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SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket Updates 2: artists on Moon mission

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  • SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket Updates 2: artists on Moon mission

    SpaceX cancelled their Crew Dragon mission to take a paying passenger aeround the Moon due to issues with certifying propulsive landing with NASA. It was assumed this mission would still fly, but on the BFR/BFS vehicles.

    This assumption was correct. More on that in a minute.

    BFS v-2018 starts hop, jump and sub-orbital test flights in H2 2019 at their South Texas Launch Center near Brownsville, Texas.

    SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell,

    "There are some synergies between [SpaceX and Tesla]. We use Tesla batteries in our technology. We gave Tesla our enterprise information system. I think the first cars on Mars will be Teslas. I also think that we'll be Boring tunnels on Mars to live in."

    [The Mars "Teslas" will likely be derivations of their upcoming Pickup truck which is expected to be a Class 6 - similar to a Ford F-650 commercial pickup]

    "BFR will allow incredible flexibility. Could be used to retrieve a satellite in it's payload bay. BFR will allow people to work and live in space, and deploy technology that could not be previously. Will have an 8.5m diameter payload bay, which is Big... Big."

    "The flexibility that BFR offers will change how we do everything in space."

    "BFR has the capability to open its payload bay, bring a satellite back in, close it, pressurize it, work on it, and redeploy it."

    "BFR will basically allow people to work and live in space."

    Re: the Raptor full-flow staged combustion engine which burns super-chilled liquid methane and liquid oxygen,

    * most of the difficulty of designing and building Raptor is already behind SpaceX

    * now building flight-grade Raptor hardware

    * Raptor is twice as powerful and dramatically more efficient than Merlin 1D

    And here.we.go....

    https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1040397262248005632

    @SpaceX
    SpaceX has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehiclean important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space. Find out who's flying and why on Monday, September 17.

    Full size image (3840)...



    BFS closeup


    Impressions,

    BFS now appears to have a different engine cluster, 1 center and 6 circumferential, and a vertical tail. This new tail, plus larger horizontal fins, would allow BFS to land on its fins like a 1950's sci-fi rocket. The landing pads appear to be on exendable, self-leveling, legs in pods at the fin tips. Also a wider stance and more ground clearance.

    Passenger and a BFR/BFS hardware update will be webcast Monday evening; 2100 Eastern, 0100 UT. We'll see then if my guesses are close.

    Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 14 September 2018, 03:18.
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

  • #2
    Another impression,

    What appear to be movable petals around the engine cluster may be a form of altitude-compensating nozzle, treating the cluster like a single plume. This would allow using one type of engine instead of both sea level (expansion ratio 40) and vacuum rated (expansion ratio 200) engines. Either all ER200's or perhaps ER150's?
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

    Comment


    • #3


      John Koetsier ✔ @johnkoetsier
      ⁦@elonmusk⁩ is building a spaceship that's so ambitious, some experts call it 'science fiction.' Here's what SpaceX and its engineers are up against.#space #SpaceX https://www.businessinsider.com/spac...issions-2018-9

      https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1041482806600204294

      Elon Musk ✔ @elonmusk
      Design has been changed so the <ship> lands on legs that extend from the tips of the three fins, two of which actuate (mostly for pitch control)
      8:23 PM - Sep 16, 2018
      Dr. Mordrid
      ----------------------------
      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

      Comment


      • #4
        Current best guess

        Dr. Mordrid
        ----------------------------
        An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

        I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

        Comment


        • #5
          It's Buzz Aldrin. It's always Buzz Aldrin, except when it's Jeff Goldblum.

          (Or Buzz Aldrin's ashes, God forbid.)

          Comment


          • #6
            Because of Elon's Japanese flag tweet when asked "who?", billionaire and space tourist candidate for Soyuz (but it never happened) Yusaku Maezawa's name came up as the customer.

            From his account,

            @Yusaku Maezawa 前澤友作 Aug 31
            I will start tweets not only in Japanese but also in English from today.
            |
            @Yusaku Maezawa 前澤友作 Sep 1
            Big announcement here soon. Please follow me and stay tuned!!!
            |
            [asked "when?"]
            |
            @Yusaku Maezawa 前澤友作 Sep 1
            about mid September
            Dr. Mordrid
            ----------------------------
            An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

            I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

            Comment


            • #7
              Ahead of tonight's update webcast and circumlunar passenger announcement,







              Conor McDonnell ✔ @ConorMcDPhoto
              Replying to @elonmusk
              Is it supposed to look like a shark? Because if that was planned thats pretty bad ass
              |
              Elon Musk ✔ @elonmusk
              With lasers
              2:42 AM - Sep 17, 2018
              Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 16 September 2018, 23:53.
              Dr. Mordrid
              ----------------------------
              An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

              I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

              Comment


              • #8
                Whoa....and this is SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who isn't prone to use Elon Time

                Jackie Wattles ✔ @jackiewattles
                Gwynne Shotwell: Hope to be flying BFR hop tests next year (reiterating Elon), and first orbital flight in 2020.
                |
                Jackie Wattles ✔ @jackiewattles
                Moon and Mars by 2022
                ...so basically we have a very ambitious timeline on our hands...
                4:01 PM - Sep 17, 2018
                Dr. Mordrid
                ----------------------------
                An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                Comment


                • #9
                  Cargo bins around the engine bay perimeter were a surprise, but they're also very sensible.

                  Pressurized Volume: 825 m3 --> 1,100 m3 (ISS = 916m3)

                  Stack: 106 m --> 118 m

                  BFS: 48 m --> 55 m

                  2 landing legs which act as aerosurfaces

                  Canards

                  2-4 engines out (?!?)

                  Tank barrel section made, domes and engine bay coming.

                  Shotwell said production Raptor parts are being made.

                  They're off to a helluva start.
                  Dr. Mordrid
                  ----------------------------
                  An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                  I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    When Musk talks about a "200 ton" engine that's about 1,993 kN or 448,000 lbf, giving the BFS ship a total thrust of 13,950 kN or 3.136 mlbf.

                    That's ~63% of the thrust of of a Falcon Heavy in an upper stage/spacecraft. And, it can be greatly upgraded by swapping in more vacuum optimized engines.

                    Edited video Just a short tech stuff, an EDL(entry, descent & landing) wireframe animation, and the passenger intro.

                    The animation is playing at about 10x reality until the landing.

                    Dr. Mordrid
                    ----------------------------
                    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Astronaut Scott Kelly may want in,

                      https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/...35279152984064

                      Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly
                      Yusaku Maezawa (@yousuck2020), this will be a great adventure! Good luck on your trip and if you need someone with a little experience to go with you, my schedule is wide open in 2023.
                      +ReTweet
                      SpaceX ✔ @SpaceX
                      The first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard BFR is fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa.
                      8:59 AM - Sep 18, 2018
                      Dr. Mordrid
                      ----------------------------
                      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Yusaku Maezawa be will be paying for several artists to go with him, creating art there and after they return.

                        We may have our first artist-crewmember applicant; dancer-violinist Lindsey Stirling





                        Wonder if she's available?

                        Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 18 September 2018, 23:18.
                        Dr. Mordrid
                        ----------------------------
                        An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                        I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                        Comment

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