It's a robot flying on Mars. You've got to calibrate your expectations.

In rough numbers, thats about how far Perseverance can go in 3 days at max speed.

Fair enough, the problem must be on my end

I just assumed it would be able to roam further afield

It's flown almost a mile now, in an environment which is equivalent to flying a helicopter on Earth at 87,0000 feet. And, it has to stay in RF range of the rover.

What if UFO’s are just billionaires from other planets?

Get your shit in gear, Russia!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ICYMI: Earlier today, the Russian Nauka module inadvertently fired its thrusters while docked to the <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Space_Station</a>. Mission Control teams corrected the action and all systems are operating normally. The crew was never in any danger. Stay tuned for a media telecon later today: <a href="https://t.co/bjuDmdiZu5">pic.twitter.com/bjuDmdiZu5</a></p>&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1420811795606933512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

As a result, Starliner's demo launch is postponed until next week. (But hopefully they'll finally get up there.)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the space station is expected to be postponed from Friday.<br><br>Ground teams are assessing a problem that caused unexpected thruster firings on the newly-arrived Nauka module at the station.<br><br>��: <a href="https://twitter.com/mdcainjr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mdcainjr</a> <a href="https://t.co/JZ5VZXAB57">https://t.co/JZ5VZXAB57</a> <a href="https://t.co/kKioXfxyQU">pic.twitter.com/kKioXfxyQU</a></p>&mdash; Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/1420811474042302468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also, this is nuts.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Completing feed system for 29 Raptor rocket engines on Super Heavy Booster <a href="https://t.co/uARWx2HYTr">pic.twitter.com/uARWx2HYTr</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1420819718701780995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I love the fact that there are 23 people standing inside the booster in that picture. Gives a sense of how large Starship really is.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7vRag_X...jpg&name=large

Grid fins on BN4!

While Starship is obviously the most exciting thing going on right now, ULA/Boeing are finally going to try again for their ISS-bound test tomorrow. Fingers crossed nothing else goes wrong.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">��LAUNCH COUNTDOWN // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AtlasV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starliner?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starliner</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OFT2?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OFT2</a><br>��️: 8.3.21➡️ broadcast 12:30 pm ET; launch 1:20 pm ET <br>ℹ️: <a href="https://t.co/VIynIdVS23">https://t.co/VIynIdVS23</a><br>��: <a href="https://t.co/TkZHqbXk9E">https://t.co/TkZHqbXk9E</a> <a href="https://t.co/8ilyAKHRU6">pic.twitter.com/8ilyAKHRU6</a></p>&mdash; ULA (@ulalaunch) <a href="https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/1421474374725644298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Looks like about six (?) Raptors on BN3?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7y2fylX...jpg&name=large

29 and BN4, and cool, they painted the gridfins!

Personally I hope SH and SS are stacked on the OLT before the Starliner launch. Nice backdrop to put ULA/BOEING/SLA into perspective while they're getting press coverage. At the same time, I hope the Starliner mission is a huge success.

Oh wow:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7zARpUW...jpg&name=small

I am so excited just to see a test fire, let alone an actual launch!!!

I take it that not all of the Raptors are going to gimbal?

Correct. I believe the outer ring are all fixed, and the inner engines are the one doing the gimbaling.

Yep, just found this:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Final decision made earlier this week on booster engine count. Will be 33 at ~230 (half million lbs) sea-level thrust. All engines on booster are same, apart from deleting gimbal &amp; thrust vector actuators for outer 20.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1414284648641925124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They recently celebrated the 100th roll-off of a completed Raptor engine, and also eliminated the gimbal / non-gimbal variants. They'll be churning these things out insanely fast I imagine. Well, insanely fast for a rocket engine.

Hey Jeff, wen BE-4? :P


EDIT:
<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">100th build of a Raptor engine complete <a href="https://t.co/ymoJmV820Z">pic.twitter.com/ymoJmV820Z</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1419738163988205575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

Last I heard (Musk tweet), the inner 13 gimbal and the outer 20 do not.

So a question for those who know more about this:

Mars has almost no atmosphere and an explosive decompression is always a moment away? How do you colonize that kind of environment? One defect or stress can result in everyone dying pretty quickly, no?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vuCiiRDpbCk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZU5lHcta-C0" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>

In all seriousness, I think they've had a LOT of experience with ISS and "explosive" decompression is mostly a movie thing. IIRC, the ISS is currently losing 1lb a day of atmosphere through leaks. A recent Soyouz was found to have a hole rooted in a manufacturing mistake. The spacecraft survived launch and docking with the hole. Leaking atmosphere is just life in space.


EDIT: References...
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018...airs-continue/

Couldn't find the 1lb per day loss I mentioned, but assuming my Duck-Fu is just not strong today, but there has been a known leak for a year...
"The air leak in the Zvezda module, which provides living quarters for crew members and life support systems, was detected last year. It poses no danger to the crew but persists despite attempts to fix it by sealing cracks."
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...le-2021-07-31/

But yes, people would have to live in pressurized environments. The pressure on Mars is something like .09 PSI and on Earth it's 14.7 PSI. Quite a delta P although I'd imagine that we wouldn't pressurize at 14.7 on Mars.

And, after a while, there would be a large volume of air in that environment, so there'd be some time before the Martians would be sucking Mars' atmosphere.

TPS install is also moving quickly, although it looks like they've been having issues with the curves on the nosecone section...

https://i.postimg.cc/SNXHVkmc/Screen...2-13-43-10.png
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...le-2021-07-31/

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

Good read on ISS and atmosphere leaks...

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20110012997

Some take aways for a Mars mission seem to be that the larger the vehicle volume, the more amount of time to resolve a leak; and the more connection ports, the more opportunities for leaks. Since SS has a similar volume to the ISS, it's probably comparable on leakage mitigation timelines. Since it has significantly fewer ports, it should also have significantly less opportunity for leaks to develop in the first place. I imagine a Mars colony (at least an early colony) would likely be built with lots of modules and connection ports, but hopefully with each module being much larger than the modules on ISS.

I seem to remember seeing that the plan would be to leave Starships behind that could be used as long-term habitats but that may have just been some rumor or idea someone had. Makes sense though if you could retrofit the entire rocket to be living quarters.

Also saw a thing where the PSI on a plane is only 4-5 but that may not be the case on a planet with little atmosphere to begin with. Clearly pressurizing habitats is not my strong suit but I find it super interesting and hope Musk pulls it off.

Commercial aircraft pressurize to about 10 to 12 psi. Just like Denver.

:)

Yeah, all sorts of people throwing out ideas on how to use SS as habitats (including the empty tankage) on reddit. The most common hurdle seems to be trying to figure out how to go from vertical to horizontal so that the ship could be partially buried in order to protect against radiation as well as making it easier to live in. Unfortunately their not build to withstand that orientation and I doubt Musk intends to create a special version. I imagine the first few SS on Mars may double as temporary or emergency shelters, but they won't be used longer term.

NASA has been running an autonomous 3D printed habitat challenge for a few years now. Some absolutely beautiful designs as well as some already tested concepts.

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/sp...Hab/index.html

Here is a quick video from the finale winner. They are apparently trying to use the tech to build homes in areas with minimal access for construction/materials here on Earth as well.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/axnuLepJufs" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>

From a purely aesthetic perspective, this was my favorite entrant...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AIrH01N9AsE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">29 Raptor engines and 4 grid fins have been installed on Super Heavy ahead of first orbital flight <a href="https://t.co/XHkCZ9VYK4">pic.twitter.com/XHkCZ9VYK4</a></p>— SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1422368427369402370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I almost think this frantic pace is just Elon trying to light a fire under the FAA's ass. Seems crazy that they could possibly be ready to launch it soon.

The thing I pulled up said 4-5 — but at cruising altitudes if 30K to 40K feet.

Damn you Internet.

They also did this right before the press event when they showed off SN1. I'm kind of hoping we get another one of those next week. Been a long time since Elon spoke about current plans/vision with more characters than Twitter. I imagine the FAA would factor heavily into the talk and questions. :)


Also looking forward to Dodd's recent interview/tour to drop. Not a fan of his live events, but love his interviews and ELI5 videos.

Are they saying that Super Heavy is going to orbit without a Starship attached?

Surely they'll do a few hop tests of just Super Heavy first.

I'm not sure what you pulled up, but commerical aircraft aren't pressurized at 4 to 5 psi at any altitude. The passengers wouldn't like it much... That's what it's like at the summit of Everest.

Nope, it will have SN20 on top. SH won't actually go to orbit, just SS.
A lot of people hoping for a launch date of September 6th due to the meme-generation of fans (unofficial flight # 69420).

Oh wow. That seems... ambitious.

Yeah. I'd love to see it, but I'm guessing October or November at best due to FAA NEPA process. Apparently a 30 day window for public comment is required and that hasn't started yet.

If I remember the filed FAA flight plan, they have SH landing off the coast of Texas. Are they planning a water landing, or do they have something out there large enough for it to land on? The existing droneships are too small, no?

Not yet, Phobos and Deimos are still in port getting "rebuilt". As I understand it, they plan to simulate an RTLS soft landing over water. SS is supposed to be completing almost 1 orbit and also attempt a soft landing over water north of Hawaii. I imagine NASA will have it's chase planes out for some excellent footage. I'm sure SpaceX will have some drones too.

Link to an Eric Berger article with comments about the FAA process...
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021...et-last-night/

Right, I knew about Starship body surfing off Hawaii, but not SH. Thanks.

Starliner, take 2 (stream goes live in about 70 minutes)...

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tF9LpNpNjNI" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>



Hmm. Maybe not. :(

https://i.postimg.cc/1tfCC5Pw/Screen...3-09-19-04.png

Bummer. Better to find stuff now than in the air, though.

The high bay isn't tall enough to stack Starship onto SH, right? So they'll get a big ass crane and mate them on the pad?

That's the assumption for this flight. Most of the original design shares from Elon show some form of a rotating arm on the tower to lift and stack. Tons of stuff being built around the OLT now that people are speculating might be that arm or possible mechanisms to catch the SH as it returns. I'm assuming they won't be able to transport a fully stacked Starship from the build site to the launch site.

They are also starting on a new "Wide Bay" that's supposed to be slightly taller than the High Bay but much wider. Assuming for the concurrent production of multiple SS and SH, but still only stacking at the OLT.

Thanks. I'll tune in to watch that!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Super Heavy Booster moving to orbital launch mount <a href="https://t.co/axaDnXNm84">pic.twitter.com/axaDnXNm84</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1422607954101084161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Are the black rectangular things near the base landing legs?

It's kind of amazing that you can move it upright like that. I mean, I know the physics of it (vast majority of the weight is at the bottom), but still...it just looks...wrong.

Wow, almost at the OLT already! Hope I get to watch it get moved to the table before I have to leave.


<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/brCjLHKvxE8" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>

<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Very close to real! Arms are able to move during descent to match exact booster position. <br><br>Catch point is off to side, in case catch fails – don’t want to hit launch mount. <br><br>Booster is transferred back to launch mount for next flight. <br><br>Designed to have &lt;1 hour turnaround.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1422603106035118085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

How tall is the launch tower? SH is 230 feet. It looks like at least double that.

Nevermind...

LMAO

FAA warns SpaceX that massive Starship launch tower in Texas is unapproved

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/faa-...ite-tower.html

Yeah, that's part of what I was getting at earlier. It seems HIGHLY unlikely to me that SpaceX actually thinks they'll be launching this thing in the next couple of weeks. In fact, if the FAA comes back and says that they've got some environmental violations, it could be months before it's all worked out.

However, the optics of the most innovative space company in the world, with contracts for both NASA and the DOD that are relying on this thing, having to sit there with this monstrosity of a rocket on the pad "ready to go" as soon as the FAA approves it...

Yeah, you have to imagine the FAA is going to try and speed things up a bit.

lolol


Yeah, they were warning SpaceX that if the environmental impact review comes back negatively, SpaceX may be forced to tear down the tower.

Agreed, and ballsy as all get out. Love it.

"You can't build an almost 500 foot launch tower without approval!!"

"Well, we already did..."

LMAO

Yeah, pretty much. I 100% understand why people hate Elon, but there's no question that he's willing to be abrasive in order to get shit done.

Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the raptors on the bottom of the thing right now aren't even fully connected. They just want it to look like the FAA is dragging them down.

Yeah, he mentioned needing to do a fit check between the booster and the orbital launch table a few days ago. I imagine once that clears they'll start running cryo checks and sequential static fires. I have no doubt they'll be ready to launch long before FAA approval.

Moves at a pretty good clip...

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/oxao9h/perspective_from_austinbarnard45/?ref_source=embed&ref=share&embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" scrolling="no" width="640" height="621"></iframe>

I figured SN20 and her tiles would for sure be the hold up, but they are moving quickly on that too...

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/oxbrug/starship_sn20_section_covered_in_heat_tiles_from/?ref_source=embed&ref=share&embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" scrolling="no" width="640" height="517"></iframe>

The first part of Tim's interview with Elon is up. These are gonna be LONG, but I'm excited to watch.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t705r8ICkRw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That’s pretty cool. Can you post the other two when they come out? I won’t ever remember to look them up but will watch if posted here


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

In progress on the video, and it's definitely super dense, but it's fascinating to hear him tell about design decisions.

"Every design is wrong. It's just a matter of how wrong."

Regarding the grid fins not folding, he gave a really in depth description of his engineering philosophy. To oversimplify:

1. Make your requirements less dumb.
2. Try very hard to delete the part or process.
3. Simplify and optimize.
4. Accelerate cycle time.
5. Automate.

Pretty interesting to hear him talk about it.

The grid fins aren't going to be folded in like with Falcon 9? What's the time he discusses?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All 6 engines mounted to first orbital Starship <a href="https://t.co/l5QnQRSg3D">pic.twitter.com/l5QnQRSg3D</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1422780001183834117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It starts around 13:15, but it's a long, drawn out explanation. The gist is that the loss in drag isn't worth the weight of all of the stuff that would be required to fold them up and down.

Interesting. I wonder if that will hold.

Starliner delayed again. :(


https://arstechnica.com/science/2021...ate-uncertain/

Yeah, time will tell. This discussion was started by #2 in his engineering process. Try to delete the part, since no part is better than any part that can fail. I believe he said something to the effect of, "if you're not having to add 10% of the things you remove back in, you're not removing enough."

So definitely they could come back at some point, but for now, they're trying to do without.

Well, that doesn't sound promising. But again, they CANNOT **** this up. If anything were to go wrong with this launch, it would be almost impossible to recover.

So take your time, and get it right.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7-oZsRW...jpg&name=large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7-oZsRX...jpg&name=large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7-oZsSW...jpg&name=large

That looks rediculous.

That is just awesome. I wonder if those white engine bells indicate an engine that has not been test fired yet? I thought every engine was tested at Mcgregor. Maybe they had to rush a few and decided they could test in Boca?

Some of the plumbing on the Raptors sticks out past the booster’s edge. Seems like those lines are going to encounter a lot of air resistance.

And, when it comes down to it...

"Hey Jimmy! Got a sec?"

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Haha watching the crew out there is so incredible… �� <a href="https://t.co/tE4iSQAoph">pic.twitter.com/tE4iSQAoph</a></p>&mdash; jordan�� (@AstroJordy) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstroJordy/status/1423041758829625351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Wow, and they are already moving out SN20 now as well. the frankencrane is still attached to BN4, but as fast as they have been moving I could see them detach, attach to SN20 and stack it today still as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzvMbxaj15Y

Lots of gaps in the TPS tiles on 20...

Yeah, they were talking about the missing tiles some when I was watching. I wonder if it is by design to be able to get statistics on the differences between the tiles and untiled sections. With how much Elon talked about trying to remove components, I bet they would love to see how many of the tiles can just be eliminated to provide the needed amount of heat protection.

I haven't been watching for a while, but apparently the crane is detached from BN4 now, so it likely will be stacked today or I assume they would have left it attached to the booster longer.

Things are moving again now, SN20 moved over next to BN4 and they have the crane hooked up to it.

Talk in the chat is that they will stack it fully to test the fittings, then destack sometime and return things to the high bay to continue work that isn't finished yet, like some of the piping on the backside of SN20 and maybe more of the heat tiles.