How is he going to keep the upper stage sterile? Or is he only going to MTO and your cargo has to do the mars capture and descent to surface? I suspect the latter as I see the last, cruise stage + descent and lander for the Mars Science Laboratory is roughly the same http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/spacecraft/ mass.
Of course ,if just a MTO and he doesn't address the COSPAR requirements then he has to have enough fuel left after separation to assure the second stage doesn't get anywhere near Mars in the foreseeable future. Otherwise he isn't getting off Earth.
Well I've been watching the maritime charts. There's two vessels travelling together that have been chugging slowly and steadily ( under 10 knots ) from due east of the Cape range for the last two days. Now about 100km offshore, going due west, and marked as "Tugs & Special Craft". If that's their destination they'll be there in, say, ~ 8 - 12 hours ? What a cool tool that page is :
I think this is the camera* we've been getting views from :
... which is just at the top of the booster stage, is looking down the barrel along a line pretty well b/w two vanes, plus it's shadow does look like a Mayan double pyramid !
This bump is in about the right position to be a thruster module :
... if that's correct, then it will have the thruster group having more or less the same point of application of moments as the vanes. Interesting. That would have advantages.
Cheers, Mike.
* Pointed out by a chap called Mike who narrates this video of the pre-launch state of the Falcon that launched the Thaicom 8. He'd never seen anything in that position before. Mike is one of the veterans who follow this for us. He's also makes other interesting comments about ? new joints/welds too ....
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
Mike, I don't think they ever tow the barge at anywhere near 10 knots.
The folks in the return thread over at NASASpaceflight.com posted a link to this OCISLY tracker and seem to believe it works. I think the betting on return time over there centers around tomorrow afternoon--so more like 24 hours than 8 to 12.
Go Searcher and Go Quest are the usual two small support/tug vessels, and of course OCISLY is the actual ASDS barge. Another small support vessel often in the game is Elsbeth III.
Mike, I don't think they ever tow the barge at anywhere near 10 knots.
The folks in the return thread over at NASASpaceflight.com posted a link to this OCISLY tracker and seem to believe it works. I think the betting on return time over there centers around tomorrow afternoon--so more like 24 hours than 8 to 12.
Go Searcher and Go Quest are the usual two small support/tug vessels, and of course OCISLY is the actual ASDS barge. Another small support vessel often in the game is Elsbeth III.
Thanks. Cool tool. Terrific info ! :-)
Doh, so I've may have the right ships but the wrong speed .... ? Or the wrong ships altogether ?
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Sorted. These different maps have somewhat differing latency on their positions, and estimated speeds. I'd go with the one Peter mentioned. It has much more recent data.
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
Yeah I wondered about that. The ( thin ) covers would have to blow off with first use.
I subscribed to the marine tracking mob. As of a couple of minutes ago :
... those two craft are nominated as :
They're about 25km from Port Canaveral and not surprisingly they are marked with the destination as Port Canaveral, with the alleged ETA's. I guess OCISLY doesn't have a transponder accessible by this service ?
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
Folks at NSF who have watched more of these more closely than I say it seems they have tweaked their rate of advance and holding patterns to get night time arrivals in the past. No one has clear reasons why, though some speculations include avoiding cruise ships (it is a really major cruise ship port, but mostly for daytime calls) or other interactions with normal port activity.
Quote:
No hit for search on "Of Course i Still Love You"
I don't think it carries a transponder that has ever been noticed as switched on.
By the way, turning off the transponder seems kind of routine, which is shocking to someone who thinks of it analogously to the airliner situation.
I see that he has a price for
)
I see that he has a price for a trip to Mars
http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
$62 million for 4020Kg.
I don't see where he is talking about the COSPAR category of the trip
https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/sites/default/files/ppp_article_linked_to_ppp_webpage.pdf
Mars itself is Cat IV and if he expects to come back Cat V applies.
How is he going to keep the upper stage sterile? Or is he only going to MTO and your cargo has to do the mars capture and descent to surface? I suspect the latter as I see the last, cruise stage + descent and lander for the Mars Science Laboratory is roughly the same http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/spacecraft/ mass.
Of course ,if just a MTO and he doesn't address the COSPAR requirements then he has to have enough fuel left after separation to assure the second stage doesn't get anywhere near Mars in the foreseeable future. Otherwise he isn't getting off Earth.
Well I've been watching the
)
Well I've been watching the maritime charts. There's two vessels travelling together that have been chugging slowly and steadily ( under 10 knots ) from due east of the Cape range for the last two days. Now about 100km offshore, going due west, and marked as "Tugs & Special Craft". If that's their destination they'll be there in, say, ~ 8 - 12 hours ? What a cool tool that page is :
I think this is the camera* we've been getting views from :
... which is just at the top of the booster stage, is looking down the barrel along a line pretty well b/w two vanes, plus it's shadow does look like a Mayan double pyramid !
This bump is in about the right position to be a thruster module :
... if that's correct, then it will have the thruster group having more or less the same point of application of moments as the vanes. Interesting. That would have advantages.
Cheers, Mike.
* Pointed out by a chap called Mike who narrates this video of the pre-launch state of the Falcon that launched the Thaicom 8. He'd never seen anything in that position before. Mike is one of the veterans who follow this for us. He's also makes other interesting comments about ? new joints/welds too ....
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
Mike, I don't think they ever
)
Mike, I don't think they ever tow the barge at anywhere near 10 knots.
The folks in the return thread over at NASASpaceflight.com posted a link to this OCISLY tracker and seem to believe it works. I think the betting on return time over there centers around tomorrow afternoon--so more like 24 hours than 8 to 12.
Go Searcher and Go Quest are the usual two small support/tug vessels, and of course OCISLY is the actual ASDS barge. Another small support vessel often in the game is Elsbeth III.
RE: Mike, I don't think
)
Thanks. Cool tool. Terrific info ! :-)
Doh, so I've may have the right ships but the wrong speed .... ? Or the wrong ships altogether ?
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) Sorted. These different maps have somewhat differing latency on their positions, and estimated speeds. I'd go with the one Peter mentioned. It has much more recent data.
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
SPACEX LAUNCHES 3D-PRINTED
)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 3D-PRINTED PART TO SPACE, CREATES PRINTED ENGINE CHAMBER. you can read more about this part here
Returned First stage photo
)
Returned First stage photo showing thrusters i guess they are covered during flight to prevent ingress.
RE: Returned First stage
)
Yeah I wondered about that. The ( thin ) covers would have to blow off with first use.
I subscribed to the marine tracking mob. As of a couple of minutes ago :
... those two craft are nominated as :
They're about 25km from Port Canaveral and not surprisingly they are marked with the destination as Port Canaveral, with the alleged ETA's. I guess OCISLY doesn't have a transponder accessible by this service ?
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
Aha. Go Quest is classified
)
Aha. Go Quest is classified as of cargo type ( so I change the search filters to suit ) :
So it's the green icon in the group :
Cheers, Mike.
( edit ) So perhaps berthing tomorrow morning ? Bit of a thunderstorm on the webcam though ....
( edit ) No hit for search on "Of Course i Still Love You" :-)))
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: So perhaps berthing
)
Folks at NSF who have watched more of these more closely than I say it seems they have tweaked their rate of advance and holding patterns to get night time arrivals in the past. No one has clear reasons why, though some speculations include avoiding cruise ships (it is a really major cruise ship port, but mostly for daytime calls) or other interactions with normal port activity.
I don't think it carries a transponder that has ever been noticed as switched on.
By the way, turning off the transponder seems kind of routine, which is shocking to someone who thinks of it analogously to the airliner situation.
The tracking service has them
)
The tracking service has them moving in for the last ~ 3 hours :
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