Talk:SpaceX reusable launch system development program/Archive 1: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:19, 25 April 2015

Revision as of 05:26, 15 August 2015

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:::More generally, we want to avoid [[WP:UNDUE]]. So any sourced info that provides a counter to the "optimistic side" should be freely and liberally added to the article. I think part of the reason it seems as optimistic as it does today is that, prior to the demise of the F9R development vehicle in Texas a couple of months ago, things have been going rather swimmmingly for SpaceX, and even AvWeek, which is not known as a particular supporter of the emerging [[NewSpace]] side of the industry, has come out rather positive on SpaceX' accomplishments, and held them up as a model (per the sourced statement in the article).

:::Net: editors should add counter arguments and counter-history when there are sources to back it up. Cheers. [[User:N2e|N2e]] ([[User talk:N2e|talk]]) 15:13, 14 October 2014 (UTC)

== Thermal imaging of a controlled-descent test flight ==

NASA released a fantastically-detailed video last week of thermal imaging of the SpaceX Falcon 9 controlled-descent test on 21 Sep 2014. [[User:Huntster|Huntster]] did the work to turn that video into an acceptable open ogg version for Wikipedia, and I have placed it in the article. This is the first real data of any kind that has been publically released on the technical aspects of the controlled-descent tests, as SpaceX has chosen to keep most of their proprietary data to themselves, and NASA was apparently unsuccessful in their attempt to capture the data on the previous three flights that had a controlled-descent test.

Seven discrete events are shown in the video:

* post stage separation, with the first stage in the second stage rocket exhaust plume, with some residual exhaust still exiting from the shut-off first stage engines.

* the first stage maneuvers out of the second stage plume

* first stage coasting near peak altitude of approximately {{convert|140|km|sp=us}}

* first stage boost back burn to limit downrange translation

* first stage prepares for the reentry burn

* first stage begin reentry burn at approximately {{convert|70|km|sp=us}} altitude

::Note: this is the "powered flight through the Mars-relevant retropulsion regime" that was stated to be of the greatest interest to the NASA researchers who were thermal imaging SpaceX' controlled-descent test on the CRS-4 flight. A summary of what the Mars EDL team are trying to learn from this research is now summarized, with sources, in the [[Mars atmospheric entry]] article.

* first stage ends reentry burn at approximately {{convert| 40|km|sp=us}} altitude

The thermal imaging data was gathered by NASA WB-57 aircraft flying at {{convert|50000|ft|km|disp=flip}}, using a telescopic Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) sensor. The display was color enhanced, and is played back at a 10 Hz rate; color scale is MWIR sensor counts. The NASA film was produced by the Space Technology Mission Directorate, Game Changing Development Program, in cooperation with SpaceX.

Question: is there any way to take an ogg video and select a particular moment in it to serve as the default still image that shows on the article image? The current still is all blue sky with little or no graphic interest. Cheers. [[User:N2e|N2e]] ([[User talk:N2e|talk]]) 11:59, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

:Done, chose a bright scene clear of text. This is done with the {{para|thumbtime}} parameter, with the image set with "h:m:ss" (and if known, you can set decimal seconds for extra precision). In this case, I went with {{para|thumbtime|0:2:04}}. <span style="white-space:nowrap; text-shadow:gray 5px 3px 1px;">— [[User:Huntster|Huntster]] <small>([[User talk:Huntster|t]] [[Special:Emailuser/Huntster|@]] [[Special:Contributions/Huntster|c]])</small></span> 19:38, 19 October 2014 (UTC)