Space and Science BS Thread

But when will the next one fly?

 

Did they make any changes re baffles or are they relying on changes in the flight profile to eliminate consequences from sloshing?

 

My original guess was not before Valentines but likely by Easter. They still have to do WDR then FTS install but that shouldn’t take too long. AFAIK Spacex still has to turn in their report on OFT-2 before the FAA can deliver the license and that’s a week or two to review. Look for that report. I think they’ll get as much done on the tank farm as possible also.

 

I’d put $10 on them iterating as fast as they can iterate

 

What comes first, a completed second tower or Starship launch 6?
https://x.com/_mgde_/status/1753571313673715931?s=46

(I’m thinking about how long the footings for the ships’s base were just sticking out of the ground…)

 

They probably have contingency tasks to do rather than just hang around, anyone know?
https://x.com/spacex/status/1753647203527372836?s=46

 

To infinity and beyond!
https://x.com/nasahistory/status/1753795483309404557?s=46

 

I’m thinking about who’s going to build the ships launching from KSC. Will they be trained at BC? Is that the purpose(or excuse) for the parking garage? I would guess that some will be transfers from BC and some new hires from FLA. As more permanent structures get built the need for condensed parking will become more of an issue.

 

Seems to me they built up BC to be the main Starship production site, at least for now. (They’re probably not going gang busters yet due to their learning curve with every test launch…)

With the tower waiting on completion at 39A, if when Starship is successful and they go from experimental to production, they’ll take what they learn in BC and build out a second production site at KSC.

 

I agree but to be able to launch for the 1st HLS test mission they’ll need 2 launch sites to accommodate the refueling missions. That’s both infrastructure and assembly crews. They need more of the first and all of the second at KSC so it wouldn’t surprise me if when the parking structure allows more personnel(applies to ground & tracking crews also)on site and the current crews are settled in the finished buildings they bring in additional people to start the training process. Lots of work needed in both locations, some overlap crews, some don’t. But they need LOTS OF SHIPS AND BOOSTERS until they can start reusing them. And they need multiple sites to learn catches. Cart, horse, they need both. And a lot of trained people.

 

Not a fan of AA’s takes or delivery and though far from settled this is concerning for the long term of Boca Chica. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J0p5KUj9VkE

 

They sent the report in for IFT-2 last week.

 

Cool, obviously I missed that. Was it actually shown with the list of measures to be addressed? Watched the last flyover with Zack back and they seemed to think there was still a fair amount to be done with the OLM as well as the triangular building.

 

After visiting Boca Chica beach I wasn't that impressed with it. That said SpaceX is pretty much that asshole neighbor pushing out the people living there already.

 

I think SpaceX just tweeted that they sent the report. I'm not sure if their report was released to the public or not.

That break room/bathroom building is moving along pretty quick. I am still in the 2nd to 3rd week of February camp.

 

I think it’s 2-3 weeks after OLM and new building is roofed/fully enclosed. Time enough to roll it out for WDR, destack & roll back for FTS install, and back out for final stack & prelaunch. NSF seemed pretty certain S28 was going to need another SF for the replaced engines and anything else done when they were removed and that has to happen before the WDR also so it either pauses the current work or not but still delays the WDR. If they don’t SF S28 this week I think you can kiss a February launch goodbye.

 

NSF did also mention the tweet from the WaPo reporter.

 

OLM needs some serious upgrades to get more than 4 launches a year. Or crews a lot faster at replacing toasted parts. Daily almost certainly is going to require some portions to be constructed of higher grade materials. I wonder if we’ll see that on the second platform once they verify the design.

 

They're making tons of upgrades right now. A lot of armor being put on everything.

 

A good deal of that is replacing what was damaged. Designing it so that it does the job once is a far cry from what they’ll need. The OLM has to be several orders of magnitude more reusable than any of the vehicles launched. To me that means first then design and then the materials need to meet that standard.