Could the following images be the first one of Block 5?https://i.redd.it/snje9xc7ei801.jpg and https://i.redd.it/youjp8a8slg01.jpgIIRC there was a comment that B5 would be immediately recognizable. To me, these cores no longer look completely round. It that what was meant by that comment?
AFAIK the interstage of block 5 will be black. (probably just left unpainted, as carbon fiber as black natively).
Quote from: hkultala on 02/18/2018 07:57 pmAFAIK the interstage of block 5 will be black. (probably just left unpainted, as carbon fiber as black natively).The nice black/grey pattern of woven carbon fiber will look nice
Quote from: IanThePineapple on 02/18/2018 08:17 pmQuote from: hkultala on 02/18/2018 07:57 pmAFAIK the interstage of block 5 will be black. (probably just left unpainted, as carbon fiber as black natively).The nice black/grey pattern of woven carbon fiber will look niceAre you sure of that? Carbon fiber is sensitive to UV light and starts to decompose and lose strength. On the other hand, it would be another cool in-your-face to other rocket manufacturers when the majority of rockets a typical person will see are reusable and obviously carbon fiber.
Quote from: niwax on 02/18/2018 09:23 pmQuote from: IanThePineapple on 02/18/2018 08:17 pmQuote from: hkultala on 02/18/2018 07:57 pmAFAIK the interstage of block 5 will be black. (probably just left unpainted, as carbon fiber as black natively).The nice black/grey pattern of woven carbon fiber will look niceAre you sure of that? Carbon fiber is sensitive to UV light and starts to decompose and lose strength. On the other hand, it would be another cool in-your-face to other rocket manufacturers when the majority of rockets a typical person will see are reusable and obviously carbon fiber.UV does like degrading carbon bonds. However, it's not like these vehicles stay outside 24/7.
They penetrate the ozone layer for a heavy dose of UV and they do stand on the launch pad or next to it for days. One study I saw found 29% performance degradation after just 1000h of normal irradiation. Considering 10 flights between refurbishments that is not a lot and I don't think replacing the carbon fiber components counts is in scope for refurbishment anyways.
Quote from: Urx on 02/18/2018 06:27 pmCould the following images be the first one of Block 5?https://i.redd.it/snje9xc7ei801.jpg and https://i.redd.it/youjp8a8slg01.jpgIIRC there was a comment that B5 would be immediately recognizable. To me, these cores no longer look completely round. It that what was meant by that comment?Making the Block 5 core into an octagon that still is only 3.7 m high & maintains road-transportability would give it more internal volume than a 3.7m diameter cylinder by 5.4%. Not saying it's a good idea, just saying that the current F9 core supposedly is limited to 3.7m by transportation considerations. An octagon with a diameter of 4m can be stacked so that it is only 3.7 meters in height, & would still fit under transportation constraints.
Maybe they will put some clear coat on the CF, like car manufacturers do...
I read somewhere on the forum that all Block 5 boosters will include the side-booster attachment hardware on the octaweb. I thought that the major reason for switching to bolted octawebs was to make this easily configurable? Can somebody comment on this?
Quote from: lrk on 02/19/2018 06:15 pmI read somewhere on the forum that all Block 5 boosters will include the side-booster attachment hardware on the octaweb. I thought that the major reason for switching to bolted octawebs was to make this easily configurable? Can somebody comment on this? Well the answer is right there (in my naive view as a software engineer). Since the Octoweb is bolted, not welded, the side-booster attachment hardware could just be bolted on. So not the actual attachment hardware needs to be there, just the holes in the octoweb where it is bolted on if it needs to be there. If they make the hard points accessible without deconstructing the whole thing, this should be possible in a day or two.
Quote from: Stan-1967 on 02/18/2018 11:19 pmQuote from: Urx on 02/18/2018 06:27 pmCould the following images be the first one of Block 5?https://i.redd.it/snje9xc7ei801.jpg and https://i.redd.it/youjp8a8slg01.jpgIIRC there was a comment that B5 would be immediately recognizable. To me, these cores no longer look completely round. It that what was meant by that comment?Making the Block 5 core into an octagon that still is only 3.7 m high & maintains road-transportability would give it more internal volume than a 3.7m diameter cylinder by 5.4%. Not saying it's a good idea, just saying that the current F9 core supposedly is limited to 3.7m by transportation considerations. An octagon with a diameter of 4m can be stacked so that it is only 3.7 meters in height, & would still fit under transportation constraints.Unfortunately, it would not have the same strength as a pressurized cylinder.
As to an octagon not being ideal for a pressurized container, this is obviously true, but I don't see that it would be a show stopper, & the core is not pressurized that high ( 40psi? A COPV it is not). SpaceX is optimizing for performance to GTO & re-use, so why let some compressive loads in the vertices get in the way of that? Al-Li is perfectly capable of supporting compressive loads & bending moments. That is what finite element analysis is for.
As to an octagon not being ideal for a pressurized container, this is obviously true, but I don't see that it would be a show stopper, & the core is not pressurized that high ( 40psi? A COPV it is not).