SpaceX (Vol. 2)
Discussion
They're on 87 launches of all types for the year.
They did one this morning - a F9 Starlink mission from Vandenberg. Up and down ok for its 15th flight. So routine now it goes completely unnoticed. Which perhaps is how it should be.
I wonder if Starship will ever be like that - if and when they get it together. I expect it will; people were not paying much attention by the later Apollo flights.
They did one this morning - a F9 Starlink mission from Vandenberg. Up and down ok for its 15th flight. So routine now it goes completely unnoticed. Which perhaps is how it should be.
I wonder if Starship will ever be like that - if and when they get it together. I expect it will; people were not paying much attention by the later Apollo flights.
louiechevy said:
Elon has said three to four weeks and they would be ready for test three! I'm guessing that's dependent on approval. It would be astonishing if they could though
I guess it also depends on what changes they make to the starship and booster following Saturday's test whether it can be turned around that quick. If there are just minor tweaks and approval is quicker (should be as there was a vast improvement on this test compared to the last one) then I can't see why they can't turn it around in that time. However there is definitely an element of Elon time in there! Personally I see a test in Jan/Feb time due to the Christmas holidays.
The ongoing conjecture as to the number of tanker missions required to support the Spaceship-derived lander for the Artemis HLS continues:
SpaceNews: Starship lunar lander missions to require nearly 20 launches, NASA says.
Musk's emphasis on the rapid reusability - of the launch platform as much as the booster and second stage - will be tested early by Artemis. Additional launch capacity at KSC will need to be commissioned as a priority.
After all the SLS and Orion shenanigans, it is bizarre that SpaceX deliverables could become the limiting elements to the Artemis 3 mission.
SpaceNews: Starship lunar lander missions to require nearly 20 launches, NASA says.
Musk's emphasis on the rapid reusability - of the launch platform as much as the booster and second stage - will be tested early by Artemis. Additional launch capacity at KSC will need to be commissioned as a priority.
After all the SLS and Orion shenanigans, it is bizarre that SpaceX deliverables could become the limiting elements to the Artemis 3 mission.
Beati Dogu said:
Starliner won’t be able to launch to the ISS until mid-April, even if it is ready before that. That’s the earliest NASA can fit them in
Incidentally, the first module of the ISS is now 25 years old, as of yesterday I believe.
The ISS weighs 420 tons, that's about 3 starship payloads reusable @150t (or two, expendable, @250t).Incidentally, the first module of the ISS is now 25 years old, as of yesterday I believe.
Given the price delta and costs, starship could result in much larger/heavier/cheaper built space stations. You'd not necessarily need to build things using the most expensive, lightest materials available since starship would change the economics of weight to orbit.
This all assumes SpaceX will get it working as they want, of course. They look on track for it.
CraigyMc said:
The ISS weighs 420 tons, that's about 3 starship payloads reusable @150t (or two, expendable, @250t).
Given the price delta and costs, starship could result in much larger/heavier/cheaper built space stations. You'd not necessarily need to build things using the most expensive, lightest materials available since starship would change the economics of weight to orbit.
This all assumes SpaceX will get it working as they want, of course. They look on track for it.
The empty volume of starship is slightly less than the internal volume of ISSGiven the price delta and costs, starship could result in much larger/heavier/cheaper built space stations. You'd not necessarily need to build things using the most expensive, lightest materials available since starship would change the economics of weight to orbit.
This all assumes SpaceX will get it working as they want, of course. They look on track for it.
Eric Mc said:
Looking at the launch from the various multi-camera angles, you can see that Starship was shedding heat protection tiles like nobody's business. I have a feeling that if it had made it to orbital velocity it would not have survived re-entry.
Agreed, though tempering that with "shuttles often came in with bits of the heat shield missing". It'd be interesting to know how starship's stainless skin would fare, as compared with the shuttle's bare structure, given that the shuttle re-entered with bits missing more often than not.
I recall one of the shuttle tile-loss problems happened exactly where a structural spar was and that's the only reason it made it to Earth in one piece; this was on STS 27.
Although Shuttle did lose tiles from time to time it was actually raining tiles off Starship. You could see the gaps left as each batch separated and fell away.
I think the flex, vibration and shock wave environment experienced by the Starship stack must be the most violent ever experienced by a booster.
I think the flex, vibration and shock wave environment experienced by the Starship stack must be the most violent ever experienced by a booster.
Everyday Astronaut put together a supercut of some of their contributors footage.
Some of this is better than what I'd consider amateur photography -- genuinely, you can see detail that is relevant in an engineering sense.
For example, Ryan's tracker:
|https://thumbsnap.com/J73UUb9s[/url]
Full vid is about 25 mins.
[url]
Some of this is better than what I'd consider amateur photography -- genuinely, you can see detail that is relevant in an engineering sense.
For example, Ryan's tracker:
|https://thumbsnap.com/J73UUb9s[/url]Full vid is about 25 mins.
[url]
Flooble said:
louiechevy said:
Elon has said three to four weeks and they would be ready for test three! I'm guessing that's dependent on approval. It would be astonishing if they could though
He said the vehicle would be ready - which is an unusually careful choice of words! Mind, he said the same about this test flight. So February/March it is then! Here's the ship and booster build pipeline as of 48 hours ago:
(Click for bigger)
Eric Mc said:
Although Shuttle did lose tiles from time to time it was actually raining tiles off Starship. You could see the gaps left as each batch separated and fell away.
I think the flex, vibration and shock wave environment experienced by the Starship stack must be the most violent ever experienced by a booster.
I'm not convinced - Solids are always more violent than liquid boosters (look at the Ares 1 launch and the lengths they were going to to try and prevent later launches from popping the astronaut's eyes out their heads). And the shuttle was side mounted so sat right in the shockwave with the engines part of the structure, instead of being on top of and away from the main source of vibration.I think the flex, vibration and shock wave environment experienced by the Starship stack must be the most violent ever experienced by a booster.
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