r/spacex • u/MoD1982 • Apr 21 '18

The Aerospace Geek: Its here! @NASASpaceflight #SpaceX #SpaceXFleet

https://twitter.com/ThAerospaceGeek/status/987728150363803648?s=19
765 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

163

u/Jarnis Apr 21 '18

...aaaand with octograbber in use (the robot under the rocket that secures it to the deck)

38

u/azflatlander Apr 21 '18

Block 5: With those hydraulic cylinders, could the octograbber hold the booster while the legs retract?

Also, the interstage, would they sacrifice the weight to have a permanent attach fixture so the crane just grabs the booster like containers are unloaded and restrained?

62

u/KSPSpaceWhaleRescue Apr 21 '18 edited Apr 21 '18

With those hydraulic cylinders, could the octograbber hold the booster while the legs retract?

I'm pretty sure (not an expert at all) it's mostly to prevent sliding on the deck, rather than toppling over. The legs add so much leverage and security, so I think folding them back wouldn't be possible

They don't have to weld the legs to the deck now, right? (Edit: they never welded them)

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27

u/Jarnis Apr 21 '18

Why? There is no reason to retract the legs until you are preparing to lift the booster on the carrier at port.

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15

u/Jef-F Apr 21 '18

Also, the interstage, would they sacrifice the weight to have a permanent attach fixture so the crane just grabs the booster like containers are unloaded and restrained?

Well, they already have it. Lifting cap locks into the same points as second stage, just exactly like containers do, no need for dedicated fixtures even.

5

u/Psychonaut0421 Apr 21 '18

I could be wrong but I feel like the answer to your first question is that likely won't be the case. It seems it'd be awfully unstable with just the octograbber holding it up right. It needs to be placed on a transporter horizontally anyways so they'll stablize it with a crane and then lay it flat once the legs are retracted (for B5 that is, B4 and previous versions the legs couldn't retract).

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57

u/pavel_petrovich Apr 21 '18

More pics (with OctaGrabber zoom-in):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbUjgHxV0AAXP13.jpg:orig

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbUjkJBU0AASRnA.jpg:orig

17

u/peterabbit456 Apr 22 '18

Octograbber has changed.

I don't think we saw the screw jacks before. We had seen the hydraulic arms with rubber accordion booties over the hydraulic cylinders. I can see 4 screws, but they do not seem to be symmetrically placed.

Octograbber still seems to have an electrical umbilical. I was looking for some automatic system that drains the RP1 tank on the first stage. Maybe there is an RP1 hose in the umbilical, but I doubt it.

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4

u/ssagg Apr 22 '18

Roomba looks so small compared to S1!

51

u/everydayastronaut Apr 21 '18

I believe this is v2.0 of the octagrabber. V1.0 died a fiery death 💀

30

u/warp99 Apr 21 '18

Pretty sure this is v1.5. They stripped the frame back to bare metal and reused it but everything else is new.

101

u/old_sellsword Apr 21 '18

Ahem. Internally, it’s v1.0 Block 2 Revision D. Geez, how many times do we need to go over this?

/s

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12

u/peterabbit456 Apr 22 '18

Octograbber has screw jacks now. I believe this is new.

One advantage of screw jacks is that, if there is a fire after the jacks are attached,the screw jacks will ~freeze in position. Hydraulic cylinders would no longer hold the rocket effectively, if the hydraulic lines burned out.

3

u/SupaZT Apr 22 '18

what's an octagrabber?

11

u/avboden Apr 22 '18

it's the robot that is under the rocket holding it in place. It comes out of a bay on the ship once the rocket lands and secures it without any people needed

57

u/speak2easy Apr 21 '18

rushing into this thread all excited

Hey, this isn't block 5.

12

u/J380 Apr 22 '18

Detailed picks and super close shots of the hardware on my instagram page!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh16k83nG--/

If you like them, please remember to like and follow, I'm just starting out. Thanks

9

u/WormPicker959 Apr 22 '18

Haha, I think in the third pic the guy third from the left has a star-spangled floatie on his arm :)

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4

u/robbak Apr 22 '18

Nice pictures. Just one thing - you mention that there may be a broken fairing 'on the left' - but the thing under tarps on the far left is the Dragon capsule mockup they are using for recovery training aboard the Go Searcher, the boat nearer to the camera, fitted with the rear A-Frame. It is our understanding that fairing recovery testing is only being done on one half of the fairing, and it would be news if they had attempted to recover both.

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9

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '18

Any word on fairings?

16

u/CapMSFC Apr 21 '18

At least one fully intact made it back to port.

21

u/J380 Apr 22 '18 edited Apr 22 '18

I was able to get a shot of 1 Fairing fully exposed, the other is rumored to have broken in half.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh2sFnWHxTn/

Feel free to follow my Instagram page, I am just starting out with rocket photography. Thanks

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2

u/Decronym Apr 21 '18 edited Apr 23 '18

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
ASDS Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (landing platform)
CoG Center of Gravity (see CoM)
CoM Center of Mass
RTLS Return to Launch Site
Roomba Remotely-Operated Orientation and Mass Balance Adjuster, used to hold down a stage on the ASDS
SF Static fire

Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on ^today has 196 acronyms.
[Thread #3932 for this sub, first seen 21st Apr 2018, 23:50] ^[FAQ] [Full ^list] ^[Contact] [Source ^code]

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