Author Topic: Fairing reuse  (Read 974411 times)

Offline darkenfast

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #940 on: 05/30/2017 03:28 pm »
Wow, that factory in the video looks really slapdash.  Think they'll ever amount to anything in ten years?  Oh, wait...

Amazing, isn't it, what we have watched happen here over the last decade? 
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Offline AncientU

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #941 on: 05/30/2017 06:26 pm »
Wow, that factory in the video looks really slapdash.  Think they'll ever amount to anything in ten years?  Oh, wait...

Amazing, isn't it, what we have watched happen here over the last decade?

And EM's net worth was heading below zero about then...  $15B-ish now.
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Offline rory

Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #942 on: 05/31/2017 04:20 pm »
You do realize that this is a 7 yr old video, right? And this was YEARS before the first fairing actually flew, and by that point it had changed a lot. According to people knowledgeable on this forum, the actual flying fairing (not that early prototype) is not the lightest fairing of its kind. It may be the cheapest, but not the lightest.

The point of posting the video wasn't to take Musk's 10-year-old superlatives as gospel. It's evidence that they are in fact using aerospace grade composites, contrary to the speculation that the fairing is heavier because of inexpensive, non-aerospace grade carbon fiber. It lends credence to the explanations (particularly Jim's) that the fairing is heavy for structural reasons (i.e. supporting the payload while horizontal/transitioning to vertical) rather than the use of cheap materials.

Might have helped if I added some of the follow-on discussion to the post I originally quoted:

I don't see any evidence they are using anything other than current state-of-the-art aerospace composites for the fairing.  Let's not pile speculation on speculation.
Of course, there is no evidence they are using state of the art aerospace composites either...unless you want to assume/speculate that they are....;-)
We know the original manufacturer of the fairings was doing current aerospace grade work.  You can speculate that SpaceX simplified or complexified things after they brought manufacturing in-house, but until they do a major fairing redesign Occam's razor would state they are still using something close to standard manufacturing practice for composites.

And SpaceX disclaims any craziness:
Quote
. The fairing is 13.1 meters (43 feet) high and 5.2 meters (17 feet) wide. It consists of an aluminum honeycomb core with carbon-fiber face sheets fabricated in two half-shells.
http://www.spacex.com/news/2013/04/12/fairing

Note: when I say "state-of-the-art" I mean, same as any other current manufacturer would use.  I'm not claiming super secret sauce or unicorn novelty.

It's possible that SpaceX did an about-face and switched materials in the intervening time, but it's certainly a data point in favor of state-of-the-art construction.

Offline leetdan

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #943 on: 06/02/2017 02:54 am »
The NROL fairing has been added to the collection at the Spacehab building, in addition to a security fence  8)

Offline OneSpeed

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #944 on: 06/03/2017 10:03 am »
The NROL fairing has been added to the collection at the Spacehab building, in addition to a security fence  8)

The fairing appears largely intact, although there is a discontinuity near one of the potential parachute attachment points.

Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #945 on: 06/05/2017 09:24 pm »
The NROL fairing has been added to the collection at the Spacehab building, in addition to a security fence  8)

So are both halves from NROL-76 or is one from NROL-76 and the other from SES-10?

Online Jarnis

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #946 on: 06/06/2017 06:29 am »
The NROL fairing has been added to the collection at the Spacehab building, in addition to a security fence  8)

So are both halves from NROL-76 or is one from NROL-76 and the other from SES-10?

One per mission - so far only one half of the fairing has featured recovery hardware.

Offline catdlr

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #947 on: 06/21/2017 02:44 am »
any of these recent pictures, in this thread, help with determining if this particular faring is set up of reuse capability?

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=43149.msg1692094#msg1692094
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Offline cscott

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #948 on: 06/22/2017 04:28 pm »
any of these recent pictures, in this thread, help with determining if this particular faring is set up of reuse capability?

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=43149.msg1692094#msg1692094
It's a little suspicious that they never show the full inside of the near fairing half.  The far side fairing I think I can confidently say does not contain the recovery bits we've seen in video.

Offline Jim

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #949 on: 06/22/2017 05:40 pm »

It's a little suspicious that they never show the full inside of the near fairing half. 

Propriety hardware

Offline cscott

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #950 on: 06/22/2017 05:46 pm »
Yes, my point exactly.  If there is recovery hardware installed, it is on the near side.  Impossible to tell whether it's present or not from these photos.

Offline dorkmo

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #951 on: 06/22/2017 06:32 pm »
I think the recovery half has traditionally been the side with the male latches around the seam. So here i believe we are getting a look inside. but I think the past in flight recovery photos showed two seperate internal plumbing raceways, which at firt glave looks like there is only one here?

And no apparent chute bags.

Could the stuff near the top be an area for 3 copv to be mounted? Maybe the fab shop made a reusable half but they later decided not to fit it out with all the plumbing.
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 06:38 pm by dorkmo »

Offline old_sellsword

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #952 on: 06/22/2017 06:47 pm »
Yes, my point exactly.  If there is recovery hardware installed, it is on the near side.  Impossible to tell whether it's present or not from these photos.

After SES-10, Elon told Martin Halliwell that they recovered the half with the American Flag, not the SES logo (at 12:34 in the video below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlF3fmndtY0?t=12m34s

All of these recent encapsulation pictures show the inside of the flag fairing, not the logo fairing (of which we only see the outside).

So we should be able to see recovery hardware if it's installed.
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 06:49 pm by old_sellsword »

Online wannamoonbase

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #953 on: 06/22/2017 07:01 pm »
Yes, my point exactly.  If there is recovery hardware installed, it is on the near side.  Impossible to tell whether it's present or not from these photos.

Private company, they don't owe us a thing.  We are lucky to get the excellent coverage we do get.

EM is a showman, he has to hold onto somethings to reveal later.
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline Reflectiv

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #954 on: 06/22/2017 07:08 pm »
After SES-10, Elon told Martin Halliwell that they recovered the half with the American Flag, not the SES logo (at 12:34 in the video below).
All of these recent encapsulation pictures show the inside of the flag fairing, not the logo fairing (of which we only see the outside).

So we should be able to see recovery hardware if it's installed.

Quote
Matt Desch‏ @IridiumBoss Jan 14

Great picture of our launch today.  Next time (April) they'll make sure Iridium NEXT logo on fairing pointed my way!
just saying

Offline old_sellsword

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #955 on: 06/22/2017 07:18 pm »
After SES-10, Elon told Martin Halliwell that they recovered the half with the American Flag, not the SES logo (at 12:34 in the video below).
All of these recent encapsulation pictures show the inside of the flag fairing, not the logo fairing (of which we only see the outside).

So we should be able to see recovery hardware if it's installed.

Quote
Matt Desch‏ @IridiumBoss Jan 14

Great picture of our launch today.  Next time (April) they'll make sure Iridium NEXT logo on fairing pointed my way!
just saying

I'm not really sure how that's relevant. He's talking about how the on-base viewing areas look south towards the rocket, which means they see the flag half, not the logo half.
« Last Edit: 06/22/2017 07:19 pm by old_sellsword »

Offline dorkmo

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #956 on: 06/22/2017 10:02 pm »
Maybe at this point theyre waiting on the bouncy castle before they try any more recoveries.

Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #957 on: 06/22/2017 10:14 pm »
Maybe at this point theyre waiting on the bouncy castle before they try any more recoveries.

Possibly, but they've still got a lot to work to do if they're missing the landing zones by several miles. I think they might as well take these opportunities to refine their techniques.

Offline cscott

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Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #958 on: 06/23/2017 02:27 am »
If they are not recovering iridium's vandy fairing, perhaps the reason is that Go Searcher is on the east coast. That is, perhaps the recovery effort needs a bit of ground support, and it was not (yet?) worth duplicating or not (yet?) operational on the west coast.
« Last Edit: 06/23/2017 12:50 pm by cscott »

Online cwr

Re: Fairing reuse
« Reply #959 on: 06/25/2017 05:25 pm »
Noticed this photo of the inside of the flag half of the fairing for the Iridium-2 launch from Vandenberg.
Photo was in a SpaceflightNow Article at https://t.co/IjNnm8ja7B
but was credited to Iridium [its the 7th photo from the top].

https://assets.cdn.spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/25145723/DCySv9CU0AA4XqC.jpg


Attached image.

Carl

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