SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy successfully - biggest rocket since Saturn V

Prokofievian said:
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Just too bad he isn't around for this stuff, the de facto King of aerospace engineering as it relates to space exploration, easily the most important and influential popularizer of it in history and one of the greatest visionaries of all time. Got humanity both into space and then to the moon for good measure. After the Apollo program was winding down, he was ready to tackle Mars but the US Government wasn't interested in pursuing it and he'd be dead of cancer within five years. It's doubtless that he'd be Elon's Chief Architect at SpaceX today. Bad Motherfucker.



These features never seem to mention the significant role he played in the Civil Rights Movement, desegregation of Alabama, funding towards historically black colleges and inclusion of minority hires at NASA. Perhaps not the best person, but an Absolute Giant of a Man.
 
And when I say WvB was ready to tackle Mars, that ain't no bullshit. The dude seriously didn't fuck around. It's hard not to lament the timescales between when he lived with Elon Musk's present day visionary SpaceX ambitions. The full spacecraft and mission profiles available in hyperlink.

Astronautix: Von Braun Mars Expedition

American Manned Mars Expedition, Study 1969. Wernher von Braun's final vision for a manned expedition to Mars was a robust plan that eliminated much of the risk of other scenarios. Two ships would fly in convoy from earth orbit to Mars and back. They were entirely reusable for future expeditions, the only element being expendable being the Mars Excursion Module used to visit the planet's surface. This was Von Braun's last attempt to convince the American government to finance his dream. Five months later he would be sidelined to a dead-end headquarters job at NASA, and leave the Agency two years after that.

The successful landing on the moon of Apollo 11 brought a brief period of political enthusiasm for manned spaceflight. A new Space Task Group was formed to recommend a post-Apollo manned space program. On 4 August 1969 NASA Administrator Paine briefed the Space Task Group, with Vice President Agnew chairing, on Marshall's proposed post-Apollo integrated plan. Von Braun briefed the plan for a manned expedition to Mars as a follow-on to Apollo. The Integrated Plan foresaw first flight of a manned space shuttle by 1975, an earth orbit space station soon thereafter, with production and improvement of the Saturn V continuing, and the NERVA nuclear thermal upper stage completing development.

Von Braun had tweaked his original Mars Expedition scenario between 1952 and 1956 to halve the size of his original Mars expedition spacecraft. He used the same methods in 1969 to come up with Mars spacecraft under half the mass of Boeing's 1968 IMIS. This allowed two Mars expedition spacecraft to travel in convoy on the mission together, providing Von Braun's preferred mutual support and back-up. The Nuclear Shuttles used for propulsion were essentially the same as Boeing's Primary Propulsion Modules, and had 38 metric tons less propellant. But due to lower delta-V's at Mars orbit, only three of the NERVA Primary Propulsion Modules (now called Nuclear Shuttles) were needed per spacecraft as opposed to five in Boeing's study.

The Mars spacecraft itself would refurbished via shuttle flights, two additional PPM stages attached, the whole thing resupplied and refueled, in readiness for further expeditions to Mars in 1983, 1986, and 1988 - leading to a 50-person Mars base by 1989. With the exception of the MEM, all of the spacecraft was reused. Von Braun estimated this colonization of Mars within 20 years could be accomplished with a peak NASA budget of $7 billion per year. This robust, relatively safe plan was the culmination of 20 years of Mars mission planning by the Peenemuende team and took full advantage of the other space infrastructure elements in NASA's master plan. It offered the possibility for Von Braun to witness his long-held dream of a manned expedition to Mars in his lifetime.

WvB Mars Mission Summary:

Propulsion: Nuclear Thermal
Braking at Mars: Propulsive
Mission Type: Opposition
Venus Swing-by: Yes
Split or All-Up: All Up
ISRU: No ISRU
Launch Year: 1981
Crew: 12
Mars Surface payload-metric tons: 5
Outbound time-days: 270 Mars
Stay Time-days: 80
Return Time-days: 290
Total Mission Time-days: 640
Total Payload Required in LEO-metric tons: 1452
Total Propellant Required-metric tons: 1088
Propellant Fraction: 0.74
Mass per crew-metric tons: 121
Launch Vehicle Payload to LEO-metric tons: 249
Number of Launches to Assemble in LEO: 6
Launch Vehicle: Saturn V-25(S)U
 
I launched a few rockets myself when I was a kid. Anyone remember 'Estes'? Man, that was so much fun. Kids today are all about the internet and the iPhone. That's why they have grown stupid.


374px-Estes_Model_Rocket_Motors.jpg




 
Phr3121 said:
I launched a few rockets myself when I was a kid. Anyone remember 'Estes'? Man, that was so much fun. Kids today are all about the internet and the iPhone. That's why they have grown stupid.


374px-Estes_Model_Rocket_Motors.jpg




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Yes! I loved model rockets (and RC cars, I had a bad ass Jeep). I remember I finally got one that housed those big E engines and was thrilled. I was always disappointed at how quickly they accelerated though. I wanted a little version of the Saturn V that took a few seconds to clear the launch tower (err rod).
 
AnGrYcRoW said:
Everything is has undertaken since PayPal has been borderline nuts and all logic would say doomed to failure and yet he keeps succeeding although it was close

The first three attempts at a launch failed, if the fourth one failed he was done .

Looking forward to seeing what they do next.
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Tesla is falling apart. Burning through money like crazy. This publicity stunt of launching a car into space was meant to distract from that. It didn't work. The company still hasn't made any money and is in debt up to its eyeballs. Way behind schedule on cars. Musk has broken so many promises. Spread himself way too thin. Telsa has major, existential problems. Losing engineers. Bush league engineering in general.


Report: Tesla Model 3 'Bottlenecks' Left Some Portions to Be Assembled by Hand. Despite long touting its commitment to automated production — what CEO Elon Musk has called “the machine that builds the machine” — Tesla Motors might have resorted to less advanced techniques to build its new Model 3 sedan.

FREMONT, Calif.— Tesla Inc. TSLA -8.63% blamed “production bottlenecks” for having made only a fraction of the promised 1,500 Model 3s, the $35,000 sedan designed to propel the luxury electric-car maker into the mainstream.

Unknown to analysts, investors and the hundreds of thousands of customers who signed up to buy it, as recently as early September major portions of the Model 3 were still being banged out by hand, away from the automated production line, according to people familiar with the matter.




etc etc Other car companies are gonna pass them. Everyone from Ferrari to Nissan. They lost out. The company only has popularity and a good stock price because of Musketeer cult. But that has vanished. Stock in toilet. Earnings non existent. Behind schedule. etc. It is not a well run company by any sense of the imagination.
 
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Phr3121 said:
Yeah, someone was saying how Chinese technology was so advanced. If that thing lands in my house I'm suing. They should stick to making chopsticks.
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Or boiling dogs alive for the fun of it.

On another matter: Putin has been charging out the ass to get US astronauts up to the ISS - there's no choice - and only continually drives up the price on that gravy train because he knows SpaceX will be cutting Russia out soon at a significantly lower cost. You can throw shade at Elon for failing to meet his deadlines, but half of that shit falls in the lap of Congress for consistently underfunding the Commercial Crew program since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011.

chart-showing-how-much-russia-is-charging-nasa-per-seat-for-launching-us-astronauts.png
 
800px-Orange_tank_SLS_evolution_-_Post_CDR.jpg


Ok, this is a fucking huge and powerful rocket. 12 million pounds of liftoff trust. :eek:
. Falcon Heavy = 5 million pounds
. Saturn V = 7.6 million pounds

NASA is building the Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket designed to take people into deep space and potentially Mars. The space agency will be able to configure the rocket differently for each mission.

Status: No earlier than late 2019
Height: 322 - 365 feet (98.1 - 111.3 meters)
Liftoff thrust: up to 11.9 million pounds (5 million kg)
Capability: 150,000 - 290,000 pounds (70,000 - 130,000 kilograms) to LEO
Planned payloads: Cargo, astronauts

Delta IV Heavy launch:
 
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@Shoemaker - 'Estes' has discontinued the Saturn V rocket, but 'Apogee' still makes them. 1/70th scale for $300.

Link: https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket-Kits/Skill-Level-5-Model-Rocket-Kits/Saturn-V-1-70th-Scale
  • Model: 05026
  • Skill Level 5: Extremely Challenging
  • Length: 62.200" (157.99 cm)
  • Weight: 17.000 oz (481.94 g)
  • Diameter (Max): 5.600" (14.22 cm)
  • Fin Count: 4
  • Motor Size: 29mm
  • Recovery System: Two nylon-cloth parachutes - 58 inches, and 36 inches.
  • Launch Pad Type: Mid Power
  • Manufactured by: Apogee


SaturnV_pic-07-MED.jpg
 
JonesBones said:
Tesla is falling apart. Burning through money like crazy. This publicity stunt of launching a car into space was meant to distract from that. It didn't work. The company still hasn't made any money and is in debt up to its eyeballs. Way behind schedule on cars. Musk has broken so many promises. Spread himself way too thin. Telsa has major, existential problems. Losing engineers. Bush league engineering in general.


Report: Tesla Model 3 'Bottlenecks' Left Some Portions to Be Assembled by Hand. Despite long touting its commitment to automated production — what CEO Elon Musk has called “the machine that builds the machine” — Tesla Motors might have resorted to less advanced techniques to build its new Model 3 sedan.

FREMONT, Calif.— Tesla Inc. TSLA -8.63% blamed “production bottlenecks” for having made only a fraction of the promised 1,500 Model 3s, the $35,000 sedan designed to propel the luxury electric-car maker into the mainstream.

Unknown to analysts, investors and the hundreds of thousands of customers who signed up to buy it, as recently as early September major portions of the Model 3 were still being banged out by hand, away from the automated production line, according to people familiar with the matter.




etc etc Other car companies are gonna pass them. Everyone from Ferrari to Nissan. They lost out. The company only has popularity and a good stock price because of Musketeer cult. But that has vanished. Stock in toilet. Earnings non existent. Behind schedule. etc. It is not a well run company by any sense of the imagination.
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He said from the start that he couldn't make cars for everybody and that his goal was to spur the other auto makers into developing electric vehicles , ask yourself this, would all these other manufacturers be building so many electric vehicles It weren't for Tesla ? ...... no they wouldn't , are you aware Tesla has opened their patents to the commons https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you


Do you know that Tesla makes more than cars and their shares are at 315 per

The truth is Musk said from day one that Tesla is not out make toys for rich people , if they wanted to do that they would be quite profitable,as it stands they have poured everything into trying to make a car that the average person can afford

Musk and Tesla are doing just fine
 
One of the complicated tricks to launching a rocket is when to let go. If you release it too early, it will tumble to the side. If you release it too late it will damage the rocket. There is a quick signal sent from the rocket telling the computers (tower and base it is attached to) it has enough trust of its own to stand up straight by itself and fly - time to let it go.

 
TheComebackKid said:
Don't worry about how fake everything looks, thats just like space bro.

Why Does the Tesla Look So Fake in Space? We Asked a Chemist

"It looks so ridiculous and impossible," the SpaceX CEO told reporters after the Falcon Heavy megarocket launched the car into space yesterday (Feb. 6). "You can tell it's real because it looks so fake, honestly."

https://www.livescience.com/61690-why-spacex-roadster-looks-fake.html
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This might not be the thread for you, if you want a platform to spew your nonsense start one , see how that works out for you .
 
TheComebackKid said:
Why Does the Tesla Look So Fake in Space? We Asked a Chemist.
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"It looks so ridiculous and impossible," the SpaceX CEO told reporters after the Falcon Heavy megarocket launched the car into space yesterday (Feb. 6). "You can tell it's real because it looks so fake, honestly."

Musk went on to say that colors, in general, look strange in space, because "there's no atmospheric occlusion. Everything's too crisp," he said. But what did he mean by this, and is it true that colors in space don't look the same as they do on Earth?

First off, yes — colors do look "fuzzier" on Earth than they do in space, said Rick Sachleben, a retired chemist in Boston who is a member of the American Chemical Society's panel of experts.

Think of it this way: Light can travel through different mediums — including air, water and the vacuum of space — each of which has a different refractive index, he said. That is, these mediums bend light differently, which explains why colored light doesn't look the same in one medium as it does in another.
 
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