SpaceX puts historic flown rocket on permanent display - Polidicks

[QUOTE]Crews outside the SpaceX’s headquarters in Southern California on Saturday positioned the booster that stuck the first Falcon 9 rocket landing for vertical display, and now the launcher is an unmistakable Space Age trophy visible to passersby on nearby streets and freeways. Workers put the rocket near the southeast corner of SpaceX headquarters at the intersection of Crenshaw Blvd. and Jack Northrop Ave. in Hawthorne, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The 156-foot-tall (47-meter) rocket stage landed at Cape Canaveral after a Dec. 21 launch with 11 Orbcomm communications satellites. It was the first launcher stage SpaceX recovered after years of effort, during which the company switched from a plan to retrieve rockets with parachutes to an outside-the-box scheme involving multiple engine restarts, landing legs, and precision landing algorithms. [/QUOTE] [URL="http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/20/spacex-puts-historic-flown-rocket-on-permanent-display/"]Source[/URL] (lots of pictures of the setup) [thumb]http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SPACEX-F9-LIFT20.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SPACEX-F9-LIFT17.jpg[/thumb] For those that might not remember this particular rocket: [video=youtube;ANv5UfZsvZQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANv5UfZsvZQ[/video]

That's one cool as fuck monument

I'm just so amazed that those tiny thrusters managed to not only launch but also flawlessly land that enormous metal tube. I mean the forces involved, it boggles my mind. It's so awesome.

No matter how many times I watch that video -- I still get chills.

[QUOTE=Coyoteze;50923606]I'm just so amazed that those tiny thrusters managed to not only launch but also flawlessly land that enormous metal tube. I mean the forces involved, it boggles my mind. It's so awesome.[/QUOTE] theyre only tiny from so far away, that thing is 15 stories tall, the engines are about average size for rockets hy comparison like each one is about 3 feet wide

[QUOTE=Sableye;50923855]theyre only tiny from so far away, that thing is 15 stories tall, the engines are about average size for rockets hy comparison like each one is about 3 feet wide[/QUOTE] Pictures against humans: [thumb]http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SPACEX-F9-LIFT9.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SPACEX-F9-LIFT22.jpg[/thumb]

i hope the airforce museum gets one someday because they have the room to stand one up indoors

Wait, this thing launched and landed vertically? Holy fuck

So who thought in their lifetime space-travel would become a privatized venture? :v:

[QUOTE=Kylel999;50923995]Wait, this thing launched and landed vertically? Holy fuck[/QUOTE] and it sent a payload to orbit!

They should put theatrical foggers in the RC thrusters and fire them on the hour like the chime on a clock tower.

[QUOTE] during which the company switched from a plan to retrieve rockets with parachutes [/QUOTE] I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but why abandon parachutes? Seems like it would be easier and cheaper.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;50924693]I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but why abandon parachutes? Seems like it would be easier and cheaper.[/QUOTE] Harder to aim where they land, if they land in the water their chances of reuse go down significantly due to salt water corrosion and damage. I think the ones they did land in the ocean ended up exploding or sinking instantly because the hot engines hitting the cold ocean cause damage/cracks in the pressurized tanks. [editline]21st August 2016[/editline] Ideal situation for airplane like turnaround is flying it back to the pad, and refueling.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;50924693]I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but why abandon parachutes? Seems like it would be easier and cheaper.[/QUOTE] My guess would be with a parachute you have to go recover the rocket from wherever it landed, which increases the likelihood of damage or outright losing the rocket. After all, a parachute is just slowing the fall, not directing it. With this, the rocket flew back home and landed at a specific spot.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;50924693]I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but why abandon parachutes? Seems like it would be easier and cheaper.[/QUOTE] chutes tended to tangle and it couldnt land slow enough to prevent damage plus the boosters tended to flood once they landed

[QUOTE=Raidyr;50924693]I'm sure this has been asked and answered before, but why abandon parachutes? Seems like it would be easier and cheaper.[/QUOTE] All the above answers, plus they want to try and perfect the propulsive landing of large scale rockets for more endeavour-seeking tasks. Landing a capsule on the Moon, Mars, or an asteroid is one thing - landing a large booster core is something else. There are no other atmospheres in the Solar System where parachutes are such a blessing, either they are ill-equipped (Mars has enough atmosphere, but not enough to finish the job), produced unstable drag (Venus has too thick of an atmosphere), or are complete unusable anywhere else where there is no atmosphere at all (essentially every other celestial body (including moons))

[QUOTE=DrDevil;50923443]That's one cool as fuck monument[/QUOTE] Elon Musk's Space Penis Monument

People watching from the parking garage: [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/ribhcEr.jpg[/thumb]

I went there earlier today, and the rocket towers over practically the entire city around it. Some of the people that were looking at it said that it was easily visible for miles on the freeway. [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/t52oSEo.jpg[/img_thumb] [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/50lhk7r.jpg[/img_thumb] [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/nTheeAX.jpg[/img_thumb] They also had another one on the side, I'm not sure if it was one that landed as well, or was just made. [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/0howDdr.jpg[/img_thumb] [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/qYa94Rn.jpg[/img_thumb] Here's an album of almost all the pictures I took while there. [url]http://imgur.com/a/dVGNx[/url]

[QUOTE=Sableye;50923855]theyre only tiny from so far away, that thing is 15 stories tall, the engines are about average size for rockets hy comparison like each one is about 3 feet wide[/QUOTE] When I say tiny, I mean in comparison to the enormous metal structure it's lifting. :v: