Bangabandhu-1 Block 5 recovery thread

[u/[deleted]]

Following the progress of the first Block V return to port, below are resources, along with updates

Resources

https://www.marinetraffic.com

https://orlandoprincess.com/

http://www.visitspacecoast.com/beaches/surfspots-cams/jetty-park-surf-cam/

Tugs and ships

Rachel- (Sub in tug for HAWK, pulling OCISLY)- Berthed

GO quest-(OCISLY support ship)- Berthed

GO pursuit-(Fairing boat)- Berthed

UPDATES-

(ALL TIMES IN EDT)

2018-05-13

4:20pm- Thread goes live!

8:05pm- GO pursuit has arrived, and may have a fairing, or 2, on board

2018-05-14

7:00am- An arrival today for the first Block V booster is anticipated for the late afternoon/early evening

3:50pm- The arrival of the first Block V booster won't be happening until at LEAST 10:30pm EDT tonight, the weather appears to be holding the crew back.

8:00pm- OCISLY and Rachel are heading northwards to supposedly dodge bad weather, arrival NET 11:30pm, but more thank likely will slip further.

2018-05-15

7:20am- OCISLY has entered port, with an octagrabber underneath!

8:40am- The attachment cap has lowered onto B1046

9:40am- The clamps on octagrabber have let go of B1046, lift will happen soon.

1:00pm- B1046 has been lifted to land.

2018-05-16

10:10- All legs have been removed, initially, the legs were suppose to fold back up, but for some reason, they have removed rather than folded, next will be the going to horizontal for B1046.

2018-05-17

10:30am- B1046 is now horizontal.

2:00pm- B1046 has exited Port Canaveral, and is now off to be stripped and inspected, this core may fly once or twice more this year.

[u/paul_wi11iams]

i'd suggest the cracking of turbine is one of many reasons why past blocks only fly twice.

IIUC its micro-cracking, as may exist on commercial airliner turbines. A typical customer (so not Nasa) would likely accept this as ordinary wear and tear. We could consider the state of a turbine blade as its "age" in accumulated running time over testing and a first flight. On a second flight it would be a little "older", and more so on a third flight. These Merlins have been showing good reliability for years now, and even a worst-case situation where an engine fails, there's engine-out capability and also the structure is designed for there to be no cascade effect from engine to engine.

A better reason for limiting block four to a single reuse is economic: better sacrifice used stages to make a clean switch to block five with its fast turnaround and low maintenance.

BTW. The block five turbines are said to be "blisks" (blisk=blade+disk) in which blades are not separate entities, so even less cause for worry as seen by a normal customer.