SpaceX’s new test rocket topples over thanks to strong Texas winds

A prototype of SpaceX’s next big rocket fell over and sustained damage in south Texas, thanks to high winds in the area. Images from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas show part of the vehicle sideways on the ground and slightly crumpled. The damage from the mishap will take a few weeks to repair, according to CEO Elon Musk.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/23/1...ca-chica-texas

Oops

I do wonder about that issue even in the long term. There aren't a lot of good places to store a vehicle that large, so they'll definitely have to figure out how to deal with weather at some point (looks like sooner than later).

SpaceX’s Mr. Steven barely misses Falcon 9 fairing catch

Twitter responses are pretty funny.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One of Mr. Steven’s final West Coast fairing recovery tests before shipping out for the East Coast. Wait for it… <a href="https://t.co/A7q37Gpllu">pic.twitter.com/A7q37Gpllu</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1090400806703001600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
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https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-...g-catch-video/

Pretty cool:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A fresh block 5 booster departing SpaceX HQ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#falcon9</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/oversizeload?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#oversizeload</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rocketroad?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rocketroad</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Teslarati?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Teslarati</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/w00ki33?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@w00ki33</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/13ericralph31?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@13ericralph31</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZKLHnY6iZT">pic.twitter.com/ZKLHnY6iZT</a></p>&mdash; TomCross (@_TomCross_) <a href="https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/1048483536917823488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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It'd be a trip to see that rolling down the street.

First firing of the new engine. Make sure to turn your volume on for the second video (but not up too loud).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">First firing of Starship Raptor flight engine! So proud of great work by <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a> team!! <a href="https://t.co/S6aT7Jih4S">pic.twitter.com/S6aT7Jih4S</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1092268892339273730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/yFhNx3fiOD">pic.twitter.com/yFhNx3fiOD</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1092272377889738753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Is that the engine for the "main/first stage"?

They will use Raptor for both Starship (7) and Super Heavy (31). They'll optimize for each vehicle, but I've seen comments claiming this is a non-optimized version.

Here's a fan attempt to sync audio...

https://streamable.com/nl6y7

Correct. At first, they'll use the exact same engine on both. Once the system is up and running, they'll branch them into vacuum-optimized and sea-level-optimized versions. (This same concept is used on the F9, where they're all Merlin 1D engines, but the ones are the second stage are vacuum-optimized - M-Vacs.)

Thanks fellas. Can't wait to see it fly. But I still want another Heavy launch.

Me too. Two coming up, one in March and one in April. Mostly looking forward to DM-1 next month though and DM-2 in June. This is going to be one heck of a year for SpaceX.

I can't wait for this thread to get to the next page, whenever I click on it, it always goes back to post #1970..

Here, let me help...

Same problem here. Come on page 41!