What SpaceX just did with Falcon Heavy is unusual... - YouTube

While SpaceX is clearly good at delivering satellites to orbit quickly and efficiently, they almost always put on a beautiful show for the locals and thousands of viewers watching online. And the latest launch of Falcon Heavy was no exception. For one, the reusable rocket had no landing legs installed and all three boosters were expended during the mission, a deviation from their typical recovery protocol. Besides that, the upper stage featured a gray band at the top crucial to the success of the launch. But what's more important, the fairing fiery reentry is also the hottest yet for SpaceX. So what is the key difference? How is Elon Musk pushing harder on the Falcon Heavy? All this and more in today's episode of Great SpaceX.

SpaceX在快速高效地将卫星送入轨道方面表现出色，但几乎每一次发射都为当地居民和数千名在线观众提供了美丽的表演。最近的“猎鹰重型”火箭发射也不例外。首先，可重复使用的火箭没有安装着陆腿，并且三个助推器在任务期间全部耗尽，这是他们典型的回收协议的偏离。除此之外，上层方位还配备了顶部的灰色带，对于发射的成功至关重要。但更重要的是，舱盖的热辣复进也是SpaceX迄今为止最热的。那么，关键的差别在哪里？埃隆·马斯克如何在“猎鹰重型”上更努力？今天的《伟大的SpaceX》节目将告诉你更多。

Launching at 8.26 p.m. ET last Sunday, the Falcon Heavy lifted off under dark skies. The rocket ascended back into the sunlight about three minutes into the flight, which illuminated the exhaust plume into a beautiful orangeish color. Following the side core booster separation, the center core of the Falcon Heavy continued putting on a show high in the upper atmosphere. The enormous exhaust plume was a brilliant white color almost in the shape of a flower. It's only the sixth launch ever for the rocket, but the second so far in 2023. Among active rockets, its power is only bested by NASA's Space Launch System, which has only flown once, and SpaceX's in-development starship, which exploded before reaching space during a test launch earlier in April.

上周日晚上8:26发射，Falcon Heavy在黑暗的天空下升空。约三分钟后，火箭再次升入阳光下，照亮排放出的延伸烟雾呈现出美丽的橙色。在侧向核心助推器分离后，Falcon Heavy的中心核心仍在高空中继续提供惊艳的表演。巨大的排放烟雾呈现出近似花朵状的纯白色。这是该火箭仅第六次发射，但到目前为止已经是第二次。在现役火箭中，它的动力仅次于NASA的Space Launch System，后者只飞了一次，以及SpaceX正在开发的星际飞船，在4月早些时候的一次测试发射中爆炸了。

It's essentially three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together with 27 Merlin engines that produced 5.1 million pounds of thrust on lift off. However, unlike previous Falcon Heavy launches, SpaceX did not bring any of its three first-stage boosters back for a vertical landing. This mission takes about six hours to reach its targeted orbit, requiring three burns by the upper-stage engine. The single engine powering the Falcon Heavy's upper stage shut down eight minutes after launch, putting the vehicle in an initial parking orbit. Two more firings were planned over the next three hours and 44 minutes to get the satellite into the planned Geosynchronous orbit, 22,300 miles above the equator. This is because direct insertion into Geosynchronous orbit is one of the most challenging mission types in the launch industry.

这是三台猎鹰9火箭的基础上，有27个梅林发动机，起飞时产生了510万磅的推力。然而，与之前推出猎鹰重型不同的是，SpaceX 没有将其三个一级助推器带回垂直降落。这个任务大约需要6个小时才能达到它的目标轨道，需要通过上级发动机进行三次燃烧。猎鹰重型的单个引擎在起飞后8分钟关闭，将飞行器置于初始停车轨道上。接下来的三个小时和44分钟中计划进行两次发射，将卫星送入计划中的地球同步轨道，该轨道位于赤道以上22,300英里处。这是因为直接插入地球同步轨道是火箭发射行业中最具挑战性的任务之一。

A Geostationary orbit also referred to as a Geosynchronous Equatorial orbit is a circular Geosynchronous orbit, 35,786 kilometers, or 22,236 miles, and altitude above Earth's equator. Harrison to low Earth orbit, for example, GEO is much more taxing and requires an extremely powerful launch vehicle when the weight of the payload is high. The profile requires extended battery life on the upper stage, plus a custom band of gray thermal paint on the rocket to help ensure the kerosene fuel does not freeze during the hours spent in the cold environment of space. For this reason, there was no need for SpaceX to have landing legs or even grid fins on a single one of the three boosters. Following into the Atlantic Ocean after separation, two of the three boosters had flown previously with one launching for the eighth time and another for the third. The center stage is the rookie.

地球同步轨道，也称为地球同步赤道轨道，是一个围绕地球赤道的圆形地球同步轨道，高度为35,786公里或22,236英里。相比低地球轨道，例如哈里森，GEO具有更高的挑战性并需要极强的发射载具，尤其是当有效载荷的重量很大时。该轨道需要上段延长电池寿命，并在火箭上使用定制带灰色热性涂料的特殊带，以确保煤油燃料在冷空间度过的几个小时内不会冻结。出于这个原因，SpaceX不需要在三个助推器中的任何一个上安装着陆腿或格栅翼。在分离后，三个助推器中的两个之前已经飞行过，其中一个已经执行了第八次发射，另一个执行了第三次。而中间阶段则是新手。

The nominal payload capacity to a Geostationary Transfer orbit is 8 tons or 18,000 pounds with recovery of all three first stage cores. The price per launch is $97 million US vs. 26.7 tons or 59,000 pounds in fully expendable mode. This helps put in perspective the payload and performance increases when the boosters are expended. Viased set has not set how much it paid SpaceX for the launch, Intel set, official set last year SpaceX charged a premium for a launch where the booster is expended.

标称的Geostationary Transfer轨道有效荷载容量为8吨或18,000磅，同时可回收所有三级火箭第一级。每次发射的价格为9700万美元，而完全抛弃火箭的话，荷载容量则为26.7吨或59,000磅。这有助于更好地了解当助推器抛弃时，有效荷载和性能增加的情况。Viased并没有透露它为SpaceX的发射支付了多少费用，而Intel表示，官方在去年发布的数据显示，SpaceX在助推器抛弃时会多收取费用。

But that's not all for this special launch. If you're a big fan of SpaceX, you'll realize there is a gray band on part of the upper stage. Ordinarily, Falcon's upper stages are nearly indistinguishable from each other. But the upper stage stored behind the latest upper stage in the foreground features a unique gray band around the bottom of its airframe. In July of 2019, SpaceX tested another Falcon 9 upper stage with the same gray band which a spokesperson explained was meant to improve the rocket's longevity and orbit. Some orbital coasts of six or more hours are necessary for some of the most challenging launch trajectories.

这次特别发射还有更多的亮点。如果你是SpaceX的忠实粉丝，你会发现上面一个阶段有一条灰色的带子。通常来说，Falcon的上面阶段都很难区分。但是，最新的上阶段背后储存的上阶段在机身底部有一条独特的灰色带子。2019年7月，SpaceX测试了一枚带有相同灰色带子的Falcon 9上阶段，发言人解释道，这是为了改善火箭的寿命和轨道。一些需要六个或更长时间的轨道飞行是最具挑战性的发射轨迹之一。

Direct to geo-stationary launches are the most common types of missions to require long coast capabilities and are often demanded by the US military. The gray band's purpose is to increase the amount of heating absorbed from sunlight to warm the liquid caracene or RP-1 fuel contained within the part of the rocket. When it gets too cold, caracene which freezes at a much higher temperature than Falcon's liquid oxygen oxidizer becomes viscous and slush-like before it freezes solid. If ingested, slushy fuel would likely prevent ignition or destroy the upper stage's Merlin engine.

直接发送到地球同步轨道的发射是需要长时间延迟能力的最常见的任务类型，通常被美国军方要求。灰色带的作用是增加从阳光中吸收的热量，以加热火箭部分内含有的液态卡拉赛或RP-1燃料。当温度过低时，卡拉赛会变得像糊状物一样粘稠，然后冻结固化，其冻结温度比猎鹰的液氧氧化剂要高得多。如果摄入糊状的燃料，可能会阻止点火或破坏上级发动机的梅林引擎。

And finally, even the protective pieces of a SpaceX rocket made dramatic waves when they finally came back to Earth after the launch. SpaceX has shared amazing reentry footage from one of the two fairings that flew on the most recent Falcon Heavy flight.

最后，即使是SpaceX火箭的保护部件在发射后回到地球时也掀起了惊人的浪潮。SpaceX分享了最近Falcon Heavy飞行中飞行的两个舷板中的一个的惊人再入场景。

This is the first time that previously flown fairings have been used on a Falcon Heavy flight. Shortly after the second stage separated and began its burn to insert the payloads into geo-stationary Earth orbit, the fairing halves deployed, exposing the three spacecraft to space.

这是先前使用过的Fairings首次在猎鹰重型火箭的飞行中使用。第二级分离后，开始燃烧将航载物体送入地球静止轨道，Fairings两半部署并将三个航天器暴露在太空中。

After deploying from the second stage, the fairing halves drifted to their apogee or highest point before beginning their journey back through Earth's atmosphere. This is the most ambitious attempt at fairing recovery yet, with the fairings speeding through the atmosphere at 15 times the speed of sound.

在第二阶段部署后，舱壳将漂浮至最高点或顶点，然后开始穿越地球大气层返回。这是舱壳再利用的最大胆尝试，舱壳通过大气层的速度达到了超过声速15倍。 意思就是，在第二阶段部署后，舱壳升至最高点后穿越大气层并返回地面，这是一次对于舱壳再利用的最大胆尝试，舱壳在穿越大气层时的速度较快。

Fairing reentry on the Vias F3 mission was the hottest and fastest we've ever attempted. SpaceX officials wrote in a tweet on Tuesday, May 2nd. Indeed, this time the MECO and Stage 2 separation was at 17,000 plus kilometers per hour.

5月2日星期二，SpaceX官员在推文中写道，“Via F3任务的船头再入是我们所尝试过的最热和最快的。”确实，这一次MECO和第二级分离速度达到了17,000多公里每小时。意思是，SpaceX在Via F3任务中进行了船头再入，这是该公司曾经尝试过的最热和最快的船头再入，达到了17,000公里每小时的速度。

This is how insane the full power of a Falcon Heavy rocket is. Following their harrowing journey through the atmosphere, the fairings deploy a parachute and land gently in the Atlantic Ocean. Stationed more than 1200 miles from Florida, its furthest tribut, fairing recovery ship Doug, named after the demo 2 crew member Doug Hurley, was ready and waiting to retrieve the fairings from the ocean.

这就是猎鹰重型火箭的全力表现之疯狂。在穿越大气层的惊心旅程后，防护罩张开降落伞，在大西洋中轻轻降落。防护罩回收船道格（Doug）距离佛罗里达州超过1200英里，是最远的下游支流，以Demo 2机组成员Doug Hurley的名字命名，已经准备好等待从海洋中取回防护罩。

We don't yet know if one fairing half was recovered or both, but when the recovery ship returns to Port Canaveral, we will get our first glimpse at the fairings which did their best shooting star impersonations as they flew through the atmosphere. This is crispy, Elon Musk said.

我们还不知道是一个护罩半部分被找回，还是两个都找回了，但当回收船返回卡纳维拉尔港时，我们将第一次看到这些护罩以最佳的流星冲击形态飞越大气层。伊隆·马斯克说这是令人兴奋的。

Sun days flight capped in intense few days for SpaceX which launched 46 of its own low altitude starling internet satellites from Vanenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday. The company then launched two medium altitude broadband satellites for Luxembourg based SES from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday.

上周末对于SpaceX来说是非常激烈的几天，其中包括在加利福尼亚州范登堡空军基地发射了46颗低轨道的自有星链互联网卫星。该公司随后在周五从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地为总部位于卢森堡的SES公司发射了两颗中轨道宽带卫星。

All three launches highlight the ongoing race to deploy space-based internet relay stations to provide broadband access to customers anywhere in the world, including rural, hard-to-reach or underserved areas, as well as aircraft and ships at sea. The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly three more missions this year.

这三次发射突显了竞相部署空间互联网中继站的一场比赛，以便为世界各地的客户提供宽带接入，包括农村、难以到达或未被服务的地区，以及海上飞机和船只。猎鹰重型火箭计划在今年还将进行三次任务。

The USS F-52 mission is scheduled for launch no earlier than June 23, while the Echo Star 24 or Jupiter 3 payload will fly no earlier than this coming August. The NASA Psychiatric Probe launch is targeted for October 5. In 2024, five missions are scheduled with one of the most notable being Europa Clipper.

USS F-52任务计划最早于6月23日发射，Echo Star 24或Jupiter 3有效载荷最早将于今年8月飞行。NASA的心理学探测器发射计划定于10月5日。到2024年，将进行五项任务，其中最引人注目的是欧罗巴剪辑器。

Europa Clipper will conduct a detailed survey of Europa and use a sophisticated suite of science instruments to investigate whether the icy moon has conditions suitable for life. In short, before Starship enters active duty, Falcon Heavy will remain a formidable beast.

“欧罗巴探测器”将对欧罗巴进行详细勘测并使用先进的科学仪器调查这颗冰冷卫星是否具备适合生命的条件。简言之，在“星际飞船”进入实际任务之前，“猎鹰重型”还将继续保持其强大的地位。

And that's about it for today's episode. Thank you so much for watching and if you enjoy what my team and I are doing, you can become a patron through our Patreon link in the description below. Otherwise as always, this is Kevin from GreatSpaceX and we'll see you soon.

今天的节目就到这里了。非常感谢您的收看，如果您喜欢我和我的团队所做的事情，您可以通过我们在下方描述中提供的Patreon链接成为我们的赞助者。否则，像往常一样，这里是来自GreatSpaceX的Kevin，我们不久将再见。