Vandenberg launch complex used by SpaceX and boat and a barge both located within ten miles of:
North 32 7 44 West 120 46 43
If I am correct these coords would put it west and slightly south of San Nicolas Island which is west of santa catalina island which is south west of LA. Interesting. San Nicolas island has an airstrip. AND it is also a Navy facility.
Vandenberg launch complex used by SpaceX and boat and a barge both located within ten miles of:
North 32 7 44 West 120 46 43
If I am correct these coords would put it west and slightly south of San Nicolas Island which is west of santa catalina island which is south west of LA. Interesting. San Nicolas island has an airstrip. AND it is also a Navy facility.
ie. ? a land landing attempt ??
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Not out there this time. The given coordinates are over a hundred miles beyond San Nicolas.
On another point, someone posting on the cited thread asserts tow speed of 5 knots--if true that would imply the barge would have left port no later than late on January 15 if by that time the plan of possibly using it is still being kept alive.
None of which precludes landing back on the known pad at Vandenberg, although this booster flying this mission may well not have enough smash to get there, and the authorities might not grant permission just yet.
Vandenberg launch complex used by SpaceX and boat and a barge both located within ten miles of:
North 32 7 44 West 120 46 43
If I am correct these coords would put it west and slightly south of San Nicolas Island which is west of santa catalina island which is south west of LA. Interesting. San Nicolas island has an airstrip. AND it is also a Navy facility.
ie. ? a land landing attempt ??
Cheers, Mike.
I think we are all cheering for another land based return, but they could float a barge and if successful tow it to the island and fly it back the mainland or just tow it back to mainland. Ever since private industry has gotten into the space business things have really gotten exciting. Inroads are being made and I believe things will move forward quickly.
Now there is more good news for SpaceX: The Falcon 9 stage appears to have survived its liftoff and landing with no ill effects, Musk said.
"Falcon 9 back in the hangar at Cape Canaveral. No damage found, ready to fire again," Musk wrote in an Instagram post on Dec. 31, which accompanied a photo of the booster.
Let us hope that on the day, the Pacific is indeed pacific.
Actually I've come to like the idea that the first Falcon to land at LZ1 is to be kept as a memento. I saw a discussion online which was allegedly dealing with it's flight worthiness. The important, but alas missed, issue was not whether it would come to grief if re-flown but whether it was more or less likely to have trouble than originally. Now my understanding is that each engine is fully test fired before use and so it has already been hammered by the time it gets to a launch pad for intended use. So more interesting engineering territory is yet to come .....
I am reminded here of a small lizard we call a 'droptail skink', one of several types that has a tail which - you guessed - will drop off and flap about to divert a predator while the skink escapes. Sans tail. If it then lives long enough it may gradually regrow another. In any event the original shedding episode is to advantage for further reproduction etc. Now the Octaweb of a Falcon 9 can normally lose thrust from one engine and still complete a mission by a longer run on the remaining eight, though admittedly not without a bit of fuss. The CRS-1 demonstrated that scenario delivering a Dragon to ISS but the co-launched satellite was destined to a decaying orbit due to NASA flight rules regarding orbits nearby ISS ( insufficient confidence of success, though not by much, and so the second stage was not re-lit ). Anyway I am thinking of a design whereby a more dramatic loss of thrust ie. an engine blows up, could still give at least a short period of useful remaining stage function. This might, as it were, be worth more than it's weight in gold for manned missions. Is there a design which could limit the effect of a catastrophic loss from one of the eight outer Octaweb engines ? Maybe inter-engine shielding to direct shrapnel to the side and thus away .....
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Of course I appreciate that it seems anti-intuitive for it to be less likely to fail with subsequent launches, at least to some degree. But I wouldn't rule it out. Is there some physical/material mechanism which results in some type of 'proving' behaviour, not unlike Damascus steel for instance ( which gets stronger the more you hit it ) ? :-)
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: Vandenberg launch
)
If I am correct these coords would put it west and slightly south of San Nicolas Island which is west of santa catalina island which is south west of LA. Interesting. San Nicolas island has an airstrip. AND it is also a Navy facility.
RE: RE: Vandenberg launch
)
ie. ? a land landing attempt ??
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: ie. ? a land landing
)
Not out there this time. The given coordinates are over a hundred miles beyond San Nicolas.
On another point, someone posting on the cited thread asserts tow speed of 5 knots--if true that would imply the barge would have left port no later than late on January 15 if by that time the plan of possibly using it is still being kept alive.
None of which precludes landing back on the known pad at Vandenberg, although this booster flying this mission may well not have enough smash to get there, and the authorities might not grant permission just yet.
RE: RE: RE: Vandenberg
)
I think we are all cheering for another land based return, but they could float a barge and if successful tow it to the island and fly it back the mainland or just tow it back to mainland. Ever since private industry has gotten into the space business things have really gotten exciting. Inroads are being made and I believe things will move forward quickly.
Via Space.com: SpaceX Rocket
)
Via Space.com: SpaceX Rocket In Great Shape After Historic Landing, Elon Musk Says
SpaceX is going for a barge
)
SpaceX is going for a barge recovery on the 17th. Full story here.
Should be good. As I've said
)
Should be good. As I've said before he'll either do it or find out why you can't. :-)
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: Should be good. As I've
)
Or the sea will always be a bit too much swell to keep the platform stable.
RE: RE: Should be good.
)
I believe on the 1st Atlantic attempt the swells were about about 3 stories tall. This would definitely complicate the effort.
Let us hope that on the day,
)
Let us hope that on the day, the Pacific is indeed pacific.
Actually I've come to like the idea that the first Falcon to land at LZ1 is to be kept as a memento. I saw a discussion online which was allegedly dealing with it's flight worthiness. The important, but alas missed, issue was not whether it would come to grief if re-flown but whether it was more or less likely to have trouble than originally. Now my understanding is that each engine is fully test fired before use and so it has already been hammered by the time it gets to a launch pad for intended use. So more interesting engineering territory is yet to come .....
I am reminded here of a small lizard we call a 'droptail skink', one of several types that has a tail which - you guessed - will drop off and flap about to divert a predator while the skink escapes. Sans tail. If it then lives long enough it may gradually regrow another. In any event the original shedding episode is to advantage for further reproduction etc. Now the Octaweb of a Falcon 9 can normally lose thrust from one engine and still complete a mission by a longer run on the remaining eight, though admittedly not without a bit of fuss. The CRS-1 demonstrated that scenario delivering a Dragon to ISS but the co-launched satellite was destined to a decaying orbit due to NASA flight rules regarding orbits nearby ISS ( insufficient confidence of success, though not by much, and so the second stage was not re-lit ). Anyway I am thinking of a design whereby a more dramatic loss of thrust ie. an engine blows up, could still give at least a short period of useful remaining stage function. This might, as it were, be worth more than it's weight in gold for manned missions. Is there a design which could limit the effect of a catastrophic loss from one of the eight outer Octaweb engines ? Maybe inter-engine shielding to direct shrapnel to the side and thus away .....
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Of course I appreciate that it seems anti-intuitive for it to be less likely to fail with subsequent launches, at least to some degree. But I wouldn't rule it out. Is there some physical/material mechanism which results in some type of 'proving' behaviour, not unlike Damascus steel for instance ( which gets stronger the more you hit it ) ? :-)
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal