SpaceX Falcon Heavy Demo - Discussion and Speculation

[Basto]

They should send up a LEGO sculpture ITS. That would be equally silly AND cool.

Great. Shatter a giant lego sculpture in low earth orbit. Have you ever seen "Gravity"?

I have and as such I was not suggesting we launch a missle at it.

Even if blocks broke off the sculpture prior to reentry they would have a very similar trajectory to the main piece. Also they aren't sending up a mass simulator to stay in orbit. It will be something that can safely be burned up or disposed in the ocean.

And just for the record... my suggestion while absurd is no more absurd than a bus. At least an ITS sculpture could be properly balanced and probably would not crush itself under the G load. Properly glued LEGO sculptures are actually quite resilient.

[Oersted]

LEGO pieces happen to be indestructible and could hurt people when they fall to Earth after re-entry, so I think we should stay with a school bus or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

[Semmel]

or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

Would make it the fastest car in the world... by some margin..

[Elmar Moelzer]

or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

Would make it the fastest car in the world... by some margin..

Sending a Tesla to mars accompanied by a ton of cameras to film it from all angles  could be quite a publicity stunt for Tesla.

[Semmel]

or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

Would make it the fastest car in the world... by some margin..

Sending a Tesla to mars accompanied by a ton of cameras to film it from all angles  could be quite a publicity stunt for Tesla.

Only problem would be that it wouldn't drive anywhere because Teslas are not build to operate in vacuum/near vacuum. And you don't want to explain THAT to the public, would you?

[rakaydos]

I actually dont consider a "Planetary Protection Protocol test" dragon-in-fairing to be too absurd. Sending it round the moon would likely conflict with the intended Stage 2 recovery attempt, but poising it as a preliminary to sending Red Dragon stays on message and preempts any congresscritter whining.

[Negan]

I actually dont consider a "Planetary Protection Protocol test" dragon-in-fairing to be too absurd. Sending it round the moon would likely conflict with the intended Stage 2 recovery attempt, but poising it as a preliminary to sending Red Dragon stays on message and preempts any congresscritter whining.

Per Jim heat shields don't have to be sterile, and Dragon would be cleaned by aeroheating during ascent and during Mars entry.

[rakaydos]

But can you prove to a congresscritter (who may not be operating in good faith/believe in science) that the rest of the dragon exterior, the part not covered by the heat shield, will be properly sterelized?

[Jimmy Murdok]

If it were to be a school bus. Please Elon reconsider

[Negan]

But can you prove to a congresscritter (who may not be operating in good faith/believe in science) that the rest of the dragon exterior, the part not covered by the heat shield, will be properly sterelized?

SpaceX has already agreed to follow NASA planetary protection protocols so his or her argument would be with NASA not SpaceX.

[Elmar Moelzer]

Only problem would be that it wouldn't drive anywhere because Teslas are not build to operate in vacuum/near vacuum. And you don't want to explain THAT to the public, would you?

I was not thinking about actually LANDING it somewhere (which would be a lot more complicated). But a flyby alone would be pretty cool. No?

[ZachS09]

If it were to be a school bus. Please Elon reconsider

It's rather a space trailer than a school bus.

[baskerbosse]

In Iain M Banks The State of the Art, the GCU 'Arbitrary' gives Dizet Sma a 1970s red Volvo station wagon as a landing craft when visiting Earth...
Although, it could be a MegaMaid..? We need some air for Mars...

[raketa]

or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

Would make it the fastest car in the world... by some margin..

Sending a Tesla to mars accompanied by a ton of cameras to film it from all angles  could be quite a publicity stunt for Tesla.

Only problem would be that it wouldn't drive anywhere because Teslas are not build to operate in vacuum/near vacuum. And you don't want to explain THAT to the public, would you?

I think it will be not complicated to modify. The battery pack is sealed already. electric engine will work fine. Just recharging could be an issue. I will be not surprised, to find out, that there is a small team in Tesla working already at least on a conceptual study of  Mars rover.

[yokem55]

or perhaps a Tesla Model S.

Would make it the fastest car in the world... by some margin..

Sending a Tesla to mars accompanied by a ton of cameras to film it from all angles  could be quite a publicity stunt for Tesla.

Only problem would be that it wouldn't drive anywhere because Teslas are not build to operate in vacuum/near vacuum. And you don't want to explain THAT to the public, would you?

I think it will be not complicated to modify. The battery pack is sealed already. electric engine will work fine. Just recharging could be an issue. I will be not surprised, to find out, that there is a small team in Tesla working already at least on a conceptual study of  Mars rover.

Its less about the air pressure and more about the temps. Those batteries and motors won't work in the cold.

That said, the a Tesla Model M would be an interesting project.

[intrepidpursuit]

 The fact that this payload won't be returning is sad. I vote for a towel either way though. Perhaps 42 towels.

[Elmar Moelzer]

Its less about the air pressure and more about the temps. Those batteries and motors won't work in the cold.

Takes a long time for things to cool off in space.

[CuddlyRocket]

Its less about the air pressure and more about the temps. Those batteries and motors won't work in the cold.

Takes a long time for things to cool off in space.

Especially when you have electric currents producing heat!

[Herb Schaltegger]

Its less about the air pressure and more about the temps. Those batteries and motors won't work in the cold.

Takes a long time for things to cool off in space.

Especially when you have electric currents producing heat!

Batteries and motors are not monolithic point-sources, nor do they have uniform thermal conductivity throughout. There would be locally very hot and locally very cool points, potentially in close proximity one to on another.

It's why (to give just one easy example) even though half of every low-Earth orbit is in shade, parts of the ISS have shell heaters running to prevent surface moisture condensation against the pressure vessel, while at the same time radiators are operating to keep the cabin air and hardware cooling loops conditioned.

Real engineering is more complicated than a one-liner on a forum.

[matthewkantar]

Also, doesn't vacuum conduit electricity? Have no idea how motors work in space, suspect lots of insulation is part of the trick. There would be thermal problems from the lack of convection. The lube on all the bearings would evaporate. Earth car in space is a no go.

Matthew