A little bird tells me it's just to be fabricating stuff in, and my guess after that is that the approaching El Nino exceedingly rainy winter made them want to keep the builders and fixtures protected during that time.
Somebody from SpaceX said they need a new TEL for FH at Vandenberg and they can't buit it inside the hangar because they are using it for Jason-3. Maybe thay are going to build the TEL inside that tent. Is that big big enough?
Quote from: guckyfan on 11/18/2015 07:49 pmThat tent is not nearly big enough for the TEL. However it may be possible that always only the part that is worked on would be inside.very surprising if the TEL would need to be rebuilt again. They just rebuilt the whole pad some months ago with no launches after, as yet.
That tent is not nearly big enough for the TEL. However it may be possible that always only the part that is worked on would be inside.
try this....SX is going after DoD contracts.They need a service tower for vertical integration of the payload.
Quote from: Prober on 11/19/2015 01:03 amtry this....SX is going after DoD contracts.They need a service tower for vertical integration of the payload.Now that one sounds perhaps plausible. My wife runs a high end event company for big (huge) investment firms. I showed her the tent and she assured me it wasn't for an event. Not because it was too high or too big. But because it was too low end. Therefore I support the "temp shelter for construction" theory, and as has been mentioned, the doors in the containers could indicate excellent storage and shop space. Add the requirement for vertical integration requirement for AF contracts and there may be something there. What's the speculation on the feasibility of west coast GPS launches?
Quote from: Johnnyhinbos on 11/19/2015 01:18 amQuote from: Prober on 11/19/2015 01:03 amtry this....SX is going after DoD contracts.They need a service tower for vertical integration of the payload.Now that one sounds perhaps plausible. My wife runs a high end event company for big (huge) investment firms. I showed her the tent and she assured me it wasn't for an event. Not because it was too high or too big. But because it was too low end. Therefore I support the "temp shelter for construction" theory, and as has been mentioned, the doors in the containers could indicate excellent storage and shop space. Add the requirement for vertical integration requirement for AF contracts and there may be something there. What's the speculation on the feasibility of west coast GPS launches?October through April is the rainy season in most of California. May through Sept is usually the dry season (5 or 6 months without even a sprinkle of rain). This year, due to the El Nino (warmer than normal ocean temps off the coast), we are possibly expecting heavier than normal rains. Maybe a weather shelter for construction.
Whatever this tentstructure is for, we must not forget this is the landing site under construction and it must be gone within app. 2 months. That seems too short for major construction. Why would they chose the landing pad? I am sure there must be other locations in Vandenberg that would be suitable.
Quote from: guckyfan on 11/19/2015 02:32 pmWhatever this tentstructure is for, we must not forget this is the landing site under construction and it must be gone within app. 2 months. That seems too short for major construction. Why would they chose the landing pad? I am sure there must be other locations in Vandenberg that would be suitable.Why 2 months? IIRC, last word we had was that even if Orbcomm barge landing attempt was successful, they would probably attempt a barge landing too at VAFB before attempting RTLS at VAFB. Which puts the earliest VAFB RTLS attempt at the next VAFB mission after Jason-3. Which is what...Iridium? ...NET spring 2016...?
Maybe it an unerector to get a landed stage horizontal after landing, and transport it back.
As such, the quest for the reason(s) for the thing ought to focus on some thing or things that will be happening over no more than the next few months. Heck, maybe it's just the location for the First Annual SpaceX Wienie Roast! (And wait 'til you see what they use to roast the wienies... )
Was out on base yesterday at SLC-4. The tent is complete, covering the central section of the future landing area.Conversation with pad personnel confirmed its most definitely not for SpaceX's Christmas party. An info note about this thread:All future high resolution photo updates about SpaceX Vandenberg activities will be on a new dedicated L2 thread. SpaceX has voiced legitimate concerns to me about potential misuse of prior photos posted here and no further detailed ones will be posted here by me. They also said that my photos, due to their quality, have been used for internal SpaceX purposes too Photo updates on Vandenberg activities will continue, discussions on how they will be shared are underway with SpaceX site management. Going forward this cooperative arrangement should be of benefit to all of us on NSF and the SpaceX'ers busy building the world's first self contained VTOL orbital spaceport. Good times ahead!