Does anybody know the plans for partial evacuations, as in a medical emergency?
What would the delta-v of a Falcon 9v1.1 first stage with no second stage and no/very small payload be? How close could it get to SSTO? What if you took the landing legs off?
Quote from: Vultur on 12/28/2014 07:33 pmWhat would the delta-v of a Falcon 9v1.1 first stage with no second stage and no/very small payload be? How close could it get to SSTO? What if you took the landing legs off?The first stage alone ballparks to around 8500 m/s delta-V ignoring gravity losses and aero-drag. LEO required delta-V is estimated to be 9-10 km/s depending on the rocket's given losses. The stage would need to muster an average ISP closer to 310 to come close to achieving SSTO with no payload. This orbit would be exactly KSC 28.5degrees and nowhere near the orbital plane and altitude of the ISS. I feel this is a very optimistic estimate.
Wow. That is really surprisingly close. Given that the F9 first stage is designed to carry a 2nd stage (and thus could have quite a bit more fuel and still have a TWR > 1 at launch) could a SSTO be made with Merlin 1D technology?
Quote from: Vultur on 12/29/2014 01:56 amWow. That is really surprisingly close. Given that the F9 first stage is designed to carry a 2nd stage (and thus could have quite a bit more fuel and still have a TWR > 1 at launch) could a SSTO be made with Merlin 1D technology?I am continually amazed by the fascination something as completely useless as a SSTO rocket seems to have! I say explicitly rocket. Other designs like Skylon not included.
Quote from: Exclavion on 12/28/2014 07:47 pmQuote from: Vultur on 12/28/2014 07:33 pmWhat would the delta-v of a Falcon 9v1.1 first stage with no second stage and no/very small payload be? How close could it get to SSTO? What if you took the landing legs off?The first stage alone ballparks to around 8500 m/s delta-V ignoring gravity losses and aero-drag. LEO required delta-V is estimated to be 9-10 km/s depending on the rocket's given losses. The stage would need to muster an average ISP closer to 310 to come close to achieving SSTO with no payload. This orbit would be exactly KSC 28.5degrees and nowhere near the orbital plane and altitude of the ISS. I feel this is a very optimistic estimate.Wow. That is really surprisingly close. Given that the F9 first stage is designed to carry a 2nd stage (and thus could have quite a bit more fuel and still have a TWR > 1 at launch) could a SSTO be made with Merlin 1D technology?
I am continually amazed by the fascination something as completely useless as a SSTO rocket seems to have! I say explicitly rocket. Other designs like Skylon not included.
Can subcooled densified rp1 change that?
Quote from: dror on 12/29/2014 05:37 pmCan subcooled densified rp1 change that?No. You get somewhere in the vicinity of 3.3% more fuel at -20°C assuming the whole propellant load is RP-1 (which it's not, it's about 1/4 of it with 3:1 O:F mix) which allows ~25m/s more deltaV.
The folks at Hawthorne release a year in review video for 2014...
I think some of the footage of the water landing may not have been released before, or maybe I missed it. Nice vid.
Have not seen this on the forum's yet and thought it would entertain (not likely to inform many on NSF).https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/552876085743218688