Falcon Heavy Assembly Underway

SpaceNut · 2018-02-03 20:12:38

post #114 but here it is again

"The launch window on Feb. 6 would run from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PT), with a backup window during the same hours on Feb. 7."

Which means I will be working and might only see the little dot from here if outside.....will need to look at the live feeds.....

elderflower · 2018-02-04 04:25:49

Teaninich, 1983. Very near to Tain, Oldfart.
I might just drink a bit of it if the thing lights up properly.
I might drink a bit if it doesn't!

Oldfart1939 · 2018-02-04 10:38:38

elderflower-

Oh, wow! That's an old VINTAGE Single Malt! Lift a dram for me, too!

elderflower · 2018-02-04 17:14:28

Yeah, I will do that Oldfart, and wish you long life and happiness.
My wife bought it for me. I would normally drink the Glenlivet from Dufftown, which is very nice and far less expensive.
Don't let Spacenut tell you we have gone off topic. This stuff is definitely rocket fuel!

GW Johnson · 2018-02-04 17:27:41

You're in a long tradition here. The V-2 was fueled with ethanol.

GW

Oldfart1939 · 2018-02-04 17:58:26

GW is correct; 95% EtOH. Plus LOX.

SpaceNut · 2018-02-04 20:34:35

All drinking aside it sure will be fine to light that cigar......

RobertDyck · 2018-02-04 23:52:43

Oldfart1939 wrote:

GW is correct; 95% EtOH. Plus LOX.

Oldfart1939 · 2018-02-05 00:27:40

OK, Robert; now all we need is the LOX!

elderflower · 2018-02-05 12:03:57

Didn't the V2s use peroxide for an oxidiser?

RobertDyck · 2018-02-05 12:41:42

Gunter's Space Page

Instead of a dummy mass, this flight contains Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster built in 2009 as a inert ballast and publicity stunt. The stage with the car attached is to be inserted into a deep space heliocentric orbit that will take it to the vicinity of Mars, but not into orbit around it. The car is mounted on an inclined customized adaptor and will likely not be seperated from the stage.
A SpaceX Spacesuit called "Starman" is placed into the driver's seat. Reportedly the car's sound system will play David Bowie's song "Space Oddity". There will also be a copy of Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in the glovebox, along with a towel and a sign saying "Don't Panic".
Two lattice frameworks on the payload adaptor mount video cameras pointing at the car.

elderflower · 2018-02-05 13:41:13

It seems V2 used peroxide only to drive the turbo pumps. Rocket oxidiser was indeed LOX.

GW Johnson · 2018-02-05 13:51:45

The V2 chamber/nozzle assembly burned slightly-wet ethanol and LOX. The turbopumps that fed it were powered by decomposition of high-strength hydrogen peroxide, not by any sort of chamber gas bleed, unlike most liquid engines today.

Sorry - looks like this is already an obsolete posting.

Germany made quite a bit of hydrogen peroxide during WW2. It was used for the V-2 turbopump power, and for the catapult rail launcher for the V-1 Buzz Bomb. Maybe one of the rocket-powered interceptor fighters, too, but I'm not sure about that off the top of my head.

That pretty much exhausted their production capacity. There wasn't enough to do a diesel submarine using peroxide instead of air while submerged, so the Type XXI U-boat was instead powered underwater by a 4 times larger battery, than the "regular" Type VII and Type IX U-boats.

This combination of big battery plus extreme streamlining is what conferred 4 times greater underwater speed and 2 times endurance underwater. This was the genesis of the USN GUPPY conversion program, and the new Tang-class boats, in the years after the war. USN also explored diesel/peroxide power in one experimental boat, but gave that up as too dangerous. A high test peroxide explosion nearly sank that boat.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2018-02-05 13:53:46)

elderflower · 2018-02-05 15:19:57

Always interesting, GW!

Oldfart1939 · 2018-02-05 16:27:19

The Me 163 was powered by hydrogen peroxide/hydrazine hydrate.

Oldfart1939 · 2018-02-05 18:18:10

The Falcon Heavy is now on the launch pad, erect and awaiting the fueling process.

RobertDyck · 2018-02-06 12:20:05

Live webcast on SpaceX at...
http://www.spacex.com/webcast

NASA TV will not cover the launch of Falcon Heavy, so check the above link.

Earlier this morning their website said launch at 1:30pm Eastern Time. Now they're saying 3:05 pm Eastern Time. It was only bumped back by an hour and a half, anyone know why?

Last edited by RobertDyck (2018-02-06 12:20:58)

Void · 2018-02-06 12:45:07

I read "High altitude winds".

RobertDyck · 2018-02-06 14:25:01

Live coverage has begun!

JoshNH4H · 2018-02-06 14:34:16

If any of you guys are interested, I'll be hanging out on IRC to watch the launch.

You can go to webchat.freenode.net, pick a nickname, and then type in "/join #newmars" and hit enter to join!

I'll also be on #space.

JoshNH4H · 2018-02-06 14:58:23

What a beautiful launch

Terraformer · 2018-02-06 15:03:24

Did they decontaminate the roadster? If it crashes, there may well be life on Mars...

Josh Cryer · 2018-02-06 15:06:31

Feels like my retirement plans are on track. Wonderful to watch history unfold like this. Seeing Starman and the Tesla backdrop against Earth my little Martian grandkids aren't going to believe it actually happened.

edit: Josh sorry couldn't catch you on IRC, watched on my phone.

elderflower · 2018-02-06 15:30:34

So I am drinking a bit of the single malt now. Your very good health Oldfart!
What a great result, despite Musk's attempts to manage expectations!

JoshNH4H · 2018-02-06 15:31:54

No problem Josh, great launch regardless. If you're ever on there drop me a line on email/facebook and I'll jump on.

I'm a bit unclear on where the Tesla is actually going. According to the SpaceX website, a FH's payload to Mars (Probably Mars Transfer Orbit?) is 16,800 kg, but a car doesn't weight nearly that much. If they're using the full payload capacity they could be sending it out of the solar system entirely.

Their animation seemed to imply that the tesla is on a Hohmann transfer orbit, but Mars won't actually be there when the Tesla arrives.

New Mars Forums

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#126 2018-02-03 20:12:38

Re: Falcon Heavy Assembly Underway

#127 2018-02-04 04:25:49

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#128 2018-02-04 10:38:38

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#129 2018-02-04 17:14:28

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