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Why do reusable rockets (e.g. SpaceX Falcon 9) still utilize detachable fairings? SpaceX keeps trying to find a way to recover the $6M fairings for obvious cost saving reasons, why not have them ... 3answers 10k views ### What makes 21st century fairings so valuable that they'd potentially be recovered and re-used? I've read in @geoff's answer that SpaceX is doing some experimentation that may lead to fairing recovery capability. In fact I remember hearing Elon Musk mentioning a few years ago that it was being ... 2answers 2k views ### What are the two bright objects separating from the Falcon 9? On the recent Iridium 1 launch the separation of the first and second stages can be seen at T+3:50. In the following screenshot we see the second stage burning at the lower left of the frame and the ... 4answers 5k views ### Where can I find data for Atmospheric density vs. altitude? I'm looking for information on atmospheric density in Earth orbit. All the atmospheric density tables and graphs I've found go no higher than 100 km. Definitions like the US Standard Atmosphere don't ... 2answers 2k views ### Do each of the fairing halves now use thrusters post-deployment? How does that work? From Reddit Recap of the Elon Musk and Martin Halliwell press conference with lots of new info, March 31, 2017 (presumably not related to April fools day in some time zones?) Fairing and future ... 1answer 2k views ### How to determine$\Delta v\$ loss due to gravitational pull from earth

How do I find the delta-v loss of a rocket while ascending to its apogee? Specification of Atlas V 541 rocket: Specification for Atlas V first stage: Dry Mass: 21054 kg Fuel and Oxidizer(RP1/LOX) ...
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### Why did this fairing separation happen at such a high altitude? (SpaceX Iridium-6/GRACE-FO)

I noticed in the video of the recent Iridium-6/GRACE-FO launch that the fairing separation happened at an altitude of about 143 kilometers. This is significantly higher than any altitude I can ...
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### Why are 22N and 440N liquid engines quite common?

One can often spot that liquid apogee engines are 440 N and attitude control systems are 22 N. Is there a reason why the thrusts are proportional? If the engines are scaled for reducing development ...
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### How many people have returned to Earth in a different type of vehicle than the one that launched them into space?

Recently we had the 15 year anniversary of Expedition 1 of the ISS. That particular crew launched in a Soyuz (TM-31) and returned on a Space Shuttle (Discovery, STS-102), which I found a remarkable ...
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### What was the object seen from the stage 2 camera of the CRS-10 launch at T+3:12

During the SpaceX launch of the CRS-10, at T+3:12, there is a circular grey object that passes through the frame. What is this? Launch Webcast
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### Simulating launch velocity of falcon 9

Help! I finished my numerical simulation of falcon 9 launch in google sheets, where I calculate all the value changes with time. But, when I looked at real launch to compare the values, I got really ...
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### SpaceX Falcon-9 fairing heating during launch?

In watching the SpaceX SES-12 launch last night, I noticed what looked like the fairing of the rocket glowing a bit a while after launch. This was most obvious in the SpaceX video SES-12 Mission ...
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### How do ships catch fairings? Can fairings steer or do the ships do all the work?

A comment in The Pod Bay says it all: ...fourth Starlink payload launched. Booster landed on OCISLY. (Has now launched three times, LC-39A, SLC-40, SLC-4W once at each launch pad they own!) And they ...