glhs837
Power with Control
Mechanical engineering geekery ahead. Be warned.
So, SpaceX is building as many as six prototypes for it's next generation heavy lifter, spread between two sites, each are building three in a competitive/cooperative/iterative process. MKs 1,3,and 6 are being built in Boca Chica Texas and will launch and land there, while 2,4,6 are being built, for now anyway, in a metal fabrication yard they bought about 6 miles south of Kennedy space Center. MK1, which has a simply 20KM altitude flight profile, will go up and enter a horizontal free fall like a skydiver. Then propulsively right itself and land vertically. The later Marks will expand on this until MKs 5 and 6 potentially return from orbit this way.
Here's the thing, landing legs MATTER. A lot. The existing ones they have used for years now to land Falcons I think 40 something times wont do, so here;s the MK-1s landing legs up close. Six of them equally spaced, nobody is quite sure how they are extending them, but the method of braking them appears to be the eight metal bands passing through linear brakes, four bands on each side of each leg. Very rough build, keeping mind this is the first one, with a high expectation of not surviving it's test series, so fidelity less important than learning at this point. Fly/fail/fix/fly in rapid succession is the plan. So, my mechanically/engineering minded folks take a gander. Nice thing about them building these out in the open air next to a public highway is that we are treated to every step in the process.
https://www.teslarati.com/wp-conten...819-NASASpaceflight-bocachicagal-2-crop-c.jpg
So, SpaceX is building as many as six prototypes for it's next generation heavy lifter, spread between two sites, each are building three in a competitive/cooperative/iterative process. MKs 1,3,and 6 are being built in Boca Chica Texas and will launch and land there, while 2,4,6 are being built, for now anyway, in a metal fabrication yard they bought about 6 miles south of Kennedy space Center. MK1, which has a simply 20KM altitude flight profile, will go up and enter a horizontal free fall like a skydiver. Then propulsively right itself and land vertically. The later Marks will expand on this until MKs 5 and 6 potentially return from orbit this way.
Here's the thing, landing legs MATTER. A lot. The existing ones they have used for years now to land Falcons I think 40 something times wont do, so here;s the MK-1s landing legs up close. Six of them equally spaced, nobody is quite sure how they are extending them, but the method of braking them appears to be the eight metal bands passing through linear brakes, four bands on each side of each leg. Very rough build, keeping mind this is the first one, with a high expectation of not surviving it's test series, so fidelity less important than learning at this point. Fly/fail/fix/fly in rapid succession is the plan. So, my mechanically/engineering minded folks take a gander. Nice thing about them building these out in the open air next to a public highway is that we are treated to every step in the process.
https://www.teslarati.com/wp-conten...819-NASASpaceflight-bocachicagal-2-crop-c.jpg