edit: lets not overstate this. Its probably nothing serious and I am sure if it was its an easy to replace part. Not really worth a page of discussion in this thread.
Quote from: Dante80 on 01/04/2016 06:42 pmhttp://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38148.msg1469736#msg1469736 This is a great pic! I am fascinated by the stuff revealed with the raceway cover removed. It's possible it's just the exposure of the photo, but it seems pretty sooty under that cover, which is surprising.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38148.msg1469736#msg1469736
PS The black-cross-in-circle feature is on the left of the N2 RCS thruster cluster. This corresponds to the "before" part of the before-and-after image, where the feature appears to have switched sides. "That's one less mystery!"
Cross posting from Updates thread, (because discussion is not updates.....)Quote from: Johnnyhinbos on 01/04/2016 07:35 pmQuote from: Dante80 on 01/04/2016 06:42 pmhttp://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38148.msg1469736#msg1469736 This is a great pic! I am fascinated by the stuff revealed with the raceway cover removed. It's possible it's just the exposure of the photo, but it seems pretty sooty under that cover, which is surprising.If by "raceway cover" you mean the cowlings over the tops of the grid fin pivots, there were no cowlings on the OG2 flight.
Quote from: Comga on 01/04/2016 08:13 pmCross posting from Updates thread, (because discussion is not updates.....)Quote from: Johnnyhinbos on 01/04/2016 07:35 pmQuote from: Dante80 on 01/04/2016 06:42 pmhttp://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38148.msg1469736#msg1469736 This is a great pic! I am fascinated by the stuff revealed with the raceway cover removed. It's possible it's just the exposure of the photo, but it seems pretty sooty under that cover, which is surprising.If by "raceway cover" you mean the cowlings over the tops of the grid fin pivots, there were no cowlings on the OG2 flight.No, that's not the raceway. The "raceway" is the external piping that runs the length of the stage, highlighted in green in image #1, and you can see the whole length of it from the bottom to the top in image #2.
A couple of questions from the curious:1. How far from the center of the pad did the stage touch down? (Presumably it landed well within the area of the deck of an ASDS.. but did it?)2. How much propellant (RP-1 & LOX) did they have to unload?
A close-up of the engines, post-landing...https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/684094378021801984
Quote from: Llian Rhydderch on 01/04/2016 07:42 pmThanks for the notes on the image.Question: can we tell that that cover is necessarily burned off? Might it have been damaged somehow (supersonic turbulence, etc.) and blown off, before further blackening by soot? Or something else entirely?It is not burned off, it is still there.
Thanks for the notes on the image.Question: can we tell that that cover is necessarily burned off? Might it have been damaged somehow (supersonic turbulence, etc.) and blown off, before further blackening by soot? Or something else entirely?
Could the white stuff be some consequence of the supersonic reentry burn? Assuming those are the two engines used in addition to the center, they are the only ones that made that particular group of burns (launch/boostback/reentry, but not landing).Pardon my non-aero-engineer speculation.
Quote from: Dante80 on 01/04/2016 06:42 pmThis is a great pic! I am fascinated by the stuff revealed with the raceway cover removed. It's possible it's just the exposure of the photo, but it seems pretty sooty under that cover, which is surprising.
Quote from: CameronD on 01/04/2016 09:53 pmA couple of questions from the curious:1. How far from the center of the pad did the stage touch down? (Presumably it landed well within the area of the deck of an ASDS.. but did it?)You be the judge...X marks the spot!
A couple of questions from the curious:1. How far from the center of the pad did the stage touch down? (Presumably it landed well within the area of the deck of an ASDS.. but did it?)
With precision like that, next we know the DoD will be asking if they could help them land payloads in the Middle East...
From 200kms up??
Quote from: CameronD on 01/05/2016 12:10 amWith precision like that, next we know the DoD will be asking if they could help them land payloads in the Middle East... precision has nothing to do with it. ICBMs can do that already.
Quote from: Jim on 01/05/2016 12:15 amQuote from: CameronD on 01/05/2016 12:10 amWith precision like that, next we know the DoD will be asking if they could help them land payloads in the Middle East... precision has nothing to do with it. ICBMs can do that already.Betcha they can't do it twice!
2. How much propellant (RP-1 & LOX) did they have to unload?