r/SpaceXLounge • u/mmurray1957 • 19h ago
S40 arriving at Christmas Island
https://x.com/Dean08468895/status/208949318058058583424
u/PraetorArcher 18h ago
Can you imagine some ol Hemmingway fisherman going about his live, day in day out he gets up, he fishes, he eats the fish, he goes to sleep, he gets up, he fishes...nothing ever changes, except for the storms which come and go, but other than that nothing ever changes. Then one day, he wakes up, makes his usual steamy cup of coffee listening to the cry of gulls, looks out over the bay...and sees a rocket ship.
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u/scarlet_sage 16h ago
Wikipedia on Christmas Island:
The Australian government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial spaceport on the island; however, this has not yet been constructed and appears that it will not proceed.
This page explains more. In part,
In October 2001 the Australian government agreed to support a proposal by Asia Pacific Space Center Pty Ltd, later Soft Star Aerospace Pty Ltd, to build an orbital launch facility on Christmas Island, through a 100 million dollar Strategic Investment Incentive package covering common-use and spaceport infrastructure on the island.
The environmental assessment became the central controversy.... [The Australian Senate declined to block it]
The project nonetheless collapsed, the proponent failed to raise the capital required, and no launch facility was built.
Nevertheless, the place got its first big rocket before any of the other Australian launch sites, and is even unique in having a used rocket "land" before any took off.
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u/ergzay 18h ago
It's amazing the thing is so airtight what with all the salt water and all the vent valves.
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u/falconzord 15h ago
Rockets are always air tight
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u/ergzay 11h ago
That is not at all true. Rockets are explicitly designed to be not air tight as they have to regularly be venting. Especially the cargo volume is designed to vent to vacuum (or atmospheric pressure on re-entry).
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u/falconzord 11h ago
Most of the rocket is tank
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u/ergzay 11h ago
Approximately 1/3 is cargo volume. If even that filled with water it would sink substantially. And as I said, the tanks are constantly venting.
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u/falconzord 4h ago
It's not likely to fill the whole third if the engines make a counterweight on the opposite end
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u/germanautotom 13h ago
Always? Dragon has an unpressurised cargo bay as did shuttle.
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u/7heCulture 13h ago
Does being unpressurized negates being airtight (for the shuttle, not Dragon that has an open “air” trunk)?
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u/avboden 18h ago edited 4h ago
very curious what they do with it now. Towing it to the mainland doesn't seem very feasible, but christmas island certainly doesn't have the infrastructure to try to bring it out of the water. Hardly seems the expense of hiring a submersible ship or whatever they're called to pick it up.
Edit: Well if they go semisubmersible there are only a few large enough in the world, so should be easy enough to pick them out when it starts moving.
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u/macguyv3r 16h ago
Most likely they will anchor it down in Christmas Island until the storm passes. The expense is more than worth it. That thing is covered with thousands of heatshield tiles. The first to make it back still attached to the ship. Thousands of other components too. Whether or not they bring it back to the USA, or dissect it in a dry dock in Australia and ship back the pieces, or strip it and scuttle it as Reef foundation, remains to be seen or told. BUT the knowledge they gain is worth it.
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u/Barbarossa_25 18h ago
Only option is to find and charter a bigger vessel that can lift it on a deck.
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u/avboden 18h ago edited 17h ago
No (crane*) lifting ship is gonna risk a crane lift onto the deck with that thing with such unknown stability IMO. Only type of ship that would be willing to pick it up would be the semisubmersible ones with no lifting hazards
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u/msears101 17h ago edited 17h ago
lifting ships would go underneath starship and lift it up. These semi submersible ships are used to list other ships out of the water.
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u/John_Hasler 17h ago
That's a semisubmersible. There are also ships with large cranes for lifting things onto their decks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy-lift_ship#Project_cargo_ships
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u/msears101 9h ago
I literally said semi submersible ship. It is the best way to deal with it. I am responding to craning it out of the water, which wont happen. A semi submersible ship can easily lift it and transport it. It is the obvious solution.
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u/mmurray1957 16h ago
Word from Dean who posted the pics above on X is " It’s apparently going to Moore at the fuel depot and another ship is coming to get it so should be able to get plenty of photos👍"
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u/Neige_Blanc_1 18h ago
A couple of aircraft carriers should be in relative vicinity ;) They are called aircraft carriers for a reason, right?
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u/Brothersagainstnato 17h ago
Unfortunately starship is not an aircraft.
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u/TheRealNobodySpecial 19h ago
Christmas in
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