Could someone please explain the "no cigar"?
It's from a time when it was common to offer cigars as rewards for playing carnival games. If you missed the target or milk can or whatever, "close, but no cigar!".
thank you all!
SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
51–60 of 279 posts
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#52I still don't understand how hydraulic fuel is used in this case and how lack of it caused this failed landing.
As I understand it, there are fins that deploy in order to steer the rocket on the way back down (the first stage). They are really cool "Grid Fins" [1] that work even in supersonic flight. In particular, they are used to prevent the rocket from spinning, and to keep the rocket upright.
The rocket can also steer by "gimbaling" the motor (pointing it in different directions), but that has limitations; changing the rocket's orientation will also change its velocity (like balancing a broom on your hand).
In this case, the hydraulic fluid is used to rotate the grid fins and therefore keep the rocket upright. When the fluid ran out, the fins wouldn't work, which is why the rocket comes down tilted.
Hope that helps!
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#53I still don't understand how hydraulic fuel is used in this case and how lack of it caused this failed landing.
You have two methods of putting hydraulic fluid into a system: closed and open. Closed systems require a pressure system to keep the pressure up, open ones use a pressurized hydraulic that is expended. The open system was used in this situation to reduce the weight necessary to run a closed system.
The hydraulic liquids were used to adjust the fins seen in the video on this page: http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-problem-falcon9-crash-...
Elon Musk replied that the team had underestimated the amount necessary by 10%.
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#54Wow, what an amazing feat to come this close. To think just ~100 years ago humans took flight for the first time. Now we are able to launch a rocket in orbit, then fly the first stage to land on a small platform floating in the middle of the ocean.
> Now we are able to launch a rocket in orbit, then fly the first stage to land on a small platform floating in the middle of the ocean. You know we landed on the moon, right? I mean, this is cool, but from a sheer "fascinating achievement" standpoint, this is at least a few notches behind that.
The engineer's perpetual irritation: Your most impressive achievement never has as much sex appeal as you'd hope.
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#55Looks like it did not come down vertically but at a slant, but they got the positioning better than I thought they would on this try. One thing to note is that it is from now on officially a very bad idea to piss off Elon Musk if he knows where you live, being able to hit stuff with this kind of accuracy using rockets from space is normally enough to get you placed on the 'axis of evil' list. Incredible precision.
Cheaper to use drones / cruise missiles / HE carried by a flock of small robot helicoptors; many simpler schemes that are less traceable, unless developing a reputation is your intent. There are uncountable ways to kill people without needing to invoke Hollywood class exotica.
[NB: I thought about not posting this, because people who are paid to not have a sense of humor about these things almost certainly read HN, but fuck that, screw "chilling of speech"]
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#56Could someone please explain the "no cigar"?
It's from a time when it was common to offer cigars as rewards for playing carnival games. If you missed the target or milk can or whatever, "close, but no cigar!".
I have watched A Few Good Men to guess what it means . I forgot what it meant though.
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
You joke but a future were corporations control ICBMs to their advantage is a realistic worry.
I'm trying, but not succeeding, to imagine a non-fiction situation where a corporation has any business advantage in owning and/or controlling an ICBM. Can you expand on your comment? What would a corporation do with this, other than to perhaps implement same day delivery of packages around the globe?
ICBM Delivery service? sign me up
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#58I still don't understand how hydraulic fuel is used in this case and how lack of it caused this failed landing.
The hydraulic oil is not used as a 'fuel' to burn but to control the actuators for the grid fins. So if you lose control because you run out of hydraulic oil the last bit of the descent will be uncontrolled. So they almost made it with enough hydraulic oil, which means that next time the grid fins will work all the way down, which leaves a ton of other possibilities for mishap (too high a descent rate, rogue waves, b…
Open loop is lighter than closed. No need for a closed loop if you have a set time of operation. I thought I heard they were also pumping the fuel through the system as well so I imagine this amounts to just a bit more propellant and another go.
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#59Looks like it did not come down vertically but at a slant, but they got the positioning better than I thought they would on this try. One thing to note is that it is from now on officially a very bad idea to piss off Elon Musk if he knows where you live, being able to hit stuff with this kind of accuracy using rockets from space is normally enough to get you placed on the 'axis of evil' list. Incredible precision.
Cheaper to use drones / cruise missiles / HE carried by a flock of small robot helicoptors; many simpler schemes that are less traceable, unless developing a reputation is your intent. There are uncountable ways to kill people without needing to invoke Hollywood class exotica. [NB: I thought about not posting this, because people who are paid to not have a sense of humor about these things almost certainly read HN, b…
Hard to make any of those work across intercontinental differences. Drones, cruise missiles and small robot helicopters need to be launched from a location relatively close to the target.
Re: SpaceX: “Close, but no cigar. This time”
#60love that they're trying something new and exciting.. you're gonna fail when you're going for it.. but at least someones going for it. looking forward to hyper loop.
Elon Musk is the Tesla and Steve Jobs of our generation.
Wouldn't compare him to Steve Jobs. Musk is actually a philanthropist.