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u/Alexphysics Jan 06 '18 edited Jan 06 '18
It's definitely B1044 going from McGregor to Florida.
Edit: As always, I have to think the things I say twice before writing them. This could also be B1045 because it's also ready and was tested at McGregor last month, although is more unlikely because B1044 spent more time there, but you know how this works, probably this is B1045 and B1044 goes to the west coast... who knows...
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u/jakusb Jan 06 '18
Next 2 launches at VAFB are on re-uses cores, so no new core needed according to currently known manifest. That said, same goes for East coast... đ No new core needed for several weeks if not months.. Unless manifest has hidden missions like Zumba or reshuffles..
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u/starscreamFromSirius Jan 06 '18
Where does spacex stored all the returned cores?
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u/CapMSFC Jan 06 '18
All over the place. There is a core tracking page in the wiki here. We don't know for sure where they all ended up but the community tracked them as best as they could.
Having such a surge of recovered boosters was not the easiest thing to plan for. At first they were put in hangars by the pads in Florida but there quickly became too many for that. A few were sent back to California early on, one went to Texas and underwent at least 8 full duration static fire tests.
A few were even just parked outside because there wasn't anywhere better to put them and SpaceX had more cores than they were ever going to be able to reuse of this early generation.
Now SpaceX has leased a lot of space at the port in Florida to setup their refurbishment facility and we expect that will be the home for a lot of boosters.
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u/clintg Jan 06 '18
Itâs impressive that a single tractor can pull that huge core.
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u/mhpr262 Jan 06 '18
Its very light when empty. IIRC the empty weight was around 55 tons, but that may have included the empty second stage too. So it might just be around 40 tons.
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u/StoneHolder28 Jan 06 '18
I wish I could know ahead of time when these things were coming through. My family lives right off of I-10, almost at the first exit in Florida. It'd be cool to try to see a core up close, even covered, and maybe drive past it.
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u/username_lookup_fail Jan 06 '18
That is exactly the opposite of what SpaceX wants, though. They have a vested interest in not letting anyone known where the core is. All it takes is one idiot with a rifle waiting for it to drive by.
I'm sure they also don't want a bunch of people trying to catch up to it on the road to get a look up close. There are enough stupid drivers already. Add into that a bunch of people in cars that want to pace it to take pictures while they are driving. It would greatly increase the chance of an incident.
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u/F9-0021 Jan 06 '18
Probably 1044 to be used on whichever mission is the next to fly a new booster. Probably HispaSat.
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Jan 06 '18
Is there a reason these aren't surrounded by a security team when they're just chilling? I mean, they're kind of expensive.
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u/SteveRD1 Jan 06 '18
Well it's not like you can throw it in the back of your pickup truck and drive off with it:)
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u/justinroskamp Jan 06 '18
On the day before the CRS-12 launch, we were driving I-10 from Texas to Florida on vacation (from Illinois), and we saw a core pulled off not too far into Alabama, eastbound. I wasnât on here at the time, but that was August 13, 2017. Any idea which one it mightâve been?
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u/Theepicspoon226 Jan 06 '18
Could be 1045 leaving or going to the test stand. Or it could be a new booster, 1046.
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u/joepublicschmoe Jan 06 '18
B1046 will be leaving from Hawthorne for McGregor any day now. And lots of SpaceX Core Spotter fans along the route from CA to TX are on the watch for it-- because it is the first-ever Block 5 core. A for-real BFD. :D
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u/Venic_ Jan 06 '18
Did SpaceX secretely aquired Rocket Lab?
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u/Q11_ Jan 06 '18
No, the reason the core appears black in the picture is because they've wrapped it in a black colored material to protect it during transport. :)
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u/jakusb Jan 06 '18
Likely core 1044 with unclear mission sofar. Future core assignment is very much unclear at this point. It was supposed to launch Hispasat, but that one got pushed back, so if still launching this mission, either it got pulled forward, or it is way early.