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Title: Falcon Heavy launch: Space X has an almost perfect day
Source:
HotAir
URL Source: https://hotair.com/archives/2018/02 ... -space-x-just-showing-off-now/
Published: Feb 6, 2018
Author: John Sexton
Post Date: 2018-02-06 20:09:05 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 1922
Comments: 27
SpaceX has now successfully landed Falcon-family rockets 24 times — three on this mission alone. (The rocket family is named after another famously reusable spaceship, the fictional Millennium Falcon from “Star Wars,” Musk has said.) But perhaps the biggest draw of today’s launch was the Falcon Heavy’s unique payload: a Tesla Roadster riding atop the rocket’s second stage. Musk announced in December that the “midnight cherry red” convertible, which he owns, would be the first Falcon Heavy payload. Then, on Monday, he revealed another surprise: a spacesuit-clad mannequin called “Starman”(a reference to David Bowie’s song “Starman”) in the driver’s seat, with its right hand on the wheel and left arm resting on the door. So to sum up, Musk sent his car to mars with a “driver” named for a David Bowie song on a launch vehicle named after a Star Wars spaceship. Not a bad day if you’re a nerd who enjoys science and science fiction. The full Space X video is below, but if you only have a moment now, watch this because it’s incredible: — WESH 2 News (@WESH) February 6, 2018 Here’s what one of those boosters looked like up close after landing: A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Feb 6, 2018 at 3:23pm PST As mentioned above, it seems the day didn’t quite go perfectly. The Verge is reporting that the center core, which was supposed to land out at sea, did not make it. Still, Elon Musk is clearly having a very good day today and and who can blame him: — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018 Here’s the full Space X launch video: Poster Comment: The center core was lost trying to land on the barge. At least two of its 9 Merlin engines failed to ignite and it hit the water going 300mph. You’ve probably seen some clips of the Space X launch that took place today already but if not you really did miss something pretty spectacular. The launch was successful though it appears one of the three boosters did not land itself properly. Still, the image of the two boosters landing themselves simultaneously on adjacent landing pads seemed unreal. And then on top of that, there was the cargo for this test launch: Elon Musk’s own Tesla Roadster with “Spaceman” at the wheel (actually Space X’s own space suit design). From Space.com: Standing 23 stories tall, the Falcon Heavy rocket is SpaceX’s largest rocket yet and the most powerful booster since NASA’s mighty Saturn V moon rocket. Its first stage is powered by three core boosters based on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, with 27 engines (nine per booster) firing in unison to produce about 5 million lbs. of thrust (22,819 kilonewtons) at liftoff… And of course @SpaceX stuck the landing. #FalconHeavy https://t.co/Q9kGlU8BJL pic.twitter.com/3u0CP8wYhI Though the Falcon Heavy’s outer cores successfully landed after launch this afternoon, the middle core of SpaceX’s huge rocket missed the drone ship where it was supposed to land, a source tells The Verge. SpaceX hasn’t yet confirmed this publicly. View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O
. . . Currently over Australia 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/HAya3E6OEJ 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 16.
#8. To: Tooconservative (#0)
I thoght they used only three (of the nine) engines for landing, and that two of those three failed.
We might both be right. But let's have a bloody fight about it anyway.
Just sayin'. If you're right that it take nine engines to land an empty booster, then the problem is more dificult to solve than if they only need three and can use the other six as back-up.
I didn't say that at any point. I said that at least two Merlin engines failed. To maneuver properly, the engines under thrust need to be properly spaced. You also overlook the possibility that it is designed for only particular engines to be used for landing. On launches, I've read that they can lose an engine and still make orbit. But launch is very different than landing.
Well, no. You said, "At least two of its 9 Merlin engines failed to ignite ..." (meaning 7 did?) "To maneuver properly, the engines under thrust need to be properly spaced. You also overlook the possibility that it is designed for only particular engines to be used for landing." That's all true. But if only three engines are needed for landing, the engineers have some wiggle room to come up with a redundancy solution. If all nine are needed, the solution is more complex.
It doesn't mean that at all. But you go ahead and pretend that if it makes you feel good. My guess is that they would be 3 sets of 3 engines, equally spaced. We also don't know if certain engines are designated as the landing engines. Maybe only 3 engines are ever used in the Falcon 9 landings. I have read that they do most of the deceleration using a 3-engine burn, then cut back to just a single-engine at landing. This is called the "hover-slam" because it comes down pretty fast and reduces velocity to 0 just as it touches the ground.
The central core skipped the "hover" part.
#17. To: misterwhite, Hank Rearden (#16)
The central "core" engine is gimballed to allow steering, it seems. Not sure if any of the other 8 are gimballed. The core engine also juts lower than the other engines, supposedly to help it aerospike its output with the surrounding engines (more effective use of fuel). I've read that that center Falcon 9 engine is less throttled than the other engines because it is used the most and the other 8 throttle up and down during flight. They refer to the Falcon as an 8+1 engine configuration because of this.
Looking further, I found better answers at Slashdot where they discussed this. These are individual nested comments, each replying to the previous.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestAt least two of its 9 Merlin engines failed to ignite and it hit the water going 300mph.
#9. To: misterwhite (#8)
I thoght they used only three (of the nine) engines for landing, and that two of those three failed.
#10. To: Tooconservative (#9)
But let's have a bloody fight about it anyway.
#11. To: misterwhite (#10)
If you're right that it take nine engines to land an empty booster,
#12. To: Tooconservative (#11)
I said that at least two Merlin engines failed.
#13. To: misterwhite (#12)
Well, no. You said, "At least two of its 9 Merlin engines failed to ignite ..." (meaning 7 did?)
That's all true. But if only three engines are needed for landing, the engineers have some wiggle room to come up with a redundancy solution. If all nine are needed, the solution is more complex.
#16. To: Tooconservative (#13)
This is called the "hover-slam" because it comes down pretty fast and reduces velocity to 0 just as it touches the ground.
Replies to Comment # 16.
#18. To: misterwhite (#16)
Maybe this is as good an explanation as we'll get. They've produced 3 versions of these Merlin engines so it's sometimes hard to find info that is accurate about the current Merlin engines used on the Heavy.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 16.
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