[Starlink] saving ship 20

[Dave Taht]

On Sat, Feb 12, 2022 at 10:36 AM Gary E. Miller <gem at rellim.com> wrote:
>
> Yo Dave!
>
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2022 09:01:50 -0800
> Dave Taht <dave.taht at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > (is there a good email list for spacex, rather than starlink stuff?
> > I'm really not into twitter, reddit, etc)
> >
> > After watching elon musk's presentation thursday night I was struck by
> > the symbolism of ship 20 behind him and wondering why the planned
> > flight was to attempt a splashdown at the end.
>
> I agree this is not the place, but if not, where?

I used to haunt an alt.space list that I can no longer remember the name of.

>
> > I could think of a more leapfrog-like approach where they left it in
> > orbit, to analyze the effects of a longer term stay there, testing
> > restarts, or vacuum welding problems on the engines, using as a
> > agena-like target for rendezvous maneuvers, trying out repairing or
> > replacing various parts...
>
> It is very hard to inspecct a booster in space.  One of the big wins for
> the returnable rocket has been the after action failure analysis.  You
> can see all the things the almost screwed the mission, Then improve them
> for the next one.

Having a pause to inspect the lost tiles, and assess the damage before
even attempting re-entry strikes me as a good idea. I hope they've
lined up some good telescopes this time to take a peek at it. Always
sad we didn't get that done for columbia.

Developing the capability to do on-orbit repair, also is a good goal.

A small robot to do external inspection?

It seems pointless to attempt re-entry if you determined it was going to
fail and seems better to plan on exploring other options.

>
> And, as we have seen many times, getting back in one piece is the hardest
> part to get right.

So why not have a plan B involving staying in orbit, rather than burning up?

>
> > Do they not have enough thrust, even with an empty payload bay, to
> > stay up there?
>
> I'm sure they do, but to stay up they would need a course corrction
> or two.

testing restart seems smart.

> > Is there a dummy payload planned? I was thinking of one of bigalow's
> > demo inflatable habs, and along that rathole was, why not just cut a
> > hole in the side and spray in insulation...
>
> Maybe another Tesla?

Something cheesier than that. But I could envision instruments, at least.
> RGDS
> GARY
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Gary E. Miller Rellim 109 NW Wilmington Ave., Suite E, Bend, OR 97703
>         gem at rellim.com  Tel:+1 541 382 8588
>
>             Veritas liberabit vos. -- Quid est veritas?
>     "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." - Lord Kelvin
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Dave Täht CEO, TekLibre, LLC