SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship updates

[DocM]

Smaller cryotank has been moved from storage at the tracking dish lot to the launch site, then erected.

 

Tank farm in 5, 4, 3, 2...

[DocM]

 

 

FULL STOP!!

 

Miscommunication,

 

 

 

[Beittil]

That doesn't mean future production couldn't be in Texas imho. 

[DocM]

1 hour ago, Beittil said:

That doesn't mean future production couldn't be in Texas imho. 

 

Methinks the Starship Mk-1 build and test flights will decide if build-at-the-spaceport is the way forward.

[DocM]

16 hours ago, DocM said:

Smaller cryotank has been moved from storage at the tracking dish lot to the launch site, then erected.

 

Tank farm in 5, 4, 3, 2...

 

 

[BetaguyGZT]

I always expected SpaceX to do this work in Texas anyway. They can always fly completed units to California under their own power.  

[BetaguyGZT]

.... but if Elon says no, then it's a no and they stay put in Hawthorne and the Port of L.A.

[DocM]

They've already backed out of the Terminal Island factory deal. Odds are they'll fab road-shippable parts at Hawthorne, ring quarters rather than rings etc., then assemble them in Texas.

 

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

 

 

[DocM]

Starship Cam

 

Switches between a few views of the area including offshore in case they use drone ship launch/landings.

 

https://www.spadre.com/

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

 

[DocM]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1087224401223856128?s=19

 

[DocM]

Musk interviewed by Popular Mechanics. 

 

Subject: Starship & stainless steel.

 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a25953663/elon-musk-spacex-bfr-stainless-steel/

 

Summary

 

Alloy: initially (Starship Mk 1?) 301 stainless steel, later something "special";

 

Why stainless?: strong at cryogenic temps, high heat bearing capacity;

 

Structure: double-walled on windward side during re-entry with transpirational active cooling; 

 

Transpirational active cooling: the outer wall has micro-perforations, through which liquid CH4 or water is sprayed to create a boundary layer. That's your heat shield. No heat shield needed on the leeward side because stainless can take those loads;

 

Counterintuitive?: transpirational + stainless ends up lighter than composites with a passive heat shield, and it's far cheaper.

Edited January 22, 2019 by DocM

[flyingskippy]

This design change is the core of what SpaceX stands for. Take off the shelf technology that was limited to certain applications and make it flight worthy.  The more details that get released the more it is pure ######## genius. There should be no questions as to SpaceX getting this to work. The F9 reusability has already proven to be a showstopper. Old space is banging their head against the wall on this.

[DocM]

3 hours ago, flyingskippy said:

This design change is the core of what SpaceX stands for. Take off the shelf technology that was limited to certain applications and make it flight worthy.  

>

 

IIRC transpirational metal sheets are used in some deicing systems - millions of laser-cut holes per square meter for "sweating" glycol.  This puts the tech squarely in the COTS  territory you mentioned.

Edited January 22, 2019 by DocM

[flyingskippy]

Yea, the weeping wing system changed the way small aircraft dealt with in flight icing. The alternative was pneumatic boots that cycled air though sealed channels. It didn't always work until the ice was thick enough to break off and robbed horsepower from the engine.

[DocM]

Oops

 

 

[bguy_1986]

ugh.  bummer.  Hate to see delays on something this exciting.

[anthdci]

looks like more than a small delay, that looks totaled. 

[Beittil]

Guess they have to construct a new rebar frame for it and see how much paneling they can salvage from this. 

[flyingskippy]

Just imagine if it was made of carbon fiber. They would be back at square 1 without anything to salvage. 

[DocM]

4 hours ago, anthdci said:

looks like more than a small delay, that looks totaled. 

It was just the fairing, not the whole vehicle.  Not attached to the propulsion module. 

 

Musk said fixed in a few weeks, and it'll take about that long to qualify the Raptor engines for it. 

 

More on the wind events,

 

 

[DocM]

A bit about the active cooling

 

 

[DocM]