BFR Developments

(Aug 20, 2019 10:07 PM)Yazata Wrote: Elon's tweeting again!

He says that they still haven't gotten FAA approval to fly Hoppy. So it sounds like the flight penciled in for tomorrow is off.

My speculation is that Hoppy's dramatic pyrotechnics scared the bureaucrats who are afraid they might be blamed if Hoppy ignites another big brush-fire. But the FAA can't really be blamed for getting cold-feet since there's a legitimate issue regarding firefighting immediately after landing when the vehicle is still fueled and pressurized and not yet rendered safe for even for the SpaceX firetruck to approach.

And Elon also says that Hoppy's retirement won't be spent as a water tower like many had speculated. Elon says that Hoppy will become a Raptor engine vertical test-stand. (It's a sexier job for our beloved homely Hoppy.)

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1163888165901484037

That's unexpectedly economical or non-wasteful, although maybe it shouldn't be. Why not continue to use a proto-category second stage slash decapitated spacecraft itself as a test stand.

Contrast to NASA's giant 4670 S-IC Test Stand which had been inactive ever since 1998. Until Blue Origin this April contracted it for testing BE-4 engines that power New Glenn and Vulcan rockets. The test stand still hasn't been updated from "Heroic Relic" status on that site's Marshall Space Flight Center section. Hooda thot after those years in outdoor cobwebs it would finally have the dust blown off and be refurbished for duty again.

News has emerged on how the Florida crew plans to move their Starship (and presumably their Superheavy booster when it's built) from Cocoa to Cape Canaveral (several miles away). SpaceX is being tight-lipped about it, although some idea could be gleaned from preparations like the new access road and repositioning power and phone lines.

Now the details have emerged in a filing to the Florida Department of Transportation. Something called Clickorlando.com (a website belonging WKMG TV ch. 6, the Orlando CBS affiliate) has gotten hold of the filing (a public record) and the details are here:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/invest...ace-center

It seems that they plan to move them by those heavy-duty blue Roll-lift crawlers (like the ones that moved Hoppy) through the streets of Cocoa, from the SpaceX site to a seawall along a canal, where the spaceships will be loaded onto a barge that will be moved by tugs to Cape Canaveral's turning basin. That's where other large rocket parts are unloaded and Cape Canaveral is equipped to receive them. I assume that they will be horizontal during their Sunday drives, since Starship is about 150 feet long and Superheavy will be some 200, and they don't seem to have raised power lines along the route anything like 200 feet high. Making sharp 90 degree turns with loads that long will be something to see though. It's going to clog up the streets, but Cocoa FL is filled with Cape Canaveral workers who are space nuts, and they will probably eagerly turn out to see the spectacle.

The really big piece of news is that SpaceX is telling the FL DoT that they plan to move the Starship prototype to the Cape next month, in September. It isn't even in one piece yet. (Will they move the tank section and the nose fairing sections separately in two slightly more manageable loads and then join them at the Cape?)

A map (from the FL DoT) showing the itinerary:

In Boca Chica news, a screen-shot from Lab Padre's 24/7 live cam shows them lowering a fuel tank bulkhead into the cylindrical tank section of their own Starship prototype.

interesting photo of the Boca Chica tank segment from Everyday Astronaut.

If you look towards the bottom you will see lines and a lot of little dots. The consensus seems to be that the row of lines above the dots are slot-welds, indicating where the bottom fuel tank bulkhead is fixed. (It domes downward and the thrust structure and all of the engine plumbing are below that.) Above the tank bulkhead, pressurization of the tank should give the vehicle rigidity. (Like blowing up a balloon.) But below, there's no pressurization and just the cylinder's thin skin that's expected to bear the weight of the vehicle's filled fuel and oxidizer tanks and its payload in addition. So it appears that they have inserted a multitude of stringers to strengthen the lower part of the cylinder and fixed them in place with plug-welds (the dots). I would guess that each vertical row of dots indicates a stringer. The fact the dots are already present suggests that the bottom of the tank is already installed and what they are lowering in the photo is the common-bulkhead between the fuel and oxidizer tanks. So we should see another ring of slot weld lines appearing soon. Then the top tank bulkhead goes on top, perhaps doming above the top ring like the top of Hoppy. Of course in this vehicle, the nose fairing will be placed above it.

Elon's twitter posts suggest that the Super Heavy booster will have strengthening structural elements like stringers for its entire length due to its larger size and greater load-bearing responsibilities.

(The things you learn about spacecraft design by watching one being constructed.)

Elon's tweeting again!

As of Saturday afternoon it appears that they have all the necessary FAA approvals and are shooting for Hoppy to fly as soon as Monday.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1165377786338406400

"Looks like @SpaceX Starhopper flight may be as soon as Monday. FAA support is much appreciated!"

Bocachicagal informs us that as we speak, Sheriff's deputies are going door to door handing out these warnings to local Boca Chica Village residents:

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/...2925332481

Hoppy's farewell flight (it should be spectacular... if it doesn't blow up... which would be spectacular too) will be livestreamed.

Launch is scheduled for between 4:00 pm CDT and 4:15 pm CDT (I bet that it will run late).

That's 5:00 PM EDT, 2:00 PM PDT, and 9:00 pm UTC for you Europeans. (God knows what it will be in AUS or NZ, probably Tuesday morning sometime. Google can convert it for you. Five hours from now anywhere you are.)

See Hoppy here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8CSgRpPT0o

and here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkpsjUqn-Qw

and here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fblo3vzsOo4

And in Cocoa FL news, the rings continue to proliferate. (There now appear to be 18 visible ones.) There's also what appears to be a fuel-tank bulkhead between the fairing and the cylinder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...z65VD5c8-c

Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi has declared a safety exclusion zone in the Gulf near the Boca Chica site and are broadcasting warnings for boaters to stay clear on Marine Frequency 16 (the Marine Emergency Frequency).

Road closed and road blocks are up. The SpaceX firetruck, usually the last people off the pad, drove off escorted by a sheriff's car with its lights on. So pad appears to be clear.

Edit: Just two minutes ago Elon tweeted that launch is planned for 5 pm CDT.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1166081488648949760

I'm [edit still] ready. [No Kill Bill reference intended]

It's already 5:20 CDT, so we are already past the original 4 pm target.

Fueling is underway and vapor venting is visible from the vehicle.

(Aug 26, 2019 11:21 PM)Yazata Wrote: It's already 5:20 CDT, so we are already past the original 4 pm target.

Fueling is underway and vapor venting is visible from the vehicle.

That's OK. For 90 minutes I've been watching a rocket with no fuel in it expecting it to take off at any moment.