GO Ms. Tree

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GO Ms. Tree / GO Ms. Chief p1
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States United States
class Gulf Craft 200 ′
Shipping company Guice Offshore, Louisiana
Shipyard Gulf Craft , Louisiana
Launch Ms. Tree:   February 20, 2015
Ms. Chief: 0 October 6, 2014
Ship dimensions and crew
length
62.5 m ( Lüa )
width 10.4 m
Draft Max. 9.75 m
measurement 496 GRT / 148 NRT
Machine system
machine 4 x V-16 - Diesel engine
Machine
performanceTemplate: Infobox ship / maintenance / service format 		Ms. Tree:   7680 kW.
Ms. Chief: 7990 kW
Top
speed 		32 kn (59 km / h)
propeller 4 × water jet propulsion

GO Ms. Tree (formerly Mr. Steven ) and GO Ms. Chief ( Captain Elliott ) are the names of two almost identical special ships of the US space company SpaceX . These are former offshore utilities that have been converted into containment vehicles for the payload fairings of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The fairings fall from space after every rocket launchand arebrakedby steerable parachutes . If successful, they end up in an open network of several thousand square meters.

The GO Ms. Tree and the GO Ms. Chief are the first ships of this type. In addition to a fleet of floating landing platforms , they are part of SpaceX's strategy of minimizing launch costs by using as high a proportion of reusable rocket parts as possible .

background

The payload fairing of launcher rockets is attached to the tip of each rocket , i.e. on the second stage of Falcon rockets . It protects the payload (e.g. a satellite or space probe ) before take-off and during flight. After leaving the atmosphere , it is dropped at an altitude of around 110 kilometers and falls back to Earth.

The payload fairing of the Falcon rockets consists of two CFRP half-shells that SpaceX manufactures itself. It is 13.1 meters long, 5.2 meters in diameter and weighs about a ton. At $ 6 million to manufacture , it accounts for about 6–10% of the price of a Falcon 9 missile flight.

history

Launch of SES-10 in March 2017; above in the picture the payload fairing

The Captain Elliott and the Mr. Steven were built by the Gulf-Craft shipyard in Louisiana from July 2013 and June 2014 respectively. In November 2014 and April 2015, she was delivered to Seatran Marine, LLC , operator of an offshore supply fleet for the oil and gas industry. At the time, they were the largest and fastest members of the SeaTran fleet.

At the same time, SpaceX was already considering reusing the rocket payload fairings. In order to land the body panel specifically, they were with thrusters equipped and a steerable parachute. When a Falcon 9 took off on March 30, 2017 (photo), the controlled landing of one half of the fairing and its recovery from the sea succeeded for the first time.

The Mr. Steven was rededicated to the interception ship, and SpaceX had four cantilever arms attached to the freeboard load deck that protrude over the hull and point upwards at an angle. A net is attached to the arms to catch the payload fairing. On December 19, 2017, the Reddit user vshie published the first photos of the converted ship.

The vehicle had its first “fishing mission” on February 22nd, 2018 when the Spanish radar satellite Paz was launched . The half of the fairing to be caught missed the ship by a few hundred meters and landed - externally intact - in the sea off the California coast. The SpaceX CEO and Head of Development Elon Musk was then confident that a slightly larger parachute would slow the speed down enough to make it possible to catch it. During the second attempt on March 30, 2018, the parachute ropes got tangled. The paneling fell into the sea at high speed and was recovered with the ship. On the third attempt on May 22, 2018, the parachutes worked as planned, but the interception ship was just missed. To increase the chances of success, SpaceX enlarged the area of ​​the safety net to four times; Nevertheless, the fourth attempt on July 25, 2018 also failed. On that day there was strong wind and rough seas. During the fifth attempt on December 3, 2018, the payload fairing landed in the sea.

At the beginning of 2019, some fall arrest tests took place during which halves of the fairing were thrown off with the helicopter. The ship was then moved to the east coast, where most of the Falcon launches would take place that year. The next rescue mission on February 22, 2019 was canceled in rough seas. The ship returned with only two outriggers and no net. After that it was equipped with new arms and a new network.

In June 2019 the ship was renamed GO Ms. Tree . At the start of the STP-2 on June 25, 2019, half of the fairing was caught for the first time after falling from a height of 160 kilometers. The next mission in August 2019 was also successful.

Captain Elliott also joined the SpaceX fleet in the summer of 2019 . She was renamed the GO Ms. Chief and converted to the interception ship in the same way as the GO Ms. Tree .

Structure and technical data

The hulls of both ships (without booms) are about 62.5 meters long and 10.4 meters wide. They have a side height of 4 meters and a draft of 5–9.75 meters. The GO Ms. Tree is equipped with six cabins that can accommodate up to 12 people; the GO Ms. Chief has seven cabins for 14 people. Including existing seats, the two ships can carry a maximum of 72 and 62 people respectively.

Propulsion get four each waterjet propulsion , the four V-16 - diesel engines via reduction gears are driven. In the GO Ms. Tree motors are of the type Caterpillar 3516C with an output of 1,920  kW (2,610 hp) in the GO Ms. Chief are there Cummins QSK60 with 2,000 kW (2,720 hp). For maneuvering, there are also three electrically operated cross-thrust control systems , each with an output of 147 kW (200 hp). The ships have systems for dynamic positioning .

Are used for electricity generation at the board GO Ms. Tree according to the manufacturer and Reeder three 250 kW generators , which are driven by in each case a Caterpillar C9.3 diesel engine. The American Bureau of Shipping as the registration authority, on the other hand, names 3 × 290 kW output from three Cummins generator sets. For the GO Ms. Chief , all three sources give the latter variant.

Both ships reach a top speed of 32 knots (59 km / h) without a load, and 26 knots (48 km / h) with a full load.

Ship names

According to Elon Musk, Mr. Steven was a random name. It corresponded to the naming scheme of the SeaTran fleet, which also includes ships like the Mr. Mason , the Mr. Blake , the Miss Claire and the Lady Marie . The abbreviation GO in the new ship name stands for the company Guice Offshore, owner and / or shipowner of various ships in the SpaceX fleet. "Ms. Tree ”and“ Ms. Chief “are puns with the English terms mystery (riddle, mystery) and mischief (mischief, rogue).

List of trapping attempts

Source: spacexfleet.com

date ship mission US coast result
23 Dec 2017 Mr. Steven Iridium-4 west Sample for the first collection attempt
Feb. 22, 2018 Mr. Steven Paz west Missed the net
30th Mar 2018 Mr. Steven Iridium-5 west Missed the net
May 22, 2018 Mr. Steven Iridium-6 west Missed the net
July 25, 2018 Mr. Steven Iridium-7 west Missed the net
03 Dec 2018 Mr. Steven SSO-A west Missed the net
Feb 22, 2019 Mr. Steven Nusantara Satu,
Beresheet 		east Ship damaged; Mission canceled
June 25, 2019 Ms. Tree STP-2 east first success
07 Aug 2019 Ms. Tree Amos-17 east second success
Nov 11, 2019 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 1 east Mission canceled
16 Dec 2019 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief JCSAT-18 / Kacific-1 east 2 × net missed
0Jan. 7, 2020 Ms. Tree Starlink 2 east Missed the net
Jan 29, 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 3 east Ms. Tree: third achievement; Ms. Chief: Missing the net
Feb 17, 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 4 east 2 × net missed
19 Mar 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 5 east 2 × net missed
Apr 22, 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 6 east 2 × net missed
4th June 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 7 east 2 × net missed
June 13, 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 8 east 2 × net missed
June 30, 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief GPS IIIA -3 east 2 × net missed
20th July 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Anasis-II east Ms. Tree: fourth achievement; Ms. Chief: first success
08 Aug 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 9 east 2 × net missed
18th Aug 2020 Ms. Tree & Ms. Chief Starlink 10 east Ms. Tree: fifth success; Ms. Chief: Missing the net

Web links

Technical specifications

Pictures and videos

Videos of falling payload fairings

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gulf Craft Crew / Supply Boats. Gulf Craft, archived from the original on August 19, 2018 ; accessed on February 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b without extension arms
  3. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX will attempt Falcon 9 upper stage landings in 2018, says Shotwell. In: Teslarati. September 28, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Fairing. SpaceX, April 12, 2013, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Jonathan O'Callaghan: A SpaceX Boat Called "Mr Steven" Will Try And Catch Part Of A Rocket With A Giant Net. In: ilfscience.net. February 21, 2018, accessed February 22, 2018 (The maximum price to fly a Falcon 9 is approximately $ 90 million ).
  6. ↑ a b ABS Record - Mr. Steven. American Bureau of Shipping, accessed February 24, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b ABS Record - Capt Elliott McCall. American Bureau of Shipping, accessed October 14, 2019 .
  8. ^ Vessel Summary . SeaTran Marine, archived May 25, 2015.
  9. ↑ Elon Musk: Twitter response from June 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Caleb Henry: SpaceX demonstrates rocket reusability with SES-10 launch and booster landing. In: spacenews.com. March 30, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018 .
  11. ↑ a b Darell Etherington: SpaceX misses catching Falcon 9 rocket fairing with a giant net on a big ship. In: Techcrunsh. February 22, 2018, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX recovery boat spotted with huge claw-like “fairing grabber”. In: Teslarati. December 19, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Elon Musk: Missed by a few hundred meters, but fairing landed intact in water. Should be able to catch it with slightly bigger chutes to slow down descent. In: Twitter . February 22, 2018, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Stephen Clark: Iridium messaging network gets another boost from SpaceX. In: Spaceflight Now. March 30, 2018, accessed March 31, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX returns intact fairing half on clawboat in post-launch surprise. In: Teslarati. March 31, 2018, accessed April 4, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Oh yeah, forgot to mention it actually landed fine, just not on Mr Steven . Twitter message from Elon Musk, April 2, 2018.
  17. ↑ Stephen Clark: Live coverage: Iridium satellites, climate research craft lift off from California. Spaceflight Now, May 22, 2018, accessed May 24, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX completes vast Mr Steven arm upgrades for quadruple-sized net. In: Teslarati. July 11, 2018, accessed July 25, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX nails second Falcon 9 landing in 48 hours, fairing catch foiled by weather. In: Teslarati. July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018 .
  20. ↑ a b Eric Ralph: SpaceX's Mr. Steven preparing for first Falcon 9 fairing catch attempt in months. In: Teslarati. June 6, 2019, accessed June 13, 2019 .
  21. ^ SpaceX's Mr. Steven crosses the Panama Canal on 5000 mile journey to Florida. In: Teslarati. February 7, 2019, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Twitter messages from SpaceXFleet, February 21, 2019.
  23. ↑ Eric Ralph: SpaceX successfully catches first Falcon Heavy fairing in Mr. Steven's / Ms. Tree's net. In: Teslarati. June 25, 2019, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  24. ↑ STP-2 mission , SpaceX video, minute 29:05.
  25. ↑ SpaceX adds new ship to fleet after fairing catcher Ms. Tree nails second recovery in a row . Teslarati, August 13, 2019.
  26. ↑ SpaceX to catch two Falcon 9 fairings at once with twin nets . Teslarati, October 14, 2019.
  27. ↑ a b c 205 '× 34' Mr Steven Specifications. Gulf Craft, archived from the original on August 4, 2018 ; accessed on February 22, 2018 .
  28. ↑ a b c 205 'x 34' Capt Elliot Specifications. Gulf Craft, archived from the original on August 19, 2018 ; accessed on October 14, 2019 .
  29. ↑ a b c d Mr. Steven. SeaTran, accessed February 24, 2018 .
  30. ↑ a b c Captain Elliott. SeaTran, archived from the original on August 29, 2016 ; accessed on October 14, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Loren Grush: SpaceX tried to catch its rocket's nose cone with a giant net - and just missed . The Verge, February 22, 2018.
  32. ^ Elon Musk: That's just random . Twitter message dated February 21, 2018.
  33. ^ Vessel Summary . SeaTran Marine, accessed February 28, 2018.
  34. ↑ GO Ms. Tree (Previously Mr. Steven) at SpaceXFleet, accessed October 14, 2019.
  35. ↑ GO Ms. Chief at SpaceXFleet, accessed October 14, 2019.
  36. ↑ Fairing Recovery Data. In: spacexfleet.com. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
  37. ↑ SpaceX just caught its first rocket nosecone in 5 months (and the booster landed, too) . Teslarati, January 29, 2020.
  38. ↑ Fairing Recovery Missions. In: SpaceXFleet.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020 (UK English).
This article can not be adequately illustrated due to copyright reasons . There are currently no images of the ship available that are sufficiently licensed for further free use .
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