On the Shoulders of Giants: Why the Falcon-9 and SLS Are So Revolutionary
Jaime Cross
There is a question that has been floating around in comment sections everywhere concerning the effect the Falcon-9 and Space Launch System (SLS) have to the exploration of space. Now, I thought I knew the full extent of why they were so important, then I did some digging around and I finally have a grasp on the true reason why everyone including myself has freaked out about these two rockets. There have of course been some speculation on why they are so important, and for the people who doubt their capabilities, they don't see the full extent to what these two monsters have.
Let's first talk about the Falcon-9 reusable launch vehicle. This rocket using its nine Merlin engines can lift a maximum of 50,000 pounds up into low earth orbit. Most of its missions vary from resupplies to the ISS or satellite launches. This rocket has single handily shaken the commercial space business to the core due to the amount of profit it has taken from its competitors. Not only does it land after use, but it can also be reused in less than 24 hours. Now to the people who are unfamiliar with how amazing that is, it officially takes 10,000 dollars just to take ONE pound into space. Now, it also takes an average of 1.5 billion dollars to build a rocket. So to save money from building a rocket SpaceX using the Falcon-9 could reduce the cost of putting a payload into space by 30 to 40%. Now since they have almost perfected the F-9, they have turned to a new horizon, the F-9 Heavy. The Falcon-9 Heavy is three Falcons strapped together to lift heavier payloads. This vehicle has been predicted to crash on the first flight test by many including Elon Musk.
The Falcon is a pretty typical rocket. It has nothing too significant. It uses the nine Merlin engines that have the capability to bring the average payload into space. Such as ISS resupplies and maybe even the Dragon capsule that SpaceX is working on. On a side note, I heard that SpaceX won't be performing a forced landing of an unmanned Dragon capsule on Mars anytime soon. Since I have an unbreakable biased opinion of NASA, I was kind of relieved. I say this because I want NASA to land on the Martian soil with a planned manned mission first, even if it's just a test like Apollo 8-10 was for landing on the moon. Yet I digress, the Falcon does have a couple things that make it unique. It has four grid fins that guide it down to land. These fins are not a new innovation, the fins were invented in the late 70's by the Soviet Union. These were used for bombs and long-range missiles. This type of fin was also used in the N-1 rocket. The N-1 rocket that was going to be used for the Soviet mission to the moon. The grin fin is used for a guided landing for the Falcon. It's an essential piece that cannot be overlooked. They act as "mini wings," since the cords of the grids are so closely woven the air moves completely around it. The grid is helpful for reducing speed using air resistance and is able to twist to allow the rocket to move in any general direction to land on its target, such as a drone ship.
It also uses landing struts which are HIGHLY uncommon on a rocket, until now. SpaceX, of course, has paid a lot of attention to the struts. They first made their way into the early testing of the Falcon. The first test being the 10-foot "grasshopper" test. This is when they took the basic outline of the Falcon and made it go 10 feet into the air. Simple as that. They spent no real-time on those tests due to the huge successes it had. They eventually went on to test the Falcon in missions that it would partake in later. It performed nominally for the launch and various engine shutdowns, yet failed to perform in the landing. The landing struts, however, were responsible for most of their failures. They failed five times before they were able to land it properly in the early hours of July 18, 2016. There is a fantastic video comprised by National Geographic that I will link below.
Against all odds, Elon Musk and his team of engineers were able to pull off one of the greatest things to do in the rocket industry. It's not only the best way to save money for putting payloads into space but is able to land upright after use. This feat was never even attempted before. This maneuver can be done with three overall burns. One at re-entry to slow down the overall speed of the vehicle. Another about halfway back toward the ground, and finally the final burn to stop the rocket on the launchpad.
Overall, the performance of the rocket is outstanding aside from the failures during testing. As I learn more about this rocket I seem to find out that we are one step closer to having the technologies to become an interplanetary species. With these new innovations in space, SpaceX could significantly cut down the cost to get payloads into orbit. This will be essential to the efforts to get to Mars or any other planet in our solar system. Maybe even beyond our solar system.
Now let's talk about the most powerful rocket in the world, the Space Launch System. This monster has a lifting capacity of 7,200,000 pounds of thrust. Compared to any other launch system this is a monster. There is no real competition for this rocket. This rocket will use four RS-25 engines recommissioned from the space shuttle. There are about 16 in total that have "come out of retirement". These boosters are effectively the most powerful. They were produced by Rocketdyne Inc. and more will be supplied to NASA for future use. I have stated my point of view on Solid Rocket Boosters and most of you who read my first post know that I am not very fond of them. I find them to be disruptive to the normal launch schedule NASA should have. Yet, these two boosters will add an extra "kick" to the initial launch off the pad.
On paper, this rocket seems pretty normal, and it's just that. It is the most powerful rocket in the world and yes it can get us to Mars and beyond, but it has no real thing that makes it unique like the Falcon-9 does. Though it's still special. If you look at its string of missions you will find that most of them are cargo missions to the moon. Well not really, but that's what it might seem like. It's first twenty to thirty missions will be missions to construct the Deep Space Gateway and Transit. These two "mini space stations" will be the transport vehicles that will take us to different planets. These two vehicles will be built in space in orbit around the moon. They will be built for low amounts of people, usually four, and will act as a living space for the eight-month transit phase to Mars. Transit times will vary depending on the location of course.
The SLS rocket is not yet built but has been confirmed and the Vehicle Assembly Building has been fitted to make the rocket. It is set to be slightly bigger than the C-1 or more commonly known as the Saturn-5. It has two main configurations that are comprised of either cargo or manned transport as seen below.
Now, a fun fact about the SLS, its development was canceled due to the number of funds it would consume. Yes, it would assuredly do that with a 500 million dollar price tag for every launch, it would get us to Mars and everywhere else in the solar system. It's a rocket that can do such things as host an asteroid redirect mission to save earth from mass extinction or get us to Mars. The amount of potential it has to the benefit to society is massive. Some say that the Falcon-9 could get us to Mars. While, yes, it was a small leap toward the goal to get there, it doesn't have the raw power and inspiration that the SLS does, not to mention the lack of government funds. One mission that the SLS will host, aside from going to Mars, is the missions to explore Jupiter and Saturn's possibly habitual moons Europa, Io, and Titan. These three moons are favored targets for the heads of NASA due to the high possibility of life, considering the different ways they could host it. Titan, a moon of Saturn, has a layer of ice and below that ice is a planetary wide zone of WARM WATER. H2O is the main ingredient of life (with other things of course). Even though this rocket's first stage can't land on drone ships like the Falcon can, the SLS can assuredly get us to the places we NEED to be.
These two rockets effectively have their different perks, I think they can both give us that little "push" into the right direction to start the gears and get people on their feet to go to Mars and beyond. To get to Mars, we as a public need to show the same support the generation before gave the Apollo programs, THEN we might be set to a path to Mars. It's just not a priority for the public and government right now. It's only a big thing to the small group of space nerds that want to leave Earth. It makes me sad that we as a species don't have the same drive as the generation of the Moon had or the people who drove the expansion in the new world had. It's practically a human instinct/drive to explore the unknown, and yet that seems to be buried in our own ignorance that makes us think this Earth is not dying. Why would we have a space program if it wasn't?
Thanks for visiting The All Encompassing Space Blog! Leave a comment or suggestion for future posts and tell me what you think about this one. I have also remodeled the Home page and was able to add a subscription button so you could get my posts in your email inbox each time I post. I thank you for visiting, Bye!
( National Geo Video of Falcon-9 landing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brE21SBO2j8 )
There is a question that has been floating around in comment sections everywhere concerning the effect the Falcon-9 and Space Launch System (SLS) have to the exploration of space. Now, I thought I knew the full extent of why they were so important, then I did some digging around and I finally have a grasp on the true reason why everyone including myself has freaked out about these two rockets. There have of course been some speculation on why they are so important, and for the people who doubt their capabilities, they don't see the full extent to what these two monsters have.
Let's first talk about the Falcon-9 reusable launch vehicle. This rocket using its nine Merlin engines can lift a maximum of 50,000 pounds up into low earth orbit. Most of its missions vary from resupplies to the ISS or satellite launches. This rocket has single handily shaken the commercial space business to the core due to the amount of profit it has taken from its competitors. Not only does it land after use, but it can also be reused in less than 24 hours. Now to the people who are unfamiliar with how amazing that is, it officially takes 10,000 dollars just to take ONE pound into space. Now, it also takes an average of 1.5 billion dollars to build a rocket. So to save money from building a rocket SpaceX using the Falcon-9 could reduce the cost of putting a payload into space by 30 to 40%. Now since they have almost perfected the F-9, they have turned to a new horizon, the F-9 Heavy. The Falcon-9 Heavy is three Falcons strapped together to lift heavier payloads. This vehicle has been predicted to crash on the first flight test by many including Elon Musk.
The Falcon is a pretty typical rocket. It has nothing too significant. It uses the nine Merlin engines that have the capability to bring the average payload into space. Such as ISS resupplies and maybe even the Dragon capsule that SpaceX is working on. On a side note, I heard that SpaceX won't be performing a forced landing of an unmanned Dragon capsule on Mars anytime soon. Since I have an unbreakable biased opinion of NASA, I was kind of relieved. I say this because I want NASA to land on the Martian soil with a planned manned mission first, even if it's just a test like Apollo 8-10 was for landing on the moon. Yet I digress, the Falcon does have a couple things that make it unique. It has four grid fins that guide it down to land. These fins are not a new innovation, the fins were invented in the late 70's by the Soviet Union. These were used for bombs and long-range missiles. This type of fin was also used in the N-1 rocket. The N-1 rocket that was going to be used for the Soviet mission to the moon. The grin fin is used for a guided landing for the Falcon. It's an essential piece that cannot be overlooked. They act as "mini wings," since the cords of the grids are so closely woven the air moves completely around it. The grid is helpful for reducing speed using air resistance and is able to twist to allow the rocket to move in any general direction to land on its target, such as a drone ship.
It also uses landing struts which are HIGHLY uncommon on a rocket, until now. SpaceX, of course, has paid a lot of attention to the struts. They first made their way into the early testing of the Falcon. The first test being the 10-foot "grasshopper" test. This is when they took the basic outline of the Falcon and made it go 10 feet into the air. Simple as that. They spent no real-time on those tests due to the huge successes it had. They eventually went on to test the Falcon in missions that it would partake in later. It performed nominally for the launch and various engine shutdowns, yet failed to perform in the landing. The landing struts, however, were responsible for most of their failures. They failed five times before they were able to land it properly in the early hours of July 18, 2016. There is a fantastic video comprised by National Geographic that I will link below.
Against all odds, Elon Musk and his team of engineers were able to pull off one of the greatest things to do in the rocket industry. It's not only the best way to save money for putting payloads into space but is able to land upright after use. This feat was never even attempted before. This maneuver can be done with three overall burns. One at re-entry to slow down the overall speed of the vehicle. Another about halfway back toward the ground, and finally the final burn to stop the rocket on the launchpad.
Overall, the performance of the rocket is outstanding aside from the failures during testing. As I learn more about this rocket I seem to find out that we are one step closer to having the technologies to become an interplanetary species. With these new innovations in space, SpaceX could significantly cut down the cost to get payloads into orbit. This will be essential to the efforts to get to Mars or any other planet in our solar system. Maybe even beyond our solar system.
Now let's talk about the most powerful rocket in the world, the Space Launch System. This monster has a lifting capacity of 7,200,000 pounds of thrust. Compared to any other launch system this is a monster. There is no real competition for this rocket. This rocket will use four RS-25 engines recommissioned from the space shuttle. There are about 16 in total that have "come out of retirement". These boosters are effectively the most powerful. They were produced by Rocketdyne Inc. and more will be supplied to NASA for future use. I have stated my point of view on Solid Rocket Boosters and most of you who read my first post know that I am not very fond of them. I find them to be disruptive to the normal launch schedule NASA should have. Yet, these two boosters will add an extra "kick" to the initial launch off the pad.
On paper, this rocket seems pretty normal, and it's just that. It is the most powerful rocket in the world and yes it can get us to Mars and beyond, but it has no real thing that makes it unique like the Falcon-9 does. Though it's still special. If you look at its string of missions you will find that most of them are cargo missions to the moon. Well not really, but that's what it might seem like. It's first twenty to thirty missions will be missions to construct the Deep Space Gateway and Transit. These two "mini space stations" will be the transport vehicles that will take us to different planets. These two vehicles will be built in space in orbit around the moon. They will be built for low amounts of people, usually four, and will act as a living space for the eight-month transit phase to Mars. Transit times will vary depending on the location of course.
The SLS rocket is not yet built but has been confirmed and the Vehicle Assembly Building has been fitted to make the rocket. It is set to be slightly bigger than the C-1 or more commonly known as the Saturn-5. It has two main configurations that are comprised of either cargo or manned transport as seen below.
Now, a fun fact about the SLS, its development was canceled due to the number of funds it would consume. Yes, it would assuredly do that with a 500 million dollar price tag for every launch, it would get us to Mars and everywhere else in the solar system. It's a rocket that can do such things as host an asteroid redirect mission to save earth from mass extinction or get us to Mars. The amount of potential it has to the benefit to society is massive. Some say that the Falcon-9 could get us to Mars. While, yes, it was a small leap toward the goal to get there, it doesn't have the raw power and inspiration that the SLS does, not to mention the lack of government funds. One mission that the SLS will host, aside from going to Mars, is the missions to explore Jupiter and Saturn's possibly habitual moons Europa, Io, and Titan. These three moons are favored targets for the heads of NASA due to the high possibility of life, considering the different ways they could host it. Titan, a moon of Saturn, has a layer of ice and below that ice is a planetary wide zone of WARM WATER. H2O is the main ingredient of life (with other things of course). Even though this rocket's first stage can't land on drone ships like the Falcon can, the SLS can assuredly get us to the places we NEED to be.
These two rockets effectively have their different perks, I think they can both give us that little "push" into the right direction to start the gears and get people on their feet to go to Mars and beyond. To get to Mars, we as a public need to show the same support the generation before gave the Apollo programs, THEN we might be set to a path to Mars. It's just not a priority for the public and government right now. It's only a big thing to the small group of space nerds that want to leave Earth. It makes me sad that we as a species don't have the same drive as the generation of the Moon had or the people who drove the expansion in the new world had. It's practically a human instinct/drive to explore the unknown, and yet that seems to be buried in our own ignorance that makes us think this Earth is not dying. Why would we have a space program if it wasn't?
Thanks for visiting The All Encompassing Space Blog! Leave a comment or suggestion for future posts and tell me what you think about this one. I have also remodeled the Home page and was able to add a subscription button so you could get my posts in your email inbox each time I post. I thank you for visiting, Bye!
( National Geo Video of Falcon-9 landing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brE21SBO2j8 )
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