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palmer_md
Member
Well, I think the point is that nobody has every put any USED core inside a hanger, let alone three of them side by side.
Johan
Ex got M3 in the divorce, waiting for EU Model Y!
Hank Lord Wright needs to write a Web app to keep track of all the CPO cores. Certified Pre Orbited.
Brass Guy
Active Member
Elon Musk tweet:
"Falcon Heavy side boosters can use most of the same airframe as Falcon 9, but center core needs to be buffed up a lot for transfer loads"
"Falcon Heavy side boosters can use most of the same airframe as Falcon 9, but center core needs to be buffed up a lot for transfer loads"
Ben W
Chess Grandmaster (Supervised)
I wonder if it might be possible to connect the side cores directly to the 2nd stage (e.g. with load-bearing struts), to take some of the transfer loads off the center core? The advantage would be a lighter center core, perhaps allowing the same airframe for all three cores, and the struts themselves could detach at side-booster separation, so the center core wouldn't have to push the extra weight post-separation. (Also, less weight for the boostback/landing burns.)
Another idea: could the grid fins for the side cores be stowed inside the nose cap, to increase aerodynamic efficiency? I'm picturing the nose caps unfolding like flower petals and _becoming_ the grid fins, or at least becoming "flaps" to help the core decelerate as it reenters. Are the grid fins covered by fairings at launch to reduce drag?
I understand that the key to increased payload mass is the amount of fuel left in the center core at the moment of booster separation. And how to reach this without propellant cross feed.
If FH requires a modified center core, SpaceX could increase its fuel capacity right from the start. The limit is lift-off weight < initial thrust.
If FH requires a modified center core, SpaceX could increase its fuel capacity right from the start. The limit is lift-off weight < initial thrust.
glhs272
Unnamed plug faced villian
Demo flight November at LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now
You'll have to scroll down to see.
Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now
You'll have to scroll down to see.
Yes, near the bottom of that page it shows this:
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NovemberFalcon Heavy • Demo Flight
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch on its first demonstration flight. The heavy-lift rocket is formed of three Falcon 9 rocket cores strapped together with 27 Merlin 1D engines firing at liftoff. Delayed from 3rd Quarter of 2015 and April and September 2016. [March 16]
--------------------------------------------------------------
That will be awesome. No mention of any stage recovery attempts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
NovemberFalcon Heavy • Demo Flight
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch on its first demonstration flight. The heavy-lift rocket is formed of three Falcon 9 rocket cores strapped together with 27 Merlin 1D engines firing at liftoff. Delayed from 3rd Quarter of 2015 and April and September 2016. [March 16]
--------------------------------------------------------------
That will be awesome. No mention of any stage recovery attempts.
glhs272
Unnamed plug faced villian
Sorry I didn't post my source. Chris Bergin from Nasaspaceflight.com is usually pretty reliable.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy Discussion (Thread 4)
SpaceX Falcon Heavy Discussion (Thread 4)
I watched the Delta-4-Heavy launch of the NRO spysat the other day, and noticed that they also use the trick of full thrust on the outer cores while throttling the center core. Then they shed the outers and keep going with the center. I had thought it was SpaceX's idea, but I think D4H well predates them. Now I wonder whether the idea of crossfeed (sending fuel from the outer cores to the center one, which I don't think they are currently intending to do) was new to them or not?
physicsfita
Member
Sure does. Hydrazine is nasty stuff though.
Hydrazine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SpaceX will use hydrogen/hydrazine in the SuperDraco and Draco engines.
SuperDraco - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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