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SES-10 Mission

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Re: SES-10 Mission

#251

Post by hyperpallium »

JshWright wrote: post #164
SEJeff wrote: post #53

I can't wait until I have a talk with my kids when they realize the significance of this day: Kid: Daddy, ou mean when you were growing up, they threw away rockets each time? Me: Yes Kid: Doesn't that make them expensive? Me: Yes. And then not long after will be the other talk: Kid: Daddy, you mean people used to be in charge of driving themselves in cars? Me: Yes Kid: Did people ever die? Me: Millions Good job Elon…

>I can't wait until I have a talk with my kids when they realize the significance of this day https://goo.gl/photos/7rT5rxvsP9AxVZxn6 My four year old daughter, watching the launch with rapt attention. When we watched the Echostar 23 launch two weeks ago, she asked why it didn't land... Crazy that rockets landing is already totally normal for her.

As a child, I thought it was weird that spaceships didn't land... supported by science fiction covers showing them landing. e.g. Tintin https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/The_Adventure...

I mean, a regular ship doesn't discard part of itself to set sail... as a child, I didn't understand the need for multi-stage rockets.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#252

Post by Cogito »

vermontdevil wrote: post #170
themgt wrote: post #11

It looked like one of the grid fins got toasted. Will they still be able to stick the landing? fingers crossed edit: and they did it! I was pessimistic for a minute there!

Musk has said SpaceX is working to replace the material with titanium and a new redesign.

Specifically, in the post launch press event, he mentioned titanium cast grid fins a number of times.

The video I saw [1] didn't have great audio and I was in transit while watching, but I believe he also said something about how it would be the largest single titanium cast in production.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3LQFpuzqs

Re: SES-10 Mission

#253

Post by baq »

derekp7 wrote: post #225
Coincoin wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always happen right after you can barely see the fire reflecting on the barge. The vibrations from the rocket screws with the satellite connection. We don't have the technology yet to have internet in the middle of the ocean without satellites.

Why not have a small secondary ship parked about a mile away, that can act as a satellite relay? Should be able to maintain a good link over that small distance.

Ultimately they're a space launch company, not a TV channel :)

Re: SES-10 Mission

#254

Post by nojvek »

boznz wrote: post #227
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moon landings were pretty awesome in their own way, but at the end of the day, with the way they were done, it was basically a stunt. It was a pissing contest between the superpowers. That doesn't mean there's less merit in that. In fact, what they did in the '60s was a heck of a lot harder, achieving so much with less tech, and hewing a new path through a virgin jungle. It simply means - and explains why - tho…

Just need a pissing contest between SpaceX and Blue Origin now and everyone will benefit

Blue origin isn't even in the same league. Their rockets go straight up, stay there for a bit and down again. Spacex achieves magnitudes higher velocity, altitude and actually delivers things to orbit.

BlueOrigin is Bezos' pet project akin to taking a heli tour around the city while SpaceX is doing a transcontinental flight half way around the world.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#255

Post by rimliu »

SEJeff wrote: post #53

I can't wait until I have a talk with my kids when they realize the significance of this day: Kid: Daddy, ou mean when you were growing up, they threw away rockets each time? Me: Yes Kid: Doesn't that make them expensive? Me: Yes. And then not long after will be the other talk: Kid: Daddy, you mean people used to be in charge of driving themselves in cars? Me: Yes Kid: Did people ever die? Me: Millions Good job Elon…

> Kid: Daddy, you mean people used to be in charge of driving > themselves in cars?

A few generations will pass till this question will be asked. There might be self-driving cars sooner than that, but it will be a looooong time till manual driving is a very rare thing.

Also, why wait for fully self-driving cars to prevent fatalities? Why not to implement collision-avoidance subsystem into the cars which are controlled by humans. In any case, most deaths on the road are because of stupid and deliberate actions by drivers (or pedestrians): insane speeding, overtaking where is limited visibility, crossing on red, etc.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#256

Post by CydeWeys »

derekp7 wrote: post #225
Coincoin wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always happen right after you can barely see the fire reflecting on the barge. The vibrations from the rocket screws with the satellite connection. We don't have the technology yet to have internet in the middle of the ocean without satellites.

Why not have a small secondary ship parked about a mile away, that can act as a satellite relay? Should be able to maintain a good link over that small distance.

That's adding a lot of extra cost just to keep a live feed for going for the missing ~15 seconds around the landing.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#257

Post by ColanR »

jacquesm wrote: post #156
jccooper wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bezos's Blue Origin is on track to have a very similar system in a few years, and perhaps even better eventually with the possibility of a reusable second stage. ULA still has plenty of contracts and could compete if its parent companies wanted to spend the money to do so. Arianespace is vaguely commercial, is currently cost-competitive, and could also choose to develop a reusable vehicle, if its parent companies/cou…

> Bezos's Blue Origin is on track to have a very similar system in a few years That's on paper, not anything they've flown has come close to what SpaceX is demonstrating as a matter of some routine now. (1) never been to orbit (2) never been to orbit and then back down to a landing (3) 6 flights vs 33 (4) payload At this point in time Blue Origin to me looks like a slightly more serious version of Armadillo Aerospace…

As far as I can tell, Blue Origin is taking their time to ensure the reliability and re-usability of their rockets before they take a shot at reaching orbit. Different strategy that's way less flashy, but I think they end up with a better track record and and a more clearly proven reliability (compared to SpaceX).

Re: SES-10 Mission

#258

Post by erikpukinskis »

doikor wrote: post #248
erikpukinskis wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit disappointing to me that poverty, human trafficking, addiction, habitat destruxtion, cultural erasure, genocide, torture, extinction, etc aren't very powerful motivators for such people. I feel such pressure to use our new skills to solve these problems, but I know 10 years ago they were a combination of invisible/impossible to me. If I hadn't been aggressively pushed by smart feminists to examine my life…

Everything today is better then yesterday and tomorrow everything will be better then today (on average on a global a scale for all the issues you pointed out). Progress is being made all the time. But the news/media mostly just reports the failings/problems/issues (sells better) so it feels like everything is getting worse. (There are some looming issues on the horizon like climate change etc. which might change thi…

My morality doesn't work in terms of averages. "Better on average" doesn't equate to "good enough" to me. It's a way for people to make themselves feel better about doing violence. I am responsible for countless murders due to living a normal American lifestyle. The fact that previous Americans were responsible for a higher number of murders doesn't make that go away.

There are quite possibly more slaves today than there have ever been. The fact that there are more non-slaves too doesn't cancel that out for me.

We are the first generation with the information processing tools to cut these problems down by orders of magnitude in a couple decades. The faster we do the more lives will be saved. If we make the same incremental improvements our parents generation did, we will have failed.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#259

Post by PhasmaFelis »

sqeaky wrote: post #192
afterburner wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recycling a rocket isn't anywhere near as interesting as building the first rocket. Rockets are oooold technology; the rest is automated control systems, whose most interesting breakthroughs came when enabling oddities like stealth planes to fly when they should tumble out of the sky under purely human control. In short, this is more an iteration than a breakthrough. Not to take away from the effort of course.

It is an iteration than it seems many experts thought impossible. For everyone else's benefit the F-117 was that stealth airplane, it was like trying to fly bricks in the shape of an airplane and needed constant computer adjustments because it wasn't very aerodynamically stable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk

I always wondered why the F-117 looked like a low-poly CG model. It turns out that's because it was: shaping a stealth airframe takes a hell of a lot of math, and the computers available could only handle it for a small number of flat surfaces.

Re: SES-10 Mission

#260

Post by PhasmaFelis »

qaq wrote: post #222
kilroy123 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't think they'll _have_ the chance to enjoy the margins. There will likely be a lot more competition in the future. The Chinese, Russians, Indians, blue origin, vector space systems, and United Launch Alliance finally getting their shit together, trying to do a redesign to better compete.

Russians no chance the degree of corruption makes any serious project a guaranteed failure

You're underestimating Russia ridiculously.
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