SpaceX Starship - IFT-4 - Starbase TX - Launch Thread and Post Launch Discussion

[zoomer0056]

The SpaceX stream mentioned that they won't be recovering either vehicle. I assume each had its flight termination system triggered in order to ensure that they'd sink nice and deep.

Deepest salvage

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Yup, too deep for salvage.

 

[Electroman]

I would have rather positioned a few ships in that area to grab a terrestrial video. But for some reason SpaceX doesn't think it is needed or feasible.

 

[Ben W]

I did notice that and I was beginning to think that their analog altimeter instrument was malfunctioning.

It must have been malfunctioning, because clearly Elon would have wanted it to loiter at 69km.

 

[scaesare]

The SpaceX stream mentioned that they won't be recovering either vehicle. I assume each had its flight termination system triggered in order to ensure that they'd sink nice and deep.

Deepest salvage

The Guinness World Records Official site with ultimate record-breaking facts & achievements. Do you want to set a world record? Are you Officially Amazing?

www.guinnessworldrecords.com

I'd prefer The Glomar Explorer: Part Deux

 

[scaesare]

I would have rather positioned a few ships in that area to grab a terrestrial video. But for some reason SpaceX doesn't think it is needed or feasible.

Do we know that they didn't? Publicly releasing it may be a different thing, but we know they've captured some stuff in the past that wasn't ever released.

 

[scaesare]

Elon called it:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1798839719964618998

and:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1798846199635869945

 

[scaesare]

And perhaps the most critical item:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1798803791652983252

 

[JB47394]

Do we know that they didn't?

Surely somebody was watching ship and air traffic data to see if anything was nearby. If I was going to cover the area, I'd have put an aircraft up. The timing was precisely known, but the landing area could be off by quite a bit. An aircraft could obviously adjust much more quickly.

A drone ejected from the ship itself would have been interesting. Attach it to the outside on the stainless steel side and let it go at about 10km. Have it communicate wirelessly to the ship. Naturally, it would have to match the ship's descent aerodynamics.

Elon called it:

I was thinking that having a deflector in front of the joint would help, but that would dump a lot of heat onto the flap surface. SpaceX will come up with a fix and we'll all say "Oh, right. That's so obvious". But none of us would come up with it.

And I just realized that when Tim Dodd apologized for introducing his live stream with a recording, saying something like "You'll understand why I couldn't do this live", he was talking about his Elon interview. I'm certainly looking forward to watching that.

 

[scaesare]

Surely somebody was watching ship and air traffic data to see if anything was nearby. If I was going to cover the area, I'd have put an aircraft up. The timing was precisely known, but the landing area could be off by quite a bit. An aircraft could obviously adjust much more quickly.

A drone ejected from the ship itself would have been interesting. Attach it to the outside on the stainless steel side and let it go at about 10km. Have it communicate wirelessly to the ship. Naturally, it would have to match the ship's descent aerodynamics.

Yeah, the NSF folks seem to be all over that, posting flight and mariner notices and tracks... was hoping somebody might know if they had something in the area.

Drone would be interesting... I'll have to go find a flight profile and see what the speed at 10km up is...

I was thinking that having a deflector in front of the joint would help, but that would dump a lot of heat onto the flap surface. SpaceX will come up with a fix and we'll all say "Oh, right. That's so obvious". But none of us would come up with it.

And I just realized that when Tim Dodd apologized for introducing his live stream with a recording, saying something like "You'll understand why I couldn't do this live", he was talking about his Elon interview. I'm certainly looking forward to watching that.

I believe Elon's already mentioned positioning the flap leeward to help... I'd have to imagine there's more than that necessary.... I wonder how accurate their modeling/simulations are...

 

[JB47394]

I'll have to go find a flight profile and see what the speed at 10km up is...

Not that it really matters, but it's 600 km/h. Pick the speed and altitude you like, though subsonic would be easiest. The drone would be ballistic, probably a stainless steel ball with some kind of drag line to keep it oriented. One camera on the leading face, internal battery, and wireless communication to the ship.

I believe Elon's already mentioned positioning the flap leeward to help...

Perfect. Use the hull as the deflector.

 

[scaesare]

Not that it really matters, but it's 600 km/h. Pick the speed and altitude you like, though subsonic would be easiest. The drone would be ballistic, probably a stainless steel ball with some kind of drag line to keep it oriented. One camera on the leading face, internal battery, and wireless communication to the ship.

Cannon ball drone lol... that actually sounds like something Elon would do....

Perfect. Use the hull as the deflector.

Still suspect they will need something additional for that joint...

 

[zoomer0056]

Perfect. Use the hull as the deflector.

Yes, in addition, make some sort of deflection bump.

 

[Lance From Jax]

I needed a cigarette after that launch!

 

[zoomer0056]

Yes, in addition, make some sort of deflection bump.

Or even recess the flap base into the body somewhat in combination with a bump. Now I am very interested in how SpaceX solves this problem.

 

[mongo]

Or even recess the flap base into the body somewhat in combination with a bump. Now I am very interested in how SpaceX solves this problem.

Shift the whole flap leeward so the hinge isn't taking the brunt of the heating:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1798848426895200567

 

[Metralla]

I'm impressed that you picked up on that reference.

I'm glad you did!

 

[ecarfan]

Things that caught my attention:

“We had 16 video feeds or thereabouts from Starlink some of which were external most of which were internal”. So what SpaceX showed to the public during the flight was just a small fraction of what they were recording.

The next flight will have continuous Starlink coverage..

Booster came to a “precise location” and “came to essentially zero velocity on the ocean” so “should probably try to catch it with the tower arms on the next flight”.

Ship was 6km off target but was able to maintain control and relight 3 Raptors for the landing burn.

 

[Electroman]

Scott Manley's recap was the best. Full of technical details every step of the way with none of those juvenile exuberance .

 

[ecarfan]

RGV views of the OLM post launch.

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1799458854067118450