Reusing Boosters: Launch, Land, and Re-Launch

[Cosmacelf]

Of all Elon's companies, SpaceX must be one of the least seat of the pants, at least for operational launches, not R&D. Maybe Neuralink is more buttoned up. Elon is right when he says his companies operate in the most regulated environments.

 

[mongo]

1058 will not get a 20th flight...
Fell over in rough seas.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739458499334045809

 

[JB47394]

1058 will not get a 20th flight...

This is where we have Death showing up to take away 1058 and it asking if it was a good booster.

 

[ecarfan]

1058 will not get a 20th flight...
Fell over in rough seas.

I thought the Octograbber was supposed to prevent that from occurring. Must have been extremely rough!

 

[MyJoule]

Loosing 1058 isis like loosing an old friend Sort of sad..

 

[mongo]

More details on 1058

Super disappointing and sad to lose booster 1058.
Tippy boosters occur when you get a certain set of landing conditions that lead to the legs having uneven loading. Heavy wind or sea state then cause the booster to teeter and slide which can lead to even worse leg loading. In this state, securing with the OG is super challenging and often only partial successful
We came up with self leveling legs that immediately equalize leg loads on landing after experiencing a severe tippy booster two years ago on Christmas (first flight of 1069). The fleet is mostly outfitted, but 1058, given its age, was not. It met its fate when it hit intense wind and waves resulting in failure of a partially secured OG less than 100 miles from home.
One thing is for sure… we will make lemonade out of lemons and learn as much as possible from historic 1058 on our path to aircraft like operations.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739640175183945860

 

[Cosmacelf]

I like how they keep innovating and upgrading the new Falcon booster fleet. SpaceX (like Tesla) doesn't just replicate "good enough", they keep upgrading.

 

[mongo]

Still on the ship

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739661561638072389

 

[Nikxice]

Glass is still half-full. Despite a couple of tippy towed boosters, SpaceX's streak of successful landings continues unabated. Could reach 200 by next April!

 

[mongo]

It has been de-wormed...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739679232240799985

 

[Grendal]

As can be seen in the pictures, the octograbber was trying to hold the booster down. It still failed. The ocean must have been really bad.

 

[ICUDoc]

GPS co-ordinates for the grid fins, please?
Asking for a friend.

 

[JB47394]

As can be seen in the pictures, the octograbber was trying to hold the booster down. It still failed. The ocean must have been really bad.

@mongo posted above that it was a combination of the octograbber not getting a complete purchase on the booster and the rough weather.

But, hey, now they have nine engines to experiment with.

GPS co-ordinates for the grid fins, please?

They said they lost it 100 miles from port, so that's probably due east 100 miles. The ocean is around 2500 feet deep there. Don't forget your submersible.

 

[JB47394]

NASASpaceFlight retrospective of booster 1058.

My only problem with this video is that they give a count of the number of payloads. I want to know tonnage, not whether they sent up 10,000 marbles or 1 space station.

 

[ecarfan]

But, hey, now they have nine engines to experiment with.

I hope one of those Merlins is preserved and put on display at SpaceX in Hawthorne.

 

[MyJoule]

NASASpaceFlight retrospective of booster 1058.

My only problem with this video is that they give a count of the number of payloads. I want to know tonnage, not whether they sent up 10,000 marbles or 1 space station.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739458499334045809

260+ Metric Tons according to SpaceX's X posting

 

[scaesare]

More details on 1058

https://twitter.com/x/status/1739640175183945860

I wonder how many of these continuous improvement changes we never hear about? (or only so after an event like this)

Elon said at Tesla they at one point were making something like dozens of engineering changes per week, not waiting for "model years". Even though we have booster and ship "versions", I'd bet there's new stuff being implemented all the time....

 

[scaesare]

 

[adiggs]

View attachment 1003492

1058 needs a funeral.

Or a museum - the production proof that non-trivial quantities of re-use getting into space is indeed possible.

 

[scaesare]

1058 needs a funeral.

Or a museum - the production proof that non-trivial quantities of re-use getting into space is indeed possible.

Yeah... Unfortunately, as @mongo's post shows above, half of it is gone..., but even that half would be weirdly cool on display for a company pushing the envelope this hard...