Flawless Falcon Flight (SpaceX)

[1oldman2]

Main Question or Discussion Point

http://spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-jcsat-14-launch-success/
Good show!

 

[1oldman2]

 

[1oldman2]

Apparently not quite "flawless". but they did get it on the barge.

http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/blazing-spacex-rocket-suffered-max-damage-160518.htm

 

[mheslep]

Apparently not quite "flawless". but they did get it on the barge.

http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/blazing-spacex-rocket-suffered-max-damage-160518.htm

That sounds as if they've still not cracked booster reuse of the higher delta-v missions: too much heating or too little return fuel available.

 

[1oldman2]

That sounds as if they've still not cracked booster reuse of the higher delta-v missions: too much heating or too little return fuel available.

This flight profile apparently heat was the issue, about four or more times the normal load.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/spacex-falcon-9-first-stage-booster-suffered-max-damage-on-landing/207178195

 

[mheslep]

This flight profile apparently heat was the issue, about four or more times the normal load.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/spacex-falcon-9-first-stage-booster-suffered-max-damage-on-landing/207178195

Yes, as I said this flight had a more challenging orbit requiring more velocity. That class of satellites appear beyond reach of reusable boosters with the current SpaceX booster design or configuration.

 

[mheslep]

I see the video indicates the booster for raising geosynchronous mission hits the atmosphere twice as fast as a LEO mission, thus the booster has four times the energy, generating eight times the heat.

 

[1oldman2]

Here we go again.

http://spaceflight101.com/spacex-falcon-9-thaicom-8-preview/

 

[mheslep]

Seems as if SpaceX should already know the max temperature encountered on return by the booster for this mission profile, and should thus be able predict booster reuseability, whether or not the booster lands succesfully. How many crispy boosters will they expensively retrieve only to be stored in a warehouse as opposed to the bottom of thee Atlantic?

 

[1oldman2]

I expect a work around attempt very soon, they have a good learning curve.

 

[1oldman2]

http://www.spacex.com/webcast

 

[1oldman2]

Curious about the condition of this booster, nice landing though.

 

[rootone]

Good job.
Looks like the barge has to be designed to dissipate a lot of sudden heating and gas presure.

 

[1oldman2]

Good job.
Looks like the barge has to be designed to dissipate a lot of sudden heating and gas presure.

And likely a rocket crash from time to time.

 

[1oldman2]

About 21 minutes into video is lift off, a nice flight.
The video link I posted earlier in this thread was from an earlier landing, sorry about that. This landing occurs at about 29 minutes into the tech broadcast.

 

[1oldman2]

This is an engineering aspect I wasn't aware of.
"Touchdown was somewhat harder than previous landings, causing the ‘Contingency Crush Core’
to come into play to cushion the impact, a device Elon Musk describes as an “aluminum honeycomb for
energy absorption in the telescoping actuator.” This is a replaceable part giving Falcon 9 the ability to survive
corner-case landings at higher speeds. What implications the Crush Core actually crushing has on recovery operations
is unknown". (From- http://spaceflight101.com/thaicom-8-space-x-launch-success/ )
My favorite segment of the video was the view from the core booster at roughly 26-28 minutes, The video of that view ends with what appears to be a camera meltdown.

 

[CWatters]

As I recall a similar honeycomb was used in the legs of the Apollo moon landers. I suspect it's just a matter of changing the shock absorber bit like you can do on a car.

 

[1oldman2]

As I recall a similar honeycomb was used in thesuspension legs of the Apollo moon landers. I suspect it's just a matter of changing the shock absorber bit like you can do on a car.

Sure enough, there it is. In all the Apollo landings I have watched I had never considered the LM's suspension, thanks for pointing this out.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/LM_Landing Gear1973010151.pdf

 

[1oldman2]

http://spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-25-asds-return/
Worth reading through.

 

[CWatters]

Interesting, thanks.