I remember reading last year that the aluminium came from the Netherlands.. Took me long enough to find it back:http://motherboard.vice.com/read/spacex-wont-win-the-governments-launch-contracts-without-a-fightStill doesn't exclude that they bought anything at that other company..
Quote from: Baranquilla on 11/30/2015 10:01 pmI remember reading last year that the aluminium came from the Netherlands.. Took me long enough to find it back:http://motherboard.vice.com/read/spacex-wont-win-the-governments-launch-contracts-without-a-fightStill doesn't exclude that they bought anything at that other company..As I understood it, the struts came as a finished component from a separate supplier. So unless SpaceX mandates that all their suppliers use the same material supplier, it's not clear whether that is relevant.
Quote from: LastStarFighter on 11/30/2015 09:41 pmSpaceX gets their aluminum from a French company named Alcan I beleive.I have no idea if that is true that SpaceX gets it's aluminum from Alcan, but Alcan was a Canadian company originally but it is now owned by the Australian mining/resource conglomerate Rio Tinto.
SpaceX gets their aluminum from a French company named Alcan I beleive.
Boy, Alcan is getting their name used (good and bad!) lately. Constellium was never Alcan.
Well boys and girls, not sure what was just tested at the McGregor Space X facility, but I can tell you it physically shook our entire house and rattled the pictures on the walls. Its loud so watch your volume when playing the video. 11/30/2015 at 10:55PM CST
There is a post here on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/spacexgroup/Keith Wallace posted a video of a test fire last night. could be the test fire we were all waiting for ??QuoteWell boys and girls, not sure what was just tested at the McGregor Space X facility, but I can tell you it physically shook our entire house and rattled the pictures on the walls. Its loud so watch your volume when playing the video. 11/30/2015 at 10:55PM CST
Quote from: jacqmans on 12/01/2015 10:00 amThere is a post here on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/spacexgroup/Keith Wallace posted a video of a test fire last night. could be the test fire we were all waiting for ??QuoteWell boys and girls, not sure what was just tested at the McGregor Space X facility, but I can tell you it physically shook our entire house and rattled the pictures on the walls. Its loud so watch your volume when playing the video. 11/30/2015 at 10:55PM CSTStage 1 for Orbcomm is already at the Cape. And if I looked correctly this was coming from the New test stand. Not sure though.
It looks like a Journalist on Twitter has announced Space X likely to attempt a mainland booster landing. Is the guy credible? How the the authorization process is supposed to unfold?
I'm not sure if this is the right thread, and I have no idea if this is actually relevant to the strut failure, but given the timing and the extensive list of industries Sapa supplies aluminum to, I thought I'd throw it out there as a possibility that might be worth looking into.NASA has listed major aluminum supplier Sapa as ineligible for federal contracts due to falsification of quality test results.http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/11/05/portland-aluminum-plant-falsified-test-results-letter-customers-says/75259028/
Excuse me if I misunderstand this, but hasn't some journalist or other said that Spacex hopes the next landing to be on land before a great deal of landing attempts? What makes this different?
Quote from: Rocket Guy on 12/01/2015 03:19 pmThe launch time was noted by orbcomm as being around 2am on December 8 if it was that date, and the time should get approximately 22 minutes earlier each day based on the first OG2 mission.OK. Midnight-ish then. Terrible for photos, but it ought to look amazing in person if the weather is clear.
The launch time was noted by orbcomm as being around 2am on December 8 if it was that date, and the time should get approximately 22 minutes earlier each day based on the first OG2 mission.
SpaceX struts are made of steel. And aluminum sources are not an issue with RTF anyway.
I would hope that SpaceX is free to choose Sapa as a supplier if they want to do so. Sapa wouldn't get a federal contract, they'd get a SpaceX contract. Of course, SpaceX should take into account NASA's view of Sapa, but at the end of the day, they're probably better at procurement than NASA.