I did notice that and I was beginning to think that their analog altimeter instrument was malfunctioning.
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SpaceX Starship - IFT-4 - Starbase TX - Launch Thread and Post Launch Discussion
- Thread starter Grendal
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I did notice that and I was beginning to think that their analog altimeter instrument was malfunctioning.
I have a day&night job so I sometimes miss things. I missed it but it sounds like it was incredible, we've got a helluva challenge on the ground in our east coast forests...maybe mass extinction of several species...sigh. Anyway, when I put my head up and see this..I smile. Maybe a brief hiatus but for just a moment. I smile.
So Elon stated “damaged flap” meaning only a single flap; I feared it was worse than that. But “loss of many tiles” is disappointing. I see a major change in tile attachment technique coming up.
I hope that the FAA can accelerate the timeframe for IFT-5 launch license issuance given that both the ship and the booster appear to have achieved a properly targeted soft landing.
I hope that the FAA can accelerate the timeframe for IFT-5 launch license issuance given that both the ship and the booster appear to have achieved a properly targeted soft landing.
Is it possible that a future version of Starship will only be Stainless steel and minimal tiles?
Like a thin layer of tiles and steel plates on top of it? The steel might ablate, but that is very easy to replace.
I wonder if the geometry of the ship contributed to the problems. Orientation of tile seams relative to plasma flow. Sharp angles. Spacing between flap and body. And so on. The tiles on the smooth surface of the tanks seemed to hold up without any problems.
Wouldn't seem to be the path to full reusability
Did he state "only" one flap damaged though? Kinda hard to imagine the others also weren't, they just may have had immediate video for the one, and have to go over telemetry for the others
I think they bent one of the remaining vertical tanks. The perlite has been removed, so there's not much support there.
It still doesn't mean that there wasn't damage to other flaps.
It still doesn't mean that there wasn't damage to other flaps.
TunaBug
Member
I don't think the tile material is the problem. It's the attachment mechanism. Changing to a different material doesn't address that.
I'm amazed that the infrastructure that's relatively close by survives 20 million lbs of thrust...
Yeah... I wonder if that thing landed on skeleton flaps.
The roll control authority looked outstanding... they definitely fixed the issues from IFT-3 in that regard.
His tweet said “a damaged flap”. Singular.
I love watching replays of YouTubers like EA and others, but the thing I don't enjoy much is their visible over exuberance and extreme hyperbole. I like all the technical details and the context, background and all the other tidbits, but please tone down on the jumping up and down like a kid.
Farzad has a cool video comparing each of the four launches with matching time frames
TunaBug
Member
I don’t disagree, but for various reasons mostly resulting from waking up 15 minutes after the launch I ended up viewing the EA livestream (starting from t-1:00). And I was pleasantly surprised at how chill he was compared to the past. He was still waving his arms around like a crazy person, but he was a thumbnail in the corner, and he mostly didn’t interrupt the SpaceX commentary. Far better than I was expecting from past history.
I prefer to watch the SpaceX feed live, then go back and watch the YouTubers on replay. They will contribute a running commentary that can point out things that you might not notice, and which SpaceX wouldn't speculate on publicly during the launch.
When you said "third hand" I think I got something in my eye..
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