They can keep analyzing, measuring, xraying and scrutinizing till they're all old and gray and end up none the wiser.
it's a bit petty.perhaps this would be better."Thanks. Next stop Mars. See you there"
And how it went too. SpaceX had (as expected) built the stage for easy recovery and moving around..
Can't help wondering what would happen if they just filled the tanks and lit a fire under it. Would it fly to space? They can keep analyzing, measuring, xraying and scrutinizing till they're all old and gray and end up none the wiser.
Quote from: randomly on 12/23/2015 01:27 amit's a bit petty.perhaps this would be better."Thanks. Next stop Mars. See you there"Much classier response. And more like Elon's style. He has stated many times that he is hoping to see several commercial companies competing for the launches with him on a level playing field. He's not doing this to dominate the field. He genuinely wants company.
Quote from: saliva_sweet on 12/25/2015 09:38 pmCan't help wondering what would happen if they just filled the tanks and lit a fire under it. Would it fly to space? They can keep analyzing, measuring, xraying and scrutinizing till they're all old and gray and end up none the wiser.None the wiser is if you just fill the tanks and fly, and then have no idea what went wrong, or if something almost went wrong.If they only did non-destructive testing, then yes, they should try to fly it. But there's more value in bringing some components to failure.They can refly the next one. Or the one after that.
Quote from: clongton on 12/25/2015 09:47 pmQuote from: randomly on 12/23/2015 01:27 amit's a bit petty.perhaps this would be better."Thanks. Next stop Mars. See you there"Much classier response. And more like Elon's style. He has stated many times that he is hoping to see several commercial companies competing for the launches with him on a level playing field. He's not doing this to dominate the field. He genuinely wants company.I'd like to see SX open source the F9 design and accumulated data at some point in the future, when they are less dependent on it being a trade secret. That would open some possibilities, for sure. It will also be one hell of case study for universities, and, hopefully, high school. Think what would it do Jeff's cherished club... priceless)
Quote from: meekGee on 12/25/2015 10:38 pmQuote from: saliva_sweet on 12/25/2015 09:38 pmCan't help wondering what would happen if they just filled the tanks and lit a fire under it. Would it fly to space? They can keep analyzing, measuring, xraying and scrutinizing till they're all old and gray and end up none the wiser.None the wiser is if you just fill the tanks and fly, and then have no idea what went wrong, or if something almost went wrong.If they only did non-destructive testing, then yes, they should try to fly it. But there's more value in bringing some components to failure.They can refly the next one. Or the one after that.They could also bring some components to failure, replace them, and re-fly this one.
Quote from: mfck on 12/25/2015 10:52 pmQuote from: clongton on 12/25/2015 09:47 pmQuote from: randomly on 12/23/2015 01:27 amit's a bit petty.perhaps this would be better."Thanks. Next stop Mars. See you there"Much classier response. And more like Elon's style. He has stated many times that he is hoping to see several commercial companies competing for the launches with him on a level playing field. He's not doing this to dominate the field. He genuinely wants company.I'd like to see SX open source the F9 design and accumulated data at some point in the future, when they are less dependent on it being a trade secret. That would open some possibilities, for sure. It will also be one hell of case study for universities, and, hopefully, high school. Think what would it do Jeff's cherished club... priceless)I'd guess ITAR would have something to say about that plan.
s/Hawthorne/McGregor.. it'll sit in a field and rot away like Grasshopper.
Quote from: Dante80 on 12/25/2015 08:58 pmAnd how it went too. SpaceX had (as expected) built the stage for easy recovery and moving around..Although this would not be the fastest way to recover a stage and move it to post-flight processing.One would imagine something like an de-erector transporter that would grab the stage, allow for leg removal or storage, and transport back to the shed where it can be transferred to a transporter erector for payload processing. OK to use a crane and general transporter for now so they can fine tune their processes...
It would not then be very useful as an ICBM (as any cryogenic rocket is)...but still much, much better than some of the things rogue nations have available right now..while portions of the design (avionics, cold gas thrusters etc) would be very useful. No way for F9 going into public domain, the rocket industry is not like the car industry (where TESLA can do that).