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New Falcon 9 photos



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 3rd 09, 02:21 AM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Pat Flannery
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Posts: 18,465
Default New Falcon 9 photos

New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.

Pat
  #2  
Old January 3rd 09, 04:05 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Legato
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Posts: 15
Default New Falcon 9 photos


"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.


Will be interesting to see how soon they can fly it.


  #3  
Old January 3rd 09, 04:10 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Legato
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Posts: 15
Default New Falcon 9 photos


"Legato" wrote in message
...

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.


Will be interesting to see how soon they can fly it.


It's pretty shocking how big this thing really is. In the second picture
from the top there's a full size truck which gives you some indication of
the size. The payload fairing along must be something like 6m in length. You
can put a BIG satellite in there!


  #4  
Old January 3rd 09, 07:14 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Martha Adams
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Posts: 371
Default New Falcon 9 photos

"Legato" wrote in message
...

"Legato" wrote in message
...

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.


Will be interesting to see how soon they can fly it.


It's pretty shocking how big this thing really is. In the second
picture from the top there's a full size truck which gives you some
indication of the size. The payload fairing along must be something
like 6m in length. You can put a BIG satellite in there!


When I look at these images thru my past engineering experience, I see
what we lost when Washington killed Apollo. *Knowhow*. Most of the
theory here is easily accessible to math, physics, and engineering
students. All of the theory is necessary, however, it's of no use
without the knowhow to make it real. It's this knowhow that is the
longterm payoff we get from a company like SpaceX, and it comes the hard
way. As in the sloshing rocket fuel problem, or the too-quick second
stage ignition. (I suspect both of those led to small workforce
decrements at SpaceX shortly after they happened.) But over the long
run SpaceX is quickly becoming what we need to get out to space again.
(I hope!)

Titeotwawki -- mha [sci.space.policy 2009 Dec 03]


  #5  
Old January 3rd 09, 07:58 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Brian Thorn[_2_]
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Posts: 2,266
Default New Falcon 9 photos

On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:14:58 GMT, "Martha Adams"
wrote:

Titeotwawki -- mha [sci.space.policy 2009 Dec 03]


I see you're still in Checkuary (the period of a new month where you
still write the old one on letters and checks.) :-)

Brian
  #6  
Old January 3rd 09, 10:43 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
kT
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Posts: 5,032
Default New Falcon 9 photos

Martha Adams wrote:
"Legato" wrote in message
...

"Legato" wrote in message
...

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.


Will be interesting to see how soon they can fly it.


It's pretty shocking how big this thing really is. In the second
picture from the top there's a full size truck which gives you some
indication of the size. The payload fairing along must be something
like 6m in length. You can put a BIG satellite in there!


When I look at these images thru my past engineering experience, I see
what we lost when Washington killed Apollo. *Knowhow*. Most of the
theory here is easily accessible to math, physics, and engineering
students. All of the theory is necessary, however, it's of no use
without the knowhow to make it real. It's this knowhow that is the
longterm payoff we get from a company like SpaceX, and it comes the hard
way. As in the sloshing rocket fuel problem, or the too-quick second
stage ignition. (I suspect both of those led to small workforce
decrements at SpaceX shortly after they happened.) But over the long
run SpaceX is quickly becoming what we need to get out to space again.
(I hope!)


What I see is a fairly involved EELV type operation. Tanks are big.

Even five meter tanks are real big. I don't think we're ready for ten
meter tanks yet. I see a lot of work could be done with five and under.

Even small rockets like EELVs are great big complicated beasts.
That's why I like the reusability aspects of rocketry.
  #7  
Old January 4th 09, 01:09 AM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Martha Adams
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Posts: 371
Default New Falcon 9 photos

"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:14:58 GMT, "Martha Adams"
wrote:

Titeotwawki -- mha [sci.space.policy 2009 Dec 03]


I see you're still in Checkuary (the period of a new month where you
still write the old one on letters and checks.) :-)

Brian


Oops ...Yeah. -- mha




  #8  
Old January 4th 09, 05:34 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Legato
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 15
Default New Falcon 9 photos


"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
New shots of the whole assembled rocket at the Cape:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
Nice looking rocket; bears some resemblance to a Zenit booster.


NASA will be extremely pleased if this thing actually flies. It will give
them extra options to shorten the gap between the remaining Shuttle flights
and Ares becoming operational. No need to book Soyuz tickets (with all the
complicated politics involved) if Falcon 9 + Dragon can do the job.



  #9  
Old January 4th 09, 06:01 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Brian Thorn[_2_]
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Posts: 2,266
Default New Falcon 9 photos

On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 17:34:01 +0100, "Legato"
wrote:

NASA will be extremely pleased if this thing actually flies. It will give
them extra options to shorten the gap between the remaining Shuttle flights
and Ares becoming operational. No need to book Soyuz tickets (with all the
complicated politics involved) if Falcon 9 + Dragon can do the job.


You're putting a lot of faith in a company that blew through three
Falcon 1's before finally finding one that worked, and seemed to put
more effort into its hype machine than in its rocketry.

I wish SpaceX success, but I have grave doubts that they'll have much
anytime soon.

Brian
  #10  
Old January 4th 09, 06:22 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Rand Simberg[_1_]
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Posts: 8,311
Default New Falcon 9 photos

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:01:38 -0600, in a place far, far away, Brian
Thorn made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 17:34:01 +0100, "Legato"
wrote:

NASA will be extremely pleased if this thing actually flies. It will give
them extra options to shorten the gap between the remaining Shuttle flights
and Ares becoming operational. No need to book Soyuz tickets (with all the
complicated politics involved) if Falcon 9 + Dragon can do the job.


You're putting a lot of faith in a company that blew through three
Falcon 1's before finally finding one that worked, and seemed to put
more effort into its hype machine than in its rocketry.


I'm pretty sure that they've put much more effort into their rocketry
than their "hype machine." This statement is nonsensical. If it
really "seemed" that way to you, you weren't paying much attention to
their rocketry. How many rockets did early military and NASA "blow
through" before finding one that worked?

I wish SpaceX success, but I have grave doubts that they'll have much
anytime soon.


They have a Falcon 9 assembled at the launch site.
 




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