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Takovers is the man to ask.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
However, some have allegedly suggested one or two possibly.
Above 7 they have to ditch the steerage class passengers.
At 1:32 there is a black circle on the rocket, just above the venting gasses.
Coincident or a hidden feature? :rolleyes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhOh
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
This booster has only 27 engines. Or rather it will have. Booster 4 has not been test fired yet, it will be tested on the orbital test stand, so at least in theory it could be test fired with all engines. Booster 3 has been test fired on a suborbital test stand with only 3 engines. The suborbital stands have been damaged with 3 engines. Though some people who should know, havementioned they will test fire Starship 20 with 6 engines, but that's really stretching it.
The 33 engine version is coming soon. They will probably fuel it only in part so it can take off. Very little payload capacity with this. It will carry the traditional wheel of cheese only.
The idea is that both the booster and Starship can at least lose one engine in any phase of the flight and still complete the mission. It is intended to be safe enough that they can fly people without abort capability like all the capsules have.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomcat
None of the envisioned new propulsion systems will be capable of launching from Earth. They are purely in space propulsion that can fly only orbit to orbit between planets. They will be efficient but low thrust.
What do you mean with plasma engines? Ion drives like Hall thrusters or do you think of nuclear drives?
I hope for direct fusion drives. Maybe they can develop fusion that can directly produce thrust. I may be too optimistic.
A phantastic photo by BocaChicaGal. It is the thrust puck for a 33 engine booster. This puck has 13 engines in the center. Additional there will be an outer ring of 20 engines that thrust directly to the rocket skin. A beautiful piece of equipment. Forged, then machined.
Elon Musk has said, this is the final configuration for the booster. But with SpaceX final means only until the next change.
Attachment 77703
Things are moving forward at Boca Chica. One of the many daily videos of NSF forum about the progress of launch preparation and building the factory. They already have everything to build first and second stage of Starship. What they are doing now is to streamline and speed up production. They are really preparing for producing Starships at a rate that has only been done in the 2060ies for ICBMs on the height of the cold war. With a highly reusable vehicle this means they are preparing for multiple launches a day. A capability that is needed only for a full settlement drive of Mars.
Robert Zubrin, a very active proponent of going to Mars and founder of the Mars society, said this is not an expedition to Mars, this is D-day. An invasion, sending an endless stream of people and material to Mars for building a self sustaining City on Mars.
Wide Bay Structure Taking Shape | SpaceX Boca Chica - YouTube
SpaceX has done a test of Starship. First time all 6 engines are installed. First they did a preburner test which resulted in a huge fireball of methane burning off that was expelled from the engines not burning.
Then a test of all 6 engines, 3 sea level engines and 3 vacuum engines. Raptor Vac engines can be fired at sea level but only in full thrust, not throttled. Video is on twitter, worth opening. Elon Musk confirmed 6 engines firing.
The preburner test
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Attachment 78433
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/...23181684838403
Elon Musk seems out of his low from a few days ago. He tweets a lot of new interesting infos today.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1472052839316963329
Gimballing action of the 9 center engines in the 29 engine booster B4 presently on the test stand.
B4 is already obsolete. B8 will have 33 engines and is presently scheduled to be the first orbital booster.
Edit:
Despite the higher thrust/engine, Starship will get 9 engines in the future, 6 vacuum engines and 3 sea level engines. Also a tank stretch to carry more propelllant. I think this will get them closer to the goal of 150t payload. Presently it is just 100t.Quote:
Each Raptor 1 engine above produces 185 metric tons of force. Raptor 2 just started production & will do 230+ tons or over half a million pounds of force.
All payload values for a fully reusable system. Flying Starship expendable would get them in the range near 250-300t payload. Even expendable the cost of a Starship would be well below 10% of what a NASA SLS rocket will cost per launch.
Da balls on dis guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeovers
Some news of recent days. The problems with production of Raptor seem solved. Production and tests go very well. The new factory in McGregor, Texas, for rapid mass production is being outfitted with production equipment. They are full steam ahead presently in Hawthorne, California, and expect to have the 33+ Raptor 2 engines needed for a new Starship booster by end of January, or maybe mid February.
In a recent interview Elon Musk again praised the Russian RD-180 engine that powers the US Atlas V rocket as the best engine in the world. But it will be surpassed by the new Raptor design with 300 bar pressure in the combustion chamber and unprecedented thrust/weight ratio. Elon also said Raptor was inspired by Russian methane engine development, that made it to the test stand, but never into operation due to breakdown of the Soviet Union.
A video on the progress of Starship during the year 2021. Almost half an hour but worth watching.
Why Starship Did Not Reach Orbit in 2021 | SpaceX Boca Chica - YouTube
Elon Musk will do a presentation about the Starship status. Thursday local Texas time, 8:00AM Friday Thailand time. No link to a life stream yet, but it will be live streamed for sure. Will probably pop up some time at the SpaceX YouTube channel.
SpaceX - YouTube
Friday 3:00AM CET, will need an alarm to get up at that time.
I hope for photos of the new Raptor 2 engine. Expect info about the HLS Starship that will land people on the Moon for NASA.
Any info on the astronaut selection?Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeovers
Or than 1 needs to be a 'person of color' and one needs to be a woman (as opposed to the 4 best astronauts - be them all of one gender or race)?
This is a SpaceX presentation on Starship. Astronaut selection is a matter for NASA. NASA may or may not be present, I don't know.
It is too early yet for SpaceX missions with their own crew.
Impressive.
Space
The Cost of Space Flight Before and After SpaceX
https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d...?s=46&d=mm&r=g
January 27, 2022
ByBruno Venditti
Article/Editing:
Graphics/Design:
Attachment 82585
Nasa has already assembled a team for the Artemis Missions, here they are:Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
Attachment 82620
They are the usual collection of pilots with PhDs, so I don't think that there will be any difficulty putting together as diverse a crew as you want.
^ Yes, the pool were put together sometime ago.
I believe that 4 will be chosen.
Instead of choosing the best four (whatever their race and gender are), they have been directed that one must be a woman, and one must be a person of colour.
Will be interesting seeing the final selection and knowing their details etc. Gonna be a helluva mission. :-)
The Orion capsule will have 4 crew. But only 2 will land on the Moon. That will make the selection interesting.
Does that concern you? You do not believe in affirmative action? Or more likely see chance to stir those that don't!Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
Concern, as a word, would be a bit strong.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrWilly
In a mission where the lives of all onboard rest on the abilities of each other, obviously the 4 most able candidates should be chosen, regardless of race and gender.
Predetermining that one must not be of a certain race/gender, even if they are more able than the other candidates, and then putting the lesser able candidate in a position where everybody's lives are in their hands, highlights the issues with over-PC woke-ism.
So no real feeling of concern, it's a just a bit of a pity that Nasa has come to not basing their selection on the best, due to politics.
All of these astronauts are very thoroughly vetted and selected. They are all part of "the best". So no concern about ability here. Final downselect is indeed political, as already expressed in the name of the program. Artemis is the sister of Apollo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
They have been working for days on stacking Starship again. First time using the tower arms. The arms are called chopsticks. The whole tower with all the service arms is called Mechazilla.
All gearing up for the presentation tonight. Photos and a video on Elon Musks twitter account. Coverage from SpaceX camera drones buzzing around at the launch site.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk
Several groups are live streaming. No doubt we will get excellent YouTube videos uploaded in the next days. A great timelapse of stacking from Michael Baylor on twitter already.
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/...62106042593284
Without doubt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeovers
What are the Final 4, so to speak, chosen on?Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeovers
I would have presumed the 4 best candidates would usually be chosen, but happy to admit I'm wrong if not.
I said it in my prevous post. Final select is political.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edmond
That's my (minor) gripe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeovers
Potentially, a better candidate missing out on a life changing, one in a trillion opportunity to walk on the moon, simply because of their race/gender is... poo. :)
A screengrab from the LabPadre live stream today. Very nice shot of the Starship engines. 3 vac engines with the big nozzles and 3 sea level engines at the center.
Attachment 82665
A picture from Elon twitter
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They are facing some problems.
No approval by the FAA to use this launch site yet. Hopefully by end of this month, but there have been delays before.
The tank farm is built from tanks of SpaceX own design, same as the rocket tanks. Oxygen tanks and nitrogen tanks are approved and in use. But no approval for the methane tanks. SpaceX is presently working on modifications.
Inofficial info says the rocket presently stacked has some flaws and is no longer considered flight worthy by SpaceX. Nothing official though. Design is constantly in flux still. The next improved design will use improved Raptor engines, the Raptor 2 design and will hopefully fly as soon when FAA gives the green light. Also more engines. Fan calculations show the new version will reach and exceed the target lift capacity of 150t to LEO. Over 200t of propellant with the tanker version.
Hoping for good pictures of the new engine on todays presentation.