Space X

jogdish · 04-03-2021 11:36am

Excellent stuff! SN11 gets to do it all over again

josip · 04-03-2021 5:11pm

I never realised how far south Boca Chica was.
It's only 4km from the Mexican border. It's the last thing on the coast.
It's even two and half degrees further south than Cape Canaveral.

Quantum Erasure · 05-03-2021 8:46am

Im not sure if it has been the same for SN9 and 10, but for SN8 they had a 'self destruct zone' which included some Mexican territory

https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/self-destruct

SpaceX provided a map to the Coast Guard called the “Self-destruct Zone,” located in the Gulf of Mexico along Boca Chica Beach (pictured below), “There is a good chance of failure on this test vehicle with debris falling into the ocean. We will need everyone to stay out of the self-destruct zone in case there is an incident,”
SpaceX’s Boca Chica self-destruct zone is an area in the ocean around 90-square-miles large, includes a portion near the Mexican border, and runs 1.5 miles close to South Padre Island, Texas. If Starship SN8 fails, engineers will allow the spacecraft debris to fall into that area in the ocean to avoid destroying any nearby property at Boca Chica village.

untitleddesign_1_original-1_6fbb86bd-cca9-461b-b7f9-12b39a12ad0a_1000x.jpg

Stan27 · 07-03-2021 7:33pm

When is the next test flight?

jogdish · 07-03-2021 7:44pm

Stan27 wrote: »

When is the next test flight?

No idea, but SN11 is stacked and road closures for monday suggest it could roll out onto the launch stand, and maybe the rest of that week to check it over and attached the new raptors to it, which I think are on site ready to go.
Then give another week for a static fire and IF that goes well next thing is FAA approval and closures and flight. I would imagine, week of the 22nd the earliest, but week of April 5th maybe more likely.
SN8 had extensive tests cause it was new, SN9 fell over and needed attention, SN10 had a bad static fire - there is always some delay.
But they have show rapid turn around times so I suppose week of the 15th is possible too

it's space X who knows.

josip · 07-03-2021 8:31pm

jogdish wrote: »

No idea, but SN11 is stacked and road closures for monday suggest it could roll out onto the launch stand, and maybe the rest of that week to check it over and attached the new raptors to it, which I think are on site ready to go.
Then give another week for a static fire and IF that goes well next thing is FAA approval and closures and flight. I would imagine, week of the 22nd the earliest, but week of April 5th maybe more likely.
SN8 had extensive tests cause it was new, SN9 fell over and needed attention, SN10 had a bad static fire - there is always some delay.
But they have show rapid turn around times so I suppose week of the 15th is possible too it's space X who knows.

Have they identified/announced the cause of the SN10 failure yet?
Is there any point in launching SN11 before then?
Eg. if the legs need to be strengthened.

Ghost Train · 07-03-2021 8:43pm

Looking a some slow motion of the Sn10 landing it looks like it's on fire before it touches down. Makes me wonder, even with a softer landing, maybe it might still have had issues. Softer landing wouldn't hurt though

Bit cynical · 07-03-2021 8:45pm

Ghost Train wrote: »

Looking a some slow motion of the Sn10 landing it looks like it's on fire before it touches down. Makes me wonder, even with a softer landing, maybe it might still have had issues. Softer landing wouldn't hurt though

Seemed to be a slight bounce as it hit the ground.

greedygoblin · 07-03-2021 8:52pm

Bit cynical wrote: »

Seemed to be a slight bounce as it hit the ground.

I think it was Scott Manley covered it in one of his youtube videos that only 3 of the 6 legs locked just before landing. It could be seen in some of the slomo footage.

jogdish · 07-03-2021 9:49pm

I think it's the LabPadre video that scott was using that showed the landing legs basically flopping around, appearently they need a sudden decelleration kick to help lock them into place on the final approach - the thinking was the three engines might have upset this. In any case those legs are not final and they were never planned to be, I would imagine the main and pretty much only concern is raptors and safe landings i.e no fires.

jogdish · 08-03-2021 2:56pm

SN11 rolling out to the pad, will be livestreamed on NSF etc, things to look out for, are any raptors already installed ? and Keep and eye on road closures for this week after today as they might tell you about static fires.

Shlippery · 08-03-2021 3:16pm

jogdish wrote: »

I think it's the LabPadre video that scott was using that showed the landing legs basically flopping around, appearently they need a sudden decelleration kick to help lock them into place on the final approach - the thinking was the three engines might have upset this. In any case those legs are not final and they were never planned to be, I would imagine the main and pretty much only concern is raptors and safe landings i.e no fires.

Coulda been this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIZOcsu8tWk
My fav of the SN10 footage. Slow mo landing and explosion at fantastic angle!

Hopefully SN11 does something crazy before end of the month.

Westernyelp · 08-03-2021 3:24pm

Shlippery wrote:

My fav of the SN10 footage. Slow mo landing and explosion at fantastic angle!

That is a great Video. Thanks.
SN11 will have the same legs. So will be interesting to see if they can land it. Could be flying end of next week I'd say.

jogdish · 08-03-2021 3:26pm

Wow, thats the super amazing footage Tim is always on about, looks amazing. I still don't understand how any of these you tube streamers make this into a business model.

josip · 08-03-2021 3:44pm

jogdish wrote: »

I think it's the LabPadre video that scott was using that showed the landing legs basically flopping around, appearently they need a sudden decelleration kick to help lock them into place on the final approach - the thinking was the three engines might have upset this. In any case those legs are not final and they were never planned to be, I would imagine the main and pretty much only concern is raptors and safe landings i.e no fires.

Looking at the recent video posted, it doesn't look like it managed to get truly vertical before landing and all the weight was on the leg(s) on the left.

I doubt if the legs are designed to bear the full weight, so they buckled.

jogdish · 09-03-2021 12:41am

SN11 is on the pad! With all three raptors, cryo -> static -> hop

Paleface · 10-03-2021 11:57am

josip wrote: »

Looking at the recent video posted, it doesn't look like it managed to get truly vertical before landing and all the weight was on the leg(s) on the left.

I doubt if the legs are designed to bear the full weight, so they buckled.

Musk said on twitter that SN10 came down with more force than was intended due to an engine thrust issue. It crushed the legs as a result and (luckily) ended upright resting on its bottom.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1369379914139451406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1369379914139451406%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Felonmusk2Fstatus2F1369379914139451406widget%3DTweet

jogdish · 10-03-2021 12:11pm

Those legs are HUGE! first time I have seen a human next to them for scale.

MayoForSam · 10-03-2021 2:20pm

As a mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. in composites manufacturing, it's quite ironic to see such big lumps of metal at the bottom of a spacecraft, so much for weight optimization

.

Then again, cracks and leaks can easily be repaired on Starship by beckoning over your handy neighborhood welder guy and lobbing on a few extra spot welds where needed. Not so simple with carbon fibre reinforced polymers!

Ghost Train · 10-03-2021 8:20pm

MayoForSam wrote: »

As a mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. in composites manufacturing, it's quite ironic to see such big lumps of metal at the bottom of a spacecraft, so much for weight optimization .

Then again, cracks and leaks can easily be repaired on Starship by beckoning over your handy neighborhood welder guy and lobbing on a few extra spot welds where needed. Not so simple with carbon fibre reinforced polymers!

A little bit off topic for spacex but some good detail on the machining that goes into United launch alliance rockets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0fG_lnVhHw

Marlow · 10-03-2021 8:25pm

Ghost Train wrote: »

A little bit off topic for spacex but some good detail on the machining that goes into United launch alliance rockets

The funniest fact about ULA is, that they are using engines from Blue Origin and are beating Blue Origin to the mark.

Also off topic, but yet on topic and a good watch. I hope that's ok. Here's a nice video from the Angry Astronaut on the matter. And why ULA used Blue Origin engines over SpaceX ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqT2O2eHE1I

/M

jogdish · 11-03-2021 11:28am

Seems to have been an issue prior to cryo testing for SN11, so probably no static fire this week. That's unexpected delay number 1.

jogdish · 14-03-2021 11:30pm

Everything seems to be in place for a static fire this week, perhaps a flight too but that needs a good static fire, FAA approval and SpaceX wanting to go.

Mary got the overpressure notice for monday, so hopefully an early static fire tomorrow.

Capt'n Midnight · 15-03-2021 1:44am

In other news - the competition

Stacking complete for SLS boosters

Yes - lots of these part were already used to launch a Space Shuttle into orbit.

Money for old rope. Literally.

jogdish · 15-03-2021 3:02pm

FAA has said SN11 is good to fly, could be a static fire today - also if you are looking at times Boca Chica is now -5hrs since they just changed to DST and we don't change for a bit yet.

jogdish · 15-03-2021 6:28pm

Was a bad static fire it seems, oh well

Shlippery · 15-03-2021 6:53pm

A very sad abort just at ignition. Maybe they've a chance to recycle/go again.

I never expect much on a Monday!

jogdish · 18-03-2021 11:55pm

Just after watching the joining/mating /stacking of BN1 on NSF live, it really is massive the full heigh of the high bay, rolling down the road will be nuts!
No road closures so no static fire this week I guess, but the FAA have cleared SN11 so I guess they are in no rush.

Also a clean green run test fire for SLS.

Capt'n Midnight · 19-03-2021 1:14am

jogdish wrote: »

Also a clean green run test fire for SLS.

From August 2005

The first was in 1975. Since then more than 2,200 tests on Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) have been completed at NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi.

46 years of testing. That's more time than between Robert Godards first liquid rocket launch (1926) and landing on the moon. You have to go back to 1923 and Hermann Oberth's The Rocket into Planetary Space (1923)

jogdish · 19-03-2021 12:32pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

From August 2005

46 years of testing. That's more time than between Robert Godards first liquid rocket launch (1926) and landing on the moon. You have to go back to 1923 and Hermann Oberth's The Rocket into Planetary Space (1923)

Simple update on a space thread, we have all heard the arguments about SLS do we really need to bring up every time ?

Shlippery · 19-03-2021 2:40pm

jogdish wrote: »

Just after watching the joining/mating /stacking of BN1 on NSF live, it really is massive the full heigh of the high bay, rolling down the road will be nuts!
No road closures so no static fire this week I guess, but the FAA have cleared SN11 so I guess they are in no rush.

Also a clean green run test fire for SLS.

Not sure what happened with the Static fire, maybe they're investigating the abort further although Elon claimed it was nearly ready to go.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1372688191803768840

BN1 looking intimidating but apparently it's BN2 that'll fly.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1372695421487824903

How they'll get Starship lifted on top of that will be interesting!!

Westernyelp · 19-03-2021 2:52pm

Shlippery wrote:

How they'll get Starship lifted on top of that will be interesting!!

They have already started building the tower at the launch site

jogdish · 20-03-2021 8:07pm

live Boca Chica tour on NSF live right now, could be interesting. With OMG audio Mary! she's real!!!

Earliest is now Monday for the static and Tuesday for the flight.

jogdish · 21-03-2021 9:47pm

Mary got the alert for a static fire on Monday, IF that goes well I think they an fly this week.

FFVII · 21-03-2021 9:57pm

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/20/elon-musk-declared-himself-technoking-hes-just-a-hyper-capitalist-clown

Marlow · 22-03-2021 1:25am

FFVII wrote: »

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/20/elon-musk-declared-himself-technoking-hes-just-a-hyper-capitalist-clown

The media doesn't get the pun. It's actually Tesla related, not SpaceX related.

They did an official SEC filing on Tesla, where they gave his CFO and himself new titles, but also retained the existing titles, just taking the p*** out it as usual

/M

jogdish · 22-03-2021 12:34pm

FFVII wrote: »

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/20/elon-musk-declared-himself-technoking-hes-just-a-hyper-capitalist-clown

Elon and Tesla/SpaceX <-> O'Leary and Ryan Air.

Both have made very successful business and both come across as twats and both over promise and under deliver/say nonsense, albeit the magnitudes of achievements are very different, and both get far too much free advertising.

Marlow · 22-03-2021 1:11pm

jogdish wrote: »

and both get far too much free advertising.

Getting free advertising is part of the game and skill set. And yes, that comparison is probably not amiss.

/M

jogdish · 22-03-2021 2:58pm

SN11 just static fired, no immediate depress and the NSF guys seemed happy - fingers crossed it's all go for a lunch this week so.

Shlippery · 22-03-2021 3:26pm

Ah feck, keep forgetting that the static fires are usually earlier in the day. Good stuff though.

jogdish · 22-03-2021 9:41pm

Wed road closure cancelled, so Thursday is the earliest now.

Shlippery · 25-03-2021 10:59am

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1374930415568347139

Baylor from NSF with the update. Those Raptors, there's always something...but I guess you'll have to give them some slack as it is an aggressive test program and these engines are doing some wild things that aren't exactly standard..

jogdish · 25-03-2021 12:23pm

Shlippery wrote: »

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1374930415568347139

Baylor from NSF with the update. Those Raptors, there's always something...but I guess you'll have to give them some slack as it is an aggressive test program and these engines are doing some wild things that aren't exactly standard..

Ya, so I think sn8 was the only one with non raptor issues (pressure in tank) 9 had engine failure, and 10 was commanded to give power but didnt along with pressure issues.
Oh well here's hoping for hop next week!

jogdish · 25-03-2021 9:48pm

after the three static fires in a few hours, I very well could believe this as fast turn around is a thing they want.
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1375180546142183427

Shlippery · 25-03-2021 11:56pm

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1375204254818787328

Ballsy. Exciting!

Quantum Erasure · 26-03-2021 8:13am

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1375301028514500615

NSFW language warning

https://twitter.com/Mercado_alex_/status/1375297106932428802

jogdish · 26-03-2021 2:22pm

Static fire! Looked clean, they seem to think they'll try for a launch today! Hype!

Marlow · 26-03-2021 2:32pm

Yep. Looking good alright. Waiting for the call to evacuate. Then we'll know.

/M

Shlippery · 26-03-2021 6:02pm

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1375464984881283075

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJXEq9IX1To
Glued to the NSF stream for the day. I feel like I've a bond with these lads the amount of listened to them in recent months!

Still get a kick out of the founder being a bloke from Yorkshire!

jogdish · 26-03-2021 8:41pm

....:( and the road is open, scrubbed for today

I wonder if the bad weather might have been an issue.

Space X

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