littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Dec 25, 2020 10:49:57 GMT
Anyone else noticed it's not a sleek "NASA" type rocket, but shaped more like something out of an old Flash Gordon movie?!! Yes I noticed and was quite surprised. There must be an interesting calculation in finding the optimum diameter: minimising air resistance whilst maximising fuel load. Of course the fat shape helps in the free fall phase.
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Post by dan1 on Dec 26, 2020 22:35:13 GMT
Starship does look short and stubby compared to most rockets because really it's only the top 2/5ths (or so) of the whole launch vehicle (it's a bit like comparing the Space Shuttle Orbiter). the 70m Super Heavy will sit underneath it with 50m of Starship on top. It's only 9m diameter, I think Saturn V was 10m. It was originally designated as the BFR, that's Big Falcon Rocket, although most exchanged the Falcon for something a little more coarse btw SN9 is already sitting on the launch mount awaiting test firings (SN8 being the one that flew and self-destructed on landing).
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littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Dec 27, 2020 15:04:18 GMT
120m is huge. Have you seen the Saturn 5 lying horizontally? Seems to go on forever and that's only 110m long/high.
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Post by Ton ⓉⓞⓃ on Dec 29, 2020 21:29:26 GMT
They're both the same story
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Post by Companion Cube on Jan 24, 2021 20:40:13 GMT
Hopefully Starship SN9 will finally fly tomorrow at 2pm after numerous postponements to the launch. I think SpaceX are doing amazing work such as replacing the raptor engines so quickly. I predict that they will definitely be the first to put a human on Mars before 2030 and that they will be selected to provide the human landing system for Artimis mission from the 3 candidates.
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Post by Companion Cube on Jan 25, 2021 17:04:59 GMT
Hopefully Starship SN9 will finally fly tomorrow at 2pm after numerous postponements to the launch. I think SpaceX are doing amazing work such as replacing the raptor engines so quickly. I predict that they will definitely be the first to put a human on Mars before 2030 and that they will be selected to provide the human landing system for Artimis mission from the 3 candidates. Still looking good for a launch today. It was postponed this morning to 6pm and then again to now be 7:30pm. These small delays are very encouraging as they would have slipped a lot more if there was another show stopper.
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Post by dan1 on Jan 25, 2021 20:03:38 GMT
Hopefully Starship SN9 will finally fly tomorrow at 2pm after numerous postponements to the launch. I think SpaceX are doing amazing work such as replacing the raptor engines so quickly. I predict that they will definitely be the first to put a human on Mars before 2030 and that they will be selected to provide the human landing system for Artimis mission from the 3 candidates. Still looking good for a launch today. It was postponed this morning to 6pm and then again to now be 7:30pm. These small delays are very encouraging as they would have slipped a lot more if there was another show stopper. scrubbed due to high winds Edit: for today that is, back up days tomorrow & Wednesday
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Post by dan1 on Feb 2, 2021 19:21:15 GMT
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Post by spareapennyor2 on Feb 2, 2021 21:02:39 GMT
Crushed On landing
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travolta
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Post by travolta on Feb 2, 2021 21:30:40 GMT
Dear oh dear...............
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Feb 2, 2021 21:34:53 GMT
Crushed or crashed (or possibly both)?
Either way, don't think I'll be rushing to buy a ticket.
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littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Feb 3, 2021 11:16:15 GMT
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Feb 3, 2021 12:28:13 GMT
Can't help but think that the final few seconds are the important ones.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 3, 2021 12:44:41 GMT
If your first reaction to the crash last night is "OMG there's no way anyone is ever going to space on something like that" then consider the history of Falcon & the Merlin engine....
Those are the pre-cursors to SpaceX's Crew Dragon on which Doug Hurley and Rob Behnken flew last year.
Elon Musk has always considered the biggest challenge not to be in overcoming the design challenges of the launch vehicle and Raptor engine but in the production cadence. He may yet find out that it's in fact dealing with FAA that's his biggest hurdle (he's lucky they haven't shut his Boca Chica operation down considering on SN8 "SpaceX sought a waiver to exceed the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety regulations. After the FAA denied the request, SpaceX proceeded with the flight").
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Feb 3, 2021 13:07:22 GMT
If your first reaction to the crash last night is "OMG there's no way anyone is ever going to space on something like that" then consider the history of Falcon & the Merlin engine.... Those are the pre-cursors to SpaceX's Crew Dragon on which Doug Hurley and Rob Behnken flew last year. Elon Musk has always considered the biggest challenge not to be in overcoming the design challenges of the launch vehicle and Raptor engine but in the production cadence. He may yet find out that it's in fact dealing with FAA that's his biggest hurdle (he's lucky they haven't shut his Boca Chica operation down considering on SN8 "SpaceX sought a waiver to exceed the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety regulations. After the FAA denied the request, SpaceX proceeded with the flight"). FAA concerned about safety? Whatever next!
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