SpaceX | Space Exploration Technologies Corporation

[Ionut]

Elon pe Twitter
Starship test vehicle under assembly will look similar to this illustration when finished. Operational Starships would obv have windows, etc.





Elon Musk teases final look of SpaceX's Starship test vehicle

It's no secret that SpaceX has been constructing its Starship test vehicle -- it's easy for curious onlookers to snap photos. But what will it look like when it's finished? You don't have to wonder. Elon Musk has posted concept artwork showing what the completed vehicle will look like. It's surprisingly pretty for a prototype, if borrowing more than a few cues from 1950s sci-fi with its gleaming stainless steel body. The test mule will be 30 feet across like the completed Starship, but it'll be shorter and will unsurprisingly go without windows. It's intended to fly suborbital 'Grasshopper' flights and prove that the basic formula is sound before moving on to orbital missions in 2020.

You might not have to wait long to see how well the concept lines up with reality. SpaceX currently expects to fly the test craft sometime in March or April, or about half a year earlier than first thought. While you'll still have to be patient before you have a glimpse at the finished Starship, this is a good a sign as any that SpaceX's plans are solidifying.

Engadget

[kitsune]

Fantastic ce mult seamănă cu SF-urile din anii '60-'70 (Science Fiction, nu Studii de Fezabilitate )

[Ionut]

Sunt curios dacă inoxul e doar pentru show sau chiar vor alege materialul asta pentru racheta reală.

[kitsune]

This is a special full-hardness steel alloy mentioned as being among the 300 series of high-strength, heat-resistant alloys — not the plentiful, pliable stuff we all have in our kitchens and buildings. Musk also mentioned another "superalloy" called SX500 that SpaceX's metallurgists have developed for use in the Raptor engines that will power the vehicle.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/26/spacexs-starship-goes-sci-fi-shiny-with-stainless-steel-skin/

[Ionut]

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX cuts one tenth of workforce

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX will reduce its workforce by about 10% of the company's more than 6,000 employees. The company said it will "part ways" with some of its manpower, citing "extraordinarily difficult challenges ahead". "To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company. Either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organisations," a spokesman said in an email.

In June, Elon Musk fired at least seven people in the senior management team leading a SpaceX satellite launch project, it was reported in November. The firings were related to disagreements over the pace at which the team was developing and testing its Starlink satellites. In June, Elon Musk fired at least seven people in the senior management team leading a SpaceX satellite launch project, it was reported in November. The firings were related to disagreements over the pace at which the team was developing and testing its Starlink satellites.

The Guardian

[Ionut]

Tot mai aproape. E vorba de zborul de test al Falcon 9 cu Dragon Crew. Fara oameni acum, doar zbor de test.



NASA a aprobat primul zborul test al unei rachete SpaceX către Staţia Spaţială Internaţională

NASA a aprobat primul zbor test al unei rachete fără echipaj uman a SpaceX, companie deţinută de miliardarul Elon Mosk, către Staţia Spaţială Internaţională, care este programat să aibă loc pe 2 martie, transmite Reuters. Racheta va transporta în premieră o nouă capsulă destinată echipajelor umane.

News.ro

[Ionut]

^ Sambata! Cam asa arata pe interior. Vreau si eu!!!

[rota]

SpaceX Launches Historic Crew Dragon Test Flight to Space Station for NASA



SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule embarked on its first test mission to the International Space Station early this morning (March 2), launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) here on the Space Coast.

Nobody is aboard Crew Dragon on this six-day flight, known as Demo-1, save a sensor-laden dummy astronaut named Ripley in an apparent nod to the sci-fi film "Alien."  But if all goes according to plan with Demo-1 and a subsequent emergency-escape test, SpaceX will use the capsule to ferry two astronauts to the orbiting lab as early as this July.

That milestone will be huge: Astronauts haven't launched to orbit from American soil since NASA grounded its space shuttle fleet in July 2011. Ever since then, the nation has been dependent on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station — at a cost, most recently, of about $80 million per seat.

Space

[l3x]

Ok, Crew Dragon este cuplata la ISS, pana acum totul a mers perfect.
Mai ramane un singur hop: revenirea pe Terra, Vineri. Sper sa le iasa bine si asta, vorbim de un scut termic cu forma geometrica diferita si de parasute noi.

In continuare, ei spera sa foloseasca capsula asta pentru un test launch-abort in timpul zborului undeva in urmatoarele doua luni (lanseaza pe bune o racheta si decupleaza capsula in timpul zborului pentru a simula o situatie catastrofica dupa lansare). Daca si aici merge totul bine, probabil vor zbura cu echipaj undeva vara tarziu sau toamna devreme (cu o capsula noua).

[Ionut]

O sa fie spectaculos acest launch abort test din urmatoarele doua luni. De precizat, pentru cei care nu stiu, ca au facut deja acest test de decuplare de la racheta a capsulei Dragon Crew, insa DOAR de pe launch pad. Nu au facut pana acum in zbor, full flight mode, cu racheta. Abia astept, va fi o premiera ABSOLUTA. Falcon 9 cu Crew Dragon este primul vehicul din toate timpurile care implementeaza un asemenea sistem de launch abort. Este echivalentul inventiei scaunului ejectabil pentru avioanele de lupta. Cam asta este acest feature al Crew Dragon pentru racheta.

[Vladul]

O sa fie spectaculos cu siguranta. Dar si rachetele din programul Apollo si Soyuz aveau sisteme de a scapa in cazul unor probleme in timpul lansarii.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_escape_system

Modulul deja conectat la ISS cand reintra in atmosfera? Stie cineva?

[l3x]

Cum spuneam mai sus, vineri se intoarce.

Testul de launch-abort depinde de capsula asta. Evident, trebuie sa se intoarca intai "intr-o singura bucata"

[adiarc]

concurenta e buna...poate ii mai atrag odata pe rusi ( si chinezi ) ,in cursa spatiala.....si poate macar unii din ei sa falimenteze

[l3x]

Splashdown. La prima vedere totul a parut in regula ...

[TibiV]

Esti prea "ermetic"....

Sa ii lasam si pe altii sa vada....
https://science.hotnews.ro/stiri-spatiul-23017256-video-capsula-dragon-spacex-amerizat-succes-oceanul-atlantic.htm