Starship and a Human city on Mars

[Carl Sagan]

1 hour ago, SIXTEEN AGAIN said:

That may be a bit of a set back, landing control on seems a bit difficult to achieve.

Do you know when SN10 will be kitted and ready to go?

If that doesn't work as well i can see them needing a format  for a conventional wheeled landing.

 

What they are trying to do is immense though, straight outta a Sci Fi movie.

SN10 is on the launchpad but needs engines installing. It will be ready for launch within a fortnight unless they decide to make modifications. 

It seemed one of the engines broke apart on restart. But why was that? Was it just faulty, or are the stresses of the flip manoeuvre too high? 

There's not the slightest chance of a wheeled landing. This has got to nail it on Mars without runways so comes in vertically. Several years ago I did suggest the same to their Head of Rocket landing and he told me no chance, because Mars is the only thing that matters to them. But he nailed it for Falcon9 and I'm sure will for Starship. 

[jono]

The most interesting news in recent days is the possibility of a plasma/particle driven engine. From tech originating from cold fusion experiments we now have a theoretical engine that works in computer modelling .. it would potentially give us the chance to travel at speeds 10 times current levels. All of a sudden distances to the inner planets shrink in time terms 

I understand that they want to build a physical prototype... Epic ... for me this is like a steam engine versus a windmill .. there could be a quantum shift 

[ilkleyram]

Off topic @Carl Sagan but you might be interested in an AppleTV film called Fireball, all about meteorites and made by Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer.  It’s excellent, and you get a mention ?

[Uptherams]

3 hours ago, SIXTEEN AGAIN said:

That may be a bit of a set back, landing control on seems a bit difficult to achieve.

Do you know when SN10 will be kitted and ready to go?

If that doesn't work as well i can see them needing a format  for a conventional wheeled landing.

 

What they are trying to do is immense though, straight outta a Sci Fi movie.

The long term plan isn't landing on legs. They want to remove that additional weight so the payload can be larger. Catching them with the launch tower arm. 

[Eddie]

I was watching the launch of SN9 on Fark.

Straight after the big badaboom, the funniest comment was simply "Next!"

[TimRam]

On 08/01/2021 at 13:40, 86 Hair Islands said:

Bit of a tangent and I know these are absolutely bleeding edge in tech terms, but I do rather like the somewhat art deco styling of these rockets. 

Could be from a 1950s scifi...nothing wrong with that though. I expected a couple of characters in silver suits to climb aboard!

Edited February 3, 2021 by TimRam

[Carl Sagan]

9 hours ago, Uptherams said:

The long term plan isn't landing on legs. They want to remove that additional weight so the payload can be larger. Catching them with the launch tower arm. 

Though that's not for Starship, this smaller upper stage. It's the choice for the much larger lower section, the Super Heavy booster, that they'll catch with the launch tower and titanium grid fins, leaving it hanging. An amazing idea! 

[Comrade 86]

6 hours ago, TimRam said:

Could be from a 1950s scifi...nothing wrong with that though. I expected a couple of characters in silver suits to climb aboard!

Flash Gordon springs to mind ?

[TimRam]

Good launch this morning. The night ones do look spectacular. Another one tomorrow  https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

Edited February 4, 2021 by TimRam

[Carl Sagan]

Here's the official SpaceX feed of the SN9 prototype launch, belly flop and failed (but spectacular) landing:

You'll see the tenth prototype, SN10 beside it on a second launchpad. Now attention switches to that and whether it can land successfully. 

[Carl Sagan]

To land Starship, 2 Raptor engines need to reignite and perform properly. On both landing attempts so far, 1 of those engines has failed, leading to the crash and explosion. 

The new workaround to try on the next prototype is to relight all 3 engines. If all 3 relight successfully, this provides too much upward thrust so the one delivering the least torque would quickly be shut down again. But if there are 2 working engines, then Bob's your uncle and there's a chance to land upright on the pad. 

Ultimately the goal is to have the raptors become so reliable that they never fail, but this seems like a sensible insurance policy. 

[TigerTedd]

4 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

To land Starship, 2 Raptor engines need to reignite and perform properly. On both landing attempts so far, 1 of those engines has failed, leading to the crash and explosion. 

The new workaround to try on the next prototype is to relight all 3 engines. If all 3 relight successfully, this provides too much upward thrust so the one delivering the least torque would quickly be shut down again. But if there are 2 working engines, then Bob's your uncle and there's a chance to land upright on the pad. 

Ultimately the goal is to have the raptors become so reliable that they never fail, but this seems like a sensible insurance policy. 

Got to admit. I’d be pretty fricking terrified if I was in it during the belly flop, expecting it to flip at the last second. 

I’m sure the people watching the first aeroplane flights thought similar, and this whole thing will one day become completely normal. But at the minute I can’t imagine it being so consistent that normal people would be happy to go along for the ride. 

[TimRam]

ISS supply launch around 5.30pm today.

[Carl Sagan]

A heads up that Starship SN10 is finally ready to launch, and if everything goes to plan there will be an attempt today (Wednesday 3rd March). Will it be third-time lucky with the landing?

In other news, Elon Musk has applied to change the name of Boca Chica Village in Clarkson County, Texas, where the Starship yard is being created, to call it Starbase, Texas instead:

 

[Carl Sagan]

At some point in the next 9 hours we're hoping to have a test flight. Right now the Starship hasn't been fuelled, and I'm imagine it won't be until this evening. The cutoff is midnight UK time.

You can watch the buildup at:

 

[Carl Sagan]

We're trying to launch in 5 minutes if anyone wants to watch live

 

 

[Eddie]

Wow!!!

Quote

 

 

[Carl Sagan]

Third time's a charm. Kind of. This one landed safely, even if it was leaning a little. But then, a few minutes later as they were making the vehicle safe, it rose back into the air and blew up. I think a methane leak.

[TigerTedd]

27 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

We're trying to launch in 5 minutes if anyone wants to watch live

 

 

That’s amazing. So exciting. This is one of the things I’ll remember when my grandkids ask me about my experience of lock down (probably on a zoom call from Mars). 

[TigerTedd]

4 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Third time's a charm. Kind of. This one landed safely, even if it was leaning a little. But then, a few minutes later as they were making the vehicle safe, it rose back into the air and blew up. I think a methane leak.

Sounds like people would have to be near it to make it safe, which sounds like not the place you want to be when it decides to spontaneously combust. But as much as you can gather tone through text, I guess from your tone that no one got hurt.