Render by Ashley Killip (@ChromeKiwi) showing what the new much-redesigned second Orbital Launch Mount is expected to look like. Unlike the first, it will sit above a deep water-cooled Cape Canaveral style flame-trench, not up on tall legs. And it will be simpler, with the 20 raptor quick disconnects that the first OLM used to start the outer 20 raptor engines deleted. That will require major modifications to the version.2 boosters. It's unclear what those mods will look like, though I'm inclined to think that the high-pressure startup gas will still be supplied externally (and not from onboard COPVs that would add too much additional mass) and distributed to the engines through a new onboard manifold.
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nsNS
Bill Gerstenmaier, former NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate and now a SpaceX Vice President, says “We landed with half a centimeter accuracy in the ocean, so we think we have a reasonable chance to go back to the tower."
https://spacenews.com/nasa-really-lookin...st-flight/
Half a centimeter??!! It suddenly becomes clear why they moved up the first tower catch attempt from Flight 6, where it had been penciled in, to Flight 5.
Ryan Hansen's deep dive engineering video into how SpaceX proposes to catch huge rocket boosters (the largest ever made) in midair with giant robot arms.
If everything goes according to plan, we should see all this happen in real life in a couple of days!
Starbase Booster Integration Team poses for a photograph with their baby
(Booster Integration Team photo)
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The new Mars mural on the side of the new parking garage
(Photo by Mary/Bocachicagal for Nasaspaceflight.com)
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nsNS
Countdown progressing. Go for prop load. New launch time of 7:25 AM central
Fueling underway
Perfect launch!
Stage separation
Nominal orbit insertion
AND PERFECT BOOSTER CATCH!!!!
https://x.com/mrsiipa/status/1845467680695865760
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Ship Reentry beginning
Getting some burn thru at the flap hinge
It's down in the Indian ocean
Performed landing burn but exploded after it struck the water
There appears to be a shipborne camera at the landing point
Video of it making a vertical landing in the water, then exploding
https://x.com/SpaceNosey/status/1845458465549889845
On flight 4 the booster exploded after water touchdown too. Perhaps running the engines while submerged causes overpressures that makes them burst.
![[Image: GZom5k0aoAA9F04?format=jpg&name=4096x4096]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GZom5k0aoAA9F04?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
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