I never thought we would see this day. FH is real.
Quote from: DecoLV on 12/28/2017 06:31 pmI never thought we would see this day. FH is real. Perhaps we need to see a launch/success ... for it to be ... real?But for sure ... not a paper rocket.
Quote from: Space Ghost 1962 on 12/28/2017 06:34 pmQuote from: DecoLV on 12/28/2017 06:31 pmI never thought we would see this day. FH is real. Perhaps we need to see a launch/success ... for it to be ... real?But for sure ... not a paper rocket.Yeah--that's where I was going with my answer--need to have an operational rocket (why I left out Energia, though at least she/they flew a couple times as a test). And of course thrust v performance, etc etc.
btw, nice hat, SG1962...
Space Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.
This is coming together at the pad a lot faster than I remember the inaugural Delta IV Heavy.If it hot fires/launches well, has adequate performance, and lands all ... it may well be a very capable LV, and the first cluster vehicle to achieve what all the others could not - feasibility.
F9/FH seem to be more about "utility" then "shock and awe".
Quote from: Semmel on 12/28/2017 06:31 pmSpace Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.If we think of the whole orbiter (gross lift-off weight 110 tonnes) as the "payload" then STS got a lot more into LEO. But that is of course a question of how you define payload. However, I think we can consider the orbiter as a spaceship the same way that we consider Dragon a spaceship, and then indeed STS got 110 tonnes into LEO. The fact that the orbiter was reusable supports considering it as "payload".
Neat comparison images, source: http://www.forum-conquete-spatiale.fr/t17713p250-spacex-lancement-falcon-heavy-janvier-2018#408836
So is it possible they would proceed directly to static fire TODAY???!!!???
I guarantee you that if this thing launches during my Physics II class I am stopping lecture and putting it up on the screen. I have a good feeling that we will be witnessing an important part of space history.