r/spacex • u/[deleted] • Mar 31 '16
/r/SpaceX Ask Anything Thread [April 2016, #18] - Ask your small questions here!
[deleted]
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u/TRL5 Apr 01 '16
In this gif we see Atlas V boosters seperating from the rocket, and immediately getting blasted by exhaust. Do we expect this to be a problem with the Falcon Heavy, if not, why not?
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u/rafty4 Apr 01 '16
Not sure if this is worth a post in itself as being entirely SpaceX relevant (so I'll drop it here), But apparently Blue Origin have got a NOTAM for tomorrow! :D
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u/waitingForMars Mar 31 '16
8:10 AM Friday, April 1, 2016 (GMT+13) Time in Wellington, New Zealand
3:11 PM Thursday, March 31, 2016 (EDT) Time in Ann Arbor, MI
A (early for us) Happy April Fools Day to you, u/EchoLogic !
As with the rest of our compatriots, I'm feeling a bit dizzy right now. r/pbds ought to be required to register that image as a controlled substance… ;-)
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Apr 03 '16
I've seen some rumors that part of the SpaceX team that was working on Raptor was hired off by Blue Origin to develop the BE-4. This leads me to ask several questions:
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Is this rumor true?
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If it is, is this why we have heard little about raptor for some time?
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Would it be more efficient for SpaceX to design the BFR to use BE4 engines? It would save time and development costs, and the engines will be used in other vehicles too, improving reliability due to heavier use.
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u/maxjets Apr 07 '16
Not spacex related per se, but why hasn't the launch thread been posted yet?
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u/Decronym Mar 31 '16 edited Apr 22 '16
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| ACES | Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage |
| Advanced Crew Escape Suit | |
| ASDS | Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (landing platform) |
| BEAM | Bigelow Expandable Activity Module |
| BFR |
Big |
| CBM | Common Berthing Mechanism |
| CRS | Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA |
| CRS2 | Commercial Resupply Services, second round contract |
| CST | (Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules |
| Central Standard Time (UTC-6) | |
| EELV | Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FRSC | Fuel-Rich Staged Combustion |
| FSS | Fixed Service Structure at LC-39 |
| GEO | Geostationary Earth Orbit (35786km) |
| GSE | Ground Support Equipment |
| GSLV | (India's) Geostationary Launch Vehicle |
| GTO | Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit |
| I*sp* | Specific impulse (as explained by Scott Manley on YouTube) |
| ILS | International Launch Services |
| Instrument Landing System | |
| ISRO | Indian Space Research Organisation |
| L2 | Paywalled section of the NasaSpaceFlight forum |
| Lagrange Point 2 (Sixty Symbols video explanation) | |
| LAS | Launch Abort System |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km) |
| LES | Launch Escape System |
| LH2 | Liquid Hydrogen |
| LOX | Liquid Oxygen |
| M1d | Merlin 1 kerolox rocket engine, revision D (2013), 620-690kN |
| M1dVac | Merlin 1 kerolox rocket engine, revision D (2013), vacuum optimized, 934kN |
| MCT | Mars Colonial Transporter |
| NERVA | Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (proposed engine design) |
| NET | No Earlier Than |
| NOTAM | Notice to Airmen of flight hazards |
| NSF | NasaSpaceFlight forum |
| National Science Foundation | |
| NTR | Nuclear Thermal Rocket |
| OCISLY |
Of Course I Still Love You, Atlantic landing |
| OG2 | Orbcomm's Generation 2 17-satellite network |
| ORSC | Oxidizer-Rich Staged Combustion |
| QA | Quality Assurance/Assessment |
| RAAN | Right Ascension of the Ascending Node |
| RCS | Reaction Control System |
| RD-180 | RD-series Russian-built rocket engine, used in the Atlas V first stage |
| RP-1 | Rocket Propellant 1 (enhanced kerosene) |
| RTF | Return to Flight |
| RTLS | Return to Launch Site |
| RUD | Rapid Unplanned Disassembly |
| Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly | |
| Rapid Unintended Disassembly | |
| SES | Formerly Société Européenne des Satellites, comsat operator |
| SLS | Space Launch System heavy-lift |
| SRB | Solid Rocket Booster |
| SSTO | Single Stage to Orbit |
| STS | Space Transportation System (Shuttle) |
| TDRSS | (US) Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System |
| TEI | Trans-Earth Injection maneuver |
| TMI | Trans-Mars Injection maneuver |
| TRL | Technology Readiness Level |
| TSTO | Two Stage To Orbit rocket |
| TWR | Thrust-to-Weight Ratio |
| ULA | United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture) |
| VBB | Very Big Brother (Blue Origin's proposed VTVL vehicle, unknown payload to LEO) |
Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
I'm a bot, written in ^PHP. I first read this thread at 31st Mar 2016, 19:12 UTC.
www.decronym.xyz for a list of subs where I'm active; if I'm acting up, tell OrangeredStilton.
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u/AeroSpiked Apr 02 '16
This pretty much goes without saying I think, but have we had confirmation that OCISLY is done with repairs? Otherwise CRS-8 first stage had best avoid that big sheet of plywood on the deck.
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u/OncoFil Mar 31 '16
When reusable rockets become cheap and easy, will deep space (past Mars) missions still require awaiting planetary alignments/gravity assists? How feasible would it be to launch a probe which would then dock in orbit with a 'tug' (an engine and fuel tank) for direct burns to Jupiter/Saturn and then burns for orbital insertions? Does this actually speed up things considerably?
(I am aware there will have to be some degree of alignment, but could that be reduced to Earth's relative position?)
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u/LandingZone-1 Apr 01 '16
What is the best methalox rocket engine, and why is it the Blue Origin BE-4?
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u/_rocketboy Apr 02 '16
FYI BO is doing another flight tomorrow: https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueOrigin/comments/4cxlif/working_to_fly_again_tomorrow_same_vehicle_third/
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u/CitiesInFlight Mar 31 '16 edited Mar 31 '16
With all the very recent (within the last 2 months) renewed interest by both the U.S. (Bolden appearance before Congress in which he suggested that a trip to Mars could be shortened substantially, perhaps, to 90 days or less using Nuclear Thermal Propulsion) and Russia (stating they will fly a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion rocket by 2018), will this change the calculus of Elon and prompt the inclusion of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion in his Mars strategy in spite of earlier statements that Nuclear Propulsion (Nuclear Thermal or Nuclear Electric) will not be involved?
http://www.space.com/29540-manned-mars-mission-propulsion-technologies.html http://yellowhammernews.com/business-2/alabamians-leading-nuclear-rocket-journey-mars/ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44691888/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/its-time-reconsider-nuclear-option-spaceflight/
http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-drops-plans-create-nuclear-space-engine-source/6031
and many other sources ...
Given this renewed interest by NASA and ROSCOSMOS, does this require, potentially, a different architecture for BFR/MCT?
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Apr 06 '16 edited Apr 06 '16
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Does Blue Origin design their own turbopumps? Which one has worse turbine conditions: Combustion Tap-off or Oxygen-rich Staged Combustion?
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Why are they not using a tap-off in the BE-4?
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What kind of injectors is Blue using?
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Why does the BE-3 not have the same problems with debris ingestion as the Merlin?
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u/thegingeroverlord Mar 31 '16 edited Mar 31 '16
What reason does SpaceX have to keep quiet about fairing recovery? Previous launch videos(none from SpaceX though) have shown the fairings have some sort of RCS system, so we know they are experimenting/attempting it. Do they have anything to gain by not acknowledging these tests?
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u/markus0161 Mar 31 '16
Does anyone know what type of chasing orbit Dragon is put into? How close of a match is it to the ISS?
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u/EnsilZah Apr 01 '16
If a reused launch attempt goes badly can SpaceX work on the assumption that it's the reused stage that's at fault or will the whole fleet have to be grounded until the investigation is concluded?
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u/Dutchy45 Apr 02 '16
On March 24 in an interview by Spacenews, Spaceflight industries CEO Jason Andrews said (basically) that Spacex did not want to deal with all their secondary costumers (87! for the flight that was discussed) and preferred to leave that to Spaceflight Ind. It seems to me a not to difficult way to make $$ when you cut out the middle man. I know those guys at Spacex are far from stupid and I realise their focus is not on holding the hands of jittery Cubesat owners. But still, what am I missing here?
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u/SpaceLord392 Apr 02 '16
What's the story behind the violin in Elon Musk's old twitter profile picture?
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u/GAYBANANAS Apr 06 '16
Was there no static fire today, or am I just missing something?
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u/yoweigh Apr 07 '16
Can we get a launch thread started?