I never thought we would see this day. FH is real. 
Perhaps we need to see a launch/success ... for it to be ... real?
But for sure ... not a paper rocket.
Crud. I just left the cape this morning after ending a 10-day vacation trip there. What time was the pad appearance? Sitting in Sanford airport waiting for my flight and read about this just a few minutes ago. sooooo close....
I never thought we would see this day. FH is real.
Perhaps we need to see a launch/success ... for it to be ... real?
But for sure ... not a paper rocket.
Yeah--that's where I was going with my answer--need to have an operational rocket (why I left out Energia, though at least she/they flew a couple times as a test). And of course thrust v performance, etc etc.
btw, nice hat, SG1962...
This is coming together at the pad a lot faster than I remember the inaugural Delta IV Heavy.
If it hot fires/launches well, has adequate performance, and lands all ... it may well be a very capable LV, and the first cluster vehicle to achieve what all the others could not - feasibility.
Yes DIVH works but it's a nightmare in many ways to get on/off the pad. Angara has been many decades in the making. Both don't have a huge number of flights.
If it does go well, and does so within two years again ... many heads will be turned. Congrats SX, you did it much faster than I thought you would.
Here's betting on a smooth inaugural flight.
I never thought we would see this day. FH is real.
Perhaps we need to see a launch/success ... for it to be ... real?
But for sure ... not a paper rocket.
Yeah--that's where I was going with my answer--need to have an operational rocket (why I left out Energia, though at least she/they flew a couple times as a test). And of course thrust v performance, etc etc.
Indeed.
(Energia also was a costly, touchy ... iffy thing.) F9/FH seem to be more about "utility"
thenthan "shock and awe".
btw, nice hat, SG1962...
Thanks, it's festive for this FH season
Space Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.
If we think of the whole orbiter (gross lift-off weight 110 tonnes) as the "payload" then STS got a lot more into LEO. But that is of course a question of how you define payload. However, I think we can consider the orbiter as a spaceship the same way that we consider Dragon a spaceship, and then indeed STS got 110 tonnes into LEO. The fact that the orbiter was reusable supports considering it as "payload".
This is coming together at the pad a lot faster than I remember the inaugural Delta IV Heavy.
If it hot fires/launches well, has adequate performance, and lands all ... it may well be a very capable LV, and the first cluster vehicle to achieve what all the others could not - feasibility.
I agree with you on the examples you gave.
But dont forget Soyuz. With more than 1000 flights over many iterations, its in an entirely different league than any other launcher in the world. And its a cluster vehicle. I would say it counts in terms of feasibility ;-)
Can't comment on why I say this, but man I am happy that I have an L2 membership of this site :-)
F9/FH seem to be more about "utility" then "shock and awe".
(then vs. than) I don't think that was the one you meant to use there. But it fits, too, so I'll allow it.
Space Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.
If we think of the whole orbiter (gross lift-off weight 110 tonnes) as the "payload" then STS got a lot more into LEO. But that is of course a question of how you define payload. However, I think we can consider the orbiter as a spaceship the same way that we consider Dragon a spaceship, and then indeed STS got 110 tonnes into LEO. The fact that the orbiter was reusable supports considering it as "payload".
STS was also able to transport crew along with payload - so not exactly apples to apples when comparing to FH. Perhaps FH with a Dragon 2 - then STS wins on crew # and payload capacity and FH wins on throw distance...
Space Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.
If we think of the whole orbiter (gross lift-off weight 110 tonnes) as the "payload" then STS got a lot more into LEO. But that is of course a question of how you define payload. However, I think we can consider the orbiter as a spaceship the same way that we consider Dragon a spaceship, and then indeed STS got 110 tonnes into LEO. The fact that the orbiter was reusable supports considering it as "payload".
Relax, shuttle huggers, there are still records it holds that aren't broken.
Come back in a few years, though...
Space Shuttle could only get 28mT to LEO.
If we think of the whole orbiter (gross lift-off weight 110 tonnes) as the "payload" then STS got a lot more into LEO. But that is of course a question of how you define payload. However, I think we can consider the orbiter as a spaceship the same way that we consider Dragon a spaceship, and then indeed STS got 110 tonnes into LEO. The fact that the orbiter was reusable supports considering it as "payload".
Please, define "Spaceship".
So is it possible they would proceed directly to static fire TODAY???!!!???
So is it possible they would proceed directly to static fire TODAY???!!!???
No. There is L2 info if you're a member, but short answer is no.
So is it possible they would proceed directly to static fire TODAY???!!!???
No, consensus seems to be that they will be waiting until after Zuma (Jan 4)
EDIT: living in the past...
Whoa. That escalated quickly!
It's a positive time, so rather than trawling back through a sudden flood of report to mods...
Keep Calm and Falcon Heavy.
--
People ignored this, so now I'm trimming the thread. You only have yourselves to blame!
Thread title helps you. "SpaceX FH : Falcon Heavy Demo : early 2018 : Discussion" <---we have threads for general FH stuff and most of it was about comparing with Shuttle, which is both wrong and totally not on topic.
Sent most of the longer off topic posts back to the members who created them. Personally I'd let you all go nuts, but people complain, lots of people.
So is it possible they would proceed directly to static fire TODAY???!!!???
No. Not this week Only dry tests and a dry dress rehearsal per say for now. The public side should here soon as to when the Static fire and targeted launch date is.
What a beautiful site to see. FH on the pad.
I have to admit those comparison images that Lars-J posted make me feel a bit emotional. I guarantee you that if this thing launches during my Physics II class I am stopping lecture and putting it up on the screen. I have a good feeling that we will be witnessing an important part of space history.
I guarantee you that if this thing launches during my Physics II class I am stopping lecture and putting it up on the screen. I have a good feeling that we will be witnessing an important part of space history.
You won't be the only physics professor doing that.
