Author Topic: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion  (Read 204299 times)

Offline Comga

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #160 on: 12/02/2017 08:23 pm »
Could the fairing problem that halted the Zuma flight be related to some clearance issue they discovered with this car?

Logically, no
See Steven Pietrobon's post and mine above.
If the Roadster launch was real, which is highly doubtful, the fairing would be more than sufficient large.
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 08:24 pm by Comga »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline Comga

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #161 on: 12/02/2017 08:28 pm »
Regarding "Mars orbit". I'm very, very skeptical that it means "Orbiting Mars" because of the need for an orbital insertion burn. I suppose they could try aerobraking, but that still requires some propulsion. We can rule out the second stage for this; nowhere near enough duration time.

But what if Elon meant "Mars' orbit"? In other words, heliocentric but at the same distance from the sun Mars is? Use a Mars grav assist to roughly match Mars' orbit? Viable?

I'm guessing they'll fit a Starlink bus (minus everything except power, propulsion, control and comms) onto the back to get it into a crazy elliptical orbit, perhaps aerobraking to a more stable orbit, then using leftover fuel to boost the periapsis up.

nah,  they will not risk going into Mars.

And what starlink bus?   Anyways, they are LEO buses.

Yup 
Launched a LEO bus to Mars once
Didn't end well
And that was a bus with flight heritage
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline Michael Baylor

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #162 on: 12/02/2017 08:40 pm »
Quote
To clarify, I said it’s legit because the boss tweeted it out. I don’t know any more info and Elon’s the go to guy on this.

https://twitter.com/RocketJoy/status/937072189118939136

Ok, a crucial piece of evidence in favor of this being true just bit the dust. Not sure why she made the original comment. Clearly she didn't actually know if there would be cameras or not. Was probably just making a logical assumption.

Offline deruch

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #163 on: 12/02/2017 08:50 pm »
However this ends up, Elon is earning his trolling merit badge with aplomb this weekend.

Do you think we should send him one? He could sew it onto his hat
That's actually going to be the mission patch.
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Offline AncientU

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #164 on: 12/02/2017 08:50 pm »
And...

Quote
Eric Berger‏
@SciGuySpace
2 minutes ago

Elon Musk told me just now, on Saturday afternoon: The Tesla to Mars mission is "100% real."

Would be nice if SpaceX's communications team stepped in here.

We do have right now enough info to make a "Mind blowing" meme about the whole story.

Not until we see how it ends... best yet to come.
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
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Offline docmordrid

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #165 on: 12/02/2017 09:07 pm »
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7h4c10/elon_musk_admits_he_made_up_the_story_about/dqo1hyn

Quote
erberger Ars Technica Space Editor 26m
 
Elon says the mission is real on Twitter.
 
Confirms last night in email.
 
Elon tells the Verge he totally made it up.
 
Elon is pretty adamant with me this afternoon.
 
He has told one publication it's not real. My guess is that he's unhappy with that publication. (edited)
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 09:08 pm by docmordrid »
DM

Offline SpaceX_MS

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #166 on: 12/02/2017 09:09 pm »
If it helps, as you've seen with this thread, this is where you're going to see everyone who's ever been to a launch claiming they have inside information. There's only a very small amount of places that can get answers from SpaceX because they have earned it with their coverage. This site and its reporters is one example. Eric Berger is another. And some others .......................

That is all. :)
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 09:12 pm by SpaceX_MS »

Offline guckyfan

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #167 on: 12/02/2017 09:09 pm »
I am pretty sure they designed the Starlink bus with Mars in mind. Starlink satellites will be the backbone of Mars communication as well as the earth internet Constellation.

Offline spacetraveler

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #168 on: 12/02/2017 09:11 pm »
Plus, the maximum payload to GTO for Falcon Heavy is around 8 tons.

No, that's the max Falcon 9 payload in expendable configuration.

Max Falcon heavy to GTO is 26 tons.

Offline Comga

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #169 on: 12/02/2017 09:21 pm »
Confirmed! The payload is a Roadster going to Mars. What exactly "going to Mars" means is yet to be confirmed.

Eric Berger:
Quote
Another SpaceX official confirms:

"The Roadster to Mars payload is real."
https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/937078015720394756

Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, and so on
Lot's of evidence the Roadster to Mars is NOT real.
Can we agree to put discussion of payload for Heavy here in the Payload Speculation thread and keep this one for updates on and discussion about the vehicle and launch?

(Done - Mod).
« Last Edit: 12/03/2017 02:36 am by Davinator »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline Ludus

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #170 on: 12/02/2017 09:23 pm »
Still convinced it’s completely real until Musk says otherwise. It makes too much sense, especially in the Mars Orbit version not in orbit around Mars.

Putting any “Silly” object in earth orbit would draw reasonable criticism for adding to SpaceJunk and adding a nonzero probability of injuring or killing someone on reentry.

Putting it in orbit around Mars would draw criticism for Planetary Protection issues since it would eventually hit the planet. It would also be harder to achieve.

Putting his own Tesla Roadster into the same orbit as Mars seems brilliant. It’s a demonstration of FH but even more a demonstration that he can do what he says he’s going to do even if it seems fantastic. It’s great promotion for Tesla and SpaceX going into 2018 which will be a big year for both of them.

It’s essentially a fulfillment of Musks original ambition before founding SpaceX to send a private mission to Marssimply to promote interest in Space faring. It would do that very well. The original idea of sending a green house to the surface would have encountered opposition.

Offline Dave G

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #171 on: 12/02/2017 09:24 pm »
There's only a very small amount of places that can get answers from SpaceX because they have earned it with their coverage. This site and its reporters is one example. Eric Berger is another. And some others .......................

SpaceX will attempt to launch a red Tesla to the red planet [Updated]

ERIC BERGER - 12/1/2017, 10:25 PM

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/with-bowie-playing-on-the-radio-elon-musk-plans-to-launch-his-tesla-to-mars/

Quote
Saturday update: There has been some confusion today because Elon Musk told The Verge on Saturday morning that he "totally made it up" about sending a Tesla Roadster to Mars. However, in multiple emails with Ars on Saturday afternoon, Musk confirmed that this plan is, indeed, real. Another SpaceX official also said the Tesla payload was very much real.
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 09:25 pm by Dave G »

Online ZachS09

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #172 on: 12/02/2017 09:25 pm »
Plus, the maximum payload to GTO for Falcon Heavy is around 8 tons.

No, that's the max Falcon 9 payload in expendable configuration.

Max Falcon heavy to GTO is 26 tons.

I meant when all of Falcon Heavy's boosters are reusable. Just like Falcon 9; its maximum payload to GTO is 5.5 tons when reusing the first stage.
Liftoff for St. Jude's! Go Dragon, Go Falcon, Godspeed Inspiration4!

Offline AncientU

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #173 on: 12/02/2017 09:32 pm »
If it helps, as you've seen with this thread, this is where you're going to see everyone who's ever been to a launch claiming they have inside information. There's only a very small amount of places that can get answers from SpaceX because they have earned it with their coverage. This site and its reporters is one example. Eric Berger is another. And some others .......................

That is all. :)

Nice!
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 09:33 pm by AncientU »
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Offline Formica

Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #174 on: 12/02/2017 09:45 pm »
Yup 
Launched a LEO bus to Mars once
Didn't end well
And that was a bus with flight heritage

Huh. While I was familiar with the mission, I had never read about the specific findings:

Quote from: Wikipedia
The engine was derived from one belonging to an Earth orbital satellite and was not designed to lie dormant for months before being fired.

Quite the contrast to the recent Voyager 1 firing!

This is of course all wild speculation. That said, if they were to "cobble together" a Mars orbit insertion stage from a SuperDraco (insert "spacecraft are not LEGOs" caveat here), we know that they are designed for at least a few months of on-orbit storage, since Dragon 2 will be docked at the ISS for X number of months (6?). Or, as guckyfan speculates, it makes hypothetical sense that the Starlink design is made with Mars in mind, if they have such hardware to use on this adventure. All of this speculation really depends on just how long SpaceX has been working on this project.

(The thread title does say speculation, I hope this post is sufficiently relevant. I deleted this post from the other FH payload thread after Comga's post was moved to this one.)

Offline Ludus

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #175 on: 12/02/2017 09:48 pm »
There should be a actual Teapot, hopefully one that belonged to Bertrand Russell, in the Trunk of the Roadster.

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?t=123217

If the Roadster is confirmed, we need a thread about other things that ought to be included with it.
« Last Edit: 12/02/2017 09:56 pm by Ludus »

Online rsdavis9

Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #176 on: 12/02/2017 09:51 pm »
Since it seems to be relevant to this current state of affairs...
I have been watching monty python links from  eric bergers acticle.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/with-bowie-playing-on-the-radio-elon-musk-plans-to-launch-his-tesla-to-mars/#ampshare=https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/with-bowie-playing-on-the-radio-elon-musk-plans-to-launch-his-tesla-to-mars/

The parrot sketch and the cheese sketch and david bowie's space oddity ...
With ELV best efficiency was the paradigm. The new paradigm is reusable, good enough, and commonality of design.
Same engines. Design once. Same vehicle. Design once. Reusable. Build once.

Offline meekGee

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #177 on: 12/02/2017 10:02 pm »
Wonder if Road and Track could schedule a trial between the Roadster and Curiosity?

On Mars?  That would be a crater vs a functioning rover

Not unless they land on the rover.
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Offline Space Ghost 1962

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #178 on: 12/02/2017 10:05 pm »
"And we're going to trust this childish man ... to launch our billion dollar payload? Can anyone get a straight answer out of him? Anyone? Are we sure he's not joking ... again?"

Online gongora

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Re: Falcon Heavy Demo Mission Payload Discussion
« Reply #179 on: 12/02/2017 10:08 pm »
My first time seeing this--is this new?

http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/elon-musk-on-the-roadster-to-mars

quote: "Incidentally, for the first launch there is no plan to recover the boosters as has been done on Falcon 9 launches, but future flights will bring all three back to Earth. "

This article also clarifies the orbit:
Quote
He said it’ll be placed in “a precessing Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun.”

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