Space and Science BS Thread

My main concern is if they miss the catch for some unknown reason the booster would fall on a bare slab rather than the OLM. It’s generally what you didn’t know that bites you in the ass. It would still topple and do damage but maybe less than crashing directly down on the mount. Maybe the grid fins are sufficient as back up? If so I think they should undergo the same test at Massey’s as the pins are doing now.

 

And I would think that's the plan. We've seen a ton of work for the second tower. All the segments are assembled, and they haven't done anything with the olm for the 2nd tower. Since they're not going to need 2 launch towers at Boca Chica, I'm betting it's a catch tower for the foreseeable future. Plus there are 5X more piles in the olm area, so it could take more of an impact...

All that said, the Elon Time estimate for the next launch is 1 month. As optimistic as I am, that's not a lot of time to build a catch tower. Then again, it wouldn't really need a lot of the infrastructure of a launch tower. No tank farm, no olm. So it could theoretically happen. The next few weeks, or maybe the upcoming everyday astronaut interview will shed more light.

 

In the past he’s said 4-6 weeks which turned into 10-12 and if they completely redo the heat shield it could be longer still since it won’t come out of the factory with most already in place. It might be a good time to fly S26 if that was ever going to happen. If a complete replacement of the heat shield is necessary then they’d better get on it, hopefully with better access than just cherry pickers. Depending on how long that takes we might see one or more of the remaining ships flown for orbital testing and expended with its current heat shield.

 

The pic with the mission patches below…
https://x.com/rocketlab/status/1800733697181880657?s=46

 

Getting closer??
https://x.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1800914375257252063?s=46

 

Think NG will launch payloads before SH?

 

I don’t. SpX’s been biting at the bit to get the next gen Starlinks launched. I can see that happening by year’s end.

 

No surprise here…
https://x.com/aj_fi/status/1800919592656679094?s=46

 

He said in an interview that they had test tiles on #4. So they've been testing new designs. As for the cherry pickers, I'm pretty sure they have asemi circular elevator platform in the corner of at least one of the high bays. This should be a good show of refurbishment time. Because even if they make it last several launches, the shield will eventually need to be removed and replaced.

 

Shuttle-Mir is an interesting chapter in US - Russian cooperation…. If you’re not familiar, it’s interesting to read up on.

https://x.com/astro_cady/status/1800943866402513376?s=46

 

I think the real time data they can for the first time collect on reentry will drastically help them improve their modeling of how best to design reentry profiles and improve materials science. Maybe they won’t have the same approach to it that government funded research would have but the need for results should produce them faster. Now that they can go up and remain under control I wonder when they start bringing a payload or if they’ll do a complete orbit with an inflight dogleg burn first. Descent from orbit might be an ongoing issue but it needn’t impede the progress they have to make while up there.

 

I can see them not doing cargo on #5, though there is a chance. I'm betting #6 will be the first. Starlink is the main purpose for Starship, and everything else is a side quest. So I'm betting they're going to do like they did with Falcon. Prove ability to flight, deploy payloads, and work on reusability then.

 

My prediction is this bad boy, or an iteration, is going to be one of the first large peices of equipment to be delivered to the moon and Mars by Starship.
https://x.com/boringcompany/status/1800976309616881792?s=46

 

I like that but what’s it weigh? How many ships would it take? Seems to me one that utilizes the full ship diameter would take several dedicated ships and 10x launches (~on the order 30-50?). The biggest tbm weighs in at over 5k tons and 17+m so ~1/2 diameter might be 1/4 the weight or less but that’s still ~1200 tons. A 3m version might work in one shot though, or bigger in more trips.

 

A couple of years ago EM said it was too heavy for SS and conditions on the moon and Mars were unknown to the point where it might not be effective.

However, it's highly coincidental the owner of SpX and the Boring Company wouldn't have a plan to iterate tunneling robots as soon as the timeline permits. Just my opinion..

 

It'll take 15-20 ships to move a small tbm. Eventually, but not at first.

Also Starliner is now stuck on the ISS because of more leaks...

 

I think the use of existing tunnels and caverns on the Moon and Mars is more probable in the near term. Or additionally by burying structures under regolith. More so with the Moon I think we’ll need boots on and under the ground to get an idea what it’s going to take. There won’t be sediments, limestone, sandstone, clay, or “dirt”, only igneous rock or it’s shattered remains. Mars will have more of the formations and soil types we’re familiar with.

 

Holy crap…
https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1801028546703306765?s=46


Also, @2008taco , has the Starliner been officially determined stuck?

 

Just heard that a commander(unknown who) is suffering from DCS(decompression sickness)

 

I think it’s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kononenko