Space and Science BS Thread

Yea, other than that it wasnt too interesting. Spacex’s feed glitched at the end, so I was really only watching the nsf feed and saw the pieces falling everywhere.

 

Here's the SpaceX footage.

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

 

Sounds like everyday astronaut and nsf might have lost some cameras/equipment. And all for a bright orange flash in fog...

 

Will the final Starship have the ability to eject/separate the forward crew capsule? I'm noticing the same issue now as the space shuttle. If shit goes sideways, is there an abort or safety escape method that doesn't involve the crew getting cooked?

Dragon can escape from a bad launch and on it's way down it's basically fueless so it doesn't matter. Thinking now Starship might have a problem safety wise unless it can ditch the crew capsule as well?

 

This has been discussed many times on several videos and the answer is no. The reality is before they put people on it, they will have dozens if not hundreds of launches and landings under their belts. Once they have landed a few times they will likely start using Starship for Starlink launches. Considering they have 1,300 satellites now, need a minimum of 12,000, and have a planned 42,000, they have enough need to dial in the launch to be 99.99% reliable eventually. Even airplanes crash killing all, and they can glide when things go wrong, and they had a similar bumpy start.

 

Dude, just letting you know but your answers come off pretty arrogant lol. I know you're in the field, but wording is a godsend if you want people to not think you're a dick . Not all of us watch Elons YouTube. Thanks for the information, just try to give it direct without exaggeration next time if you care to

As for Starship, the lack of an ejection/abort system is a concern in a manned system but a manageable one. I just hope they don't have a Challanger incident where they get asked why one doesn't exist when it does on the Dragon, that's all.

 

Too bad they did catch the glow of SN11’s explosion.. (not that I was hoping for it..)

Man, they have the launch and decent under pretty good control. Here’s to hoping SN15 nails it .

Anyone have what ‘improvement iterations’ have been made for 15?

 

I'm not saying I'm NOT an arrogant dick, because that would be a lie, but usually the reason my answers are often short and simple is because i am responding from my phone at work. But here is a more complete answer for you. The main reason is weight. The bulkhead required to handle a rapid unscheduled disassembly would weigh 30-50,000lbs. Add a complete interior for crew 30-50,000lbs. By the time you need to detach, you're too low for parachutes so that means rocket engines +fuel for the rocket engines + fuel tank. A single raptor engine weighs 3,500lbs and burns 2,000lbs of fuel per second. All this on a rocket with a 100ton payload capacity.

For scale, the dragon capsule has a dry weight of 9,000 lbs and a return to earth payload capacity of 6,000lbs. That's the equivalent of 4.5 outer ring segments of Starship.

There is however another option. Currently these are prototypes. When they crash they are just hollow tubes that collapse upon themselves. Eventually they will have an entire inner structure. Add to that the fact that they also intend to launch and land at sea. As we've learned with a previous falcon 9 + the fairings, it is possible to land in the ocean without complete destruction. And SN10 lasted 8 minutes before it went boom, that could have been enough to get everyone off the rocket...

 

No, but one of the streams said Elon said there were literally hundreds from structural, engine, to software/firmware. And it is supposed to be on the pad in a couple of days!!

 

I was thinking they could make the forward crew cabin similar in a style to the escape capsule used in the former F-111. I'm sure it was considered and they decided against it, but one has to wonder after the recommendations from Challanger if the reward would out weigh the risk.

We are still a long way off from a working crew version of Starship, I get that, just chewing some fat so to speak.

 

We'll see where they go. As it sits now, the crew cabin is a distant dream. They're just trying to prove they can land it, and they're not even using the landing legs that they intend to use. The current legs are just stand-ins. That said They/We get pretty confident with their tech pretty fast. The falcon 9 has only landed 78 times, and now it is only in the news when it doesn't.

 

I had my suspicions

 

And look what youtube is recommending me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6lPMFgZU5Q

 

I started watching then: Dang 48:44 long-------Abort! Abort!

 

The thing that seems weird to me is with all these new Space-x ships is they have a stainless steel exterior and wings/flaps.

Why do they not have a smooth exterior? They look like they were assembled by a bunch of pre-schoolers with lots of hammers.

 

That’s a short one for Tim

 

They’re all prototypes.

No need to put a ton of money and time into finishing off the exterior just to have it blow up on landing or at any time during the launch process.

With SpaceX wanting to go orbital this year, it’ll be interesting to see how Starship’s exterior evolves. They will at least have to install ship-wide thermal protection...

 

I was also told it helps keep the fuel cryo and saves weight. To paint something the size of the prototype adds a tonne or two of extra unnecessary weight which means more unnecessary fuel burn.