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Cool science stuff

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Buck, Aug 14, 2012.

  1. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

  2. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Yep, and SpaceX has lots of Starship prototypes for just that reason.
     
  3. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Here’s the video of the test. You can watch the whole thing, which involves a complete reset of the launch clock and a whole bunch of just sitting there for over 100 minutes waiting for it to count all the way down, or you can pick it up here at 1:48:00 on the video timer and watch Starship SN8 launch, rise to 12.5km (7 miles) on three engines, hover on two engines, hover on a single engine, and then … they kill that one engine and things get really interesting at that point.

     
  4. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    Unplanned Rapid Disassembly
     
    maumann likes this.
  5. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    I’m not so sure about that. They may have wanted to get data they could only get by crashing it, and Elon Musk had already said he expected the landing to fail. Look how long it took for the Falcons to land successfully, and now we just sort of expect the landing to occur. SN9 — the second full prototype with the functional winglets (SN8 being the first) — is already nearly assembled and ready to move to the other launch pad at SpaceX’s complex in south Texas.
     
    maumann likes this.
  6. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Were the three boosters supposed to separate like that?
     
  7. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Yes. Computer-controlled hover, roll into descent, and then rolling back up to vertical for the landing attempt. This prototype is representative of the upper stage of the two-gigantic-stage Starship system and it’s designed to land vertically using those engines as retrorockets, so individual software-controlled man orientation of the nozzles is a requirement.

    If you remember the general laughter when Eon referred to the first stage of a new project as the BFB … well, the first stage of Starship is that Big Fucking Booster (yes, it will land after launch for reuse) and the original internal code for the Starship project was the BFR.

    Here’s the earlier BFR concept art. If it reminds you of the Space Shuttle … well, yeah. But the shuttles were never planned to go to Mars. Elon’s plainly state goal for the Starship is Mars, and there are also versions of the command module planned as fuel tankers, satellite delivery trucks, and a Moon-to-orbit system without the airbrakes and heat shields.

    [​IMG]
     
    bigpern23 likes this.
  8. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

  9. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

  10. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Checking out the conjunction. Far out.

    SW sky, maybe 15 degrees elevation.
     
  11. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I looked at the conjunction for a minute and thought "Neat."
     
  12. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

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