SpaceX Falcon Heavy updates (Falcon Heavier?)

[Umfriend]

The landing of them rockets...Amazing how that worked out.

[Dr Mordrid]

The plan was just to test a 6 hour upper stage coast and reignition for USAF launches directly to geostationary orbits. That box checked, they burned the upper stage to prop depletion to see how much energy the beast had, estimating it'd go just past Mars. But FH over-performed, pushing Starman and the Roadster almost to Ceres. Gulp.

And this was with 2 Block 3 and 1 Block 4 cores running at 92%. Future FH's will use the much more capable, and more powerful, Block 5 cores running at 100%. Imagine, 3,500 kg missions to Pluto distances without the need for a gravity assist.

It's a friggin' monster, but Godzilla (BFR) is on the way too.

[VJ]

Yes, that simultaneous landing looked like it came from some science fiction movie.

Just a shame they did not foresee more power for the cameras on the Tesla... There could have been more amazing photos.

[Dr Mordrid]

The stage landings at KSC were a capability test, and the drone ship landing was also test; "how long a boostback (reversal of direction) can we do without losing the core?" Since it ran out of propellants and TEA-TEB igniter fluids very near the drone ship, they now have that data and can bake it into their mission planning software.

Their FCC telemetry permit didn't allow for a longer transmission than the upper stage battery life. If it were a spaceship, probe, long term satellite etc. the rules are different.

Starman listening to David Bowie in orbit (video on Twitter)

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/961000389100351488

Starman YouTube video. 10 million views and counting. Dozens of wallpaper screen grab opportunities.

[VJ]

Their FCC telemetry permit didn't allow for a longer transmission than the upper stage battery life. If it were a spaceship, probe, long term satellite etc. the rules are different.

Oh... yeah... Didn't think of that one...

[Dr Mordrid]

DEIMOS has spotted Starman and his Roadster

http://www.elecnor-deimos.com/deimos...starman-tesla/

[Umfriend]

But didn't the Tesla itself have a relatively large battery to power camera and transmitter?

[Dr Mordrid]

But didn't the Tesla itself have a relatively large battery to power camera and transmitter?

The Tesla car battery isn't vacuum rated, as in the cells would go boom, plus the motor & battery pack share a liquid cooling system and they had to get rid of all volatiles. They tapped into the upper stage, which had the long coast mission kit installed and that has a larger than normal battery.

Great recording of the booster stage landing sonic booms

[Jammrock]

Put on you headphones and check this video out. Pretty epic to hear the launch and landing sonic booms in clear binaural audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7uQ8OWiheM&t=865s

[Dr Mordrid]

Breath of the behemoth

And this was not at full throttle.

[Dr Mordrid]

Falcon Heavier?

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/963095860060934144

Scott Manley @DJSnM
Replying to @doug_ellison and 2 others
For full recovery to make sense over single stick expendable needs each booster to be reused multiple times. I'm also curious as to whether SpaceX would consider stretching Stage 2 if there was a market that made sense.

Elon Musk ✔ @elonmusk
Under consideration. We've already stretched the upper stage once. Easiest part of the rocket to change. Fairing 2, flying soon, also has a slightly larger diameter. Could make fairing much longer if need be & will if BFR takes longer than expected.
12:02 PM - Feb 12, 2018

[VJ]

Put on you headphones and check this video out. Pretty epic to hear the launch and landing sonic booms in clear binaural audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7uQ8OWiheM&t=865s

And here they explain why each booster generates 3 sonic booms:

“[The] first boom is from the aft end (engines),” said John Taylor, SpaceX’s Communications Director. “[The] second boom is from the landing legs at the widest point going up the side of the rocket. [The] third boom is from the fins near the forward end.”
Read more at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/or...bibEzKosB6V.99

[Dr Mordrid]

This will likely reduce to 2 sonic booms with the BFR Booster (BRB - Be Right Back) as it has no landing legs . It'll do a pinpoint landing into a "grabber" cradle fixture, which doubles as the launch mount. Precision alignment will be by both the cradle adjusting and positioning thrusters on BRB, with the fixture grabbing the engine bay and small alignment vanes attached to it.

The BFR Spaceship has landing legs, but they'll deploy from the engine bay after it's subsonic and there are no grid fins. Comes in horizontal like the Shuttle, then it does a swan dive and lands vertically. No cradle needed - at most a pad like LZ-1. On the Moon or Mars it'll do unprepared surfaces until pads are built.