They have an engine thrust simulator built into the test stand. It shoves up on the engine mount points with an equivalent force to what the Raptors produce.
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Very cool. I did not know that. I assume they did the same thing during F9 development?
Sounds like SpaceX is very close to a hop for SN4!
Unsure if F9 did that. The 3x3 and octoweb designs may have allowed independent testing.
Got a shot of the load system. There is another somewhere when they installed it in the stand.
e-FTW
New electron smell
Sounds like they are waiting it out, somehow unable to remotely safe the rocket.
I have zero professional qualifications to discuss this issue, so with that in mind...I suspect the size of the canards (I believe that is the correct term, they are not wings because they do not provide aerodynamic lift) on the Starship tanker will be the same because the overall size of the vehicle will be the same. The canards will be used to help position the vehicle during re-entry.
Following up on my previous post, see Canard (aeronautics) - Wikipedia
Quote (I bonded certain words for emphasis): “...an aircraft designer may adopt the canard configuration to reduce the main wing loading, to better control the main wing airflow, or to increase the aircraft's maneuverability, especially at high angles of attack or during a stall.[6] Canard foreplanes, whether used in a canard or three-surface configuration, have important consequences on the aircraft's longitudinal equilibrium, static and dynamic stability characteristics.”
Quote (I bonded certain words for emphasis): “...an aircraft designer may adopt the canard configuration to reduce the main wing loading, to better control the main wing airflow, or to increase the aircraft's maneuverability, especially at high angles of attack or during a stall.[6] Canard foreplanes, whether used in a canard or three-surface configuration, have important consequences on the aircraft's longitudinal equilibrium, static and dynamic stability characteristics.”
Apologies if I misinterpreted your post: by “wings” were you referring to the fixed surfaces at the rear of the vehicle or the forward adjustable surfaces (the canards)? Or maybe both?
e-FTW
New electron smell
Looks like SpaceX re-designed their site. And the Starship page has this stunning lead image:
Successful static fire of SN4! No RUD.
Link to YouTube video posted on Twitter, but now I can’t find the point in this video showing the static fire.
Link to YouTube video posted on Twitter, but now I can’t find the point in this video showing the static fire.
Brass Guy
Active Member
e-FTW
New electron smell
Yay! Let us not forget that Crew Demo-2 is not the only thing going on...
I mean an SN7 part was spotted. 7!
Does anyone know if SpaceX has confirmed their intention regarding next step for SN4 now that one or more static fire tests have
been successful? I.e. will they do a 200 M hop in the coming week or wait for SN5?
Also, has there been any info released on cause of fire 8 - 9 days ago and losing ability to safe the vehicle? Thanks.
@Bobfitz1 I am not aware of any announcements from SpaceX or Elon in the past week about SN4 or the cause of the fire during the third static test. Except for occasional tweets from Elon, the company doesn’t say anything about Starship development.
There are so many Starships under construction I don’t know how anyone outside of SpaceX can be sure which is which...
Who spotted SN7? BocaChicaGal?
There are so many Starships under construction I don’t know how anyone outside of SpaceX can be sure which is which...
Ugh. Looks like it was unrelated to any active testing going on. Looks like something failed while it was just sitting there. Apparently they had done a static fire earlier in the day (as well as last night).
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