Space and Science BS Thread

But did they unplug it and plug it back in?

 

No. That might make it worse.

Btw, the WDR went well, but the Launch Director declined to comment on if they will try for the launch attempt on Tuesday. I'm sure @Hunterdc1 will have more info.

 

Or someone stayed at a holiday inn.

 

I hope it has enough fuel.

 

They still need an extension from Space Force.

 

https://advancedspace.com/capstone-21sep22-update/

Talks about improved conditions for propellant so at least there’s some in there. I too hope it’s enough.

 

I wonder what they’re going to do with B8 since it has no engines and no grid fins. Fiddle around with plumbing connections on the OLM to get the middle 13 on ground based spin prime? I know they could install the engines there but why would they?

 

Pic of the afternoon:
https://twitter.com/sldelta30/status/1572979041644208136?s=46&t=Hr0TA9gtexzAjAy_5ey5ag

Of course it gets cropped:

 

Could be anything from chopstick connection upgrade testing, to QD, to OLM fitment tests.

Could also be pressure testing of the tanks.

 

https://file51.com/nasa-detects-a-problem-on-the-james-webb-space-telescope/

I don’t recall seeing this earlier..

 

I wonder why NASA says Starship won’t fly until next year. It’s not really under their control but “influence” might not be too strong a word. Time flies quickly though so it’s not unlikely it would take that long. As we saw with the first 33 spin prime test a problem can easily introduce a months delay. What’s crazy about the difference between Spacex and others is that it was only a month and not a year or more. I still want to see more suborbital testing with a legged ship or belly flop to a catch but they’re being frustratingly restrained about testing in order.

 

Elon Musk tweeted a couple days ago that the earliest we could expect a full orbital test flight would be the end of November, but more than likely would be Q2 2023.

 

Do you have a source for the NASA statement?

A suborbital catch would be spectacular! However, SpX has said Starship can’t hover like the Booster can (at least this was last year) and a failure could destroy the Tower..

 

I know I express skepticism about timing but it doesn’t mean I’m not excited to se it unfold. It didn’t help that Elon was predicting a launch months ago and now is backpedaling.

 

It’s from a paper introduced at the 73 international astronautical congress in Paris. Here’s a link to the video that introduced it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UFU_uh4_FQI
I don’t bother with the click bait captions and wish they were just left out.


As far as a starship catch it’s a fundamentally basic requirement to the overall plan of reusability and cost per kilo. Without it all those wonderful projections about starship being cheaper than anything else are just smoke. Either they catch it or put legs on it and lighten the payload. I can’t see just ditching them for very long when landings are a necessary iteration anyway.

 

Is there a way to lower thrust by blending either a non combustible fuel or gas with either the methane or lox in order to hover? Or alter the fuel mix?
Control valves on the cross feeds that run the turbo pumps?

 

When did SpaceX say they couldn't hover a ship?

 

Saw it in in an interview w Elon. Can’t find the source now but he was clear Booster would have the ability to hover but Starship (second stage) wouldn’t be able.

If I come across it, I’ll post it here.

But then again, so much had changed, this might be outdated info by this time..

 

Oh, I know things don't operate on Musk-time. I just thought you might like to hear that he's finally being more realistic.

I think they throttle down, but also use a decreasing number of engines to slow down as well.

Just made me wonder, because even the official SpaceX render videos show them catching Starship, the Chopsticks have sliding rails with catch pins that align with their mating parts on Starship.

 

Tim Dodd referred to F9 which doesn’t so much as completely stop as minimize the impact to a tolerable level the legs can absorb(hover slam or suicide burn). Starship is ~ 5 meters longer than F9 1st stage(50m to 45m) and over 2x the diameter (9m to 3.7m) but has 6 Raptors to 9 Merlins. I didn’t find the definitive actual weights of each but the surface area of a Starship is roughly 10x that of F9. Wiki has the total mass of both stages at 5000 tons and fuel at 4600 so what’s left is ~400 divided between the 72m 1st and 50m 2nd so wag that at 165 tons. F9 1st stage dry mass is ~ 30 tons.
I don’t care how good Raptor II is or how little it can throttle back, hovering should only be a problem of fuel, gimbaling, and software. They might not elect to try it initially as with the SH but they can’t afford to throw ships, boosters, and their 33 raptors away each launch.