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#760
by
AC in NC
on 01 Jan, 2019 14:58
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
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#761
by
meekGee
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:05
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
But they knew about BFH when they announced F9US.
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ABCD: Always Be Counting Down
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#762
by
IntoTheVoid
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:06
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What was the "no" about? "Instead" of what?
Do you think the switch to metal happened in between the F9US announcement and the metal announcement?
Primarily, I think it muddied the waters to not be sure about the F9US.
He could have said something along the lines of 'No, it's not really a mini-BFR; it's BFR-like mods to the US' if that was what he meant, but instead he just said 'No, accelerating BFR' without any mention of F9.
Did the switch to metal happen in that time? IDK, maybe. We don't know what the actual mods to the US were/are. If it had something to do with TPS on the sides, then perhaps the switch to metal obviated it.
I'm not making any hard claims other than, I'm not buying into any F9US hard claims without further info leaking out.
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#763
by
Johnnyhinbos
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:11
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Nomadd - Do you have any insight on the roadway expansion project from the Port of Brownsville that would allow realistic transport of large (9m or more) structures to the Boca Chica site?
As I’ve mentioned in the past, part of why where seeing the BFH take shape the way it is is because of (lack of) infrastructure and a big part of that is ground transportation issues.
The true prototype for the BFS will be (is being?) built in San Pedro, but it can’t get to the BC site before this road work has been completed. Therefore I personally consider this road work a key milestone.
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#764
by
su27k
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:25
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
But they knew about BFH when they announced F9US.
It could be that switch to steel and active cooling happened at different times, they may have decided to switch to steel fairly early (around dearMoon announcement), and they have been planning the hopper since then. But the idea of using active cooling instead of TPS may have only happened in November, this late change eliminated the mini-BFS.
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#765
by
meekGee
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:28
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
But they knew about BFH when they announced F9US.
It could be that switch to steel and active cooling happened at different times, they may have decided to switch to steel fairly early (around dearMoon announcement), and they have been planning the hopper since then. But the idea of using active cooling instead of TPS may have only happened in November, this late change eliminated the mini-BFS.
Except mini f9us is in order to test brakerons at very high approach speeds.. made sense even b4 metal...
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ABCD: Always Be Counting Down
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#766
by
su27k
on 01 Jan, 2019 15:34
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
But they knew about BFH when they announced F9US.
It could be that switch to steel and active cooling happened at different times, they may have decided to switch to steel fairly early (around dearMoon announcement), and they have been planning the hopper since then. But the idea of using active cooling instead of TPS may have only happened in November, this late change eliminated the mini-BFS.
Except mini f9us is in order to test brakerons at very high approach speeds.. made sense even b4 metal...
Not just brakerons, you can find exact quote in the
mini-BFS thread, it's also to test "Ultra light heat shield", this part becomes unnecessary after switching to active cooling. Not sure what will happen to brakerons under the new design...
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#767
by
bocachicagal
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:05
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#768
by
Nomadd
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:08
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Nomadd - Do you have any insight on the roadway expansion project from the Port of Brownsville that would allow realistic transport of large (9m or more) structures to the Boca Chica site?
As I’ve mentioned in the past, part of why where seeing the BFH take shape the way it is is because of (lack of) infrastructure and a big part of that is ground transportation issues.
The true prototype for the BFS will be (is being?) built in San Pedro, but it can’t get to the BC site before this road work has been completed. Therefore I personally consider this road work a key milestone.
They're reconstructing 511 but not really expanding it much and I have a hard time picturing a BFS getting down it. The hope was for a new highway they're working on from the Mexican border to the port that will cross Boca Chica highway east of town. Engineering contracts have been issued, but no work on the hwy 4 to port leg yet.
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#769
by
FutureMartian97
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:09
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Just a few more pics.
Amazing pictures as always. Are they working today, or do they have the day off?
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#770
by
Nomadd
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:11
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Just a few more pics.
Dang, that gal is fast. I like the middle section angle. Looks like two eyeballs staring out.
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#771
by
Nomadd
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:12
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Just a few more pics.
Amazing pictures as always. Are they working today, or do they have the day off?
She forgot to photoshop the workers in.
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#772
by
SpacePhileon
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:30
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Just a few more pics.
Dang, that gal is fast. I like the middle section angle. Looks like two eyeballs staring out.
Just noticed those holes after your comment... they do look strange...
Why are they there? Fueling perhaps?
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#773
by
envy887
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:30
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Just a few more pics.
Thank you for posting these!
Can you try to get a shot of the upper part of the engine, through the gap by the leg? It's visible but rather dark in one of your previous shots. Might need to overexpose the rest of the image to pull out details under the vehicle.
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#774
by
Johnnyhinbos
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:32
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Just a few more pics.
Dang, that gal is fast. I like the middle section angle. Looks like two eyeballs staring out.
Just noticed those holes after your comment... they do look strange...
Why are they there? Fueling perhaps?
RCS attachment points?
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#775
by
RotoSequence
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:38
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Just a few more pics.
Dang, that gal is fast. I like the middle section angle. Looks like two eyeballs staring out.
Just noticed those holes after your comment... they do look strange...
Why are they there? Fueling perhaps?
RCS attachment points?
Doesn't seem like a good spot for RCS.
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#776
by
brainbit
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:42
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#777
by
GORDAP
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:52
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F9US-MiniSS was because they had "free time" and needed something to do.
SSSS eliminated the "free time" and therefore eliminated F9US-MiniSS.
But they knew about BFH when they announced F9US.
It could be that switch to steel and active cooling happened at different times, they may have decided to switch to steel fairly early (around dearMoon announcement), and they have been planning the hopper since then. But the idea of using active cooling instead of TPS may have only happened in November, this late change eliminated the mini-BFS.
Except mini f9us is in order to test brakerons at very high approach speeds.. made sense even b4 metal...
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ABCD: Always Be Counting Down
But MeekGee, if SpaceX intended to make an F9 US with brakerons to test the BFS flight regime, the first word in Elon's reply would not have been '
No'. The
simplest explanation is that they did once intend to do the modified F9 US, but shortly thereafter changed their minds when they saw a way to accelerate BFS development (which appears tied to the switch to stainless steel and active cooling).
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#778
by
Johnnyhinbos
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:52
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Just a few more pics.
Dang, that gal is fast. I like the middle section angle. Looks like two eyeballs staring out.
Just noticed those holes after your comment... they do look strange...
Why are they there? Fueling perhaps?
RCS attachment points?
Doesn't seem like a good spot for RCS.
Guess this is why this section was placed on the jig - looks like they’re installing some “stuff” in this section.
Man this is so much fun!
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#779
by
AJW
on 01 Jan, 2019 16:59
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Just joined up the pics
'You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!'