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#860
by
cscott
on 06 Jan, 2018 01:15
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#861
by
TorenAltair
on 07 Jan, 2018 12:08
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I really need some vacation.. What a dream last night.. Falcon Heavy (unfuelled) tipped over and crashed onto the pad. I thought .. "oh..will the Tesla survive this one?". As the fairing hit the ground, it exploded.. poor Tesla.
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#862
by
Mike_1179
on 07 Jan, 2018 12:42
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I never really understood why the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn were special.
On the day of the equinox at the equator at noon, a vertical pole casts no shadow and you can see to the bottom of your well. Every day after that equinox, the sun will be off-vertical more and more at noon on the equator and will cast a longer and longer shadow each day until the solstice, where shadows would then get shorter until the next equinox.
If you’re a little above the equator, the day the sun casts no shadow at noon is a few days after the equinox, this day gets further and further from the equinox the more north or south you go (depending on the season). On the summer solstice, the place where the sun casts no shadow is along the Tropic of Cancer. It is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. The same happens along the Tropic of Capricorn on the day of the winter solstice.
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#863
by
crandles57
on 07 Jan, 2018 13:42
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Could it be possible to use Mars' gravitational pull to partially circularise the orbit so that orbit remains higher than Earth's orbit? Just wondering if this might be a reason to aim for apoapsis somewhere near Mars L1 point so it gets pulled up and round the sun a bit more by Mars to keep it away from Earth.
(For that matter, what is speed at apoapsis if at distance of Mars L1 point from sun, and how does that compare with Mars L1 orbit speed? Seems like this could be a route to Mars orbit that requires less energy?)
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#864
by
rsdavis9
on 07 Jan, 2018 14:26
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I never really understood why the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn were special.
On the day of the equinox at the equator at noon, a vertical pole casts no shadow and you can see to the bottom of your well. Every day after that equinox, the sun will be off-vertical more and more at noon on the equator and will cast a longer and longer shadow each day until the solstice, where shadows would then get shorter until the next equinox.
If you’re a little above the equator, the day the sun casts no shadow at noon is a few days after the equinox, this day gets further and further from the equinox the more north or south you go (depending on the season). On the summer solstice, the place where the sun casts no shadow is along the Tropic of Cancer. It is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. The same happens along the Tropic of Capricorn on the day of the winter solstice.
Cancer and Capricorn refer to the signs of the zodiac or constellations(I think signs) that the sun is in at the solstices.
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#865
by
Perchlorate
on 07 Jan, 2018 16:05
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"If you’re a little above the equator, the day the sun casts no shadow at noon is a few days after the equinox, this day gets further and further from the equinox the more north or south you go (depending on the season). On the summer solstice, the place where the sun casts no shadow is along the Tropic of Cancer. It is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. The same happens along the Tropic of Capricorn on the day of the winter solstice."
Not inaccurate. Given that the tropic lines are where the sun is directly overhead at solstice, would it be more appropriate to say, "The same happens along the Tropic of Capricorn on the day of the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere."?
[...and I have this eerie feeling of a mod lurking, ready to rein in this excursion into tangential relevance.]
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#866
by
321_SNI
on 07 Jan, 2018 17:49
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I really need some vacation.. What a dream last night.. Falcon Heavy (unfuelled) tipped over and crashed onto the pad. I thought .. "oh..will the Tesla survive this one?". As the fairing hit the ground, it exploded.. poor Tesla.
Her hee, TorenAltair, do anything to get rid of such horribly ridiculous (or,well, just plain horrible!) dreams. Don't need ANY energy like that!! So tonight, after the Zuma launch, think of the beautiful, fluffy white engine plumes sweetly lifting it into flight! Or...just try some warm milk before bed!! **But more seriously, do you, (or does anyone) know if the great machine is on the pad yet? (The great FH, that is).
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#867
by
TorenAltair
on 07 Jan, 2018 19:18
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@321_SNI
As far as I know no, it is not on the pad. I assume they are all busy now to get that Zuma thing finally thrown to orbit.
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#868
by
russianhalo117
on 07 Jan, 2018 19:28
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I really need some vacation.. What a dream last night.. Falcon Heavy (unfuelled) tipped over and crashed onto the pad. I thought .. "oh..will the Tesla survive this one?". As the fairing hit the ground, it exploded.. poor Tesla.
Her hee, TorenAltair, do anything to get rid of such horribly ridiculous (or,well, just plain horrible!) dreams. Don't need ANY energy like that!! So tonight, after the Zuma launch, think of the beautiful, fluffy white engine plumes sweetly lifting it into flight! Or...just try some warm milk before bed!! **But more seriously, do you, (or does anyone) know if the great machine is on the pad yet? (The great FH, that is).
Roll out appears next week if you read SpaceX and Elon tweets carefully.
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#869
by
Yeknom-Ecaps
on 07 Jan, 2018 19:48
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#870
by
IanThePineapple
on 07 Jan, 2018 20:14
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https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/949075475036487680
@elonmusk
Falcon Heavy goes vertical
Video attached
Is Falcon Heavy back on the pad for the second time or was this video a repeat of the December rising on pad 39A?
Probably from the December fit check, we would know if they did another
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#871
by
Jdeshetler
on 08 Jan, 2018 02:39
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SpaceX FH Demo - Simulation of 2 boosters returning side by side in daytime thru long range tracking camera.
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#872
by
meekGee
on 08 Jan, 2018 02:58
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SpaceX FH Demo - Simulation of 2 boosters returning side by side in daytime thru long range tracking camera.
Haha... I knew what this would be even before clicking, but then watched it anyway, and with a smile...
Guilty as charged
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#873
by
cuddihy
on 08 Jan, 2018 04:58
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They’re too far apart unless the camera is in between LZ-1 & LZ-2. 🤓
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#874
by
Mader Levap
on 08 Jan, 2018 12:05
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I have opposite impression: they are too close to each other.
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#875
by
Zed_Noir
on 08 Jan, 2018 12:33
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SpaceX FH Demo - Simulation of 2 boosters returning side by side in daytime thru long range tracking camera.
So Saurion opens both eyes!
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#876
by
maitri982
on 08 Jan, 2018 14:23
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Anyone have expected launch dates on this yet? There was some info on L2 about press pass dates...not sure if that is super duper top secret L2 stuff or not. But the dates were different than prior expectations.
I am scheduling trip to FL around seeing this launch.
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#877
by
Ben the Space Brit
on 08 Jan, 2018 15:33
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SpaceNews has claimed that SpaceX is 'aiming' for late this month but that really doesn't have much weight. They've been occasionally 'aiming' for certain long-past targets several times in the last five or so years.
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#878
by
gongora
on 08 Jan, 2018 15:36
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Planning a long distance trip for this one might require some quick reflexes. You can't really count on a launch date until they conduct a good static fire, and after conducting a good static fire it might not be that long (a couple/few weeks) before the launch attempt. Late January seems to be the current target, let's see what happens with testing in the next week.
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#879
by
john smith 19
on 08 Jan, 2018 15:37
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Launch date is end of January per Elon's instagram:
Falcon Heavy now vertical on the former Apollo 11 moon rocket launchpad. At 2500 tons of thrust, equal to 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full throttle, it will be the most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two. Excitement on launch day guaranteed, one way or another.
Hold-down test fire next week. Launch end of the month.
Even the hold down firing test will be pretty exciting. If27 engines are starting up with 0.2secs between each pair that alone will last close to 3 secs between the first and the last pair igniting.
Anyone. Any idea how long for a Merlin to get to steady state on these tests? will they have all of them run together, or will they shut down each pair as it reaches steady state?
