BFR Developments

[Yazata]

Here's RGV Aerial Photography's flyover video of the debris field.

Just from looking at it, it looks like very little debris is on the landing pad, east or south of it. The biggest piece remaining is what's left of the nose, a little ways north and west of the pad. The raptors are west of the pad and we see lots of debris across the road by Lab's Padcam, NSF's and Tim Dodds' cams. (The video CC posted shows some of it raining from the sky... steel rain.) With the exception of the nose, there aren't any large fragments at all, the thing shattered into many relatively small pieces.

So my layman's conclusion is that it was still moving southeast to northwest in such a way that it wasn't likely to come down on the landing pad when a powerful detonation ripped it apart. Not just a hollywood 'whoomph' fireball either, but a real high-explosive 'crack' that shatters steel. That's consistent with the Flight Termination System actuating (which is the theory that I favor), but the possibility remains that it exploded for a different reason.

It's reassuring to see that the Orbital Launch construction areas appear fine. And while small bits are scattered around the tank farm, it appears undamaged.

While lots of debris landed all around Hoppy, Hoppy still lives. Hoppy actually appears to have been near the bullseye around which debris is scattered. Suggesting that the fatally stricken Sn11 was trying to make its way back to its friend when it exploded. Poor sad Hoppy...

The Daily Hopper...

https://twitter.com/daily_hopper/status/...32/photo/1

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CPHh3NPgLEw

Even the cams across the road appear to be pretty much ok. Tim Dodd was worried for a while there since his cam went offline when the explosion happened. But it appears that he had a directional antenna dish stabilized by guy wires pointed at South Padre Island beaming his video back and a piece of Sn11 hit one of the wires and changed where the dish was pointing. The gear itself is all fine. Tim can't believe it.

https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/statu...7894612992

Here's Tim doing his livestream when Sn11 blew up and he lost his video feed.

https://twitter.com/considercosmos/statu...7356867594

This is a photo taken by Lab this morning when they let people back in showing Tim's antenna.

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And here's a video shot by a SpaceX employee showing a crowd of rocket workers at the Build Site across the road from Stargate "watching" the flight. They couldn't see any more than we could and many were also watching the SpaceX stream on their phones. The video shows their reactions.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/YCjb29Eh7Tk

[Yazata]

Develpments since the loss of Sn11 include Elon announcing that Superheavy Bn1 in the HighBay is to be scrapped and serves only as a "manufacturing pathfinder". That surprises me, since I expected it to serve as a transport pathfinder as well, as they explore how to move them down the road on SPMTs. The giant 4-SPMT crawler that they built is now being disassembled again. If it made it to the pad, I expected Bn1 to be used for cryo pressure testing.

But apparently not. Per Elon, the second Superheavy (not built yet, but parts are accumulating) has a whole lot of design changes and will be the first one tested.

Their attention now seems to be on preparting Sn15, the first of a new block of improved Starship designs. (Old design 12, 13 and 14 are being skipped and the parts prepared for them scrapped.) Sn15 is receiving its aft fins as we speak and its nose has received its front fins. Then the nose will be stacked on the tank section in the high bay where work on Bn1 is ceasing. Per Elon there are "hundreds" of design changes in 15, from structures to software. It will apparently receive a new block of improved Raptors as well.

Work at Boca Chica is always breakneck pace and never slows down. But we do see it swerve occasionally in response to events.

[Yazata]

Here's a photo by RGV Aerial Photography showing Lab's Padcam shipping container after the Sn11 debacle. This is what disappeared so suddenly before Sn10's flight and what the "Much Land Where Box?" sign on a Raptor engine newly arrived from McGregor was referring to. (To his credit, Elon personally intervened and ordered SpaceX security to return it.) They have since allowed Tim and NSF to set up cameras there too. (Everyone has to sign a waiver though, 'SpaceX not responsible for...' in case... well, this... happens.) The small x-shaped thing with a yellow dot to the upper right of the box is Tim's antenna. NSF's robot cam is just to the right of that. If you blow the image up, you can see small bits of metal scattered all over.

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Here's some video shot by Gene and/or Rachel of SpacePadreIsle right after the road reopened, showing the view to the left(north) of the road, passing Lab's shipping container and then an extensive debris field stretching into the distance. They say that they have been told that while beach access is allowed, there is no stopping along the road and no walking out into the tidal marsh area, while clean-up activities continue.

https://twitter.com/SpacePadreIsle/statu...6721357824

[Magical Realist]

Breathtaking view of a rocket launch from space..Yes, that is the music you hear when in space!

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[Yazata]

Sn15 was stacked in the High Bay today, thus completing the structure of the next Starship up to bat. The build quality is obviously improving as Sn15 looks more and more like the beautiful shiny stainless steel wonder it's supposed to be and less like Mk.1, Frankenstein's spaceship covered with dents and iffy welds.

(They just have to figure out how to land one of these without an explosion...)

Photo by Mary:

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And here's something I haven't seen before. It's from the county website where they announce road closures and stuff.

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[Yazata]

Here's a new 8 minute video released today from Cosmic Perspective "showing" the launch (invisible in the thick fog) and later in the video, the steel rain.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/l4eawtvznbc

And here's Neopork's very excellent Starship diagram. Click on it to blow it up so that the captions are legible. The comparatively small figure of a man who appears in several places looks like Elon. In one place he's saying that the landing legs aren't great, in another he's asking what is a 'doge' is.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyDLQcDXEAcy...=4096x4096

[Yazata]

We all know that Elon loves cranes. He can't get enough of them! The bigger the better!

In that spirit, it's being reported that a Liebherr LR11350 crawler crane is being prepared in Houston for shipment to Boca Chica within two weeks. This baby is the second largest crawler crane in the Liebherr line. The largest crawler crane in the world is the Liebherr LR13000. That monster is capable of lifting 3000 tons!

https://www.liebherr.com/en/deu/products...13000.html

Cranes this big are transported in pieces and assembled at the job site. The 11350 can lift 1000 tons and has a 520 foot boom. With an extension jib, it can reach 720 feet high. It will reportedly be used to lift pieces of the steel launch tower being built for the Superheavy/Starship stack. That tower will presumably receive its own tower crane, another monster on the scale of the cranes used to unload ships in ports, fixed to the top of the tower. The 11350 will presumably be what lifts it up there.

I don't believe that SpaceX is purchasing the 11350. It's more likely that they are leasing it. It probably comes with its own crew of specialists qualified to operate it. They will presumably assemble it, reside in Boca Chica while the crane is in use, then break it down again and return it to Houston or wherever it goes next.

https://www.liebherr.com/en/deu/products...11350.html

Liebherr photos of the 11350

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[C C]

Insane. That photo of it placing a domed roof framework over the top of either a stadium or a building that resembles such in size and appearance.

[Yazata]

Parts of the 11350 have started appearing in Boca Chica and are being assembled at the launch area. It's painted red and requires a smaller crane to assemble it.

In other news, Mary has photographed new no trespassing signs at the launch area. "no trespassing Raptors Loose" (Ya gotta love these guys)

Behind the sign is the new Superheavy launch pad area under construction. The new tank farm, pump houses and electrical buildings are to the left out of the shot. A few of Elon's endless collection of cranes are visible. The legs on the left will support the launch platform. That is being completed at the Build Area. The castle like structure on the right is Elon's Swamp Castle, the concrete foundation that will support his launch tower almost 500 feet high. (I believe that the fully stacked SS/SH's and the tower to service them will probably be the tallest structures in Texas south of San Antonio.) The tower will be constructed of steel trusses above this foundation, lifted into place by the 11350. Everything sits atop deep piles driven into the soft soil. Retaining walls are visible to raise the land elevation to better protect against storm surge. The circular rebar thing in the left foreground will become a concrete foundation for a large storage tank for propellant or water or something. One of many.

It's a huge construction project, almost certainly the biggest in south Texas. It's drawn in construction companies, equipment suppliers and structural engineering firms from all over the state. The scale of everything is just massive.

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[Yazata]

Three new Raptors arrived at the launch site and I believe that they were installed overnight. (Photo by Gene of SPadre from twitter) As always, Hoppy is overseeing everything.

https://twitter.com/considercosmos/statu...7954424833

The protective film over the fuel inlet port on one of them has "new raptor who dis?" written on it. McGregor has taken to communicating that way with the space geeks watching the Boca Chica Starbase. (Like I said, you gotta love these guys.)

And indeed, the three raptors have been identified as 54, 61 and 66. 

Static fire is expected this coming Monday and flight may or may not come as early as Tuesday. (They really want to fly Sn15 next week.)

(With Crew-2 on Thursday, it's going to be an interesting week!)

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