Wiki Super Heavy/Starship - General Development Discussion

[bxr140]

This is a thing, cardboard in space?

Lol, no. Looks like there's some people up top using them for sun/wind/something blockers.

 

[ecarfan]

Oops, just found a more recent video, from July 21.

In that video there is a brief shot of 3 large red Kuka manufacturing robots arriving on a flatbed semi. Obviously Elon wants to automate Super Heavy/Starship manufacturing as much as possible to decrease cost and speed up production.

Also shown is the High Bay building under construction and a Raptor engine being moved around outdoors using a forklift.

 

[HVM]

@elonmusk
"Starship SN5 just completed full duration static fire. 150m hop soon."

 

[ecarfan]

@elonmusk
"Starship SN5 just completed full duration static fire. 150m hop soon."

Woo hoo! Great news. I’ve been hoping that SpaceX is not having pandemic-related problems at Boca Chica, since things in Texas are pretty bad right now. Hope all the employees there are healthy and staying safe.

This is the latest I can find from BocaChicaGal. I cannot find any video of the SN5 static fire.

 

[ecarfan]

SpaceX completes static fire of Starship prototype, will hop next

Static fire is at the 30:18 point in this video.

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1288935356310552576

 

[Dr. J]

SpaceX completes static fire of Starship prototype, will hop next

Static fire is at the 30:18 point in this video.

At 30:25, "It's still there!"

 

[ecarfan]

Seeing that photo makes me want more information about all those tanks shown on the right. Do all the same-colored tanks hold the same stuff; O2 or RP-1? If so, why so many different size tanks and why are the dark tanks all vertical and almost all the white tanks horizontal (except one)? And why such a seemingly disorganized layout?

View attachment 570889
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1288935356310552576

 

[ecarfan]

 

[ggr]

Seeing that photo makes me want more information about all those tanks shown on the right. Do all the same-colored tanks hold the same stuff; O2 or RP-1? If so, why so many different size tanks and why are the dark tanks all vertical and almost all the white tanks horizontal (except one)? And why such a seemingly disorganized layout?

I don't know most of the answers you are looking for, but I'm pretty sure none of them hold RP-1, given that Raptor uses Methane.

 

[ecarfan]

I don't know most of the answers you are looking for, but I'm pretty sure none of them hold RP-1, given that Raptor uses Methane.

Oops, my brain is in an F9 rut. Thanks for the correction!

 

[ecarfan]

Today may be the day SpaceX’s Starship prototype takes flight

Sure hope so. But I don’t see any landing legs on SN5. Am I missing them?

 

[ecarfan]

 

[mongo]

Today may be the day SpaceX’s Starship prototype takes flight

Sure hope so. But I don’t see any landing legs on SN5. Am I missing them?

Folded/ retracted underneath.

 

[ecarfan]

Thanks. Interesting. So they have some travel built into them. Do you think their mechanism is powered or when released they simply passively “fall down”?

 

[mongo]

Thanks. Interesting. So they have some travel built into them. Do you think their mechanism is powered or when released they simply passively “fall down”?

Powered or spring and latch.
Later version will have more travel for uneven ground and wind resistance.

 

[ecarfan]

Later version will have more travel for uneven ground and wind resistance.

Need to be able to handle those Martian boulders...

 

[ecarfan]

Looks like a launch today is unlikely. I don’t see any signs that SN5 tanks are under pressure.

 

[diplomat33]

Looks like a launch today is unlikely. I don’t see any signs that SN5 tanks are under pressure.

Yep. Looks like detanking now.

 

[ecarfan]

Launch was scrubbed due to problem with a “Raptor turbo pump spin start valve” according to the livestream video commentary. I don’t know where they got that information from.