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The Ringwatchers are crazy! They watch the Starbase build site like hawks and can identify all the rings, barrels, domes and nosecones and what vehicles they are destined for. They pick up on small details like how many stringers the barrels have, new payload bay door designs and all kinds of things. They know what's inside the tents and inside the factory building. They see what's being stacked in the bays.

Who (outside SpaceX) knows what new vehicles are under construction, what structural differences each iteration has, and where all the pieces are at the moment? The Ringwatchers know!

https://twitter.com/RingWatchers

Here's their diagram of the current state of play at the Starbase build site.

(Jan 22, 2023 06:54 AM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]More big horizontal tanks have been loaded onto a barge at the Cape Canaveral turning basin, along with some big pipe things that are believed to be part of a launch-pad water-deluge system. It's expected (but not actually known) that all this stuff will find its way to Starbase.

https://twitter.com/SpaceOffshore/status...5025525762

A barge carrying the horizontal tanks and the suspected water deluge plumbing has indeed arrived at the Port of Brownsville

(Photo by Jack Beyer of nasaspaceflight.com)



Screenshot from LabPadre's Sapphire cam, located on a highrise in South Padre Island. That's the Starbase launch site in the distance.

Photo of Massey's by Mauricio of RGV Aerial Photography.

What appears to be forms and rebar for a concrete pad is going in the marked square. Plumbing from the propellant tanks has been run out close to it, suggesting that the concrete pad will host a test stand. And just to the right, a pile driller is drilling additional piles for what might be a second test stand. The plumbing layout suggests that as well.

Elon says...

"If remaining tests go well, we will attempt a Starship launch next month"

Big "If" there... and the FAA remains a wildcard.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1621998434289942529

Apparently, Gwynne announced at some conference she was attending that SpaceX will attempt their long awaited 33-engine Booster Static Fire tomorrow, Thursday Feb 9, 2023, between 8 AM and 8PM CST.

I'm not sure I believe that it will happen so soon, but it will be scary powerful if it does.

Edit

The big static fire just successfully took place. One engine was shut down by controllers prior to ignition and and a second auto-shutdown. The other 31 engines fired for full planned test duration. Elon says 31 are enough to reach orbit.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1623793909959901184

The launch pad appears to be undamaged. The rain of concrete chunks seen in earlier tests didn't happen this time, so the pad improvements worked.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1623822130197708802

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1623812763415093249

https://twitter.com/CSI_Starbase/status/...1413740544

https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/...2019281920

Dr Z, the recently retired head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate was watching

https://twitter.com/Dr_ThomasZ/status/16...4810574848

And here you have it, the world's record for most thrust from a rocket. And not only that, it's the largest number of rocket engines ever ignited at once. And it's the last major milestone left before the Orbital Test Flight:



From the nasaspaceflight.com stream



SpaceX photo

Totally Mind Boggling video from Kevin Randolph/Cosmical Chief from WAI

Shows the existing small water deluge and when the booster lights up, the incredible power of this thing!

Watch full-screen with the sound on! (It was filmed with a remote camera, no way anyone could be this close.)

It's scary!

https://twitter.com/CosmicalChief/status...8049952768

The launch mount seems to have come through unscathed at first glance. (Though I'm sure SpaceX will be inspecting it and hordes of photographers with long lenses will be photographing every inch.

But there was fear that the little water deluge was insufficient. It isn't primarily there to put out fire. It's there to break up the destructive power of the sound waves. (If you stand nearby, the sound would kill you before the fire does.) That's why when you watch rocket launches, there's always a big spray of water on the launch pad underneath. Falcon 9 has it, SLS has it.

So to get a beefier deluge, they've shipped in plumbing from Cape Canaveral for a much more powerful flow rate. It arrived on the recent barge and this was trucked in this afternoon right after the Static Fire. Combined with a water supply and super powerful pumps, these manifolds can produce an impressive spray of water.

https://twitter.com/BocachicaMaria1/stat...3817625601

SpaceX has provided some data on yesterday's static fire:

"Super Heavy Booster 7 completed a full-duration static fire test of 31 Raptor engines, producing 7.9 million lbf of thrust (~3,600 metric tonnes) - less than half of the booster's capability"

So yesterday's fireworks might not technically have been the world's record thrust produced by a rocket, since it was throttled back something like 50%. The Russian N-1 Moon rocket first stage (launched four times, all failures) produced some 10.2 million lbf. The Saturn V first stage produced 7.891 million lbf. So the Starship Superheavy Booster throttled back 50% still approximately equaled the Saturn V going full bore.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1624150738447536128

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1624412830446534656

The NASA Administrator liked it

https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status...6918854657

Photo from the OLIT tower Tweeted by Elon