On 5/3/2023 at 5:06 AM, martin-w said:

A launch would literally boil the ocean beneath the rig, impacting buoyancy and destabilizing the rig. In addition it would devastate ocean life beneath the launch. 

If it was a fixed platform 300ft x 300ft square and 200ft above the water, would that not give enough protection? 

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

Oh, sure.  I'll just bet that the big mining companies are heavily investing in this as we speak. 

 

No they aren't, but a few companies are, and planning missions utilizing SpaceX vehicles, and that's NOW, now project forward 30 years. 

 

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

This is just another startup money grab where the founders will pocket millions and leave naive investors penniless

 

Prove it. Cynicism is your middle name. 

 

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

Fusion propulsion?  We can't even build a tiny practical fusion reactor to make electricity

 

What do you mean "can't even"? As usual you ignored everything I typed. Fusion propulsion is WAY easier than generating power. Pulsar Fusion are working on such a technology now. 

When you say things like "like you know a lot about these things" and then proceed to share you wisdom with us, you come across as being guilty of what you accuse others of. Phycological projection, I guess.

What you are good at is getting threads locked. 🙄

 

Coming soon if you keep up the bickering back and forth!  Remember...it takes 2 to tango! 

I love the orange flavor. 

@martin-w pressin' yer luck?

4 hours ago, dmwalker said:

I can't understand why Spacex would have bought these two platforms. They must have known beforehand they were floating and, therefore, unsuitable.

 

Good question. They did get them dirt cheap, 7 million. 

Edited May 4, 20233 yr by martin-w

2 minutes ago, charliearon said:

@martin-w pressin' yer luck?

 

Just humor. Lightening the mood. Pressing my luck would be engaging in an argument.  ☹️

Edited May 4, 20233 yr by martin-w

4 hours ago, goates said:

I don't think we think can say floating platforms are entirely unsuitable ye

 

I don't think any floating platform would work to be honest. The water beneath is super heated, thus loses buoyancy and destabilizes the rig. I recall you did mention some kind of flame deflector system so the water beneath isn't super heated, not sure if that would work or not. 

11 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

I don't think any floating platform would work to be honest. The water beneath is super heated, thus loses buoyancy and destabilizes the rig. I recall you did mention some kind of flame deflector system so the water beneath isn't super heated, not sure if that would work or not. 

I was referring to using something like the water cooled steel plate they’re planning on using for the current launch pad on shore. Take that and mount it underneath the rocket on the platform, and I suspect it would prevent the worst heating of the water. Another point would be to make an even larger floating platform with excess buoyancy. However, a fixed platform is almost certainly the better solution, especially with the number of rockets they want to be launching.

10 minutes ago, goates said:

I was referring to using something like the water cooled steel plate they’re planning on using for the current launch pad on shore. Take that and mount it underneath the rocket on the platform, and I suspect it would prevent the worst heating of the water. Another point would be to make an even larger floating platform with excess buoyancy. However, a fixed platform is almost certainly the better solution, especially with the number of rockets they want to be launching.

 

One of the things SpaceX are doing is to tie the water cooled plate into the launch tower.

Even if they did that on a rig, I'm thinking the enormous downward pressure would be an issue, essentially forcing the rig down. Any uneven pressure and the rig destabalises.

Regarding excess buoyancy, I'm thinking you can't have excess buoyancy, rather, you need the "correct" buoyancy. If its initially excessively buoyant, it's by definition unstable.

Who knows, I'm certainly no expert when it comes to floating platforms launching rockets, but I guess if SpaceX haven't given up completely on the concept they must think there's an engineering solution.

20 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Who knows, I'm certainly no expert when it comes to floating platforms launching rockets, 

Honest question Martin; what exactly is your area of expertise?

 

21 minutes ago, martin-w said:

ho knows, I'm certainly no expert when it comes to floating platforms launching rockets, but I guess if SpaceX haven't given up completely on the concept they must think there's an engineering solution.

Like I said, I think a fixed platform will turn out to the best choice as there's no need to worry about buoyancy at all. There are thousands off the US Gulf Coast already, some hundreds of miles offshore.

12 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

Honest question Martin; what exactly is your area of expertise?

 

 

Not sure why you want to know (and suspicious) considered ignoring the question, but... 3 years at collage studying photography and optics. Most of which has traveled to the land where unused knowledge resides. Photographer for the photographic department of a major advertising agency. Former bodybuilder, obsessed with studying the science of muscular hypertrophy. Wrote science fiction for many years, not published, just for my own entertainment. Discovered that the trauma of divorce and a life long/severe issue with OCD is a combination that excels when it comes to curtailing creative writing. 

I'd like to claim I have expertise when it comes to chess, but given my Elo has plummeted (again) that would be a lie. ☹️

Why nosey? 

Edited May 5, 20233 yr by martin-w

12 hours ago, goates said:

Like I said, I think a fixed platform will turn out to the best choice as there's no need to worry about buoyancy at all. There are thousands off the US Gulf Coast already, some hundreds of miles offshore.

 

You are probably right.

Shipborne launches are a thing, of course, but nothing like the mega-rocket SpaceX are launching.

An outfit called The Spaceport Company is planning to demonstrate a sea-based launch platform from a modifies ship. Was supposed to be this month. not sure of the progress. China is building a ship for sea-based launches, and there's the multinational Sea Launch company. 

 

This is well done.