Then SpaceX can see if salt water immersion is fatal or tolerable, if it is "good enough" or if they need something "better".
Quote from: rickyramjet on 08/15/2016 08:38 pmI think the cost of two ships, two helicopters, crew, fuel, and always on call for whenever a launch is planned would soon negate the advantage of fairing recovery.The fairing costs in the "millions", I've seen the estimate of 3-5 million thrown around. You can do a lot for that, assuming the results are worth it.Not saying it would be easy or cheap.
I think the cost of two ships, two helicopters, crew, fuel, and always on call for whenever a launch is planned would soon negate the advantage of fairing recovery.
I am as surprised as anyone that the fairings don't come down a hundred kilometers downrange, but they don't.There is no need for said "50 miles" of fairing glide range, or even any controlled landing (yet). It seems to be not a large step to get the fairings into the water without being destroyed, so that they can be fetched whole by the recovery crew just like the "Pieces are recovered".
Worth noting that fairings already almost certainly have a significant level of control over their course, at least to the extent that they almost certainly already have RCS and some serious onboard avionics. They likely have a surprising amount of control over where they end up!
There was footage a couple launches ago of one of the fairing halves firing RCS thrusters.
Quote from: The_Ronin on 08/18/2016 06:06 pmThere was footage a couple launches ago of one of the fairing halves firing RCS thrusters.While a true statement, that does not say they "have a significant level of control over their course".At least one fairing had RCS. Whether that was sufficient to control its attitude and course is not known.If it was sufficient, they would be stable in the atmosphere. It's unlikely that SpaceX would have abandoned an effective control system, so the fact that the fairings are seen as falling like leaves means it was probably not sufficient.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/738471747540783104in response to a question: Are RCS thrusters the sole component for fairing recovery? Are chutes required?Quote@mattyteare @karaswisher @waltmossberg @YouTube autosteering chutes will be added soonSo, we'll perhaps see some fairing halves coming back under chutes!
@mattyteare @karaswisher @waltmossberg @YouTube autosteering chutes will be added soon
Quote from: abaddon on 08/15/2016 09:10 pmQuote from: rickyramjet on 08/15/2016 08:38 pmI think the cost of two ships, two helicopters, crew, fuel, and always on call for whenever a launch is planned would soon negate the advantage of fairing recovery.The fairing costs in the "millions", I've seen the estimate of 3-5 million thrown around. You can do a lot for that, assuming the results are worth it.Not saying it would be easy or cheap.Good to remember that possibly the main motivator behind fairing recovery is the fact that fairings themselves act as a significant roadblock to even relatively minor increases in cadence, and definitely act as a hard ceiling for any serious increases in cadence. Price is very much secondary, though it is significant
Gwynne's other key quote from the 39A press conference on Friday was that they'd love to re-use fairings and maybe this year you'll see that.Must imply some fairing recovery attempts rather sooner?
Gwynne shot well stated the fairings will be recovered this year mid air as submersion in salt water is not allowable.