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Photo of the Cocoa Florida site. It appears that the cylindrical section may be as tall as it's going to get. After it gets its internal guts (tank bulkheads, plumbing and thrust structure) and its wings/control surfaces (which Elon hints are still being designed and not finalized) it will have its pointy nose section mated to it, requiring a huge crane. (SpaceX proposes to use a giant crane to stack complete Starships atop Superheavy boosters, so that won't be the biggest crane they will need.)

And the tall arched building under construction now has all of its arches. Unclear what it's intended for. While tall, it's not tall enough to house a completed vertical Starship. Maybe Starship sections will be manufactured inside the new building, but joined together outside and then transferred to the Cape on a barge. The just-published environmental impact report suggests that final assembly of the vehicles may be performed in future SpaceX facilities at the Cape. Which suggests that once Starship progresses past the prototype stage, this Cocoa site might just end up constructing sections, which would be easier to transport, for final assembly closer to the pad at nearby Cape Canaveral.

Given Florida's propensity to be a hurricane magnet, ability to move growing sections inside a strong protective structure will probably be valuable. Just protecting them from wind, blowing dust and rain might help improve welds.

https://twitter.com/flying_briann/status...9244729344

Elon's been tweeting again!

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1157820736582688773

He's planning a technical presentation on August 24, either at Cape Canaveral or at Boca Chica, where he intends to reveal information on new Starship design decisions and pros and cons of each alternative. Hopefully he will have exciting video of Hoppy's planned 200 meter hop on August 12 to show everybody.

One of the Boca Chica locals started begging Elon to hold it in Boca Chica, promising that South Texas has better tacos than Cape Canaveral. Elon says he was persuaded (it was the tacos!) and apparently Boca Chica it is.

Then he dropped this little bombshell: "We should have Starship Mk1 with 3 Raptors almost ready to fly by then."

They plan to complete the thing, finish its internal guts, join the top and bottom halves, test and install three new engines, construct fins/control surfaces/landing legs, to say nothing of plumbing, electrical cables and control systems, in three weeks???

It must be time dilation, Elon time... proof that Einstein was right and time is relative. Elon's mind moves exceedingly fast, so time passes more slowly for him. A month for him might be a year here in the Earthly frame.

I'd love it to be true though.

What the two Boca Chica Starship halves will look like, stacked atop one another, from today's article discussing Elon's tweet from Teslerati, photos by Mary/Bocachicagal

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-elon-mu...eeks-away/

If it's 30 feet wide, it looks like it will be about 150 feet tall, not counting the landing legs. (Remember that this is only the second stage of the complete Starship/Superheavy stack.)

(Aug 4, 2019 07:06 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]Elon's been tweeting again!

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1157820736582688773

twitter account Wrote:Eva Fox: "September 28, 2008, the first successful launch of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle and the launch of the payload into orbit. [...]"

Elon Musk: "That was our last chance to reach orbit. If it had failed, SpaceX would have died."

Hhhhmmm... Didn't realize the bottleneck that the new species was squeezing through had gotten that severe. Miss the 3-point hoop shot from downtown and game over.

The Florida Starship is growing fast.

Here's two photos, the first taken July 24, the second eight days later on August 3. Something like six new rings have been added to the cylinder which is now taller than the pointy nose part. I believe that some of the cylinder's guts, fuel-tank bulkheads etc., are installed as well.

https://twitter.com/Star_Shattered/statu...6998798336

Rumors are swirling fast and furious today that Hoppy will be retired after (hopefully) completing next week's planned 200 meter flight. Everyday Astronaut is saying it on twitter and NasaSpaceflight.com is saying that their cryptic inside-SpaceX sources are confirming it. (Hoppy can finally retire to the warm Gulf beach and be a water-tower.)

The plan seems to be to launch Hoppy from its BocaChica pad, fly it maybe 600 feet high (about 10x its height), then land it on the nearby landing pad where it will remain as a landing-pad monument to inspire the vehicles that follow it (presumably moved to the side somewhere to free up the landing pad).

Next up is the currently-under-construction Mark 1 prototype, which Elon says will be finished in a few weeks. (I'm very skeptical about that, given its current state of construction. The two halves still have to be joined and it still has no landing legs/fins/control surfaces. Plus there's going to be lots of internal plumbing, electronics and stuff.)

The first Starship prototype (150 feet tall when finished, more than 2x Hoppy) will be equipped with three Raptor engines (including the one currently on Hoppy? Probably, they say they will raid Hoppy for parts.) and will be moved to the pad as soon as practical where it will take Hoppy's place.

So say goodbye. Our homely but beloved Hoppy is being put out to pasture. I'm sad to see it go.

(Aug 7, 2019 06:14 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]So say goodbye. Our homely but beloved Hoppy is being put out to pasture. I'm sad to see it go.

On the plus side it won't have to suffer the pain or humiliation of being gelded late in life. Not designed to be a stallion to begin with. By virtue of being a vastly suborbital hopper, never intended to achieve full elevation.

(Aug 7, 2019 07:01 PM)C C Wrote: [ -> ]

(Aug 7, 2019 06:14 PM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]So say goodbye. Our homely but beloved Hoppy is being put out to pasture. I'm sad to see it go.

On the plus side it won't have to suffer the pain or humiliation of being gelded late in life.

It probably will be if they remove its engine and put it on the new Mk1 prototype.

Quote:Not designed to be a stallion to begin with. By virtue of being a vastly suborbital hopper, never intended to achieve full elevation.

It gave us its all. Not only the first flight of a Raptor engine (the world's first engine of its kind ever to fly), it entertained tens of thousands of people all around the planet in every conceivable country, who found themselves inexplicably staring at a Texas watertower for days at a time.

You know, it might make sense to turn Hoppy into a water tower. Recent events have certainly shown the value of a more robust fire suppression system. So position Hoppy by the landing pad, fill it with water and use it in case of fiery crash landings.

Hoppy's 200 meter flight scheduled for next week is on at least a one week hold. The delay isn't technical this time, it's bureaucratic. The flight requires a new FAA permit and it hasn't arrived yet.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1159631646351454208

Very tentative new dates for Hoppy's final hop. Road closures have been announced for Friday Aug 16, Sat Aug 17, and Sun Aug 18.

All dependent on the FAA processing the required new permit by then.

SpaceX meets government bureaucracy... talk about a culture clash.

Anyway...

http://www.co.cameron.tx.us/wp/space-x/

Edit: Elon is tweeting and says that the 200 meter flight is tentatively on for Friday August 16. He says he spoke to the FAA today and things seem to be moving.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1159969069740597248

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In Starship construction news, they seem to be installing fuel tank access ports simultaneously on both the Boca Chica and Cocoa FL Starships. (Hatches with seals that will allow workers access into the tanks once all the bulkheads are in place.)

Plus... a huge crane was set up today at the Boca Chica spaceship construction site (love the sound of that!), that appears large enough to lift the pointy nose half and lower it atop the cylinder half.

https://twitter.com/austinbarnard45/stat...8098115584

Hoppy is venting vapor from its methane pressure valves. Road is closed and pad cleared. No flight scheduled today but they seem to be doing pressurization tests and a wet dry run. (Does that even make sense?) Meaning that they are loading fuel and oxidizer but won't light it up.

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/...8162618368

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/...2083401728

Experience on previous nights has shown us that Hoppy can ignite its own farts. (From Labpadre's live-stream)



Edit: All over. Vehicles headed back to the pad.