YazataOct 9, 2024 10:03 PM (This post was last modified: Oct 9, 2024 10:06 PM by Yazata.)
Render by Ashley Killip (@ChromeKiwi) showing what the new much-redesigned second Orbital Launch Mount is expected to look like. Unlike the first, it will sit above a deep water-cooled Cape Canaveral style flame-trench, not up on tall legs. And it will be simpler, with the 20 raptor quick disconnects that the first OLM used to start the outer 20 raptor engines deleted. That will require major modifications to the version.2 boosters. It's unclear what those mods will look like, though I'm inclined to think that the high-pressure startup gas will still be supplied externally (and not from onboard COPVs that would add too much additional mass) and distributed to the engines through a new onboard manifold.
Bill Gerstenmaier, former NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate and now a SpaceX Vice President, says “We landed with half a centimeter accuracy in the ocean, so we think we have a reasonable chance to go back to the tower."
Half a centimeter??!! It suddenly becomes clear why they moved up the first tower catch attempt from Flight 6, where it had been penciled in, to Flight 5.
YazataOct 11, 2024 10:33 PM (This post was last modified: Oct 11, 2024 10:35 PM by Yazata.)
Ryan Hansen's deep dive engineering video into how SpaceX proposes to catch huge rocket boosters (the largest ever made) in midair with giant robot arms.
If everything goes according to plan, we should see all this happen in real life in a couple of days!