Wjolcz

I honestly didn't think they would have enough time to install those legs.

I wouldn't be so sure. A lot can change. Especially since SLS is threatened* by the Starship. They might boost the whole program, though I think that's something that would be really hard unless politicians are willing to throw money at it. However, if that happens I will have a reason to suspect hands were greased. *I used "threatened" in the context of public opinion. I'm pretty sure it will fly a couple of times before the Starship reaches its full maturity, LEO capability and is man-rated but I give it max 3 flights before it is retired. Edit: Now that I said it I want to clarify that I think some version of the Starship WILL fly before the SLS, it just won't be the final one. Pretty sure there's still a lot of work to do. It's just the outer shell for the looks and the presentation. The legs are missing, the flaps probably don't move yet either. It wouldn't surprise me if they took it apart again to work on the insides some more.

They aren't though. They want to study the Raptor exhaust interactions with regolith and fuel transfer with SpaceX. Crew Dragon has no need for those. Btw, I know this is the further bashing of SLS, but isn't it basically a 1980s project? The only reason why it wasn't flying 40 30 years ago is because the engines were. Edit: orange rocket bad Edit 2: this looks familiar:

I really hate the whole SpaceX vs NASA war thing. It's even worse when important people in high positions engage in it. They should really be cooperating. At the same time I can understand this. There are politicians looking at all that, making decisions and questioning others' decisions. One thing I'm afraid of is that somebody up there might decide it's illegal to build rockets any other place than the NASA VAB. I do believe people in charge are sensible enough not to do this but I just wouldn't be surprised.

I wouldn't expect the legs to be attached on time. It's all for the looks for now anyway. What does this even mean? Is he dissing SpaceX, ULA, or both? Or maybe he's promising things will get done faster under his administration?

Same. Edit: I hope it doesn't end up like all the other revolutionary projects that were meant to change the spaceflight forever.

I know it's all for the looks and most of the systems probably won't be functional during the presentation but it still looks impressive.

Tbh even 50t to LEO with full reusability is a win imo

I was thinking the same thing. Legs look like that in at least two previous designs, so I wouldn't be surprised if they chose this to be the final thing.

Is it me or does one side look a lot shinier than the other? I thought this wasn't space-worthy hardware?

Do you guys think they will switch to cutting out bigger pieces of the hull and wings instead of stitching smaller ones Frankenstein-style? It would not only look better but maybe save some weight and complexity too?

What interests me the most is how often such collisons happen in other solar systems. If Venus got smacked too hard, Mars probably got a similar treatment and Earth got hit just right to get a moon big enough to help stabilize and enrich it with heavier metals then the odds of having such binary planet-moon systems are much higher, thus complex life is much more likely in the universe.

What's the point of header tanks anyway? Are they like spare fuel just in case other tanks fail for some reason/run dry?

It already has engines!? I thought they weren't even on site yet! :0 This might actually be flight-ready when the presentation occurs. I am impressed.

Won't the cargo bay's volume be huge anyway? They could probably stretch the whole thing a bit, if needed.

I have another thought: how about legs being the outside part of the wings? In such configuration you would need only one leg near the engines and the other two would use the hinges to spread out after being deployed F9-style at 120° angle from each other. Such configuration would mess with COM during landing though.

Hmmmm... I have a feeling it would be quite hard to keep the whole thing balanced during reentry with only two of those "wings". Unless they move up and down on that rail-thing, it seems more reasonable to keep the canards on the ship. Maybe they will mount the nose first and then cut out holes for the top/front control surfaces.

That's pretty cool. Could watch it for hours tbh. Do they really need the moving tips if the whole wing can move? Not having them would save a lot of weight.

I'm really curious as to where the legs will be. There's really not much room to fit them under the tanks. Especially since there will also be VacRaptors somewhere under there. Unless they are planning to have 2 instead of 3 of those, or something.

Sooo, that monolith thing is the windbreaker. For some reason I thought it would be white.

Wow. What is that monolith thing with a screen? Did they build the whole thing for the presentation or is it some sort of clever stream editing?

Hopefully Planet 9 has some cool moons orbiting it

Well, if I was offered to move like that I would probably ask for a ticket to Mars instead tbh.

Please, make more. I'm interested in drawing/painting realistic-ish (not uncanny valley) humans but I can never do that. Got a tutorial, or something? Edit: nevermind. I just tried it and it came out pretty good. Not going to post it though. It's slightly nsfw.

Just like it is with planes. Now, I'm not saying Starship will ever be as reliable or safe as an airliner but passengers aren't handed parachutes when stepping onboard, are they? Reusable must equal reliable.