SpaceX Falcon Heavy

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Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 2 мин. назад

Elon Musk again sets expectations low for maiden Falcon Heavy launch: "A real good chance that vehicle does not make it to orbit."

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 8 мин. назад

Elon: A lot could go wrong with 27 engines (Falcon Heavy). "It's guaranteed to be exciting." "Really difficult to test on the ground.



7 мин. назад

"A real good chance that vehicle won't make it to orbit. I would consider it a win (if it doesn't blow up on the pad".


5 мин. назад

There's a crazy about of stress going through the center booster on FH. "Really is way more difficult than we thought. We were naive."


4 мин. назад

"Whoever is on the first FH flight - brave. Really brave" - Elon.

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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 7 мин. назад

Musk notes Falcon Heavy can send a Dragon 2 around the Moon, but doesn't offer much of an update on proposed circumlunar trip. #ISSRDC

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Маск завершил выступление на конференции ISSRDC2017
 

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 6 мин. назад

Elon ISSRDC Summary: ISS is cool. More reuse advances. FH is super challenging. BFR's getting a little sister. Red Dragon is dead.

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FULL Elon Musk's Speech at ISS 2017 Conference 7/19/17

iGadgetPro

Опубликовано: 19 июл. 2017 г.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at ISS 2017 Conference on the future of Space Progress and Travels to Mars. Elon Musk's speech is related to SpaceX's collaboration with NASA and other organizations to create Falcon 9. This is the full version of Elon Musk's speech at ISS 2017 Conference on July 19, 2017.

(56:27)

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Falcon Heavy prepares for debut flight as Musk urges caution on expectations

[vlad7308]

tnt22 пишет:
Falcon Heavy prepares for debut flight as Musk urges caution on expectations

Очень интересно, спасибо

[Георгий]

а что за мини-ITS обещан?  пятифэлкон?

[Виктор Кондрашов]

Георгий пишет:
а что за мини-ITS обещан? пятифэлкон?

Нет, именно в форм-факторе "большого" ИТС.

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http://spaceflight101.com/spacex-cuts-plans-for-powered-dragon-landing/

SpaceX cuts Plans for Powered Dragon Landings, places Focus on Commercial Crew
July 20, 2017

SpaceX decided against the company's previous plan of having their next generation Dragon spacecraft return to Earth via a powered landing to bring back cargo and crews fr om the International Space Station, company chief Elon Musk said on Wednesday at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington.

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SpaceX Artwork of a Dragon Spacecraft touching down on Mars – Credit: SpaceX

Unveiling the design of SpaceX's Dragon 2 spacecraft in May 2014, Musk highlighted the craft's ability to make a pin-point landing atop a flat concrete pad using its powerful SuperDraco engines and four landing legs that would extend from the vehicle's protective heat shield. Initial Dragon 2 flights were planned to stick to the ocean-based splashdown landing technique used by the current generation of Dragon spacecraft, but SpaceX had hoped to inaugurate propulsive landings later in the program and use a similar landing technique for uncrewed Dragon spacecraft attempting a daring touchdown on the surface of Mars.


SuperDraco Engines to be used as Launch Escape Engines & Landing Thrusters – Photo: SpaceX

Elon Musk said on Wednesday that these plans would be abandoned, citing safety concerns & certification issues and questioning the usefulness of the landing scheme for SpaceX's Mars plans. Per the revised design, the four landing legs will be eliminated but Dragon 2 will retain the side-mounted SuperDracos that double as a launch escape system to boost the capsule away from a failing launch vehicle. The cargo version of the Dragon 2 will drop both, the SuperDracos and legs, as no propulsive launch abort capability is needed for cargo missions.

"It would have taken a tremendous amount of effort to qualify that for safety, particularly for crew transport," Musk said about the propulsive landing technique. "There was a time that I thought the Dragon approach, wh ere you've got a base heat shield and side-mounted thrusters, would be the right way to land on Mars. – Now, I'm pretty confident that is not the right way and there's a far better approach."


Dragon 2 Landing on ground-based pad – Image: SpaceX

Musk did not elaborate on the alternative approach, but his remarks seem to imply that SpaceX is abandoning plans of Red Dragon missions that would have seen a Dragon 2 vehicle launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket and land on Mars powered by the SuperDraco thrusters to deliver valuable data on retropropulsion in the tenuous Martian atmosphere and deploy an experiment suite to the surface to explore whether resources present at Mars could be effectively used for human settlement. NASA had expressed interest in the missions and offered technical assistance, communications and tracking support.

Plans for Red Dragon were made public last year for launch as early as 2018, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said earlier this year that the launch slipped to 2020. Although Musk did not directly address Red Dragon in his remarks, the elimination of Dragon's propulsive landing provisions, particularly the deployable legs, would rule out such missions.


SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System (Booster & Spaceship) – Credit: SpaceX


ITS Descending toward Mars – Image: SpaceX

Concerning SpaceX's Mars plans, Musk confirmed on Wednesday that the company had made significant revisions of their overall Mars architecture that was unveiled last year in a highly publicized presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico. This plan called for the development of a giant reusable Interplanetary Transport System consisting of a booster rocket, a tanker spacecraft, and a very large crew craft capable of ferrying several dozen passengers and cargo from Earth to the surface of Mars.

"It's evolved quite a bit since the last talk," Musk said of SpaceX's proposed Mars architecture. "The key thing that I've figured out is how to pay for this whole system to go to Mars. It's super expensive." To be financially viable, Musk said, the new system must be useful for Mars missions as well as activity in Earth orbit (i.e. through the deployment of commercial satellite constellations or servicing existing systems). This way, revenue would be generated by the craft's Earth-orbit services which in turn would finance the Mars effort.

"It's a little smaller, still big, but I think this one has got a shot at being real on the economic front," Musk said about SpaceX's upd ated Mars launch vehicle and spacecraft design. He said he might present more details at this year's International Astronautical Congress, held September 25-29 in Adelaide, Australia.

Musk said on Wednesday that primary focus is currently on the company's Dragon 2 spacecraft, progressing toward crewed missions by mid-2018 to begin services as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program to end reliance on Russia's Soyuz craft for the launch of ISS crew members.


Crew Dragon in Flight – Image: SpaceX

SpaceX holds a $2.6 billion contract awarded by NASA in 2014, covering final development work of the upgraded Dragon spacecraft and up to six crew rotation missions to ISS. Boeing holds a similar contract worth $4.2 billion and expects to complete the first crewed flight of their CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in the August 2018 time frame.

Both companies have fallen well behind the original plan of having Commercial Crew up and running by the end of this year. Musk noted much tougher NASA oversight for the crewed spacecraft than for the commercial cargo program. "As soon as people enter the picture, it's really a giant step up in making sure things go right," Musk said. "For sure, the oversight from NASA is much tougher. I thought it was tough for cargo, but it's really intense for crew."

One major precursor to crewed flights of the Dragon will be the debut of the Falcon 9 Block 5 version later this year – featuring another slight performance boost on its Merlin 1D engines as well as modifications enabling easy and quick re-use of the first stage for turnarounds of just 24 hours in between missions.

NASA requires seven flights of the Falcon 9 in a 'frozen design' to certify the vehicle for crew transportation. To date, SpaceX introduced new components and system modifications on a flight-to-flight basis in addition to Falcon 9 evolving through several larger design blocks.

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Falcon Heavy at a highly modified Launch Complex 39A – Image: SpaceX

Elon Musk also used Wednesday's interview for a preview of the upcoming debut of the Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX's heavy-lift vehicle comprising three cores firing in unison with a second stage sitting atop the central core. Managing expectations for the rocket's first flight, Musk said "there's a lot of risk associated with the Falcon Heavy. There's a real good chance that vehicle does not make it to orbit. I want to make sure and se t expectations accordingly."

Musk explained that development of the Falcon Heavy turned out to be much more complex 'than simply strapping three Falcon 9 cores together.' Challenges arise from harnessing the power of 27 Merlin 1D engines that have to light up in a carefully controlled sequence to avoid excessive thrust-induced forces that could rip the rocket apart while still sitting on the pad. Another design challenge was within the central core of the Falcon Heavy stack, needing a major re-work of its structural air frame compared to a single-core Falcon 9 because of the massively powerful boosters sending their thrust force along with engine-related vibrations into the central core.

The next major watch item for the first Falcon Heavy flight will be the rocket's aerodynamic behavior, especially around the point of Maximum Dynamic Pressure as structural loads and aerodynamics have proven difficult to model, according to Musk, requiring a real-world test flight to obtain firm data. The separation of the twin booster cores is also a major unknown for the inaugural mission as there had been earlier concerns that the lack of separation rockets on the outer cores may pose a risk of contact with the center core during separation.


Image: SpaceX

If that were not enough, SpaceX will employ a pair of previously flown boosters as the two outer cores for the maiden Falcon Heavy voyage and aims to return them to landing pads at Cape Canaveral while the central core will target SpaceX's Drone Ship after dispatching the second stage toward orbit.

Schedule plans call for Launch Complex 39A to enter around two months of outfitting for Falcon Heavy once the Cape's Space Launch Complex 40 can be re-activated after last year's Falcon 9 testing mishap, currently looking at late August/early September for a resumption of launch operations. This would place Falcon Heavy's earliest rollout into November which will be followed by a period of on-pad testing that may include several static fire tests before clearing the rocket for its highly-anticipated mission.

"I encourage people to come down to the Cape to see the first Falcon Heavy mission," Musk said. "It's guaranteed to be exciting."

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 7 мин. назад

Looks like all three Falcon Heavy boosters are having a meet and greet in the 39A HIF! More pics: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spacexgroup/permalink/10155651551926318/ ... #SpaceXerInFHShirt

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Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 5 мин. назад

NASA's Greg Williams: Installation of SpaceX's crew access arm and white room at pad 39A now planned for "late fall."

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/07/25/musk-sets-expectations-low-for-maiden-falcon-heavy-launch/

Musk sets expectations low for maiden Falcon Heavy launch
July 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

When SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket finally takes off for the first time, a debut now scheduled this fall, there's a good chance the commercial heavy-lifter will falter short of reaching orbit, company founder and chief designer Elon Musk said last week.

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Artist's illustration of the Falcon Heavy's two side-mounted boosters separating fr om the rocket's core stage a few minutes after liftoff. Credit: SpaceX

The oft-delayed test flight of SpaceX's largest rocket to date, and the most powerful present-day launcher, will take off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a storied seaside facility that served as the departure point for Apollo moon landing missions and most of the space shuttle's trips into orbit.

SpaceX has not released a target launch date for the Falcon Heavy's first flight, but the company expects it to be ready to take off before the end of December, around four years later than the rocket's originally planned debut.

The rocket's development proved more challenging than anticipated, Musk said July 19 at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington.

"I think Falcon Heavy is going to be a great vehicle," Musk said. "There's just so much that's really impossible to test on the ground, and we'll do our best. It actually ended up being way harder to do Falcon Heavy than we thought."

Made up of three modified rocket cores derived from SpaceX's current Falcon 9 rocket family, the Falcon Heavy will blast off with 27 Merlin 1D main engines, nine each on a central stage and two side-mounted boosters.

"At first it sounds real easy, you just stick two first stages on as strap-on boosters, but then everything changes," Musk said. "All the loads change, aerodynamics totally change. You've tripled the vibration and acoustics. You sort of break the qualification levels on so much of the hardware."

The two side boosters on the first flight are reused Falcon 9 rocket stages that flew on missions last year, but with aerodynamic nose cones. The core booster, which is also based on the Falcon 9 design, is a new build, fitted with mounting brackets, attachment mechanisms and structural enhancements to accommodate the extra stress of a Falcon Heavy launch.

"The amount of load you're putting through that center core is crazy because you've got two super-powerful boosters also shoving that center core, so we had to redesign the whole center core airframe," Musk said. "It's not like the Falcon 9 because it's got to take so much load. Then you've got separation systems."

The side boosters will jettison from the Falcon Heavy's core around two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, then return to land at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, wh ere SpaceX is upgrading its rocket landing zone for two simultaneous touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the center booster will continue firing a bit longer before switching off its nine Merlin engines and dropping back through the atmosphere for a landing on SpaceX's rocket recovery barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

An upper stage similar to the Falcon 9's will take over to drive into orbit. SpaceX has not disclosed the exact profile for the Falcon Heavy's inaugural flight, but it is expected to include multiple firings of the second stage's single Merlin engine to demonstrate in-space maneuvering required on future missions by the heavy-duty launcher.

The demonstration flight will not carry a customer payload.

"Falcon Heavy requires the simultaneous ignition of 27 orbit-class engines," Musk said. "There's a lot that can go wrong there.

"I encourage people to come down to the Cape to see the first Falcon Heavy mission," he added, hinting at the riskiness of the launch. "It's guaranteed to be exciting."

Before rolling the Falcon Heavy out to pad 39A, SpaceX will have tested each of the three boosters individually. But a hotfire test at pad 39A in the run-up to the maiden flight will be the first time all 27 engines will ignite in unison, building up to 5.1 million pounds of combined thrust.

SpaceX does not have a test stand at its Central Texas development site to support such a high-thrust firing.

"This is one of those things that's really difficult to test on the ground," Musk said. "We can fire the engines on the ground, and we can try to simulate the dynamics of having 27 instead of nine booster engines, and the airflow as it goes through transonic (as it exceeds the speed of sound). It's going to see heavy transonic buffet. How does it behave at Max-Q (maximum dynamic pressure)?

"There's a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, a real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit," Musk said, referring to the inaugural test launch. "I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly. I hope it makes it far enough beyond the pad so that it does not cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win, to be honest."

The Falcon Heavy will weigh more than 3.1 million pounds (1.4 million kilograms) fully loaded with kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants and stand more than 229 feet (70 meters) tall.

"The nice thing is when you fully optimize it, it's about two-and-a-half times the payload capability of a Falcon 9," Musk said. "It's well over 100,000 pounds to LEO (low Earth orbit) of payload capability, 50 tons. It can even get up a little higher than that if optimized."

If the demo mission gets off the ground successfully by the end of this year, two more Falcon Heavy flights are on the books in the first half of 2018, both from Florida.

SpaceX will shift its Florida launch operations to nearby pad 40 as soon as September to allow construction crews to finish readying pad 39A for the Falcon Heavy. The upgrades include beefing up the transporter-erector, which holds the rocket as it climbs on rails up the ramp leading from SpaceX's hangar to the pad 39A launch mount, then doubles as an umbilical tower during countdowns.

Crews this summer are repairing pad 40 after a SpaceX rocket exploded there last September, severely damaging the launch complex and forcing the company to shift all its Florida liftoffs to pad 39A.

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Последнее сообщение - обещают запустить "до конца декабря" ?

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Elon Musk‏Подлинная учетная запись @elonmusk 7 мин назад

Falcon Heavy maiden launch this November https://www.instagram.com/p/BXEkGKlgJDK/ 

[V.B.]

До сих пор была популярна шутка, что первый пуск FH всегда планируется через 6 месяцев от текущей даты. Теперь - всё, шутки кончились