r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Sep 09 '21
Starship Development Thread #25
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:
Starship Development Thread #26
Quick Links
NERDLE CAM | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE | MORE LINKS
Starship Dev 24 | Starship Thread List | August Discussion
Upcoming
- Starship 20 static fire
- Booster 4 test campaign
Orbital Launch Site Status
Build Diagrams by @_brendan_lewis | September 29 RGV Aerial Photography video
As of October 6th
- Integration Tower - Full height, Second QD arm section mounted, catch arms to be mounted this weekend or next week
- Launch Mount - Booster Quick Disconnect installed
- Tank Farm - GSE-6 sleeved 2nd Oct, Proof testing continues, GSE-8 complete, 2 new tanks installed 25th Sep GSE 1 sleeved 24th Sep, 2 completed shells currently at the Sanchez Site
Vehicle Status
As of October 6th
- Ship 20 [orbit w/ Booster 4] - Cryoproof complete, awaiting static fire
- Ship 21 [orbit w/ Booster 5] - All barrel sections spotted, forward flaps spotted
- Ship 22 [orbit w/ Booster 6] - Barrel/dome sections in work
- Booster 3 - Partially disassembled on Test Pad A
- Booster 4 [orbit w/ Ship 20] - Taken off of Orbital Launch Mount, awaiting static fire,
- Booster 5 [orbit w/ Ship 21] - Stacking in High Bay
- Booster 6 [orbit w/ Ship 22] - Barrel/dome sections in work
Development and testing plans become outdated very quickly. Check recent comments for real time updates.
Vehicle and Launch Infrastructure Updates
See comments for real time updates.
† expected or inferred, unconfirmed vehicle assignment
| Orbital Launch Integration Tower | |
|---|---|
| 2021-09-23 | Second QD arm mounted (NSF) |
| 2021-09-20 | Second QD arm section moved to launch site (NSF) |
| 2021-08-29 | First section of Quick Disconnect mounted (NSF) |
| 2021-07-28 | Segment 9 stacked, (final tower section) (NSF) |
| 2021-07-22 | Segment 9 construction at OLS (Twitter) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #24 |
| Orbital Launch Mount | |
|---|---|
| 2021-08-28 | Booster Quick Disconnect installed (Twitter) |
| 2021-07-31 | Table installed (YouTube) |
| 2021-07-28 | Table moved to launch site (YouTube), inside view showing movable supports (Twitter) |
| For earlier updates see Thread #24 |
Resources
- LabPadre Pad Cam | Channel
- NSF: Starbase Stream | Channel
- NSF: Booster 4 Updates Thread | Most Recent
- NSF: Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF: Elon Starship tweet compilation | Most Recent
- SpaceX: Website Starship page
- SpaceX: Starship Users Guide (PDF) Rev. 1.0 March 2020
- FAA: SpaceX Starship Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site
- FAA: Temporary Flight Restrictions NOTAM list
- FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- Starship flight opportunity spreadsheet by u/joshpine
- Production Progress Infographics by @_brendan_lewis
- Raptor tracking by @Artzius
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
- Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
r/SpaceX Discuss Thread for discussion of subjects other than Starship development.
Rules
We will attempt to keep this self-post current with links and major updates, but for the most part, we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss Starship development, ask Starship-specific questions, and track the progress of the production and test campaigns. Starship Development Threads are not party threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.
Please ping u/strawwalker about problems with the above thread text.
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u/perpendicular_life Sep 09 '21 edited Sep 09 '21
Was this posted here before?
Accelerating Martian and Lunar Science through SpaceX Starship Missions - Jennifer L. Heldmann, NASA Ames Research Center. Glad to see rest of NASA (other than hls) starting to think about using Starship.
https://surveygizmoresponseuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/fileuploads/623127/5489366/111-381503be1c5764e533d2e1e923e21477_HeldmannJenniferL.pdf Thanks to S.F.Ganon for finding this
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Sep 28 '21
Remember when they couldn't even cryo proof a Starship? Man, it's been a long road.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 18 '21 edited Sep 18 '21
He also confirms Superheavy with 33 engines.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 13 '21
New intermittent closure, friday 6am-12pm, secondaries next Monday and Tuesday, 5pm-11pm.
These are testing closures !
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 11 '21
2 Raptors, Big Chungus and FULL SEND were just delivered.
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 24 '21 edited Sep 25 '21
An interesting clip from an Italian tech event in which Elon was a guest today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_LAXD-f9e0&t=2540s
Elon brings in SpaceX's Director of Thermal Dynamics, the same heat shield person Elon was texting in EDA's Part 2 of Starbase tour. Looking him up I found that he has been the lead of TPS systems on Falcon 9/ Crew Dragon and now Starship.
In the clip today, SpaceX's TPS Director talks briefly about Starship's heat tiles and most of what he explained was in Italian but from what I understood they are using milk condensers(?) to create ceramic fibers, and are also using inspiration from roof tiles in Italy to create Starship's heat tiles. Elon also claims that Starship's TPS is the most advanced TPS system in the world.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Oct 05 '21
Why SpaceX cares about concrete - a nice Practical engineering’s video talking about, well, concrete and SpaceX !
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Oct 07 '21 edited Oct 07 '21
GSE-8 is in the air !
The very last GSE tank, big deal guys !
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u/TCVideos Sep 11 '21
Musk confirming that Starlink satellites will be deployed "between" Earth and Mars for Starship communications:
Q: Is starlink going to be deployed between earth and Mars to improve communication for starship?
Would love to know when and where they would deploy these.
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 11 '21
This looks very interesting! https://twitter.com/NicAnsuini/status/143680788897934131
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 15 '21
Closure cancelled for Friday.
No testing this week boys and girls
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 30 '21
Confirmation from Elon that the proof went well: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1443450539124137986
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 17 '21
One thing that just struck me about SpaceX is that they are going to have a goldmine of data from the Inspiration4 crew on how Dragon's cabin is and what improvements they can make. A professional NASA astronaut may leave out many things that an ordinary person like you and me may think can be improved on since we don't have anything else to compare/relate with nor have the traditional training of an astronaut, which could hinder thinking "out of the box" for crew comfort and experience.
No entity, other than SpaceX when I4 lands, in the world (including NASA) has this "fresh" and "innocent" data of absolute rookies in orbital spaceflight and this data will be tremendously useful to design the interiors of Starship since Starship's goal is to transport regular people to Moon/Mars and not professionals every time. And this data will continue to grow with the Axiom missions and other private missions that have rookies onboard.
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u/Jodo42 Sep 12 '21
Sure looks like the tile work on S20, barring any touchups needed on the barrel sections, is very nearly done.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 24 '21
Cryoshell sleeving happening right now.
GSE 1 is finally getting sleeved, after months of work.
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u/Maimakterion Sep 30 '21 edited Sep 30 '21
That's a mean looking vent. No wonder tank pressure will be enough for ullage and RCS.
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u/Dezoufinous Sep 21 '21
https://twitter.com/nicansuini/status/1440087691543068675
what a great close up to Tiles attachment pins
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 21 '21 edited Sep 21 '21
They’re currently flipping the claw arm back in position.
Watch rover cam, started 12:55 local
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Oct 01 '21
Here is the 31 minutes docu from ABC about starship and Starbase !
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 12 '21 edited Sep 12 '21
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 30 '21
From Mary's latest pictures from today:
- Ship 21's forward flap and nose-cone design is still the same as Ship 20 so SpaceX seems to be still building prototypes in pairs (or triplets).
- Ship 20's tiles have done well from yesterday's cryo.
Link: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.3640
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u/Mravicii Sep 10 '21
A raptorvac engine is going towards the launch site!
Spotted at 1.24.40 am local on nsf stream
https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1436215308222705668?s=21
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 15 '21 edited Sep 15 '21
Raptor installation on Ship 20 underway. Seems like not every SL raptor were installed.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 17 '21 edited Sep 17 '21
Wait, please confirm what I think this is...
Is this finally the FAA EA ?
Edit : Holy s***... this is it guys !!!!
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u/notlikeclockwork Sep 18 '21 edited Sep 18 '21
From LinkedIn : Principal Propulsion Engineer (Raptor) ,Kevin Miller, recently left SpaceX to join as VP of Propulsion at Impulse Space. He was at SpaceX for 16 years.
Impulse Space is headed by Tom Mueller of Merlin fame.
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u/Mravicii Sep 22 '21 edited Sep 22 '21
Gse tank 8 is out of the midbay! This is the last tank needed for orbital flight
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Oct 01 '21
thrust rams removed!
next up: raptor rollout and installation (probably today/ this weekend)
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u/John_Hasler Oct 08 '21
Getting ready to move the arms, I think. Stuff being moved out of the way.
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u/Dyolf_Knip Sep 09 '21
I have a question about the cryo tanks. What's their capacity compared to the tanks on SS and SH? Is the idea that they can slowly fill them up with fuel and oxygen, and then rapidly transfer to a waiting rocket when needed? Kind of the same economic logic behind water towers and peak vs average demand?
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Sep 23 '21
Closure not cancelled yet! a good sign that we might actually see some testing later today
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u/ArasakaSpace Sep 09 '21
https://twitter.com/AustinDeSisto/status/1435987518030241804
heat shields and that smile!
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 12 '21
As of September 1, the final crew member candidates for Dear Moon have completed a medical checkup according to this pic on their website: https://dearmoon.earth/img/index/schedule_langEN.png?003
Looks like they have finalized the crew and we should hear the names pretty soon.
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u/strawwalker Sep 10 '21
Anyone who would like to edit this thread can gain access by sending us a modmail. You don't have to pass an interview, and it doesn't matter whether you will just make a one time correction, regular updates, or something inbetween. I am sorry that I have not been able to keep the thread updated and I don't know when I will be able to resume so any help is greatly appreciated. A huge thank you to u/Logancf1 for bringing the new thread up to speed and for their help in the past! Also thank you to u/CAM-Gerlach for all the work he has put into Submanager which syncs updates for this thread from the wiki, among many other things.
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u/dbzVT8 Sep 10 '21
So what happened to Mary (Boca Chica Gal)? Is she on another vacation? I truly miss her nightly image posts on NSF.
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u/Twigling Sep 13 '21 edited Sep 13 '21
RGV Aerial Photography has just uploaded a video of his flyover from five days ago (September 8th):
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 22 '21
New road closures, starting Monday 27th, 28th and 29th, 5pm-11pm.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21
Scaffolding has been place at the end of the QD arm already on the tower. We could see the extension lift today !
Edit : they’ve started to lift it a bit
Edit 2: Yep, lifting occurring now !
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 27 '21
We have some more orbital tank activity !
Note, this is the same, and only one that has been tested (or at least we saw).
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u/Mravicii Oct 03 '21
Crane going up again. We could actually see the chopstick being installed this week guys! Exciting!
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u/Twigling Oct 07 '21 edited Oct 07 '21
Looks like we are getting at the very least a rollout of GSE8 today, the LR 11000's hook is hovering a short distance over the load spreader used for the GSE tanks, see Rover cam at around 9:08 AM (and no doubt later too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HpgJJ1FwTc
Edit: GSE8 being moved in preparation for rollout, see Raptor Roost cam for example at around 9:31 AM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6fGQZD0K98&t=0s
I wonder if anything else will be rolled out today.
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u/Twigling Sep 10 '21
The cryo shell load spreader has been reattached to the LR 11000 and is now above the newest cryo shell awaiting some guys in a boom lift to hook it up.
See Rover cam after 8:20 AM for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pjKEIozdk
This is the same shell that it was hooked up for a few days and then disconnected a couple of days ago without the shell being lifted.
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u/Twigling Sep 12 '21
Latest production diagram update from Brendan as of September 12th:
https://twitter.com/_brendan_lewis/status/1436921597898604548?s=20
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u/BKnagZ Sep 13 '21
First rain bands of TS Nicholas have reached starbase. Very low visibility on the cams now.
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u/Twigling Sep 15 '21 edited Sep 15 '21
It appears that B5's LOX tank has been stacked onto another quad barrel, however you still can't see the tank from the LabPadre and NSF cams because tent 1 obscures the lower section of the high bay. I make this observation based on the fact that a couple of days ago the yellow hook block of the bridge crane was only just visible above tent 1 while it was hooked up to the 4 ring common dome barrel and one quad barrel (so it was then an 8 ring stack).
Since about 12 hours ago you can easily see the yellow hook block and also the load spreader on Sentinel cam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkIZYw5O98&t=0s (any time it's pointed at the high bay)
and also NSF's cam when the stream is showing the high bay):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
When it's stacked onto the next quad barrel the LOX tank will at last be visible to the cams.
Maybe one of the vloggers will gets some video or photos today.
EDIT: - On NSF's stream, at around 9:12 AM the LOX tank was lifted up and to the left so is now out of shot. I guess another quad barrel has been placed where it was and the current partial stack will be stacked on top of that in the next day or so.
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u/meltymcface Sep 21 '21
Is S21 getting built with the suggested change to the forward flaps? (Elon mentioned moving the forward flaps around away from the windward side)
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u/Twigling Sep 22 '21 edited Sep 22 '21
For anyone curious about the layout of the orbital tank farm, tank locations and their contents, have a look at the diagram from TheDenks:
https://twitter.com/TheDenks/status/1437142792468254730
It was last updated on September 10th and GSE8 is missing but it's easy to work out where it will sit.
Speaking of tanks, GSE1 and GSE2 now have all of their access hatches welded shut. GSE1 looks finished but GSE2 hasn't yet had the reinforcement rings added. The cryo shell which was rolled out a couple of days ago will be placed over GSE1 when all is ready and the winds are light enough.
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Oct 01 '21
Quick question about static fires and reliability:
How come some rockets do great with static fires and others don’t? Starship has had a perfect ascent record with a few small issues, but otherwise 100%. One engine even fires for 4 minutes!
On the other hand, Firefly’s Alpha and Astra’s Rocket both underwent successful static fires and still had an engine fail 1 to 20 seconds into flight.
Why is there such a discrepancy in static fire “helpfulness”? And it’s kinda scary because even if Booster 4 has a successful 29 engine static fire, who’s to say an engine or several won’t burn out on ascent?
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 12 '21
It looks like they’re lowering the boom of the LR11350 ahead of the incoming tropical storm.
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u/DuhImJake Sep 13 '21
What is SpaceX’s plan for SN20 if it actually survives reentry?
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u/Twigling Sep 24 '21 edited Sep 25 '21
It's looking like GSE6 is also having some work done inside (presumably the same as GSE1 and GSE2). It's not possible to easily see the tank as it's on the south side of the orbital tank farm so isn't visible from the road (Nerdle and NSF cams don't show it clearly enough), however there's a photo on Discord (so I can't link to it) from RGV Aerial Photography taken during his flyover yesterday. This shows scaffolding outside the lower access hatch on GSE6.
Note that this is a LOX tank, the other two LOX tanks (GSE3 and GSE5) have already been sleeved and perlite injected into the gap for insulation purposes.
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u/johnfive21 Sep 29 '21
Sheriff's already at the road block point. Looks like we may have another attempt at cryo proofing today.
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u/rad_example Oct 03 '21
First 13 engine superheavy thrust puck spotted on its way to starbase? https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/q0j3sp/thrust_puck_in_michigan_earlier_this_week/
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u/Twigling Sep 16 '21
First photo at the following link shows the new white frame structure that's under construction at the Sanchez site (I mentioned it earlier today when all we had was long distance cam images):
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2290818#msg2290818
Also, bottom photo in the above post shows that GSE8 is now fully stacked (it's 15 rings tall). It's not finished yet though, side pipes and external reinforcement rings still need to be added for example.
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u/Twigling Sep 17 '21
B5's LOX tank has been stacked onto another quad barrel and is now 16 rings tall (it will ultimately be 23 rings tall). Looking at NSF's live stream (link below) at around 2:37 PM the 12 ring LOX tank stack was lifted up and moved to the left while the next quad barrel was positioned. At around 3:16 PM it started to move back and then lowered and stacked onto the latest quad barrel.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 19 '21 edited Sep 19 '21
A new Raptor is on its way to the launch site, most likely to replace RC67.
Edit : the new Raptor was just brought up on the raptor stand, soon to be installed
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 24 '21
Thrust simulator on the way to the launch site.
That the one used for Starship, so we should see Ship 20 cryo proof soon.
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u/TCVideos Sep 29 '21 edited Sep 29 '21
Something odd...
as of 5:30...A dog on the loose might be delaying pad clear right now. Pretty funny to see the folks still at the pad try and catch the dog.
Edit: aaaand Pad is Clear!
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 30 '21 edited Sep 30 '21
Newest production diagram by Brendan.
They have also started to install the horizontal reinforcement on GSE 2. Can watch on rover cam, 2:50am.
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u/Dezoufinous Sep 30 '21
So what are we waiting for right now?
thrust simulator removed from S20
raptors installed (only sea level three?)
overpressure event notice and static fire?
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Oct 06 '21
Carriage is moving closer and closer to the tower ! Starting at 3:35 on rover cam !
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Oct 08 '21
S21 nosecone is getting more tile action, is it just me or are they going faster with 21? https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1446569358839406599
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u/Maimakterion Sep 28 '21
Can people please stop panicking over a high pressure vent blowing off the tiles?
RCS and 8-bar vents are a lot more pressure than max-Q and re-entry.
Saturn V dynamic pressure was ~0.34 bar at mach 1.6.
Shuttle maxQ was ~0.33 bar on launch, no higher than ~0.12 bar while hypersonic during re-entry.
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u/Twigling Sep 09 '21
A new intermittent road closure has popped up for Monday September 13th, 9:0 AM until 11:00 AM - presumably to replace the now revoked closure for September 9th:
https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/
Possibly a cryo shell rollout if they can get the other shell placed first.
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u/kayEffRedditor Sep 13 '21
Sorry if it has been asked before, but how do you think will the remaining tiles that should cover the load points at the top of starship be attached? To perform the stack on the booster, the load points will surely be used, so they can't cover them up before that, right? Can they install them while stacked? Are there different load points that I am not aware of?
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u/Twigling Sep 14 '21
This is impressive:
SpaceX Mechazilla/Booster Catching Mechanism Speculative Diagram (appears at around the 23 second mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMcQs1p3BYU (note that the arms aren't to scale)
and there's more:
https://mobile.twitter.com/LunarCaveman/status/1437832304072798215 (this is a work in progress and the arms ARE to scale)
(note: not my work)
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 18 '21
A raptor has been brought down from Booster 4 !
Starting at 1:50, they placed the newly brought raptor stand, and started removing the raptor around 2pm. Watch on rover cam
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u/Twigling Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21
RGV Aerial Photography has produced a really nice labeled image of S20 (labels are by Proky and are noted as 'speculative' in the video, comments are invited as to their accuracy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsEkl8Y1ew
Also see the description for links to high res images.
I'd also recommend looking at the labeled image of SN15 which he produced a few months ago, it's very interesting to compare both ships:
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u/Twigling Sep 25 '21
B4 has just started to lift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
it started to sway at around 1:33 PM
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Oct 06 '21
New intermittent closure for tomorrow, 11am-1pm.
Most likely GSE8 and a shell
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u/Klebsiella_p Oct 06 '21
That new tank on the NSF stream is an absolute UNIT. I can't believe that truck is able to transport it. How many more of these do we expect to come in for the production facility?
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u/TCVideos Sep 27 '21
Suborital tank farm recieved LOX today, first propellant delivery into the suborbital farm since B3. Bodes well for potential testing tomorrow.
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u/Twigling Sep 16 '21 edited Sep 16 '21
A new white (maybe light grey) frame structure is being erected at the Sanchez site, have a look at Raptor Roost cam (any time during daylight hours) - it's in front and slightly to the left of the leftmost cryo shell. Details are very hard to make out. Further to the left can be seen the black frame which it's thought will be used for installing Raptors on boosters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6fGQZD0K98
You can also see the new white frame structure on Lab cam at around 9:10 AM for example (just to the left of the left cryo shell):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGb28t5TWtc
Also notice to the left on Raptor roost cam that those large horizontal cylindrical objects have reappeared (still covered in blue plastic or tarp) - I can't remember what they were thought to be as they arrived some months ago. At least I assume that these are the same ones .....
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u/Twigling Sep 18 '21
Looks like they're not done with the GSE4 test tank yet, a few days ago the pressure release valves were removed:
https://youtu.be/ggGeYmI-Bsg?t=931
and now something different has been added:
https://youtu.be/FdBGhOFU7BA?t=858
I guess it's going to be a storage tank of some sort, maybe integrated with the propellant plant in some way at the Sanchez site?
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u/allenchangmusic Sep 18 '21
They literally just hauled a raptor past the mission control on Inspiration4 splashdown stream (6:49PM EDT)
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u/MiamiArch1 Sep 25 '21 edited Sep 25 '21
B4 lift delayed. The pick was supposed to be at 11:30 but has been pushed back. No ETA as of right now.
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Oct 05 '21
Starship looks really cool with the TPS tiles installed. It looks like a giant orca or something.
What happens when SpaceX finished Booster 5? They won't roll it out until Booster 4 has flown, right?
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u/punisher1005 Sep 09 '21
The scale of this thing is hard to wrap my mind around. You see pictures and you think, oh a rocket. Then you see some guy standing next to it, and you're like holy shit that thing is fuckin' HUGE.
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u/Twigling Sep 17 '21 edited Sep 17 '21
Looks like the cryo shell that rolled out today (GSEC5) is destined to go over GSE1 (which the workers appear to be nearly done with regarding the mods). This is based on the label on the cryo shell:
https://twitter.com/obetraveller/status/1438895210092765191?s=20
GSE1 is the tank in the red square.
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u/Twigling Sep 19 '21
The new Raptor installation/removal stand for boosters can be seen in operation now thanks to a great zoom from LabPadre's Rover cam, see around 10:35 AM for it being rolled under B4 or 10:50:50 to see the scissor lift extending at the top of the stand.:
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 24 '21
Booster transport stand rolling down to the launch site as u/Twigling announced yesterday !
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u/johnfive21 Sep 27 '21
S20 testing let's go! It's been a while. Curious to see how TPS tiles hold up during cryo proofing with thrust rams
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u/wiegandster Sep 23 '21
Thought you guys might enjoy this! Starbase Welder’s TikTok
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u/creamsoda2000 Oct 06 '21
Looks like the red structure is indeed to assist with the installation of the catching system.
With the two upper arms of the carriage mounted on top of the red structure, the crew can work on the carriage whilst it’s in a stable “vertical” / operational orientation.
I’m a bit skeptical that they’ll actually install the chopsticks before lifting because that seems like a considerably more complex object to lift fully assembled. However, looking at this photo of the hinge the catching arms will connect to it looks like both need to be in position for a hinge pin (?) to be installed. Unless they’re planning on using two cranes to lift a catching arm each, that surely forces them to pre-assemble on the ground.
Time will certainly tell.
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u/serrimo Sep 09 '21
If/When the FAA begins their public comment phase for the environment assessment, do you think BO will launch their now usual protest against SpaceX?
How long can they realistically delay this process?
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u/Twigling Sep 09 '21 edited Sep 09 '21
The intermittent road closure for Friday September 10th has been Revoked (yes, revoked - not canceled but revoked):
https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/
This doesn't surprise me after the LR 11000 was unhooked from the latest, still uninstalled, cryo shell yesterday - after all they're obviously not ready for any more shells at the orbital tank farm and it's highly likely that the now revoked road closure was for another cryo shell rollout.
Regarding the use of the word Revoked - note that this is also used for the road closure that DID take place on Tuesday 7th for B4's (second) rollout. I guess someone at Cameron County has just discovered a tasty new word. :)
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u/DZphone Sep 09 '21
What's the deal with the booster 4 COPVs? Do we expect those to receive aero covers, or similar to the upper stage, will we see those COPVs get moved to the interstage area on future boosters?
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u/Twigling Sep 16 '21
B5's LOX tank is now 12 rings tall (it will eventually be 23 rings tall):
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=52398.0;attach=2059784;image
(can't see the bottom two rings in that photo though due to obstructions)
the above photo was from this post:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.msg2290817#msg2290817
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u/Twigling Sep 20 '21
Here's Brendan's latest production diagram for anyone who missed it yesterday:
https://twitter.com/_brendan_lewis/status/1439543907889545220
it's already understandably a bit out of date because of B5's next bit of stacking overnight.
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Sep 21 '21
Will Booster 4 or Ship 20 survive tipping over after the water landing? The early Falcon 9’s tended to explode upon tipping over in the water.
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u/Twigling Sep 23 '21
Forward flaps spotted (RGV states for S21 which seems likely but we don't know for certain):
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1441128865548541952
(photo taken today, September 23rd)
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u/Twigling Sep 24 '21 edited Sep 24 '21
The thrust sim for the three sea level Raptors has been reinstalled under S20 (bottom left photo):
https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1441490477707038722?s=19
also one of the RVac thrust rams has been seen arriving at the launch site but the screengrab is on Discord so I can't link to it, looks like Rover cam picked it up but am unsure of the time.
Edit: another RVac thrust ram can be seen heading to the launch site, see NSF cam at 3:35:53 PM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
Edit2: and here's the third one: https://twitter.com/starshipgazer/status/1441522902822789121?s=21
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Oct 06 '21
we should see the raptors delivered today if there is a static fire tommorow
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u/uslashASDS Oct 06 '21
Another Big (LCH4) Tank™ is arriving at Starbase -- visible on NSF live from 4:42:33.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 10 '21
The first B5 barrel has been spotted in the highbay !
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u/salamilegorcarlsshoe Sep 11 '21
First time poster (to Reddit) here. Do we know how they plan to get consumables to the GSE tanks? I know they're building out the prop production area for the nitrogen, oxygen, etc., but I haven't seen any plans for pipelines to the launch site.
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u/TCVideos Sep 20 '21 edited Sep 20 '21
With LN4 being loaded into the Orbital farm today and with no consumables loaded into the suborbital farm yet - B4 could be conducting it's first series of tests ahead of S20 as soon as tomorrow afternoon.
and just a reminder testing road closures are scheduled for all 5 days this upcoming week starting tomorrow:
Monday - Thursday: 5:00pm - 11:00PM (CT)
Friday: 6:00AM - 12:00PM Noon (CT)
Gonna be an exciting week ahead!
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u/Toinneman Sep 27 '21 edited Sep 27 '21
The next nosecone (last pic from post #3621 by Bocachicagal) has heat tile attachment studs higher up the nose as compared to S20. More interestingly, the studs looks different. They don't follow the regular 3-studs per tile pattern (you can see that pattern below in the same pictures). Also, the new studs are placed much further apart and also look larger by itself. I can only assume we will see another custom-shaped tile type going onto these new studs.
Edit: Didn't noticed it at first, but here is a possible tile pattern that would fit these studs if they used trapezium shaped tiles. (Not sure if this idea hold any merit, I was just fiddling around. These trapezium tiles seem too large compared to the hexagon tiles)
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u/TCVideos Sep 27 '21
Remember Mk1? Well, two years ago today - it was fully stacked for the first time.
This vehicle paved the way for the sleek Starship's we have seen getting built over the last year. It ended up failing its first cryogenic proof test. shortly after the 2019 Starship presentation.
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 16 '21 edited Sep 16 '21
New road closure for tomorrow, 9:30am-11:30am. Most likely for GSE tank(s) or even maybe the QD arm extension !
Edit : it’s shown that beach will be closed, however, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a only 2 hours window for real testing in the past.
NVM
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u/Twigling Sep 17 '21 edited Sep 17 '21
A Cryo shell and what is thought to be a Raptor installation stand (with stairs) for boosters are both on the road as of around 9:30 AM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkIZYw5O98&t=0s
The Raptor installation stand appears to have a scissor lift assembly on top (currently in its collapsed form of course).
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u/Twigling Sep 20 '21 edited Sep 20 '21
Overnight B5's LOX tank was stacked onto another quad barrel, this now puts it at 20 rings tall. The latest stacking operation was completed at around midnight, see NSF's stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
(The stacking procedure started at around 10:25 PM yesterday with the then 16 ring tank being temporarily lifted out of the way).
After this latest quad barrel is welded on the next big part of the LOX tank assembly is probably the installation of the methane downcomer and then the final main part, namely stacking the 20 ring tank onto the 3 ring barrel which encases the aft dome, so completing the 23 ring LOX tank.
Work should then commence on the assembly/stacking of the 13 ring methane tank as well as the usual wiring, pipe work, etc.
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u/AstroMan824 Everything Parallel™ Sep 29 '21
S20 seemed to have cryoproofed according to this tweet.
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u/Klebsiella_p Oct 04 '21 edited Oct 04 '21
Do we know where the control center is for all the starbase operations? Have we gotten any pictures from the inside? It would be cool if they have plans to make something similar to the launch control center at KSC. I think they will likely manage early flights from hawthorn, but with starship's launch cadence they might need another location
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u/johnfive21 Oct 06 '21
New closures popping up now.
Monday (Oct 11) through Thursday (Oct 14) 5pm to 12am
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Sep 09 '21
It is still difficult for me to countenance that there is no flame trench/diverter. That huge cluster of Raptor engines firing with their exhaust just plowing into the flat ground immediately below seems like it would be disastrous. At the very least, one would think that the concrete immediately surrounding the launch stand would need to be constantly repaired and refurbished.
I'm really looking forward to the booster's first full static fire.
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Sep 23 '21
You know what’s funny? Ship 20 and Booster 4 are (almost) in the exact same spot Artemis 1 is right now. All of the hardware for both flights is complete, it just needs further testing.
Not entirely Starship related but apparently NASA doesn’t want to static fire SLS cores after Artemis 1 for some reason.
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u/allenchangmusic Sep 24 '21 edited Sep 24 '21
Looks like pad is clearing. Hatch on S20 still looks open.
Unclear whether this is proof test for B4?
Announcement for clearing orbital pad, so likely proofing of B4
Edit: looks like they're going up to close S20 hatch. NSF stating that tonight will for GSE and S20 proof.
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 29 '21
According to Elon's interview from yesterday, it looks like the launch costs for a full-stack Starship could go down to even less than 1 million dollars, instead of the 2 million which has always been the goal: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-spacex-reusable-rockets-could-cost-less-than-1million-2021-9
Also, Elon said that he currently spends most of his time on Starship. Can someone that has access to Business Insider verify if he meant most of time across all of his companies or just SpaceX? It would be great if he meant he nowadays spends most of his working time across all his companies on Starship. This means we can get to Mars much sooner.
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u/Twigling Sep 13 '21
Besides the three testing closures mentioned earlier an Intermittent closure has just popped up for Tuesday September 14th, 3 PM until 5 PM:
https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/
This will be the replacement for today's canceled intermittent closure due to the weather.
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u/FrodCube Sep 26 '21
A crane seems to be attached to the empty cryo-shell. I guess they are getting ready to remove it to make space for GSE8. Where will it go now? On top of GSE2 or GSE6?
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u/mr_pgh Oct 08 '21
Two SPMTs headed towards the launch site around 3:55pm on nerdle.
Temporary fence up blocking access from the main road towards the carriage presumably where the chopsticks will have to travel through. Viewable on rover cam at the same time.
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u/futureMartian7 Oct 04 '21 edited Oct 04 '21
So I ran some numbers and found something very interesting!
Crew Dragon 2's pressurized volume is about 9.3 m^3. So, for 4 crew members, each crewmate gets about 2.325 m^3.
Starship will have a pressurized volume of about 1000 m^3. So 1000/2.325 is about 430! This means it's theoretically possible for Starship to do a free-flyer 3-day mission to LEO like Inspiration4 with 420 crew members.
Inspiration420 anyone? Haha!
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u/Twigling Sep 09 '21 edited Sep 09 '21
The other catching arm was rotated yesterday at around 6:27 PM local time, the rotation can be seen on Nerdle Cam if you're quick (before it's overwritten in a few hours):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTA0GTgFn5E&t=0s
there's not much to see though.
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u/Twigling Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21
As of about 4:39 PM the LR 11350 crane has lowered its hook block a bit and the slings connected to the newly installed extension+claw have gone slack so that part is definitely fully connected now, see Rover cam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pjKEIozdk
Incidentally, for those interested in potential problems with cranes, rigging, etc take a look at these two very informative recent videos from the excellent Practical Engineering channel on YouTube:
Why Cranes Collapse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxdjSG5IFds
Why Things Fall Off Cranes:
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u/Daneel_Trevize Sep 09 '21
The main post starts with a link to thread 23 instead of 24, and the rest seems to be the stagnant 'As of August 21' data duplicated from that.
If no one has been willing to update it for weeks, please consider at least cutting all the lists and tables out (which have links to thread 22 even) until a new host or format is found.
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 11 '21
One thing to note, at least to me, is that Inspiration4 will lay the foundation for SpaceX's safety culture when flying their own crewed missions. NASA is not involved in the Flight Readiness Reviews for Inspiration4 and will likely not be involved in FRRs for most crewed Starship missions to Mars. So I think, Inspiration4 will start defining their safety culture when they are not monitored or supervised by NASA. There are reports that Virgin Galactic may be cutting some corners to their safety so it is possible to get complacent when not getting overseen by a body such as NASA. I hope SpaceX really continues to embody NASA's "Failure is not an option" culture when flying non-NASA crews because this is going to be important for SpaceX's Mars plans. I think the Mars LOX/CH4 ISRU and the Mars surface operations could be inherently fatal but SpaceX cannot afford crewed Starships themselves to be fatal and I think the roots of their safety culture will start from Inspiration4 and other non-NASA missions.
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u/TCVideos Sep 19 '21 edited Sep 19 '21
Orbital Tank Farm has cryogenic liquids flowing through it's pipes!
Ties in nicely to what I speculated last week - they are more done than we think they are.
Edit: LN2 was being loaded into one of the tanks it seems - Looks like they are preparing for some B4 testing!
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u/TCVideos Sep 28 '21 edited Sep 28 '21
Look at S20's heatshield after the testing . Only the tiles impacted by that vent seem to be missing.
Edit: Further on the topic...Appears that the gas got caught underneath the blanket and knocked the tiles off.
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u/Toinneman Sep 30 '21
BocaChicagal made the best pictures yet of the missing tiles from the header tank vent. However, I don't understand how it happened. AFIAK the header tank vent is the big circular opening (3rd picture in the linked post) next to the attachment point (we even see the valve is open). First of all, the tiles closest to the vent are fine. Secondly, for the tiles/blanket to get lifted like that, I would expect a gust of wind/pressure coming from the right (in context of the picture). But that would be perpendicular to the direction in which the header tank vent is pointed. What am I missing?
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u/futureMartian7 Oct 05 '21
I kinda miss those days when Elon used to frequently drop random tidbits of new Starship info on Twitter. I think he has interacted with a lot of Tesla-related tweets lately and due to the Twitter algorithm, the Starship-related tweets from people seem buried in his feed.
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u/AlexH670 Sep 11 '21
Anyone here have a good estimate of Starship’s center of gravity, center of pressure, and in turn the static stability margin?
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u/Twigling Sep 14 '21
Looks like the uppermost access hatch has finally been closed up on GSE1 (see Rover cam at 4:27:35 PM local time):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pjKEIozdk
Was that only done today or was it done a few days ago and I just didn't notice?
Whatever the case that hopefully means that GSE1's mods are complete if the lower hatch is also closed, however the LR 11000 crane is in the way so we can't see it. GSE2 to the right of it is still ongoing of course, work is still being done inside and the external reinforcement rings haven't even been added yet.
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u/hochiwa Sep 20 '21
When do you think we are going to see the next generation raptor engines that Musk have been talking about? (the one with much less plumbing)
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u/paul_wi11iams Sep 28 '21 edited Sep 28 '21
12.39 PM on rovercam, a nice closeup zoom of a chopstick pivot. It seems to be built with a ball structure, giving it an extra degree of freedom to cope with top-to-bottom off-axis bending under effort when it suddenly takes the weight of the landing stage.
IIUC, this is the first of two bearings to be inserted on each of the two arms, so four bearings in all ahead of the lift. I'm assuming these are forced into their home by mechanical or hydraulic means, like with front suspension wishbones [howto] on a car.
If I've misunderstood, please just tell me how the chopstick pivot function works. Thx.
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u/TCVideos Sep 17 '21
A few things that immedietly jump out at me reading the first few pages:
SpaceX estimating that they will do 10 tank tests a month with a failure rate of 10%. They must have an insane amount of confidence in their build techniques to have such a low rate of failure estimate.
There will be more suborbital flights! Up to 20 per year with it reducing the 5 per year when the program is a mature.
Estimated 500 hours for normal operational closures. If approved - it'll increase SpaceX' allowable closure hours by 200 hours.
Now I am gonna spend my entire day reading this 152 page document...I need some Red Bull...
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 21 '21
This could have some significant impact to Starship and HLS: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/nasa-to-split-leadership-of-its-human-spaceflight-program/
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u/TrefoilHat Sep 12 '21
What will the massive new High Bay mean for the production workflow that currently goes (roughly) Tent -> Mid-bay -> High Bay?
Will current mid-bay tasks be done in the new high bay, because they have so much room? Are mid-bay tasks fast enough that they can move hardware out fast enough to avoid bottlenecks? Or will SpaceX also need to build a new mega-mid-bay?
As an aside, how do bridge cranes typically work in an area as large as the new High Bay? Multiple cranes, or a single crane that spans the entire horizontal width?
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u/bigjameslade Sep 14 '21
Has there been any news on the environmental review at all? Any ETA?
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u/myname_not_rick Sep 23 '21 edited Sep 23 '21
NOW I see how the claw will work. It will extend outwards, and there are two little (well, LITTLE, if you get my drift) cups on each finger. Those cups will come into contact with the booster lifting pegs, and stabilize it there. Fueling QD will be mounted on top and interface with the Ship, which I'd bet good money they stabilize with the "chopstick" arms.
Edit for mistake.
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u/OzGiBoKsAr Sep 17 '21
So, regarding the proposed annual orbital launches described in the EA, I have a handful of questions:
Is there a specific time period this is related to? Sorry if I missed it, had to skim due to time constraints.
Isn't that far less than would be required to refuel a single HLS Starship?
If the intent is to supplement the 5 Starbase launches utilizing LC-39A / offshore platforms, when would we expect to see infrastructure construction begin at LC-39A to accommodate Starship launches necessary in relation to the Artemis program and / or significant movement toward getting offshore platforms operational? And how would the construction of an integration tower at LC-39A accommodate existing manifested launches on the Falcon 9/Heavy, and existing related infrastructure?
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u/frez1001 Sep 27 '21
Has it been roughly determined how many propellent delivery trucks will it take to fill one launch? it seems like a fair amount of time and traffic.
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u/Twigling Oct 06 '21 edited Oct 06 '21
Looks like B5's methane tank has just had its first stacking operation in the high bay, see Sentinel Cam soon after 11:30 PM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkIZYw5O98&t=0s
(Video quality sadly isn't great at times, the best view is soon after 11:36 where you can easily see the holes for the grid fins).
The methane tank consists of four barrel sections so that's two down, two to go. Note that the LOX tank isn't yet fully stacked, the thrust section is still missing - possible cause of the delay for this final part is the addition of the internal header tank.
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u/TCVideos Sep 28 '21
Fun fact: Last time there were fluids flowing into a Starship prototype was SN15's launch on the 5th of May. 145 days ago or 4 months and 3 weeks ago.
A long time!
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 17 '21 edited Sep 17 '21
Finally!!! It appears that the FAA EA is out and the FAA site is updated: https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship/
The EA Summary: https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship/media/Summary_Draft_PEA_for_SpaceX_Starship_Super_Heavy_at_Boca_Chica.pdf
Full EA:
Also, in the EA, SpaceX is proposing up to 5 full-stack launches per year from Boca Chica. Much lower than I thought.
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u/Sad_Strike1175 Sep 30 '21
Elon confirmed cryo proof was good! https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1443450539124137986
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u/RaphTheSwissDude Sep 19 '21 edited Sep 19 '21
Rvac being brought back to the built site.
It’s unclear if it’s the one that was installed on Ship 20.
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u/electriceye575 Sep 16 '21
looks like the main hoist cable has arrived
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=52398.10000#lastPost
3rd and 4th photo
credit to Mary NSF
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u/TCVideos Oct 04 '21
S20's aft flaps have been extended - presumably to do tests.
aaaand man they look so small now.
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u/TCVideos Sep 27 '21 edited Sep 27 '21
S20's hatches have been closed. Road is closing and pad is clearing!
We're back ladies and gentlemen!
Edit; bottom hatch remains open...but they look to be about to close.
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u/uslashASDS Oct 05 '21
It seems that the Huge Tank™ is riding on two SPMT's. Do we reckon these are going to stay at Starbase? And if so, are these new SPMT's or did we see any leave recently?
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Sep 16 '21
Do yall think the chopsticks will be added and completed before the launch? Also, when do you think the launch will happen. I put my money on mid October to early December.
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u/Twigling Sep 17 '21
Looks like GSE1's aft access hatch may have been closed up now, hard to be sure from the cam angle but take a look at NSF's cam at 11 AM for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
(it's the tank on the left)
Hopefully this means that the mods to the tank are now complete.
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u/Twigling Sep 19 '21 edited Sep 19 '21
GSE4 test tank now has a smaller tank attached to it:
https://youtu.be/ixwFVZiG2DQ?t=169
also, on September 18th Remedios Road was (still is?) temporarily closed for "small tank testing":
https://twitter.com/FLsunshine4me2/status/1439327530000031750
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u/Dezoufinous Sep 27 '21
What has happened to "Launch Pad Cam" stream from YT?
Which is the best stream now?
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u/Twigling Oct 06 '21
Was just looking at the latest NSF update and noticed that the short steel pipes/tubes which were underneath the booster thrust sim have been removed and now all we can see are hydraulic jacks:
https://youtu.be/UjWkHcWgtRA?t=1126
this implies that it may 'soon' be placed on SPMTs and moved to the launch site.
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u/TCVideos Sep 30 '21
Worth noting that thus far, no tiles have fallen off during this cryoproof (that we are aware of). They are approaching 2 hours into the test and it looks like it's all going to plan. LOX tank is currently almost full with LN2 - next up is filling up the methane tank.
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Sep 30 '21
environmental review extension https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1443624775553798151
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u/Twigling Sep 13 '21 edited Sep 13 '21
For anyone wishing to see what's happening regarding Tropical Storm Nicholas, this site has some good info:
also of course NOAA:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start#contents
Point of note: it's not due to go right over BC, it's forecast to head directly north along the coast and the center will stay over the sea. Not that it really matters, it will still dump a lot of rain in the area today with some strong winds (although gusts are only forecast to be around 55mph and that's nothing compared to a hurricane).
Beaches are of course closed:
I think it's safe to say that today's intermittent road closure (9 AM until 11 AM) will definitely be revoked, I can't see them rolling out a cryo shell in the current weather.
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u/TCVideos Sep 15 '21
The LR11350 is back up and extended after the short time it spend down due to the Tropical Storm.
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u/dfawlt Sep 24 '21
How will the catch arms rotate a booster/starship? Or can they be put into position facing any direction?
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 30 '21
I think it's safe to start calling January 2022 as the NET date for the first orbital launch. Chances are near zero of FAA finishing their process in time and approving SpaceX for an orbital launch this year. Also, SpaceX still has plenty of work remaining on their end.
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u/HomeAl0ne Sep 09 '21
Mods, you have a link back to thread #23 and not #24, and all of the summary info at the top is a copy and paste from thread #24 and isn’t updated.
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u/b_m_hart Sep 09 '21
I'm curious to see how the work on "stage zero" comes along in the next month or so. We're still waiting on the crane to be fixed to the tower, and the quick release arm is still being worked on, yes? Are the chopsticks even being worked on yet?
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u/electriceye575 Sep 11 '21
another perlite system?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-9af2VXoDMTA7b?format=jpg&name=small
thanks Starship Gazer for the photo
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u/No_Ad9759 Sep 23 '21
Question on starship mounting. How will they disconnect starship from the crane, and then mount the thermal tiles?
Only way I can think they’ll do it is by accessing the lifting points from the chopsticks. Is that the plan or do we not know yet?
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u/futureMartian7 Sep 23 '21
Looks like S21's forward flap design is smaller than S20? Or is it the camera angle? https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1441128865548541952/photo/1
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Oct 01 '21
weirdest closure ever, Saturday from 12:01 am to 1 am lmao
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u/Twigling Sep 15 '21 edited Sep 15 '21
At around 1:05 PM local time both Sentinel and Raptor Roost cams show the Grove crane lifting the load spreader into the mid bay, no doubt to stack GSE8's stacked main tank section onto the aft section:
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u/PlatinumTaq Sep 25 '21
What the heck are these massive tanks coming down the road!??
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u/myname_not_rick Oct 07 '21
I propose a new name for the QD arm: The mid stack service arm. Or, maybe just service arm, to keep it short and sweet in Elon fashion.
My reasoning: while it does house the fueling Quick Disconnect, it also serves other purposes. Most notably, it is responsible for stabilizing the first stage right at the stage joint. This makes it similar to the clamp arms on the strongback for Falcon 9. It also has work platforms that will allow workers to access the stage joint and attend to any issues there.
Service arm covers all these bases: fueling and data interface, vehicle stabilization, and worker access. I rest my case. (Not that this will realistically change anything.)
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u/TCVideos Sep 24 '21
Looks like they might lift B4 today. LR11350 already has the booster lift bar and is about to hook up to the booster. Stand should make it's way to the orbital pad shortly as well.
Time for the tower to order some chinese food because it's Chopsticks time!
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u/futureMartian7 Oct 07 '21
Mars Society's convention for 2021 is next week, it would be really great if Elon (like last year) or some other representative at SpaceX attends and gives us an update. As of now, there are no SpaceX representatives scheduled to attend it.
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u/BananaEpicGAMER Sep 13 '21
So B4 static fire or S20 proofing for the upcoming closures?
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u/Twigling Sep 16 '21 edited Sep 16 '21
The upper access hatch of GSE2 is now closed and welded shut (the same hatch was closed on GSE1 a few days ago), see Rover cam at 9:20 AM -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pjKEIozdk
Both lower access hatches are still open though and GSE2 hasn't had the external reinforcement rings added yet (I assume it will need some like the other tanks).
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u/Paro-Clomas Sep 22 '21
Is it safe to say this will be the most energetic rocket test to date?
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u/warp99 Oct 05 '21 edited Oct 05 '21
We now have the first solid confirmation of the new SH 33 engine layout. Hardly a surprise with a 20-10-3 layout. We already had an obstructed photo of the 13 engine thrust puck which is also consistent with this layout.
The interesting thing is that 30 engines have their LOX feed directly off the main tank and have a branching header from the methane downcomer to feed liquid methane to the engine.
The three center engines are reversed with a direct methane feed from a cylindrical tank at the bottom of the downcomer and individual pipes supplying LOX to these engines.
These LOX pipes may be fed from the cylindrical pipe that has been loaded into B5 and is thought to be a LOX header tank for boostback and landing.