Jan 24, 2021 05:26 PM
Boca Chica resident Nomadd reports that SpaceX has informed him that the static fire was good and that a Monday flight is a possibility but not a certainty. I'm guessing that they don't want to rush preparations. It could slip to Tuesday or Wednesday.
Edit: Boca Chica Maria (not the same person as Mary) says that she was told to be ready to evacuate by 7 AM Monday. That's probably consistent with what Nomadd was told, and he chose to emphasize the 'be ready to' part while Maria emphasized the '7 AM' part. As far as I know, no definitive word yet on whether the evacuation will actually be necessary Monday.
And last night Lab Padre's 24 hour live stream cams caught them installing FTS (flight termination system) plastic explosive charges on Eileen in case she goes out of control and veers towards a populated area. Explosives are only installed when flight is immanent to reduce danger to workers, another good indication that something will happen soon.
No new road closures have been announced, but flight tfrs (clearing airspace to unlimited altitude) remain in effect for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Looks like things externally are in waiting mode, while internally they are probably in checking-off the checklist items mode.
In other news, they seem to have abandoned the idea of building SN12, 13 and 14. It looks like the unassembled parts for 13 and 14 are being scrapped. Instead they are powering on to SN15, 16 and 17. It's already known that there are significant modifications starting on SN15. (One change is a redesigned thrust dome and simplified propellant plumbing. Another might be heat-shield tiles.) So it looks like they don't want to waste too much effort with old-design Starships and would prefer that their tests be of the current design. But they seem to want to perfect landing and recovery with the earlier more basic ones before they risk the more elaborate ones. They already have SN10 completed in the High Bay, the SN11 tank section is complete in the mid-bay, with its nose ready to be mated with it, and they still have many of the parts for SN12 in reserve I think, so there's no shortage of backup Starships in case Eileen is lost. SN15 is currently being stacked in the Mid Bay while BN1, the first SuperHeavy, stacks in the High Bay. My expectation is that once landing and recovery are perfected, SN15 and its successor Starships will turn their attention to expanding the envelope to supersonic flight, suborbital spaceflights (up to the Karman line) and atmospheric reentry. There will have to be some hop tests with the early Superheavies, then fully-stacked orbital flights are somewhere down the line, perhaps even by the end of the year. The biggest remaining challenge is probably reentry from orbital velocity. I suspect that we are likely to see a few Columbia style breakup fireball disasters before they perfect orbital reentry at mach 25. (The Space Shuttle nailed it on the first try.)
Edit: Boca Chica Maria (not the same person as Mary) says that she was told to be ready to evacuate by 7 AM Monday. That's probably consistent with what Nomadd was told, and he chose to emphasize the 'be ready to' part while Maria emphasized the '7 AM' part. As far as I know, no definitive word yet on whether the evacuation will actually be necessary Monday.
And last night Lab Padre's 24 hour live stream cams caught them installing FTS (flight termination system) plastic explosive charges on Eileen in case she goes out of control and veers towards a populated area. Explosives are only installed when flight is immanent to reduce danger to workers, another good indication that something will happen soon.
No new road closures have been announced, but flight tfrs (clearing airspace to unlimited altitude) remain in effect for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Looks like things externally are in waiting mode, while internally they are probably in checking-off the checklist items mode.
In other news, they seem to have abandoned the idea of building SN12, 13 and 14. It looks like the unassembled parts for 13 and 14 are being scrapped. Instead they are powering on to SN15, 16 and 17. It's already known that there are significant modifications starting on SN15. (One change is a redesigned thrust dome and simplified propellant plumbing. Another might be heat-shield tiles.) So it looks like they don't want to waste too much effort with old-design Starships and would prefer that their tests be of the current design. But they seem to want to perfect landing and recovery with the earlier more basic ones before they risk the more elaborate ones. They already have SN10 completed in the High Bay, the SN11 tank section is complete in the mid-bay, with its nose ready to be mated with it, and they still have many of the parts for SN12 in reserve I think, so there's no shortage of backup Starships in case Eileen is lost. SN15 is currently being stacked in the Mid Bay while BN1, the first SuperHeavy, stacks in the High Bay. My expectation is that once landing and recovery are perfected, SN15 and its successor Starships will turn their attention to expanding the envelope to supersonic flight, suborbital spaceflights (up to the Karman line) and atmospheric reentry. There will have to be some hop tests with the early Superheavies, then fully-stacked orbital flights are somewhere down the line, perhaps even by the end of the year. The biggest remaining challenge is probably reentry from orbital velocity. I suspect that we are likely to see a few Columbia style breakup fireball disasters before they perfect orbital reentry at mach 25. (The Space Shuttle nailed it on the first try.)