Rocket launches LIVE.

I remember at cape canaveral having my gaster absolutely flabbered at the sheer size of the boosters and solid fuel tank off the space shuttle. The shuttles are big enough but the size of the what propels them is mind blowing.

An interesting video on the computer hardware and software used by SpaceX. One of the reasons they can keep costs down.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/N5faA2MZ6jY[/video]

Well the BFR is a paper rocket no longer. Plans are to have the BFS, ( Big Falcon Ship), aka the upper stage, doing short test "hops" by next year. Very much like they began with Grasshopper. See video.
So it begins.



[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/orUjSkc2pG0[/video]

The speed of progress in space exploration is increasing at an amazing pace, very exciting times ahead.

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo[/video]

He is doing a space show at the moment on Discovery... Win a chance to become an Astronaut.... Cool Show...

LW....

Another successful Falcon 9 launch and 1st stage recovery this morning. A special mission to launch the NASA, TESS satellite. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, will search for planets similar to Earth. The first stage landed right on the bullseye on OCISLY.

Musk recently tweeted that Spacex would try bring an upper stage back from orbit using a Party Balloon. In a later tweet he added.... and land it on a jumpy castle. It might sound like a silly concept but inflatable heat shields and similar have been successfully tested in the past and are under development for different projects. Another wild and crazy scheme that I am sure they will give it their best shot.

I recieved a 3d printed Falcon Heavy today after I asked a guy to try make me one. The pic below is a half sized, first attempt. It needs a little sanding for imperfections and I will probably paint the appropriate parts. Plus it glows in the dark.

Love it! :Y:

That's awesome :Y:

Another awesome pic of the POWER from yesterday's launch. The in house built Merlin engine has the best power to weight ratio of any rocket engine ever built. Not bad considering Spacex was scoffed at ten years ago. In other engine related news, the new Raptor engines are even more powerful than predicted and it seems from many reports that this has led to an increase in length of the BFR as they can lift more weight than expected. This MAY make the BFR the tallest rocket ever built, eclipsing the Mighty Saturn V.

What I got from seeing an actual scale model of the FH is how tall and slim it really is. The first stage, the 2 side boosters and centre booster are 42.6 metres tall or about the height of a 14 story building. So that is a 14 story building just falling from about 100 kms up with 3 rocket burns to slow it to gently touch down on the landing site. Mind boggling. See video below.



[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/u0-pfzKbh2k[/video]

landings are near as good as the take offs.....both amazing to watch

madtuna said:

landings are near as good as the take offs.....both amazing to watch

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They nailed it today. BULLSEYE

I lost my Brother in law today... 8.( .... SpaceX was his fav...

... SpaceX and what they have accomplished in the last 5 years is just incredible and it was a pleasure watching the launch yesterday with Him... Showed him a few other vids( from this Forum) and We were on here All day....
Every time I see SpaceX and their BFR, I will think of Him...

R.I.P Allan...

LW....

LoneWolf we are all here in spirit with you.

Doug

Sorry for your loss LoneWolf.

Rod

Thanks Guys... :Y: He loved every-ones 'Posts' about Space and Drones and He made several of his own Drones...

So that's how We are sending Him off... by Drone...

LW.....

Sorry mate,

A Falcon 9 fairing paragliding back to earth after a trip to space.

You have been very quiet on the Rocket front lately Ramjet.... Lots of things have been happening....

LW....

LoneWolf said:

You have been very quiet on the Rocket front lately Ramjet.... Lots of things have been happening....

LW....

Click to expand...

Yes LW. I have been slack. Life gets in the way. Many exciting things happening with SpaceX and other space related companies. The most recent Falcon 9 launch was the first of the final upgrade... Block 5 or version 7 depending on what Elon says on any given day. This first Block 5 will be dissected to see if anything needs further upgrades. Also on the last launch they again tried to recover a fairing with Mr Steven but it missed by "tens of metres." They will get it eventually.

Other SpaceX news is that in 2029 they plan to relaunch a used first stage in 24 hours. Why? Proof of concept and learning techniques for future BFR point to point missions.

I will try to keep this topic more current.

OH the Chinese are planning to recover the first stage of the future Long March 8 rocket. Lots of cool news really.