Data structure for Falcon Heavy (and BFR)

Sorry if you already debated this before, I was thinking what to expect about the 3 cores of Falcon Heavy.
For launches now we should get something like:

{
	"core_serial": "???",
	"rocket": {
		"rocket_id": "falcon_heavy",
		"rocket_name": "Falcon Heavy",
		"rocket_type": "FH1"
	},
	"land_success": null,
	"landing_type": "ASDS",
	"landing_vehicle": "OCISLY",
	"reused": true,
	"reuse": {
		"core": false,
		"side_core1": true,
		"side_core2": true,
		"fairings": false,
		"capsule": true
	}
}

There is a multiple core reuse but not multiple core_serial and landing data.

• Option 1: Brand new properties

Following the reuse naming and keeping backward compatibility one could simply add:

{
	"core_serial": "B10xx",
+	"side_core1_serial": "B10yy",
+	"side_core2_serial": "B10zz",
	"rocket": {
		"rocket_id": "falcon_heavy",
		"rocket_name": "Falcon Heavy",
		"rocket_type": "FH1"
	}
}

The same for landing data:

{
	"land_success": null,
	"landing_type": "ASDS",
	"landing_vehicle": "OCISLY",
	"land_side_core1_success": null,
	"landing_side_core1_type": "RTLS",
	"landing_side_core1_vehicle": "LZ-1",
	"land_side_core2_success": null,
	"landing_side_code2_type": "RTLS",
	"landing_side_code2_vehicle": "LZ-2"
}

But feel bloated.

• Option 2: Core properties can be array

{
	"core_serial": [ "B10xx", "B10yy", "B10zz" ],
	"land_success": [ null, null, null ],
	"landing_type": [ "ASDS", "RTLS", "RTLS" ],
	"landing_vehicle": [ "OCISLY", "LZ-1", "LZ-2" ]
}

Feel strange and can break things.

• Option 3: Payloads-like solution

For multiple payloads there is an array, so something similar for the first stage could be possible adding a rocket.cores array:

{
	"rocket": {
		"rocket_id": "falcon_heavy",
		"rocket_name": "Falcon Heavy",
		"rocket_type": "FH1",
		"cores": [
			{
				"core_serial": "B10xx",
				"land_success": null,
				"landing_type": "ASDS",
				"landing_vehicle": "JRTI"
			},
			{
				"core_serial": "B10yy",
				"land_success": null,
				"landing_type": "RTLS",
				"landing_vehicle": "LZ-1"
			},
			{
				"core_serial": "B10zz",
				"land_success": null,
				"landing_type": "RTLS",
				"landing_vehicle": "LZ-2"
			}
		]
	}
}

If there is no core_serial, land_success, landing_type and landing_vehicle (which for multiple core seems incorrect anyway) I should find them in rocket.cores.

• Future (BFR + ITS)

This question will arise again for BFR and ITS launches, where the latter is a second stage (not a payload) with his own serial, reuse, land_success, landing_type, landing_vehicle (and maybe landing_planet and his own payloads array).

Looking at vehicles endpoint and structure,

{
	"id": "falcon_heavy",
	"name": "Falcon Heavy",
	"type": "rocket",
	"stages": 2,
	"boosters": 2,
	"first_stage": {
		"reusable": "true",
		"engines": 27,
		"cores": 3
	},
	"second_stage": {
		"engines": 1,
		"payloads": {
			"option_1": "dragon",
			"option_2": "composite fairing"
		}
	}
}

a launches schema supporting more configurations could be:

Falcon Heavy

{
	"rocket": {
		"rocket_id": "falcon_heavy",
		"rocket_name": "Falcon Heavy",
		"first_stage": {
			"cores": [
				{
					"core_serial": "B10xx",
					"reuse": false,
					"land_success": null,
					"landing_type": "ASDS",
					"landing_vehicle": "JRTI"
				},
				{
					"core_serial": "B10yy",
					"reuse": true,
					"land_success": null,
					"landing_type": "RTLS",
					"landing_vehicle": "LZ-1"
				},
				{
					"core_serial": "B10zz",
					"reuse": true,
					"land_success": null,
					"landing_type": "RTLS",
					"landing_vehicle": "LZ-2"
				}
			]
		},
		"second_stage": {
			"payloads": [
				{
					"cap_serial": "zzzzz",
					"payload_type": "Dragon 1.2",
					"reuse": true,
					"land_success": null,
					"orbit": "TLI"
				}
			]
		}
	}
}

BFR + ITS

{
	"rocket": {
		"rocket_id": "bigfalconrocket",
		"rocket_name": "Big Falcon Rocket",
		"rocket_type": "BFR",
		"first_stage": {
			"cores": [
				{
					"core_serial": "xxxxx",
					"reuse": true,
					"land_success": null,
					"landing_type": "RTLS",
					"landing_vehicle": "LZ-1"
				}
			]
		},
		"second_stage": {
			"second_stage_id": "its",
			"second_stage_type": "ITS",
			"second_stage_serial": "yyyyy",
			"reuse": true,
			"land_success": null,
			"landing_type": "ASDS",
			"landing_vehicle": "OCISLY",
			"payloads": [
				{
					"payload_type": "Satellite",
					"orbit": "LEO"
				}
			]
		}
	}
}

[jakewmeyer]

This is likely the schema I’ll go with, and the reuse section order will correspond to the order of cores listed in the array.

{
    "flight_number": 50,
    "launch_year": "2017",
    "launch_date_unix" : 1509392040,
    "launch_date_utc": "2017-10-30T19:34:00Z",
    "launch_date_local": "2017-10-30T15:34:00-04:00",
    "rocket": {
      "rocket_id": "falcon9",
      "rocket_name": "Falcon 9",
      "rocket_type": "FT",
      "first_stage": {
        "cores": [
          {
            "core_serial": "B1042",
            "reused" : false,
            "land_success": true,
            "landing_type": "ASDS",
            "landing_vehicle": "OCISLY"
          }
        ]
      },
      "second_stage": {
        "payloads": [
          {
            "payload_id": "KoreaSat 5A",
            "reused" : false,
            "customers": [
              "KT Corporation"
            ],
            "payload_type": "Satellite",
            "payload_mass_kg": 3700,
            "payload_mass_lbs": 8157.104,
            "orbit": "GTO"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "telemetry": {
      "flight_club": null
    },
    "reuse": {
      "core": false,
      "side_core1": false,
      "side_core2": false,
      "fairings": false,
      "capsule": false
    },
    "launch_site": {
      "site_id": "ksc_lc_39a",
      "site_name": "KSC LC 39A",
      "site_name_long" : "Kennedy Space Center Historic Launch Complex 39A"
    },
    "launch_success": true,
    "links": {
      "mission_patch": "http://spacexpatchlist.space/patches/spacex_f9_044_koreasat_5a_graphic.png",
      "reddit_campaign": "https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/73ttkd/koreasat_5a_launch_campaign_thread/",
      "reddit_launch": "https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/79iuvb/rspacex_koreasat_5a_official_launch_discussion/",
      "reddit_recovery": null,
      "reddit_media": "https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/79lmdu/rspacex_koreasat5a_media_thread_videos_images/",
      "presskit": "http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/koreasat5apresskit.pdf",
      "article_link": "https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/30/spacex-launches-and-lands-third-rocket-in-three-weeks/",
      "video_link": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUjH14vhLxA"
    },
    "details": "KoreaSat 5A is a Ku-band satellite capable of providing communication services from East Africa and Central Asia to southern India, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Guam, Korea, and Japan. The satellite will be placed in GEO at 113° East Longitude, and will provide services ranging from broadband internet to broadcasting services and maritime communications."
}

[petrosh]

• Love your new entries on payload_id and orbit 😜
• "rocket_type": "FT" we mean full thrust cores, or we want FH?
• Nice you put day 31 because 0 gives error on date parsing. Worth adding in future a boolean NET flag, if true launch date is intended “not early than”?