Originally Posted by Cornstock (Post 13252874)

A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:

Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?

It might just be camera angles, but are they pretty much vertical at some points in that descent? Talk about coming in hot...

When the landing gear deployed, it seemed like the compartment doors were much thicker than standard wheel well door. Are they pressurized to keep the wheels from exploding in 0 pressure? Or are they solid rubber? Or are they inflated during the descent?

Originally Posted by Cornstock (Post 13252874)

A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:

Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 13266215)

According to a random forum post:

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000559.html

It's common for commanders to give the pilot control here and there just for practice. Not very exciting, I know.



According to this article...

https://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm

It comes in at a max angle of -20 degrees. Compare that to around -3 degrees for a commercial aircraft landing. That's far from vertical, and the camera angles probably exaggerate it, but it's definitely a steep rate.



Here's some info on the Space Shuttle tires. In short, they're nitrogen-filled.

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/re...re-basic-facts

My guess is that they are plenty strong to be fine in a vacuum. The wheel doors are probably thicker just due to the amount of heat the shuttle has to handle on the way down.

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 13266215)

According to a random forum post:

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000559.html

It's common for commanders to give the pilot control here and there just for practice. Not very exciting, I know.



According to this article...

https://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm

It comes in at a max angle of -20 degrees. Compare that to around -3 degrees for a commercial aircraft landing. That's far from vertical, and the camera angles probably exaggerate it, but it's definitely a steep rate.



Here's some info on the Space Shuttle tires. In short, they're nitrogen-filled.

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/re...re-basic-facts

My guess is that they are plenty strong to be fine in a vacuum. The wheel doors are probably thicker just due to the amount of heat the shuttle has to handle on the way down.

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 13252836)

Lots of things happening lately - I just haven't been keeping up. A few notable things:

-Zuma appears to be indefinitely on hold until they figure out their fairing issue (whatever it is).
-CRS-13 is on the clock for a week from now. This will be the first launch back at the repaired SLC-40 site that was damaged last year. Also, this will be the first time an ISS mission is launched on a previously-flown booster.
-Iridium-4 is coming up in about 3 weeks off the west coast.
-Falcon Heavy is pushed back to early January (but not a set date yet)

And on that note...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape. Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/936781265675599873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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And I think he's serious... ROFL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/936782477502246912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 13277356)

Almost looks like they didn't even clean this one off. Wonder if they're trying to make it 100% clear that this is a reused booster since there will be more press than usual. :)

https://i.imgur.com/6eSOymH.jpg

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sooty is looking good on the pad! Set for launch tomorrow at 11:46:57 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CRS13?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CRS13</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#spacex</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#falcon9</a> <a href="https://t.co/ukUTWHjYFY">pic.twitter.com/ukUTWHjYFY</a></p>&mdash; Craig Vander Galien (@Craig_VG) <a href="https://twitter.com/Craig_VG/status/940312789113065473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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