YazataDec 11, 2020 08:09 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 11, 2020 11:43 PM by Yazata.)
And check out this extraordinary photographic quality render that combines a video of Sn8 in flight with a notional Superheavy. The render is so good that the real and the fake are totally seamless.
The Mother of All Rockets, the largest rocket ever to launch from planet Earth. The full stack might actually fly by the end of 2021. (More likely 2022 in my opinion. 2021 will see some Superheavy pressure tests, static fires and launch-and-landing tests. But either way, it's coming.
A vehicle that (with orbital and in-situ refueling) might potentially take human beings anywhere in the Solar System.
Why hasn't nasa ever imagined anything like this??
In other news, Sn8 seems to have woken nasa up to Boca Chica's existence. Here's a nasa T-38 buzzing Boca. These jets are often flown by astronauts out of Houston to stay proficient. So this may have been some astronaut who wanted to scope out what the other crowd is doing.
They're surely going to have to take time out for planning and adding something to safeguard or prevent this from happening again. That along with either repairing or having to disassemble Sn9 just to get it out of there and ditch it for good is going to be a mild to major set-back on the Wildly Accelerated Expectations Calendar.
Today's road closure to move 9 to the pad is cancelled as expected.
But Sn9 did emerge from the high bay today. Doesn't appear visibly damaged apart from some small dents, with the exception of its right side flaps. The right lower flap has some visible damage along its outer edge but it looks to me to be minor. The top right flap is worse and will probably need to be replaced. My concern there is whether the hinge/actuator mechanism is bent or jammed.
YazataDec 15, 2020 11:46 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2020 01:33 AM by Yazata.)
Sn 8 - The Movie
A short film by Cosmic Perspective (Ryan and MaryLiz), featuring Gene and Rachel, Mary's friends who she goes horseback riding with, who make Boca Chica videos of their own using the 'SPadre' name. Gene and Rachel also make some of Tim Dodd's videos. The film features Tim as well.
In a tangential way, this is a big part of what attracts me to all this. Here's a crazy-genius visionary (Elon) building his castle out in a remote Texas swamp somewhere, instead of the usual politicians and government bureaucrats in Washington. And it's documented by regular approachable people we can relate to, as their passion, instead of by the mainstream legacy media who seem determined to ignore what has to be one of the most inspiring things happening in our (or any other) lifetime.
As Tim says, get your tissues handy. This film is so beautiful it will make you cry. It's not just about a rocket, it's about the power of the human spirit at its best.
YazataDec 16, 2020 02:03 AM (This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2020 02:52 AM by Yazata.)
And along with movie reviews, today's news is that there's a road closure scheduled for Thursday, with Friday as backup day.
Sn9 is back in the high bay, sitting on a new stand. It's engines are installed. (They were even before the accident.) A new flap has been spotted nearby. (Was it originally intended for Sn10?) Work is proceeding on 10's nosecone but the flaps aren't installed yet. The flaps are manufactured somewhere else (Hawthorne?) and trucked in.
So apparently the decision has been made about whether to fly Sn9 or scrap it. All indications are that they intend to fly it. And if they plan to transport it to the launch pad Thursday, the accident didn't delay them very much either. The trip to the pad was originally planned for Monday.
And in still more news, Flightclub.io has been pixel-counting and determined that Sn8's landing impact velocity looked like 36 m/s. That's about 80 mph. So close...
YazataDec 16, 2020 05:49 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2020 10:06 PM by Yazata.)
Photo of Sn9's upper flap damage by Cnunezimages. Picture taken yesterday after Sn9 returned to the high bay. (Click on it to get the uncropped full size version.)
The new flap has been installed on Sn10's under-construction nosecone. What's more, rumor is that final decision on Sn9's fate is still a bit up in the air. Its move to the launch area tomorrow or Friday seems to still be on though. (Perhaps with the bad fin still attached.) But whatever they ultimately decide to do with Sn9, it needs to move to make room for Sn10 and those following. As Elon says over and over, they aren't just trying to design Starships, they are trying to design a system to manufacture Starships. So clogs in the production flow have to be dealt with.
I guess that the real tell on what their decision is will be whether they remove the three Raptor engines already installed on Sn9. Engines are still a precious commodity and if they come off, they probably don't intend to fly it. Even if they don't fly it, it will still be useful to test out their new SPMT transporter ideas without risking a flight-capable Starship, and it might undergo pressure tests down at the pad. It would be interesting to know whether the accident compromised its ability to hold pressure. I wouldn't be all that surprised to see them do a test-to-destruction on it to determine what the upper tank-pressure limits on production Starships really are. (Of course, if the reason why they aren't flying Sn9 is that they believe that the accident compromised its structural integrity, a full-on pressure test might not provide accurate data on what good Starships are capable of withstanding.)
Or they might go in an entirely different direction, just replace the flap either in the high bay or at the pad, and proceed on through pressure proof-testing and a three engine static fire to flight as originally planned. If that happens, Sn9's flight is expected in January sometime.
Edit Oops, spoke too soon. The Thursday and Friday road closures seem to have been cancelled.
Edit 2 The road closures have been rescheduled for Monday December 28 with Tuesday December 29 as backup. That's 12 days, so it's not clear (to me, anyway) whether it's for moving Sn9 or a newly completed Sn10 to the launch area. Obviously Christmas falls in that span. Workers probably have Christmas and maybe Christmas eve off. Maybe a long weekend.
(Dec 16, 2020 05:49 PM)Yazata Wrote: But whatever they ultimately decide to do with Sn9, it needs to move to make room for Sn10 and those following. [...] Or they might go in an entirely different direction, just replace the flap either in the high bay or at the pad, and proceed on through pressure proof-testing and a three engine static fire to flight as originally planned. If that happens, Sn9's flight is expected in January sometime.
Edit Oops, spoke too soon. The Thursday and Friday road closures seem to have been cancelled.
Microsoft passed over Windows-9, too, and went directly to Windows-10.
"The raptors were well below max thrust or the ship would have blown through the altitude limit. As we hit min throttle point, an engine would shut off."
Dec 11, 2020 08:09 PM
(This post was last modified: Dec 11, 2020 11:43 PM by Yazata.)
![[Image: EpOyr-HXUAACAeq?format=jpg&name=large]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpOyr-HXUAACAeq?format=jpg&name=large)