Re:SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy successfully launches
by bobajob23 on Wednesday February 07, 2018 @09:19AM
(#16324517)
Cant reply directly to wand3r for some reason. Re his comment spacex could engineer something that wouldn't leak or need instant refuelling - I wouldn't be surprised if they could - but they have around 30 years of advancements to help them!
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy successfully launches
by votingprawn on Wednesday February 07, 2018 @10:22AM
(#16324968)
They could do it back then too.
If you dig past the internet comments and read some of the "primary source" books, the picture of the leaks is very different. I can't remember the exact book I read it in, but the author states there was a tank sealant, and it lasted around 50 hours (I think), before it needed to be replaced.
This is somewhat backed up by the Jenkins book [1] which talks about the time consuming process of replacing sealant, and the Graham book [0] that is the source for the Wikipedia claims on expansion. It talks of different sealants used, and how leaks were precisely noted and collected in _shallow_ drip trays.
[0] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dX5cCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA129&dq...
[1] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lEpWE748QUsC&q=sr71+seal...