SpaceX Plans to Fly Again

http://techport.nasa.gov/externalFactSheetExport?objectId=9898

https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/54y9m4/the_overlooked_star_of_yesterdays_spacex/

Look for a repeat

Something to watch again and again, right Fred?

Maybe they start building an electrically powered rockets if its possible.

1. Will the 13 Amp extension lead comply with the IEEE/IEC standards?

2. And if so, who's job is it to wind it up again?

3. If battery powered, do they get a pink rabbit with each set of batteries purchased?

4. Why not just reverse gravity and let it float up, give it a little nudge to get started.

Maybe they shouldn't rely on design information from posters on CR4!!!

Why not? I haven't blown anything up ....and in case I haven't said it lately, I can fix anything......

"Maybe they could layer in some graphene sheets....?"

I dunno, it's strong stuff but I'd be leery of using graphene in a tank designed to hold LOX, even if the layers were buried inside laminations.

Graphene is pretty chemically reactive overall but especially along its edges. Extremely reactive. A crack or tear could expose those edges to pure oxygen and no telling but the thing could catch fire and we'd get a repeat performance.

Perhaps they could stabilize the graphene....

reference

Makes one wonder, though, after the stabilisation is it still graphene with all of graphene's properties of strength and so forth? I don't know.

Given that this is a LOX tank, especially, I would not be inclined to make it using carbon-based materials. Spun fibreglass, maybe; depends on how it responds to cryogenic temps. But if the stuff burns, I wouldn't use it anywhere near pure oxygen. That's asking for trouble.

Well the carbon fiber wound tanks are much stronger at the low temperatures required....I would also think the carbon fiber tank could be grounded easier or more effectively than fiberglass....there is a problem with microcracking with all composites I think due to the rigidity of the structure at such low temps...so I think that is the main problem... adding some flexibility is a challenge....a self-healing fiber maybe...

http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1169&context=td

Kevlar and Twaron are notably strong at cryogenic temps.

"...The tank buckled..."

? Maybe the original fueling procedure had a vacuum drawn on the tank prior to filling with LOX?

Or possibly the LOX tank pressure exceeded the helium tank pressure. If these tanks are designed for internal pressure (and not much at that), what would be the pressure differential limit externally?

I can't see what the big deal is, every manufacturing operation has an acceptable degree of waste, why else would anyone buy Brooms and dustpans.

"...why else..."

The Broom is the preferred means of personal transportation for some....their husbands are typically relegated to following on the dustpan.