Wow, they did it at night! That is confidence. I can see there was a lot of lighting used, but still…They placed it last night/ this morning
You can install our site as a web app on your iOS device by utilizing the Add to Home Screen feature in Safari. Please see this thread for more details on this.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Wow, they did it at night! That is confidence. I can see there was a lot of lighting used, but still…They placed it last night/ this morning
The really short sections are covers over the hydraulic systems (at least that was the thought on the NSF stream).The new chines on B7 are very interesting. It appears there are four of them, in two pairs; a larger pair and a smaller pair. They are not at 90 degrees from each other. It looks like each pair is slightly “inside” the wider gaps between the pairs of fins.View attachment 820458
Right. I was not referring to the short covers, not sure if technically those are even called “chines”. I was referring to the new features, the four very long chines. I think Elon said in the recent Tim Dodd interview that the chines will result in the booster losing more velocity during re-entry meaning less fuel will need to be used for the re-entry burn?The really short sections are covers over the hydraulic systems (at least that was the thought on the NSF stream).
Main chine placement may have dihedral for stability.
All lined up for S24...Current live view from NSF. Chopsticks are away and down so B7 is clamped onto the mount. Impressive.
View attachment 820462
Oh, I think I see which you are speaking of, not a raceway cover?Right. I was not referring to the short covers, not sure if technically those are even called “chines”. I was referring to the new features, the four very long chines. I think Elon said in the recent Tim Dodd interview that the chines will result in the booster losing more velocity during re-entry meaning less fuel will need to be used for the re-entry burn?
Yeah, multiple statics, just wondering at what point they stack S24 on top.Definitely multiple B7 static fires, I assume starting with a small number of center engines and then increasing. Whether they will do a full 33 engine static fire before launch I can’t say.
Regarding the chines, the four long structures, those are not raceway covers. There is one raceway going the length of the booster that is not shown in the photo I posted.
F9 booster re-entry is at a significant angle and B7 is expected to be similar, I think.
Agreed about the bigger chines probably covering COPVs at their base, and I could be wrong about the smaller chines not also serving a raceway function. But I did spot a dedicated raceway on the other side of the booster, not shown in the photo I posted above but visible in the videos showing the booster on the move.now some of those are chines that double as COPV covers, the other in your first pic looked racewayish.
BTW, she is an astrogeophysicist at NASA with a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Colorado.A TED talk on Starship:
Or something of the same size/ mass (frame sans most electronics). Unless SpaceX is planning a deorbit burn, I don't see how sattelites can raise their orbits before reentry.Yesterday SpaceX opened the cargo door (really more of a “slot”) on S24, hoisted up the “Starlink loader” container, and positioned it next to the door. It is generally assumed that container will be packed with V2 Starlinks and when positioned like that they will be inserted one by one into the “dispenser” mechanism inside the Starship.
So it appears SpaceX is testing the loading process, which adds credence to the idea that the first orbital flight will include some Starlink and they will attempt to place them in orbit. Which is a massive display of confidence and/or an indication of how urgent it is that SpaceX start using Starship to build out the V2 constellation ASAP. Elon has stated as such recently.
If I recall correctly, the plan for the first Starship orbital flight — launching to the east, of course —- is to achieve orbital velocity and then de orbit over the western Pacific and land just northeast of the Hawaiian Islands. I suspect there would be enough time during that flight more than halfway around the world to attempt to eject a few Starlinks which could then raise their orbits in the usual manner.
I had speculated upthread a few months ago that it seemed too risky to try to launch real Starlink sats during the first Starship flight to orbit. But now that SpaceX has revealed what appears to be a functional cargo door on S24, the aptly named “Pez dispenser” mechanism inside, and a Starlink loading structure, it seems more likely that they might use real V2 Starlinks on the first orbital flight.
The issue is hitting the correct altitude with both the correct velocity and direction. Alone, reaching 236km doesn't ensure lack of re-entry.You make good points. I do not know enough about orbital mechanics to make determinative statements, I can only speculate that for Starship to make a flight from Texas to near Hawaii it has to achieve orbital velocity and could therefore reach something around the 236km altitude at which SpaceX released the most recent set of Starlink during the June 17th mission.
What is the altitude achieved by what you call a “fail safe return orbit”?
Given how apparently successful SpaceX has been with re-starting Raptor engines in flight, and how they would likely want to test that capability during the upcoming mission as well as test a complete de-orbit profile, my money is on them doing just that.