By Alex Hern
Unimaginable wealth (click here) has brought Elon Musk a lot of benefits, from being able to build a private spaceflight company to planning a magnet-powered vacuum tube supersonic transport system between LA and San Francisco – and be taken seriously. But perhaps the best perk of being Elon Musk is the ability to be unbelievably petty.
The Californian venture capitalist Stewart Alsop learned that to his cost, he says, after he wrote an open letter to Musk about the badly run launch event for the Tesla Motors Model X (the newest car from Musk’s electric vehicle startup)....
SPACEX had a problem with it's latest attempt to land on a platform in the ocean. The media stated it was a support that collapsed causing the crash and explosion.
If I may.
It seems to me the ocean based landing platform is only partially developed. I don't know the engineering on the platform, but, I do know something about maintaining the stability of ocean RESEARCH platforms.
Texas A&M University’s (click here) research ship, the JOIDES Resolution, is on a series of three unique cruises over six months to study the history and development of the monsoon cycle. The journey will take it to the Indian Ocean while dozens of scientists analyze and collect data that should shed new light on monsoons and the weather they create....
I am not aware of the exact engineering of this vessel, but, research ships can and do drill deep into the ocean floor to find information about Earth. That has been going on for a very long time. A search of scientific journals would prove that true.
Land is stable and a known commodity in landing ships from the stratosphere. But, the FLUIDITY of the ocean or any other body of water is a far different challenge. I could get into a lot of stuff, but, a body of water has turbulence that looks minor, but, it depends a great deal of the size of the body of water. The Pacific Ocean is far more turbulent than the Atlantic; ask any surfer. Lakes are far less turbulent than the Atlantic because the SURFACE AREA of the TOP layer of waters is smaller than an ocean. An ocean also has very deep tides and movements that lakes do not. To control the turbulence of the platform in surface waters is a difficult task, but, it has been accomplished before.
The Research Ships I am familiar with have four engines; one at each 'corner' (if you will) of the ship. When the drill is running those four engines are running to stabilize the ship so damage does not occur to the rig or instability that would be a danger to life.
Those four engines also serve to stabilize a ship such as this during very turbulent and dangerous storms. Why? Because rouge waves are real and they can be defeated with such an arrangement on a ship. I will add, these ships are very valuable and do not go looking for rouge waves for the challenge of it or some drunken party ride; this four engine system works and is there to provide a margin of safety if the ship is found in turbulent waters.
One more thing. I am sure the SPACEX team constantly checks weather, but, when it comes to the aquatic landing platform do they check the turbulence of the water and the wave height?
If SPACEX is not already equipped with an oceanographer they should consider it. And please not one affiliated with the petroleum industry, they take too many chances and end up with occurrences such at the BP Deepwater Horizon.
SPACEX needs a platform that can be level and STABLE regardless of the character of the water. The turbulence in the oceans is far, far worse than any decade in the past. Old ideas about such a platform may not have an understanding of the current ocean conditions. And the conditions aren't going to get better, with a heating Earth, it will get worse.
Good luck.
Those four engines also serve to stabilize a ship such as this during very turbulent and dangerous storms. Why? Because rouge waves are real and they can be defeated with such an arrangement on a ship. I will add, these ships are very valuable and do not go looking for rouge waves for the challenge of it or some drunken party ride; this four engine system works and is there to provide a margin of safety if the ship is found in turbulent waters.
One more thing. I am sure the SPACEX team constantly checks weather, but, when it comes to the aquatic landing platform do they check the turbulence of the water and the wave height?
If SPACEX is not already equipped with an oceanographer they should consider it. And please not one affiliated with the petroleum industry, they take too many chances and end up with occurrences such at the BP Deepwater Horizon.
SPACEX needs a platform that can be level and STABLE regardless of the character of the water. The turbulence in the oceans is far, far worse than any decade in the past. Old ideas about such a platform may not have an understanding of the current ocean conditions. And the conditions aren't going to get better, with a heating Earth, it will get worse.
Good luck.
