SpaceX

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SpaceX отправит на МКС гарпун для сборки мусора. Это первая попытка очистить околоземную орбиту от осколков12:58



Гарпун для сборки мусора. Фото: surrey.ac.u
Ракета-носитель Falcon 9, построенная корпорацией SpaceX, вечером 2 апреля совершит очередной полет на МКС и доставит на станцию полезные грузы. Среди них будет тестовый прототип устройства, которое будет собирать мусор в космическом пространстве. Об этом пишет BBC News.

Спойлер

Миссия RemoveDebris

Устройство, которое будет доставлено на орбиту, представляет собой гарпун и сеть. Гарпун имеет около метра в длину и специальным тросом крепится к мусорному контейнеру. С помощью лидара устройство определяет координаты мусора, после чего выстреливает в него гарпуном; попав в кусок мусора он раскрывается аналогично наконечнику стрелы. После этого гарпун на тросе подтягивается к контейнеру и оставляет там мусор. Позже он доставляется к границе атмосферы и выбрасывается – после этого мусор сгорает в плотных слоях атмосферы.


Аналогичным образом действует сеть – основное различие в том, что сетью устройство будет ловить более мелкие и многочисленные объекты, для которых нецелесообразно использовать гарпун.





Первый тестовый запуск устройства будет осуществлен в мае. Если его испытания пройдут успешно, то через несколько месяцев на орбиту будет отправлена его полноразмерная версия.


Над проектом, который получил название RemoveDebris, уже несколько лет работают сразу несколько компаний из целого ряда европейских стран, в том числе такие крупные как Airbus, финансируется проект в том числе из бюджета Евросоюза.

Проблема мусораО том, что космический мусор становится реальной проблемой для спутников и космических кораблей, специалисты говорят уже несколько лет. Сейчас на орбите Земли находятся более 20 тысяч крупных объектов размерами более 10 сантиметров и миллионы более мелких. В основном это остатки спутников, у которых вышел срок службы, или отработанных ступеней ракет. С течением времени они сталкиваются между собой и разрушаются на более мелкие части, из-за чего количество мусора постоянно увеличивается.

Космический мусор представляет собой большую опасность для действующих спутников и кораблей из-за крайне высоких скоростей в космосе (от 10 километров в секунду) – даже незначительный его кусочек может нанести крайне большой ущерб. Экипаж МКС ежегодно вынужден совершать несколько десятков маневров с целью уклонения от летящего на станцию мусора.

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[Apollo13]

Свежие фото из Макгрегора. Первой ступени на стенде нет.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/8a20cf/photos_of_mcgregor_from_april_3rd_oc/

https://imgur.com/a/UF76X#5Pj93h4

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Brendan Byrne‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceBrendan 5 ч. назад

#SpaceX looking at Gulf of Mexico for #Dragon landing & recovery, per FAA draft environmental assessment.


4 ч. назад

Per draft, FAA would issue up to six reentry licenses for a Dragon splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

P.S. Документ лежит тут - 12.9 MB, 110 стр,  2018-03-28 13:36:21 UTC

[tnt22]

90.7 WMFE‏ @wmfeorlando 21 ч. назад

SpaceX Seeks Second Splashdown Zone In Gulf http://www.wmfe.org/spacex-seeks-second-splashdown-zone-in-gulf/85440 ...

[tnt22]

View this post on Instagram

elonmusk Подтвержденный

[/li]
• elonmusk SpaceX main body tool for the BFR interplanetary spaceship
  

[zandr]

http://www.yugopolis.ru/news/mnogoletnyuyu-translyaciyu-spacex-zapuska-raket-v-kosmos-priznali-nezakonnoj-111093

Многолетнюю трансляцию SpaceX запуска ракет в космос признали незаконной
Власти США только сейчас поняли, что трансляции запусков были незаконными. Число трансляций космических стартов может сильно сократиться: по закону 1992 года, компании Илона Маска нужна лицензия.
6 февраля SpaceX Илона Маска запустила в космос сверхтяжелую ракету-носитель Falcon Heavy с электромобилем Tesla на борту. Трансляция старта набрала 2,3 млн просмотров и стала одной из самых популярных в истории YouTube. Но лишь в начале апреля Национальное управление океанических и атмосферных исследований США (NOAA) заявило, что фотографии и видео SpaceX с орбиты не имели лицензии.
Это обнаружилось, когда была прервана трансляция запуска Falcon 9: 30 марта SpaceX успешно запустила ракету Falcon 9 с 10 телекоммуникационными спутниками. Трансляция старта велась на сайте и в соцсетях компании, но под конец видео прервалось без объяснения причин.

Спойлер

Спустя несколько минут инженер Майкл Хаммерсли заявил, что проблемы вызваны ограничениями Национального управления океанических и атмосферных исследований.
Как отметило издание Ars Technica, по-видимому, в управлении приняли камеры на второй ступени ракеты за системы дистанционного зондирования, для использования которых необходима государственная лицензия. «Мне кажется, что это ошибка», — заявил представитель NOAA сразу после запуска Falcon 9.
Национальное управление океанических и атмосферных исследований США регулирует запуск спутников и ракет, чтобы граждане не могли создать устройство для слежки и шпионажа. Для обычных ракетоносителей разрешение не нужно, потому что они не ведут стримы с орбиты, а показывают только сам старт. В ведомстве захотели, чтобы SpaceX отчитывалась обо всех фотографиях и роликах, сделанных не для правительственных проектов.
Представитель NOAA подтвердил, что управление только сейчас обратило внимание на популярные трансляции SpaceX, которые идут последние 8 лет.
NOAA лишь недавно стало известно о том, что частные компании ведут трансляции с орбиты для широкой общественности. Теперь ведомство обязано следить за соблюдением законов и работать с компаниями, чтобы гарантировать наличие необходимой лицензии.
Таким образом, 30 марта представители NOAA заявили журналистам, что не знали о каких-либо ограничениях для компании Маска, а уже 1 апреля NOAA изменило свое мнение и потребовало от SpaceX получить лицензию на стримы. Но 4 апреля представитель NOAA снова изменил мнение и отметил, что компания Маска «сама пришла» к ним, а не управление потребовало лицензии, — пишет TJ.
Лицензия для трансляций появилась в законе США в 1992 году. Согласно нормам, компанию уведомляют за 120 дней, чтобы она успела оформить все документы. Неизвестно, посылала ли NOAA уведомление SpaceX и, если да, почему конфликт дошел до прерывания прямого эфира.
Как предположил Quartz, Национальное управление океанических и атмосферных исследований узнало о частных трансляциях из космоса благодаря невероятно популярному запуску Tesla в космос. Представитель SpaceX пояснил, что стримы нужны не только для развлечения, но и для отслеживания положения ракет и ступеней при запуске. По его словам, компания стремится наладить контакт с NOAA и решить проблему.

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[triage]

Таким образом, 30 марта представители NOAA заявили журналистам, что не знали о каких-либо ограничениях для компании Маска, а уже 1 апреля NOAA изменило свое мнение и потребовало от SpaceX получить лицензию на стримы. Но 4 апреля представитель NOAA снова изменил мнение и отметил, что компания Маска «сама пришла» к ним, а не управление потребовало лицензии, — пишет TJ .
Лицензия для трансляций появилась в законе США в 1992 году. Согласно нормам, компанию уведомляют за 120 дней, чтобы она успела оформить все документы. Неизвестно, посылала ли NOAA уведомление SpaceX и, если да, почему конфликт дошел до прерывания прямого эфира.
Как предположил Quartz, Национальное управление океанических и атмосферных исследований узнало о частных трансляциях из космоса благодаря невероятно популярному запуску Tesla в космос. Представитель SpaceX пояснил, что стримы нужны не только для развлечения, но и для отслеживания положения ракет и ступеней при запуске. По его словам, компания стремится наладить контакт с NOAA и решить проблему.

Все в кучу в одном тексте притом противоречие местами

Ранее

 http://spacenews.com/noaa-explains-restriction-on-spacex-launch-webcast/
by Jeff Foust — April 3, 2018
...
"The SpaceX application was received by our office four days before launch," said Tahara Dawkins, director of CRSRA, at an April 3 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing here. She noted that, under law, the office has up to 120 days to make a ruling on a license application
...
NOAA was not aware of the previous launches that featured onboard cameras. "Our office is extremely small, and there's a lot of things out there that we miss," she said. "The onus is on the companies to come to us and get a license when needed."

Dawkins also said that SpaceX approached NOAA regarding a remote sensing license for the launch, and not the other way around. "It was SpaceX that came to us," she said. "It wasn't NOAA that went out to them and said, 'Hey, stop, you're going to need a license.'"
...

In a statement later March 30, NOAA invoked federal law that requires any commercial remote sensing system capable of taking images of the Earth from orbit be licensed by the agency. "Now that launch companies are putting video cameras on stage 2 rockets that reach an on-orbit status, all such launches will be held to the requirements of the law and its conditions," NOAA stated. At the time of the cutoff on the March 30 launch, the second stage had nearly reached orbit.

а для других, которые бывает взлетают высоко-высоко значит не надо

While the spacecraft is performing a mission under contract to NASA, the launch itself was considered commercial and licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

вот как интересно FAA контролирует в других запусках того же Маска версию "чтобы граждане не могли создать устройство для слежки и шпионажа"

Part of the licensing review for commercial remote sensing systems involves a check of any national security implications of that system

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 2 ч. назад


FEATURE ARTICLE: SpaceX makes progress toward Commercial Crew debut -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/04/spacex-progress-commercial-crew-debut/ ...

- by Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF)

(Nathan Koga (@kogavfx) render for NSF)

[tnt22]

Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 14 мин. назад

SpaceX will pay $1,381,411 a year for land on Terminal Island in San Pedro to construct BFR. The deal was announced today and will be formally approved during a Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting on Thursday. Full lease agreement: https://www.portoflosangeles.org/Board/2018/April%202018/4_19_18_Regular_Agenda_Item_3_Transmittal_1.pdf ...


11 мин. назад

Discussions between SpaceX and the Port of LA began in 2015. At that time there were other potential locations for BFR construction.

[tnt22]

Megan Barnes‏Подлинная учетная запись @meg_barnes 2 ч. назад

Here's a statement about today's BFR news from SpaceX President and COO @GwynneShotwell

[triage]

Опять Маск намусорил

Ferme de Quéménès - Île d'Iroise‏ @Quemenes_Iroise 12 апр.



Ferme de Quéménès - Île d'Iroise‏ @Quemenes_Iroise 13 апр.
Hi @elonmusk Look at what we found fr om @SpaceX on the foreshore of #Quemenes, the island wh ere we livre in Brittany (France)! What is it ? By the way will you send an electric tractor in space ? We need one ! #space #rocket #riddle #sea

Язык твита: английский

Ferme de Quéménès - Île d'Iroise‏ @Quemenes_Iroise 15 апр.
Qui est-ce qui se la coulait douce ce soir au soleil au bord de #Quemenes alors que la mer descendait ?! Notre trouvaille @SpaceX ! Le bout avec lequel nous l'avions accrochée nous a permis de la ramener en 4 jours au bord sans trop d'efforts. Merci les marées ! 1/2

Язык твита: французский

Ferme de Quéménès - Île d'Iroise‏ @Quemenes_Iroise 15 апр.
La rencontre avec Jojo s'est tellement bien passée qu'il n'a plus voulu la lâcher jusqu'à la maison... 2/2 #nettoyonslamer #space #rocket #finistere #bretagne #brestterresoceanes #toutestbienquifinitbien #nofilter #spacex

Язык твита: французский

Намекают что от Дракона

 https://twitter.com/Quemenes_Iroise/status/984775154369785857
В ответ @Quemenes_Iroise @RatZillaS и еще 2

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/21/spacex-to-build-bfr-factory-in-southern-california/

SpaceX to build BFR factory in Southern California
April 21, 2018 | Stephen Clark


Artist's concept of SpaceX's planned spaceship on the moon. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX plans to build its massive BFR rocket boosters and spaceships inside a cavernous new factory at the Port of Los Angeles, officials announced this week.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed Monday during a State of the City address that SpaceX will produce its Big Falcon Rocket at a site at the Port of Los Angeles.

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"This vehicle holds the promise of taking humanity deeper into the cosmos than ever before," Garcetti added on Twitter.

SpaceX and port officials have discussed the aerospace company's use of a 19-acre waterfront parcel at the harbor since 2015, and the parties wrapped up lease negotiations last month. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday approved the agreement with SpaceX.

SpaceX's huge new rocket will tower nearly 350 feet (106 meters) tall and span 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter, according to information presented by company founder Elon Musk last year.

The reusable vehicle will come in two pieces.

A booster stage, powered by 31 methane-fueled Raptor engines will produce nearly 12 million pounds of thrust and be capable of returning to Earth for propulsive vertical landings like SpaceX's existing Falcon rockets. An upper stage that doubles as an interplanetary transporter will carry people, supplies, satellites, and huge propellant tanks that can be refilled in space.

Bruce McHugh, SpaceX's director of construction and real estate, told the Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday that the 19-acre site at Berth 240 "is the perfect spot to build our big rocket."

SpaceX examined potential factory locations in Southern California, Florida, Louisiana and Texas before settling on the Port of Los Angeles location, according to Michael DiBernardo, the port's deputy executive director of marketing and customer relations.


Artist's illustration of the BFR in flight. Credit: SpaceX

McHugh said SpaceX needed a location with access to the water because the BFR is too big to transport on trucks, as the company currently moves its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters. A barge will pick up the BFR booster and upper stage, also known as the Big Falcon Spaceship, and transport them to their test sites and launch pad.

The huge vehicle's design is still in the early stages, and SpaceX revamped the design of its mega-launcher over 2016 and 2017, ending up with a smaller rocket than Musk originally envisioned. But the BFR — in its current iteration — dwarfs all rockets currently flying in dimension and capability, and would measure roughly the same size as NASA's Saturn 5 moon rocket, while producing nearly twice as much thrust at liftoff as the Apollo-era launcher developed in the 1960s.

"We don't know exactly what we're building, but we know it's big, and we know it can't be trucked," McHugh said Thursday. "So that's why this spot has enough land, it's near the water, and we know that we could produce our product there."

SpaceX already leases land at the Port of Los Angeles as a base for the company's recovery fleet, which deploys into the Pacific Ocean to pick up Dragon capsules returning from the International Space Station and retrieve rocket boosters and payload fairings from Falcon 9s launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base northwest of Los Angeles.

SpaceX's headquarters and current manufacturing site is in Hawthorne, California, around 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the port.

McHugh said SpaceX intends to build an 80,000-square-foot (7,400-square-meter), 80-foot-tall (24-meter) fabrication hangar at the Berth 240 location within about a year.

"When we add onto it, it'll wind up being a total of a 200,000-square-foot (18,600-square-meter) building, assuming everything works out for us," McHugh said. "We are building a ship that's never been built before. We are doing research and technology that's never been done.

"We're also doing this in a parallel path. We are working on the means and methods of how we're going build this product. So far, it's going to be a composite-type rocket."

McHugh said approximately 20 engineers and 20 production technicians are currently working on the BFR project. By the time the BFR is ready for full production, in roughly three-to-five years, McHugh estimated around 700 people will be working at the new factory.

"Elon wants it way faster, but I think it's three-to-five years," McHugh said.

Known for setting optimistic schedules, Musk set an "aspirational" goal last year to have the BFR ready for a robotic mission to Mars by 2022, and a human voyage by 2024. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, said last month the BFR could be ready for test flights into Earth orbit in 2020.

McHugh said the rockets built at the Port of Los Angeles will be shipped through the Panama Canal to Cape Canaveral for launch preparations.

SpaceX officials have said in recent months that early atmospheric tests of the spaceship part of the BFR could begin next year, likely at the company's launch base in South Texas, which is still under construction.


A manufacturing tool for the BFR's interplanetary spaceship. Credit: Elon Musk

"The ship part is, by far, the hardest because that's going to come in from super-orbital velocities, like interplanetary Mars transfer velocities, moon transfer velocities," Musk said last month. "These are way harder than coming from Earth orbit."

The spaceship's high-speed returns will stress the craft's heat shield and structure beyond the temperatures and pressures experienced by a capsule re-entering the atmosphere from Earth orbit, or by a descending rocket stage.

"Testing that ship out is the real tricky part," Musk said Feb. 6. "The booster, I think — I don't want to get too complacent — but I think we understand reusable boosters. Reusable spaceships that can land propulsively, that's harder. We're starting with the hard part first."

The spaceship design Musk revealed in September had a cluster of six Raptor engines — he later said the ship could have seven engines — and methane and liquid oxygen tanks containing almost a quarter-million pounds (1,100 metric tons) of cryogenic propellants for deep space burns and landing maneuvers. The spacecraft would stretch 157 feet (48 meters) long and have an internal pressurized volume exceeding that of an Airbus A380 jumbo jet, enough room for 40 passenger cabins.

Musk revealed a tool that will be used to build the BFR's interplanetary spaceship in an Instagram post April 8.

SpaceX will pay the Port of Los Angeles $1.38 million per year under its lease agreement for the Berth 240 location.

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[Apollo13]

I am Andy Lambert, SpaceX's VP of Production. Ask me anything about production & manufacturing, and what it's like to be a part of our team!

[Apollo13]

For the Block V upgrade, did you have to change some manufacturing techniques in favor of reusability? I.e. is the Block V harder to manufacture so you can reuse it easier? If so, what did you have to change for example?

Biggest process change was eliminating Tig welding of the thrust structure or "Octaweb" and the move to a bolted design but this made it much easier and faster to produce overall as well. Block 5 is significantly easier to produce in many areas as the technicians and manufacturing engineers worked extremely well with our design partners to incorporate design for manufacturing (DFM) solutions, based on all that we had learned from earlier vehicle builds.

• What do you expect the BFR production rate to be?
• How many times do you actually expect a single Block 5 core to fly? Approximately how many more Cores are you planning to build?
• Which is harder to Manufacture - F9 or Dragon? Any interesting quirky stories about the tricks you used to bring Cost down?
  

• See my response above.
• Block 5 is being qualified for 10+ flights, but we'll continue to expand for more. We're planning on a sizable fleet depending on the needs of our customers.
• Both are relatively easy    Honestly, one is not harder than the other. They have independent challenges. As far as cost reduction goes: commercial off the shelf parts can be far more reliable than people give them credit for, when they've been validated for space flight.
  

At what rate does SpaceX produce Merlin engines at Hawthorne?

We can produce one per day if necessary.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. What's the most interesting story you can tell us that we don't know about producing the F9/FH/Dragon at SpaceX? How about from your previous careers?

We have never built any two vehicles identically, such is the pace of innovation at SpaceX.

With recent news of Tesla having too much automation in their factories, What is your stance on it? What role does automation play in achieving fast turnaround of launches (production, inspection, launching). How much automation is used in current production process of SpaceX hardware, and how do you forsee that to change?

Automation can provide high repeatability, but can take longer to implement than semi- or non-automated solutions. Understanding the likelihood of product change and planning accordingly is key. Most of our automation at SpaceX is focused on quality validation, such as non-destructive testing of large composite laminate structures. Automation engineers are encouraged to apply!

Hello Andy,

• I was wondering what the hardest component of the falcon 9 and dragon is to manufacture.
• In addition, how much additive manufacturing does SpaceX use as opposed to more traditional negative manufacturing waste processes.
• Finally, I was wondering how long it takes to manufacture the full stack for the falcon 9.
  

Thanks for answering any or all of my questions. (P.S. I'm a graduating mechanical engineer not manufacturing, but I still hope to help out)

• Prop tanks are the hardest component on Dragon because of tight tolerances and complex internal structures which allow it to operate correctly in a zero G environment. For F9 probably a cryogenic valve due to tight tolerances and surface finish requirements, which supports operating reliably at a high range of temperatures.
• About 5% additive, 95% machining by part count. Whilst the technology holds a lot of opportunity, which we have exploited to-date, more equipment development is necessary for large volume, high quantity success, whilst delivering the material properties we desire.
• Approximately 3 months from start of tank build to shipping. We can flex the factory to ship a new booster every 14 days if necessary.
  

Great choice and congrats on completing your degree. Most of our manufacturing engineers have mechanical engineering degrees. Check out our openings in the sidebar.

[tnt22]

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-shotwell-bfr-mars-rocket-texas/

SpaceX execs bullish on BFR as Mars rocket test facilities expand in Texas [photos]



ByEric Ralph
Posted on April 24, 2018

Aerial observations of SpaceX's McGregor, Texas testing facilities on April 17 revealed an unusually frenetic level of construction and expansion centered around Raptor – the rocket engine intended to power BFR and SpaceX to Mars – and a new test-stand, the purpose of which is currently unknown.

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With a minimum of 1200 seconds of hot-fires under its belt, SpaceX's Raptor propulsion program is likely rapidly approaching the end of what is best described as the experimental phase of testing. While this has not been communicated by SpaceX, it is a logical conclusion following several recent developments. Namely the true beginning of BFR test article fabrication and an impressively bullish level of commitment and confidence in the fully reusable launch system demonstrated in the last few months alone by CEO Elon Musk and President/COO Gwynne Shotwell. While Musk is infamous both within and beyond his companies for painfully impractical development timelines, he demonstrated some level of growing consciousness of that fallibility at 2018's SXSW, . Without taking a breath, he reiterated his anticipation for short hop tests of the first full-scale spaceship prototype in the first half of 2019.


SpaceX's three-bay Raptor test stand as of April 17. The middle bay is currently home to the subscale Raptor test program. (Aero Photo)

While anyone familiar with Musk's timeline antics may roll their eyes and laugh, far more shocking was Shotwell's sudden pivot towards a new sense of optimism for the BFR program. At Satellite Conference 2018, the typically reserved and pragmatic executive confirmed beyond any doubt that she had become aggressively bullish on the Mars rocket, stating that she believed the spaceship would be ready for suborbital testing in 2019, while the booster-spaceship system could potentially reach orbit by 2020. Musk and Shotwell's suggestion that BFR's first suborbital testing – akin to an extreme version of SpaceX's Grasshopper and F9R programs – is expected to begin in 2019 meshes well with a recent explosion of activity at Port of San Pedro in Los Angeles, CA, thanks to a combination of land acquisition, successful bureaucracy-wrangling,  and the first hints of construction and BFR production. It's highly unlikely that SpaceX would have chosen to temporarily move BFR prototyping into a giant tent on abandoned dock space rather than waiting for port and city approvals for their permanent port factory if they were not keen on moving full speed ahead with the fully reusable launch vehicle's development.

SpaceX's Director of Real-Estate Bruce McHugh was less confident when he spoke before Port of San Pedro's board of commissioners on April 19, although all in attendance expressed a huge amount of excitement at the increasingly likely prospects of a huge SpaceX rocket factory materializing in their neighborhood. Local contractors, economic development representatives, and many other community members were eager for the approval and permitting process to finish up, after which SpaceX is characteristically likely to begin demolition and construction in earnest at Berth 240, the prospective site for the company's first dedicated BFR factory.

Early phases of in-house BFR structures prototyping is taking shape behind the flaps of a custom-ordered temporary tent, something like 60m long, 30m wide, and ~15m tall at the highest point – half an acre of eccentric but functional space for Mars rocket R&D, in other words. The primary benefit of these facilities' dock-side locations is the minimization of the transportation hell that SpaceX would have had to suffer through to transport 9m-diameter rocket hardware through downtown Los Angeles – feats that would cost as much as $2.5 million one way each time components had to be moved fr om the Hawthorne factory to the Port of LA, where it would be finally shipped to Texas or Florida.


SpaceX's first major BFR and BFS fabrication tooling, likely being stored temporarily in a tent at Port of San Pedro. Note the tent framework at the top. (Elon Musk)


Just a casual line of car-sized steel segments hanging around outside the BFR tent. (Pauline Acalin)


It's understood that SpaceX will eventually move this work to Berth 240 once more permanent facilities are constructed. (Pauline Acalin)


My best rough estimate, using the wheelbase of the scissor lift as a reference, was a diameter of around 9-10 meters. Hans Koenigsmann confirmed the mandrel's 9m diameter on April 22. (Pauline Acalin)

Speaking at a private talk given to MIT campus members in October 2017, attendees reported that Shotwell stated that although "[BFR's] composite tanks [would] be a challenge [for SpaceX]," the company was already working on maturing the technologies required, and also noted that SpaceX was "building a larger [version of] Raptor right now." Half a year later, outsiders have heard nothing of any additional carbon composite propellant tank testing at the new 9m diameter, but the existence of custom-ordered (i.e. very expensive and specialized) composite fabrication tooling of the same diameter as BFR effectively guarantees that SpaceX has settled upon and is confident in its approach to manufacturing the massive composite tankage and structures. Along with a similar line of thought, expensive tooling with a fixed diameter also indicates – albeit with less certainty – that the vehicle's Raptor propulsion system is not expected to change significantly as BFR marches closer to suborbital and orbital testing. Raptor, in other words, is probably considerably more mature than SpaceX's composite tankage expertise, itself fairly advanced given the mandrel and additional fabrication tooling already present at Port of San Pedro.

And yet, Shotwell's most telling display of confidence occurred just a handful of days ago at the  . In a lengthy and fairly well-orchestrated interview with the session's host Chris Anderson, Shotwell repeatedly and happily made comments indicating that she has become extremely bullish on BFR and BFS in the last several months. In her opinion, BFR (and point-to-point Earth transport) will be deployed "within a decade, for sure." Prices would nominally be "between business and economy," or a few thousand dollars per person. Speaking on the trip from Earth to Mars, she estimated a three-month journey with BFR Block 1, "but [SpaceX is] gonna try to do it faster." She further confirmed that SpaceX intends to build much larger BFRs, meshing with Elon's suggestions that 2016's ITS concept is now perceived internally as a sort of BFR Block 2. Perhaps most importantly, she qualified her timeline estimates as "Gwynne-time" when Anderson jokingly deadpanned about the infamous Elon-time. Overall, Shotwell came across as more bullish than she has ever been before on BFR's development and future prospects, including both point-to-point transport on Earth and crewed missions to the surface of Mars – both of which she expected to begin "within a decade, for sure." Smirking, she quipped that she was "sure Elon would want us to go faster."


BFR heads to orbit in an updated overview of the Mars rocket. (SpaceX)


A tanker and spaceship dock in Earth orbit to refuel. (SpaceX)


BFS and its crew arrive at Mars after a three month journey. (SpaceX)

Not one to end on a quiet note, the typically pragmatic executive finished by describing how she believed that spreading human presence throughout the Sol System was only "the first step [towards] moving to other solar systems and potentially other galaxies; I think this is the only time I ever out-vision Elon." Interstellar travel and faster-than-light propulsion aspirations aside, Shotwell's comments mark a fairly incredible shift in attitude toward SpaceX's far loftier ambitions. Musk seems to be working to recalibrate his timelines to be less naive at the same time as Shotwell's confidence is steadily growing – the two executives, in other words, appear to be rapidly converging upon a middle ground of pragmatic optimism (that or Musk-time is contagious!).




A new rocket test-stand takes shape at SpaceX's McGregor, TX facilities. As of just a few months ago, this site was effectively barren of activity. (April 17, Aero Photo)


SpaceX's Merlin 1D (Vacuum and Sea Level) tests stands, as well as a bay for upper stage static fires. Note the flame buckets center and lower left – a similar structure is being build at the new stand under construction. (April 17, Aero Photo)

As shown above, the level of construction activity at SpaceX's Texas testing facilities is fairly impressive and could perhaps be seen as evidence that both Musk and Shotwell are speaking from a place of something approaching pragmatism. While the purpose of the new stand (center) is not yet clear, several aspects indicate that it is unlikely to be more mundane. First, the massive water tower (one that did not exist just a month or two ago, might I add) dwarfs anything found at individual engine or upper stage test stands at the SpaceX facility. It's possible that the existence of the flame trench alone necessitates the inclusion of such a large water suppression system for damage prevention, but the presence of the blue steel skeleton of a new flame bucket (operational iterations shown on the right) suggests otherwise. For example, the Merlin stands have no such water suppression system: they do use water suppression to avoid damaging the ground systems or the engines themselves, but that water is stored in a large ground-level tank. A tower, however, indicates that SpaceX wants much higher water pressures and flow rates to be available at the new stand, a requirement for significantly more powerful tests akin to SpaceX's full-up Falcon 9 (and Heavy) test stand – the water towers at the S1 stand and this new stand appear to be identical in size.

In other words, it's more probable than not that this new stand is being built to support either booster static fires or much larger tests of BFR hardware (perhaps multiple Raptors at once, akin to SpaceX's very early tests of Falcon 9's nine Merlins). It could, of course, be used for many different tasks, but only time will tell. Given the sheer level of physical progress made in the BFR program and the swelling confidence of Musk and Shotwell, I certainly know wh ere I'd hedge my bets.

Follow us for more live updates, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and a sea of beautiful photos from our East and West coast photographers.


(video 51:49)

[свернуть]

[Apollo13]

https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-18-016.pdf 

AUDIT OF COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY SERVICES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 

April 26, 2018

[tnt22]

Elon Musk‏Подлинная учетная запись @elonmusk 9 ч. назад

Falcon 9 fairing opens its parafoil after reentering the atmosphere https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQ5qXnA_OM/?utm_source=twitter ...

https://scontent-arn2-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/f40d1348fbf435a7c4c6dd3fba5505fc/5B60FF52/t51.2885-15/e35/31070327_164427757566288_2666001116772171776_n.jpg

[tnt22]

Julia‏ @julia_bergeron 53 мин. назад

The #SpaceXFleet is lined up at the SpaceX dock in @PortCanaveral and getting ready for the next launch. Octo/Roomba is currently on the deck of OCISLY. This thread will provide some closer photos and some theories about the new visitors to the SpaceX dock area.

[АниКей]

Миллиард убытков — хорошо, этот миллиард в будущее вложен, без вариантов. Десять миллиардов — о, еще лучше, десять миллиардов в будущее вложено. И что с того, что ни один параметр итогового продукта не соответствует обещанному. Но ведь что-то же там работает — так? А значит, доделают. А значит, сидим и ждем. Мы привыкли обновлять ПО на планшете и телефоне, а значит, и у машин, самолетов, станков и реакторов все точно так же

РИА Новости https://ria.ru/analytics/20180504/1519855459.html

Илон Маск разработал супероружие, разрушающее мозг

[Старый]

АниКей пишет: 
 Илон Маск разработал супероружие, разрушающее мозг

Пафос статьи - "А где же прорывные технологии?". 
Тут надо отметить что успех Флаконов какраз тем и обусловлен что в них нет прорывных технологий. Они построены на простых, дешовых и достаточно эффективных технологиях полувековой давности. 
 А прорывные технологии у нас в двигателях Энергомаша. И где тот Энергомаш и ракеты с его прорывными двигателями?