SpaceX

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 40 мин. назад

Elon confident that full reusability of the Second Stage is achievable.

39 мин. назад

Propellant only cost between $300,000 and $400,000 per launch. #Flacon9 #Block5

Loren Grush‏Подлинная учетная запись @lorengrush 40 мин. назад

Musk: Booster is 60 percent of cost, upper stage is 20, fairing is about 10 percent, 10 percent associated with the launch itself

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 38 мин. назад

"We expect no unnecessary action taken between flights - just like an aircraft." Getting it back, retract legs, go to pad, attach Stage 2, attach payload, go to pad, fuel, launch. #Falcon9 #Block5

35 мин. назад

Late this year, we should start seeing good reflights of 3rd and 4th times for Block 5

By end of next year, we should start seeing Block 5s reaching their 10th reflight.

34 мин. назад

Human-rated rockets have to be overdesigned by 40% to meet crew safety requirements. #Falcon9 #Block5

Eric Berger‏Подлинная учетная запись @SciGuySpace 31 мин. назад

"I'm stressed," Musk says. Getting an orbital rocket to work is very hard. Getting one that can re-fly 100 times is "crazy hard."

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 28 мин. назад

About 30-50 Block 5s are planned. Dependent on how many customers demand to launch on a new rocket. #Flacon9 #Block5

22 мин. назад

Right now, flight-proven F9s are priced at $50 million USD. New boosters are $60 million USD. #Falcon9 #SpaceX

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/05/10/falcon-9-bangabandhu-1-mission-status-center/

Updated: 05/10/2018 23:24 Stephen Clark

T-minus 82 minutes and counting. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive, just spoke with reporters about the maiden flight of the Falcon 9 Block 5, the last major upgrade of the company's workhorse rocket before the debut of a giant new booster dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket in the 2020s.

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"This will be the last major version of Falcon 9 before BFR," Musk said a few minutes ago. "We expect this to be a mainstay of SpaceX's business. We think (it) will probably wind up with something on the order of 300 flights, maybe more, of Falcon 9 Block 5 before retirement."

He said the Block 5's first stage booster is designed to fly 10 times "with no scheduled refurbishment." With "moderate scheduled maintenance," Block 5 first stages could be capable of 100 missions, Musk said.

"Our goal, just to give you a sense of how reusable we think it will be, we intend to demonstrate two orbital launches of the same Falcon 9 vehicle within 24 hours no earlier than next year," Musk said. "It's going to take some time because we're going to be careful and deliberate about this."

Musk said the most important changes to the Block 5 address NASA human-rating requirements, ahead of the planned launches of astronauts to the International Space Station on Falcon 9 rockets beginning late this year or some time in 2019.

"The intent is for (Falcon 9 Block 5) to be the most reliable rocket ever built," Musk said. "That is the design intent ... I hope today doesn't punish me for these words, but that is certainly the intent, and I think our most conservative customers would agree."

The rocket's modifications also make provide a performance boost.

There's an 8 percent increase in sea level thrust from the Falcon 9's nine Merlin first stage engines, up to around 190,000 pounds of thrust each, Musk said. The upper stage's single vacuum-rated Merlin engine on Block 5 can generate 220,000 pounds of thrust, but will be throttled back to 210,000 force-pounds on today's mission.

"Both the efficiency of the engine and thrust of the engine have increased, (without) any material change to the mass of the engine. The thrust-to-weight ratio is truly incredible at this point. It was already the highest thrust-to-weight engine in the world."

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/05/10/falcon-9-bangabandhu-1-mission-status-center/

Updated: 05/10/2018 23:44 Stephen Clark

Musk also addressed changes to the outer coating of the rocket, aimed at better shielding the first stage from extreme re-entry temperatures.

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"We also have a lot of new thermal protection technology," Musk said. "If you look, aesthetically, there's the black interstage. That is the structure that joins the upper and lower stage, as well as the raceways, the landing legs, they all use a new thermal protection material developed at SpaceX which is highly resuabile and does not require paint. It's hydrophobic. It does not trap water. This was quite a challenging thing to do.

"I kind of like the aesthetics of it more," he said. If you look back at the old Falcon 1 rocket, I really like having the black interstage. The interstage is made of carbon fiber. It adds a different aesthetic to the rocket. Obviously, aesthetics are a minor factor in designing a rocket."

The octaweb, a structure which contains the first stage's nine engines at the base of the rocket, is also made of a higher-strength aluminum. It's bolted on the base of the Falcon 9 Block 5, while it was welded to the booster on previous versions of SpaceX's workhorse vehicle.

"It also has quite a bit of thermal protection on the inside in case of an engine fire or something like that, so that it does not melt the octaweb."

The first stage's four landing legs also sport changes.

The locking mechanism that kept the legs deployed during the booster's final descent and post-flight processing has been removed. The landing gear now has an internal locking system, Musk said.

""Opening the landing gear and closing the landing gear is now a very easy thing to do, whereas previously it required a couple of hours to re-stow the landing gear. That can now be done with an actuator."

The heat shield attached to the bottom of the rocket near the booster's engine section has also been beefed up.

"We replaced the old composite structure with a high-temperature titanium structure to support rapid reuse," Musk said. "The base heat shield will also be, in some parts, actively cooled with water."

He said data crunched from past Falcon 9 flights indicated that some parts of the base of the rocket exposed to super-hot temperatures during the rocket's hypersonic re-entry needed better protection.

"You kind of have to use a high-melting point material, a high-temperature material, plus active water cooling in certain places on the base of the heat shield."

To sum up the Block 5 upgrades, Musk said the new Falcon 9 configuration is a "bit better in every way."

"It has a better flight computer, engine controllers, a new, more advanced inertial measurement system."

Other improvements that will fly regularly on the Falcon 9 Block 5 have already been demonstrated during past Falcon 9 missions. Those include a new-generation payload fairing, which covers satellite payloads during launch, to make the shroud recoverable and reusable. Titanium grid fins, which likewise have already made their debut on previous Falcon 9 missions, will fly on every Block 5 launch, replacing aluminum steering winglets used on descent that were susceptible to heat damage.

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Elon Musk Discusses New SpaceX 'Block 5' Rocket

AmericaSpace

Опубликовано: 10 мая 2018 г.

- http://www.americaspace.com
- http://www.facebook.com/AmericaSpace.org
FULL COVERAGE - http://http://www.americaspace.com/li...

As the launch preparations for the Bangabandhu - 1 were underway Elon Musk took time out to discuss the re-usability of the Falcon 9 rocket and his vision of a fully recoverable and reusable rocket. Not only that he expects to be able to launch land and launch again the same day.

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[Apollo13]

Block 5 Phone Presser

[Сергей]

Apollo13 пишет:
Block 5 Phone Presser

По поводу работоспособности титановых решеток при температуре 1000 град. С - вероятно очень кратковременно и эта температура торможения воздушного потока перед передней кромкой пластины решетки. Титан плохо проводит тепло, и основная масса конструкции решетки будет иметь не выше 600 град. С.

[кукушка]

Пока мы ждём возвращения первой ступени B1046 на большую землю и её фотографий, вот вам сравнение внешнего вида бустера после посадки новой и старой версий с камер на барже.

Скорее всего, степень "закопчености" уменьшился из-за наличия на первой ступени нового теплозащитного покрытия.

SpaceX

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B1046 - в Порт-Канаверал

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B1046

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Julia‏ @julia_bergeron 7 мин. назад

The crane team has the cap ready to place on the first stage booster. Not sure if they will attempt to lift it off today or if they are giving extra security before more weather events roll in. #Block5 #Falcon9

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 1 мин. назад

Looks like @WaywardBoat is stalking the Block 5, via @murphypak's live stream.

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Marek Cyzio‏ @MarekCyzio 1 ч. назад

#spacex #falcon9 #bangabandhu1 Welcome home!

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Marek Cyzio‏ @MarekCyzio 44 мин. назад

Hector the inspector #falcon9 #spacex #Bangabandhu1



32 мин. назад

Selfie time #falcon9 #spacex #bangabandhu1

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Brady Kenniston‏ @TheFavoritist 53 мин. назад

Apparently there is a new lift cap for the Block 5 boosters! When I was at the port last week I believe I got some photos of it.

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TomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 27 мин. назад

Booster has been lifted and moved to the pedestal for leg work. Let's see how this is done. Over on the side is a fairing aboard Go Pursuit covered up with a brown tarp. @Teslarati #spacex #falcon9 #portcanaveral #ocisly

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5 мин. назад

Notable vehicles: The SpaceX mystery machine. A mobile command center aka office in a trailer. And the booster transporter. Octagrabber has been put away, out of sight, appears to have worked perfectly. @Teslarati #spacex #falcon9 #ocisly

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Julia‏ @julia_bergeron 13 мин. назад

A more complete view of Octograbber holding onto the Block 5 booster as OCISLY enters port this morning. #Block5 #SpaceX #Roomba

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https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-block-5-returns-to-port-gallery/

SpaceX's first Falcon 9 Block 5 returns to port in pristine condition

By Eric Ralph
Posted on May 15, 2018

SpaceX's first launched and landed Falcon 9 Block 5 booster has returned to port after a handful of days at sea, hopefully marking the beginning of a long and storied future of commercial missions. The booster – numbered B1046 – appears to be in extraordinarily good shape, more or less unscathed after a relatively high-energy reentry. Photographer Tom Cross documented the historic return in person at Port Canaveral.


B1046 arrives at Port Canaveral after an eventful inaugural launch and landing. (Tom Cross)

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After detaching from the rocket's second stage, which went on to successfully inject Bangladesh's first communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit, B1046 reached a peak of around 110 km before reentering Earth's atmosphere. Traveling 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) per second, Block 5 eventually completed a soft landing 500 miles off the Florida coast on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. The 25th successful Falcon 9 booster recovery, B1046 marked that historic achievement in proper style, dressed with large, black sections of the new SpaceX-developed thermal protection system, among dozens of other major improvements included in the launch vehicle's "Block" upgrade.


Technicians attach an interstage-grabber to lift the booster. (Tom Cross)


Compared to past high-energy GTO recoveries, B1046 is in extremely good condition. (Tom Cross)


The central aluminum grid fin of 1029 features a dramatic lack of several vanes, likely melted off during the intense heat of reentry. (Reddit, u/thedubya22)


Again, B1046 looks almost pristine thanks to its new thermal protection system, described as a sort of felt that is both extremely heat-resistant and hydrophobic. (Tom Cross)

While not visible, the most significant improvements are likely to be found at the base of the first stage's octaweb – now assembled with bolts instead of welds – in the form of a dramatically improved heat shield around its nine Merlin 1D engines (also upgraded, of course). One of the Falcon recovery technicians showed some exceptional interest in the shield and Merlins, likely documenting their condition in extreme detail to inform engineering reviews of the pathfinder rocket after its first flight test. Per CEO Elon Musk's pre-launch phone call with members of the press, SpaceX means to do an extremely thorough disassembly and analysis of B1046 in order to (hopefully) validate many thousands of hours of design, engineering, modeling, and testing. If those reviews are promising, it's extremely likely that B1046 will be reassembled and flown many more times, perhaps one day becoming another historic monument to SpaceX's reusability program and Block 5 upgrade.


A technician examines the booster's brand-new leg retraction mechanism, likely to be operationally trialed for the first time sometime today or tomorrow. (Tom Cross)


Octagrabber hangs on to B1046 as OCISLY arrives in port. (Tom Cross)


(Tom Cross)


A SpaceX technician spied taking photos of the Block 5 rocket's Merlin engines and octaweb heatshield. (Tom Cross)

Meanwhile, this mission also marked another routine operation for SpaceX's robotic stage-securing robot, unofficially nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber. This custom-built robot is used to better ensure the safety of SpaceX's recovery crew by allowing them to remain on an accompanying vessel while securing the booster robotically, significantly lowering the chances of it sliding around or tipping over in high sea states.

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B1046

TomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 1 ч. назад

10:30am update: The last leg is off. Currently waiting for lift & placement onto the booster transporter. @Teslarati #spacex #falcon9 #PortCanaveral

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PORT CANAVERAL
Time lapse SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 leg removal

TESLARATI.com

Опубликовано: 16 мая 2018 г.

The block 5 Falcon 9 booster recovery taking place at Port Canaveral in Florida on May 16, 2018. In this time lapse the landing legs are being removed from the booster. Originally, this version of the booster was to be able to retract, or fold, the legs back up. Video by TomCross for Teslarati

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TomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 1 ч. назад

SpaceX removed the block 5 booster legs today. "Ironically, we need to take it apart to confirm that it does not need to be taken apart." Elon said.