Another successful SpaceX launch and landing

In article ,
says...

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 7:02:55 AM UTC-4, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article ,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote:

I believe I read that they announced which Dragon they will reuse, but
can't find the article again. It's one from fairly early in the
program, but I forget exactly which one. The info originally came from
the post launch news conference.

It is the one from the first successful barge landing.

That's the Falcon 9 first stage they're going to reuse. But, I also
read yesterday that SpaceX plans on re-flying a Dragon capsule on an ISS
resupply mission. This would mean that eventually reuse the only
hardware expended on such a mission are the Falcon 9 second stage and
the Dragon trunk. So, the expended parts would be the least expensive
parts of both the launch vehicle and the payload.

elon has publically stated he stated he wants to reuse the second stage too.

In the distant past.

Lately he has stated that working on 2nd stage reuse would distract from
everything else they're trying to do. He also said that with Falcon
Heavy, they'd have the performance margin to do this, if they wanted to.

Jeff
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In article , says...

On 7/19/2016 7:45 AM, bob haller wrote:
elon has publically stated he stated he wants to reuse the second stage too.

Yes, I have no doubt that he 'wants' to recover second stages, and I
remember that his first animated video showing his recovery concept
included recovering second stages.

But since then, reality has had time to assert itself. Recovering a
stage from near orbital velocity won't be easy! It would take lots of
extra fuel and/or major heat shielding, plus likely a separate recovery
barge or facility. All that effort and expense would go towards
recovery of hardware that is worth far less than a first stage booster.

So has SpaceX mentioned anything about second stage recovery in the last
year or two?

I don't think so.

Actually Elon did today, on Twitter. He said that Falcon Heavy has the
performance margin to allow for development of a reusable upper stage.
But, he said that would be a distraction from everything else they're
trying to do, so it won't happen (at least anytime soon).

Jeff
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These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.

"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

In article ,
says...

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 7:02:55 AM UTC-4, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article ,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote:

I believe I read that they announced which Dragon they will reuse,
but
can't find the article again. It's one from fairly early in the
program, but I forget exactly which one. The info originally came
from
the post launch news conference.

It is the one from the first successful barge landing.

That's the Falcon 9 first stage they're going to reuse. But, I also
read yesterday that SpaceX plans on re-flying a Dragon capsule on an
ISS
resupply mission. This would mean that eventually reuse the only
hardware expended on such a mission are the Falcon 9 second stage and
the Dragon trunk. So, the expended parts would be the least expensive
parts of both the launch vehicle and the payload.

elon has publically stated he stated he wants to reuse the second stage
too.

In the distant past.

Lately he has stated that working on 2nd stage reuse would distract from
everything else they're trying to do. He also said that with Falcon
Heavy, they'd have the performance margin to do this, if they wanted to.

Jeff

And this is honestly the right approach. I think Elon at times across all
his projects risks getting a bit too stretched thin.

I think perfecting 1st stage recovery and re-use is the right step.
Perfect that and you get huge gains. THEN he can worry about optimizing for
the 2nd stage.
Premature optimization has killed too many projects.

I agree with him on the current plan.

--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net

On Jul/19/2016 5:52 PM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote :
"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

In article ,
says...

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 7:02:55 AM UTC-4, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article ,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote:

I believe I read that they announced which Dragon they will
reuse, but
can't find the article again. It's one from fairly early in the
program, but I forget exactly which one. The info originally
came from
the post launch news conference.

It is the one from the first successful barge landing.

That's the Falcon 9 first stage they're going to reuse. But, I also
read yesterday that SpaceX plans on re-flying a Dragon capsule on
an ISS
resupply mission. This would mean that eventually reuse the only
hardware expended on such a mission are the Falcon 9 second stage and
the Dragon trunk. So, the expended parts would be the least expensive
parts of both the launch vehicle and the payload.

elon has publically stated he stated he wants to reuse the second
stage too.

In the distant past.

Lately he has stated that working on 2nd stage reuse would distract from
everything else they're trying to do. He also said that with Falcon
Heavy, they'd have the performance margin to do this, if they wanted to.

Jeff

And this is honestly the right approach. I think Elon at times across
all his projects risks getting a bit too stretched thin.

I think perfecting 1st stage recovery and re-use is the right step.
Perfect that and you get huge gains. THEN he can worry about optimizing
for the 2nd stage.
Premature optimization has killed too many projects.

I agree with him on the current plan.

Yes, planning the colonization of Mars is kind of bold enough. He
doesn't have to add on top of that.


Alain Fournier

i wonder if stages could be put in orbit, strapped together somehow, and used to boost very large cargo runs to mars?

the boosters would need refueled. but their cost would be very low

"bob haller" wrote in message
...

i wonder if stages could be put in orbit, strapped together somehow, and
used to boost very large cargo runs to mars?

the boosters would need refueled. but their cost would be very low

I'm going to say this is one of those way out ideas that almost certainly
wouldn't work.
For one thing, many would be ending up in different orbital planes and even
the ones in the same planes different orbits (which would decay over time).

Now, you do save some mass if you're launching just refueling tanks and no
engines (i.e. reuse the engines on the 2nd stages you're using).

That said... it could be interesting if you COULD make it work.



--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net

On 18/07/2016 8:58 PM, Jeff Findley wrote:
In the very early hours today (EDT), SpaceX successfully launched the
cargo Dragon transporting the IDA-2 to ISS. Also, the Falcon 9 first
stage successfully landed on LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
This bodes well for the first planned reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage
later this year.

At the SpaceX/NASA press conference, representatives from both SpaceX
and NASA said that they will reuse a Dragon capsule for the first time
on SpX-11 or SpX-12 (future ISS resupply missions). This is big. It
means that conventional thinking at NASA is starting to change, for the
better, towards accepting reuse of hardware.

I don't know about everyone else, but this is an order of magnitude more
exciting than talking about the architecture of a 50 year old computer
used on a flags and footprints mission to the moon. Throwing away many
millions (or in NASA's case a few billions) of dollars of hardware on
each and every flight is insanity. Yet, that is exactly what NASA plans
to do with SLS/Orion.

SpaceX is shifting the manned space hardware paradigm, and it's
happening right before our very eyes.

Jeff


I watched part of a video of the event. The constant premature cheering
annoyed me, so I switched off.

Sylvia.

In article ,
ess says...

On 18/07/2016 8:58 PM, Jeff Findley wrote:
In the very early hours today (EDT), SpaceX successfully launched the
cargo Dragon transporting the IDA-2 to ISS. Also, the Falcon 9 first
stage successfully landed on LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
This bodes well for the first planned reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage
later this year.

At the SpaceX/NASA press conference, representatives from both SpaceX
and NASA said that they will reuse a Dragon capsule for the first time
on SpX-11 or SpX-12 (future ISS resupply missions). This is big. It
means that conventional thinking at NASA is starting to change, for the
better, towards accepting reuse of hardware.

I don't know about everyone else, but this is an order of magnitude more
exciting than talking about the architecture of a 50 year old computer
used on a flags and footprints mission to the moon. Throwing away many
millions (or in NASA's case a few billions) of dollars of hardware on
each and every flight is insanity. Yet, that is exactly what NASA plans
to do with SLS/Orion.

SpaceX is shifting the manned space hardware paradigm, and it's
happening right before our very eyes.

I watched part of a video of the event. The constant premature cheering
annoyed me, so I switched off.

Then watch the SpaceX technical stream. It's "old school" and only has
the audio feed with phrases like "main engine cutoff". You clearly
picked the other stream, with the three commentators who (according to
what I heard) made a Pokemon Go joke at the end. Cute, but clearly not
your cup of tea.

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.

Jeff Findley wrote:
In article ,
ess says...
I watched part of a video of the event. The constant premature
cheering annoyed me, so I switched off.
Then watch the SpaceX technical stream. It's "old school" and only
has the audio feed with phrases like "main engine cutoff".

I'll second the suggestion to go with the "technical webcast."

rick jones
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these opinions are mine, all mine; HPE might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hpe.com but NOT BOTH...

William Mook wrote:


It is something I promoted at NASA's Huntsville office back in the 1990s ...


Oh, lord. More self-aggrandizing Mookery...


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"Ordinarily he is insane. But he has lucid moments when he is
only stupid."
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