If the ASDS is truly mobile, it can get away from bad weather spots.You still need to get to it, but 100 miles in each direction is not a big deal.
An honest question. If they're thinking about a BFR ASDS - why bother with land pads at all?Build the rockets at a ship yard, so they go directly from factory to ASDS, and that's the end of that.No road transport of any kind ever. ASDS can hang out just a couple of mile off shore, come in to load large cargo, go back out.People and Fuel go out to the ASDS so it stays off shore.No weather issues either, since the ASDSs are mobile.
Quote from: meekGee on 10/02/2017 02:46 amIf the ASDS is truly mobile, it can get away from bad weather spots.You still need to get to it, but 100 miles in each direction is not a big deal.Unfortunately, 100 miles @ 5kts = 20 hours actually IS a big deal.. especially since that means your mobile platform is down for most of a day, meaning one day loss of customers - and that's assuming you have 100 miles of water you can move it and still get out of the weather system. The video included cities like Hong Kong and Singapore where moving 100 miles in any direction would put you out of reach of your customers (travelling via high-speed ferry for 3-4 hours over a rough sea to get to a 30-minute flight to the other side of the world might make waiting in an airport lounge seem kinda comfortable: puke on the way to the flight, whilst boarding the flight, during the flight and after the flight.. yay! what fun!).
If they're thinking about a BFR ASDS - why bother with land pads at all?
Quote from: meekGee on 10/02/2017 12:02 amIf they're thinking about a BFR ASDS - why bother with land pads at all?....I wonder if they've actually begun to look into building such a thing. A prototype based on a retrofitted LNG barge could be used to land in the Gulf of Mexico from Boca Chica, refuel and fly back. This would be useful for early grasshopper-like testing if you want to test high horizontal velocity and reentry but can't turn around or get into orbit.
QuoteA prototype based on a retrofitted LNG barge could be used to land in the Gulf of Mexico from Boca Chica, refuel and fly back.It might be easier to convert a medium size VLCC into a BFR ASDS. Will still retain self-propel capability.
A prototype based on a retrofitted LNG barge could be used to land in the Gulf of Mexico from Boca Chica, refuel and fly back.
Although it was shown in the context of the point to point express idea, it seems at least as important as a general purpose Spaceport. Cargo launched to space might be put in a container in a facility on land, brought out by ship and the container loaded into the BFS cargo with the hammerhead crane.That would apply to hyper express shipping, satellite dispensers, cargo to/from space stations or the Moon.
I'd do what Dubai did with the Palm Islands. They are entirely man made, the first jutting out 3.5M in to the Gulf. It has a monorail from one end to the other. Wouldn't be too much of a stretch to make a 10mile causeway out to an artificial island - less work that these UAE islands.
Quote from: meekGee on 02/05/2017 06:33 pmSince this is a la-la thread, why not...Going with that theme.. IMHO, you'd be better off building an artificial island out there - or a cluster of really large oil platforms connected together, complete with lading pad(s), flyback facilities, helipads and as much crew accommodation as you need to run the entire show.And by putting it out international waters, you could make it duty-fee and start your own country.
Since this is a la-la thread, why not...
Well... to repeat what was posted right here some months ago: Quote from: CameronD on 02/05/2017 09:42 pmQuote from: meekGee on 02/05/2017 06:33 pmSince this is a la-la thread, why not...Going with that theme.. IMHO, you'd be better off building an artificial island out there - or a cluster of really large oil platforms connected together, complete with lading pad(s), flyback facilities, helipads and as much crew accommodation as you need to run the entire show.And by putting it out international waters, you could make it duty-fee and start your own country.(The pic is from the movie "Waterworld" in case anyone was wondering)
Btw, the la-la comment was from a thread about a hovercraft ASDS for F9, and I meant "la-la" as in "a fun hypothetical discussion not related to any actual plans"..Just for context...
The Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) is a large, self-propelled, floating, pre-positioned ocean structure formed of three to five modules and reaching up to 1,500 meters in length. It must accommodate the landing and take-off of C-17 conventional aircraft, host 3000 troops, carry 10 million gallons of fuel and provide 3 million square feet of internal configurable storage. The alignment of the modules is maintained through the use of slew-able thrusters and/or connectors.
http://dynamic-positioning.com/proceedings/dp2003/design_berkeley.pdfQuoteThe Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) is a large, self-propelled, floating, pre-positioned ocean structure formed of three to five modules and reaching up to 1,500 meters in length. It must accommodate the landing and take-off of C-17 conventional aircraft, host 3000 troops, carry 10 million gallons of fuel and provide 3 million square feet of internal configurable storage. The alignment of the modules is maintained through the use of slew-able thrusters and/or connectors. Plenty of room for passengers, methane, LOX, and commuter aircrafts to carry the passengers. A C-17 is as big as an A350 or 787. add some shopping malls, hotels, and other goodies.