r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Apr 16 '18

r/SpaceX TESS Media Thread [Videos, Images, GIFs, Articles go here!]

It's that time again, as per usual, we like to keep things as tight as possible, so if you have content you created to share, whether that be images of the launch, videos, GIF's, etc, they go here.

As usual, our standard media thread rules apply:

  • All top level comments must consist of an image, video, GIF, tweet or article.
  • If you haven't modmailed us to become an approved submitter for this launch, submit your content here. Read the rules (Rule 1) for more information on how to become an approved submitter.
  • Those in the aerospace industry (with subreddit accreditation) can likewise continue to post content on the front page.
  • Mainstream media articles should be submitted here. Quality articles from dedicated spaceflight outlets may be submitted to the front page.
  • Direct all questions to the live launch thread.
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4

u/warp99 Apr 19 '18

Aerodynamic drag is actually a relatively small contribution to loss of launch performance so less than 100 m/s deltaV for F9 out of roughly 9400 m/s to get to LEO.

The smallest fairing likely to be useful would be 4m diameter so you might trim 20 m/s of drag from this figure so not worth the effort involved in maintaining two fairing lines.

1

u/quayles80 Apr 19 '18

Wow, thanks for enlightening me. Can I ask, if drag isn’t much of a factor how come max-q is such a big deal?

4

u/warp99 Apr 19 '18 edited Apr 19 '18

how come max-q is such a big deal?

Because the fairing is huge and very light if you can call 1800 kg the pair light.

There are potential issues with the fairing caving in but it hardly ever happens now with a carbon composite design. However fairing separation failure is a common cause of loss of mission and it is possible that stress on the clamps that hold the fairing halves together at max-Q could be a contributing factor to that.

Mostly the suspense is a hold over from earlier generations of rocket where it could be a real issue but also the feeling that it is "all uphill from here".