interview:
http://www.thespaceshow.com/show/22-jun-2017/broadcast-2934-ms.-gwynne-shotwell

DOCinCT was nice enough to make this timeline for us to reference:
 9:00 Falcon Heavy discussion (waiting on pad availability)
 12:30 Falcon 9 inventory and reuse customers
 14:00 number of reuses, block 5 changes etc.
 15:50 steps for a healtier space program
 17:30  Red Dragon vs. some other craft?  2020 date aggressive
 19:00 SpaceX vs. NASA astronauts
 20:45 private passengers
 22:00 Falcon Heavy new vs. pre-flown cores
 22:50 ITAR impacts on foreign inventment in ITS or private passengers
 24:30 ITS development progress, strategy
 26:00 Upper stage raptor, USAF contract progress
 27:30 2nd stage recovery attempts
 28:45 satellite program
 29:50 resource limitations and priorities
 31:00 SpaceX hiring;  process by department priorities and needs
 33:00 Alignment of companies with goal of Mars
 34:33 Merlin tested to 240,000 lbs/thrust
 35:00 back to BFR/BFS
 37:40 Use of carbon fiber components
 38:40 Relative cost of F9 stages
 40:00 nuclear propulsion
 40:55 subscale vs. full scale Raptor engines  current 200k, 600k may be too big
 42:20 did test tank have flaws?
 45:00 Private vs. NASA crew safety standards
 48:15 Dragon 2 flight abort test; dates 2018
 49:00 Lunar passenger mission - depends on crew missions
 50:00 Red Dragon science payloads
 51:00  Actual sale of Falcon rockets - model is selling a service
 52:15 Rocket production rates  - from 6 to 20 a year
 53:35 Introduction of blocks
 54:15 Factory production lines - 1 year total time to produce a Falcon9
 57:15 General comments by Gwynne
 58:15 Reactions to negative press
 1:00 Serving on Nations Space Council
 1:00:50 Block 3 vs. Block 4 - intermittent step
« Last Edit: 06/24/2017 09:33 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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FH Demo later this year (more long coast testing of second stage), then Arabsat 6A on second flight early next year, then STP-2

Offline gongora

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Have 3-4 more customers interested in pre-flown boosters this year
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 09:16 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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2020 would be "very aggressive" for Mars landing.  Not committing to landing a Dragon before new generation vehicle.
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 09:20 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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More people interested in space tourism flights than she expected.

Offline gongora

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"Looking at the utility of it [Raptor] on Falcon"

Offline gongora

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Block 5 Merlin 190k lbf thrust, have tested current Merlin to around 240.

Moving away from ITS acronym back to BFR/BFS
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 09:38 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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Haven't picked engine size for Mars vehicle yet, will be 2-3 (probably less than 3) times the size of the sub-scale Raptor

Offline gongora

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Still doing in-flight abort test between DM1 and DM2, all three scheduled first half of next year.

Offline gongora

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Lunar passenger flight comes after NASA commitments, not going to give a time for it right now.

Offline gongora

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Lots of interest on payloads to Mars, both "serious" (scientific) and for branding.

Offline gongora

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Going to produce "more than 20" rockets this year.  Block 3 now, Block 4 starts flying shortly, Block 5 towards end of year.

Offline gongora

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Engines on a production line, tanks less so.  Lots of touch labor on rockets.  Building a Falcon 9 in a little more than a year.

Offline guckyfan

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She did not want to commit what vehicle flies to Mars in 2020, ITS or RedDragon. Though ITS is really a stretch, not likely.

Offline gongora

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Re: Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show
« Reply #14 on: 06/22/2017 10:26 pm »
Few more notes:
Many parts changing on Block 5.  Valves redesigned and qualified for longer life, octaweb, COPVs, Merlin, etc.  Block 4 step between 3 and 5, didn't detail the changes.
Intend to eventually fly reused boosters more than new, will use new boosters for NSS (National Security Space) missions and crew until there is a certification process in place for reusing boosters on those missions.
Not currently seeking investment for ITS.  Plan to fly people from other nations eventually, State Department may have some input on that.
Tiny group working on Mars vehicle architecture now, will pivot more people to Mars work after Block 5, FH, Commercial Crew flying.
Satellite constellation a side project right now, need to develop lots of technologies for it, working on it and hitting milestones, didn't say much about schedule for it.
Will definitely try second stage reuse eventually, didn't say anything about when.  Said FH Demo will demonstrate some things for NSS missions, no payload.
Booster around 70% of cost of F9, second stage and fairing not quite equal for the rest.
Feels like part of the team for NSS now.

Offline wannamoonbase

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Re: Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show
« Reply #15 on: 06/22/2017 10:41 pm »
Block 5 Merlin 190k lbf thrust, have tested current Merlin to around 240.

Moving away from ITS acronym back to BFR/BFS

Whoa, another 26% on the test stand, impressive.

Be interesting to see if that ever moves toward use or if it was a test to see how stressed the engine is at 190K.
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show
« Reply #16 on: 06/22/2017 10:48 pm »
Block 5 Merlin 190k lbf thrust, have tested current Merlin to around 240.

Moving away from ITS acronym back to BFR/BFS

Whoa, another 26% on the test stand, impressive.

Be interesting to see if that ever moves toward use or if it was a test to see how stressed the engine is at 190K.
If this Quora post is correct (and it ought to be, given who wrote it), Merlin 1D weighs 1030 pounds. That means on the test stand, it gets a T/W ratio of 233. I think that's twice as much as any other engine flying today, and nearly twice NK33.

https://www.quora.com/Is-SpaceXs-Merlin-1Ds-thrust-to-weight-ratio-of-150+-believable
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Offline meberbs

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Thanks for posting this info.

2020 would be "very aggressive" for Mars landing.  Not committing to landing a Dragon before new generation vehicle.
I find this helps clarify some recent L2 info. It sounds like they now consider Red Dragon optional on their Mars timeline. This probably means a delay until they first send something to Mars, but when they do it will probably be even bigger. Hopefully the upcoming BFR update will clarify what "new generation vehicle" means. Presumably either BFS or a subscale BFS which would be better at reducing risk for BFS than a red dragon would be.

Offline Marslauncher

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Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show
« Reply #18 on: 06/22/2017 11:37 pm »
Ok so I'm trying to wrap my head around these numbers, 1.9m lbf of thrust is more than the 1.71m listed for block 5 on the website yes? Which is 50k lbs to LEO, if 240k lbs thrust is doable and stable with margin, that would be what? 2.2m lbs thrust? If the Merlin 1D Vac is capable of increased thrust also, what is the theoretical payload ability for the FULLEST thrust Falcon 9 to LEO and GTO?


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« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 11:38 pm by Marslauncher »

Offline Marslauncher

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Re: Gwynne Shotwell Interview - June 22, 2017 on The Space Show
« Reply #19 on: 06/22/2017 11:43 pm »
I'm sure I must be wrong but ballparking, (1710000/50000) *2200000 = 75240lbs???


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