SpaceX News

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

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ltgbrown
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Re: SpaceX News

Post by ltgbrown »

Way to go SpaceX. Making access to space common place!
Famous last words, "Hey, watch this!"

paperburn1
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Re: SpaceX News

Post by paperburn1 »

now to get in line for my ticket to ride.
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.

ladajo
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Location: North East Coast

Re: SpaceX News

Post by ladajo »

First launch I haven't seen in a while. It is like NASCAR without wrecks. What fun is that?
In any event, they deserve the honors accorded for coming so far, and so fast.
I am excited to see further Falcon Heavy progress, as well as BFR. Being on the ground for a BFR boost will be SPECTACULAR.
I'll have to find and watch the video of this last launch.
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Skipjack
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Re: SpaceX News

Post by Skipjack »

Booooring launch today! Barely could see anything because it was dark and fogy.
Successful first stage landing, despite strong winds.
The fairing recovery did not work out because of the strong winds. The parachutes drifted too far off course, I guess. Hope they will have more success next time.

ladajo
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Location: North East Coast

Re: SpaceX News

Post by ladajo »

Dang! Missed it. On travel in DC. Been pretty busy. Had some great discussions with a former Senator of note as well as a former AF Chief of Staff. We even talked about space. :)
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

paperburn1
Posts: 2484
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:53 am
Location: Third rock from the sun.

Re: SpaceX News

Post by paperburn1 »

But did you bring up the polywell and stump for it?
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.

ladajo
Posts: 6258
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:18 pm
Location: North East Coast

Re: SpaceX News

Post by ladajo »

Little bit.
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Skipjack
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Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Re: SpaceX News

Post by Skipjack »

Yawn... again...

ladajo
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Location: North East Coast

Re: SpaceX News

Post by ladajo »

Oh... <yawn>... hey, it was the first Block V recycle. I wonder when the first "3rd Flight" will be?
Crew Dragon coming up soon. Then we can stop paying the Russians maybe. So friggin' sad
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

paperburn1
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:53 am
Location: Third rock from the sun.

Re: SpaceX News

Post by paperburn1 »

Especially since we can send up a Dragon fully crewed for what Russians charges for one crew member
this is an article that takes a shot right across the bow of the Nasa gravy boat
https://qz.com/1209330/spacexs-falcon-h ... -on-board/
The NSC does not know whether to shit or get off the pot.
Consider that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy was built to help realize Elon Musk’s dreams of a multi-planetary civilization. it is expected to be able to deliver some 70 tons to low-earth orbit, or less than 20 tons to Mars, while costing around $150 million per mission
According to the new NASA budget released last week, SLS will fly for the first time in 2020, capable of carrying some 77 tons to low earth orbit at a cost of about $1 billion a flight. The total costs of the program are tough to estimate but exceed $10 billion
SLS will be more powerful, but the Falcon Heavy is here now, and costs less.
Last edited by paperburn1 on Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.

Skipjack
Posts: 6805
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Re: SpaceX News

Post by Skipjack »

paperburn1 wrote:Especially since we can send up a Dragon fully crewed for what Russians charges for one crew member
this is an article that takes a shot right across the bow of the Nasa gravy boat
https://qz.com/1209330/spacexs-falcon-h ... -on-board/
The NSC does not know whether to shit or get off the pot.
Consider that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy was built to help realize Elon Musk’s dreams of a multi-planetary civilization. it is expected to be able to deliver some 70 tons to low-earth orbit, or less than 20 tons to Mars, while costing around $150 million per mission
According to the new NASA budget released last week, it will fly for the first time in 2020, capable of carrying some 77 tons to low earth orbit at a cost of about $1 billion a flight. The total costs of the program are tough to estimate but exceed $10 billion
SLS will be more powerful, but the Falcon Heavy is here now, and costs less.
You are confusing Falcon Heavy and BFR. Falcon Heavy already launched earlier this year and is not intended for Mars missions. The ship intended for Mars missions is the BFS (the reusable second stage of the BFR) and that has a payload to LEO of 150 tonnes. Plus it can be refueled in orbit in order to take the same amount of payload all the way to Mars. Launch cost for BFR is expected to be lower than for Falcon Heavy and even than for Falcon 9 at less than 5 million per launch. BFS will start doing suborbital test hops as early as next year and BFR is expected to have a first launch in 2020.

paperburn1
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Re: SpaceX News

Post by paperburn1 »

Article quote , not mine. but the heavy does have a clear defined role in the mars mission.
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.

Maui
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Location: Madison, WI

Re: SpaceX News

Post by Maui »

Red Dragon” was a thing up until recently— intended to deliver cargo to mars via F9 Heavy.

Skipjack
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Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Re: SpaceX News

Post by Skipjack »

paperburn1 wrote:Article quote , not mine. but the heavy does have a clear defined role in the mars mission.
Nope, the article is wrong. FH only had one potential Mars mission and that was Red Dragon, which has long been cancelled. Since then BFR has been the ship to do Mars. FH's main purpose now is to launch very heavy payloads to earth orbit, particularly for the DOD. SpaceX needs to have heavy capabilities in order to be a valid competitor in that market. Once BFR comes online FH will be retired and Falcon 9 will follow suit some time after that with BFR taking over the entire launch business for SpaceX. In a sense FH is a stopgap measure until BFR becomes available. F9 has some more value because of the many NASA contracts that are set on F9.

paperburn1
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:53 am
Location: Third rock from the sun.

Re: SpaceX News

Post by paperburn1 »

That does sound like a more reasonable launch model but I would not count the block five out for the next ten years minimum in the falcon and the heavy configurations.There are several near earth mission involving resupply and crew transport for the Mars and Moon missions that are on the books (postulated anyway) The company now has 6,000 employees, and just meeting that payroll and keeping facilities in California, Texas, Florida, and elsewhere operating probably costs on the order of $1 to $1.25 billion At a rate of $62 million per launch, it would take 20 launches a year just to cover these expenses.(not my figures but they sound reasonable) The only way to keep baby wearing new shoes is to keep the falcon series hot and active. This also explains many for the new upgrades that went into the block five. For one the welded octawab faster to produce and lighter but the bolt on allows better ability to reconfigure for different missions. The tyranny of the rocket equation means to go for a heavier design there must be a cost saving of a factor in the production / inspection cycle. The Titanium grid fins for unlimited re-uses is another good example.
while I want to see the BFR out there and flying the truth of the matter is right at this moment it is not needed, but as soon as the SLS is a "go for flight" the BFR has a mission at 1/4 the cost per launch to nasa.
No matter how many friends of NASA exist in congress the bean counters will force the way to commercialisation and once the monarchy of to the moon nasa administration dies out or is replaced they will realise that they can do so much more science on their budget if they just get out of the rocket business
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.

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