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11 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

I suppose that settles that question. 

The goal remains as few unique tile types as possible, So I presume they might try and keep those flap fairings (upper and lower) at the same radius of curvature if possible. I'm looking forward to seeing the nose tiled though, that's where it gets interesting. Of course this means they also have curved tiles to play with for the tip of the nose now, as well.

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1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I'm not going to admit how long it took for me to spot the tiles.

...

Nope.  Not even going to mention it.

It took me SO long.

2 hours ago, tater said:

The goal remains as few unique tile types as possible, So I presume they might try and keep those flap fairings (upper and lower) at the same radius of curvature if possible. I'm looking forward to seeing the nose tiled though, that's where it gets interesting. Of course this means they also have curved tiles to play with for the tip of the nose now, as well.

Yes, agreed. But the fact that they're willing to do curved tiles means they are clearly willing to use a wider range of tile types.

Doesn't necessarily answer how they're doing it, only that they'll probably be using custom tiles. Curved tiles per se won't fix the ogive problem. They can use flat tiles for the ogive; they just either have to taper them or they have to figure out a way to reduce the number of tiles per layer without leaving huge gaps:

tiling.png

Using tapered tiles (on the left) can produce a smooth ogive without any larger gaps, but it requires the greatest number of custom tiles (one new tile type per layer) and rapidly becomes difficult as the tiles get narrower and narrower. Using a handful of custom tiles to "delete" one tile from a row, essentially creating a seam, will have more large gaps but will allow you to use the same tile types all the way up.

The curved nose will be interesting. I am wondering whether they will go with a single monolithic nosecone at any point. That area is going to take the greatest heating and so it makes sense to use custom tiles but it means one catastrophic failure point instead of many small, inconsequential failure points.

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3 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I'm not going to admit how long it took for me to spot the tiles.

...

Nope.  Not even going to mention it.

 

1 minute ago, sevenperforce said:

It took me SO long.

Lol, sorry. I should have circled them or zoomed in or something.

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Just now, RealKerbal3x said:

Lol, sorry. I should have circled them or zoomed in or something.

Nah, it made it more interesting! 

We may be able to get an idea of how they're doing the ogive once we get a look at the opposite sides of these nosecones. These are clearly the leeward side given thruster placement.

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SpaceX gets called out sometimes for sort of winging it... but they clearly have a mature pad/booster concept here, the ground facilities are amazingly complex.

This looks to be related to the external ring of engines—work platforms to allow installation/access at the pad?

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18 minutes ago, tater said:

winging it...

...is something we did well in the Corps.  It helps to know what is inside the box and then be willing to work outside of it to get stuff done. 

I suspect that most people do not recognize how remarkable Musk is in his willingness to accept failures as part of a rapid development and iteration process. 

Like unicorn unique. 

With a boss like that, creative people are generally comfortable offering suggestions and trying new things. 

Edited by JoeSchmuckatelli
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Just now, cubinator said:

My god, if he's right I'm going to make a living as a bug farmer on Mars

Meanwhile I've been looking at real estate in Italy. Rather eat pretty much anything chosen at random in Italy vs bugs (sorry :D ). Not the maggot cheese, though... nope.

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2 minutes ago, tater said:

Meanwhile I've been looking at real estate in Italy. Rather eat pretty much anything chosen at random in Italy vs bugs (sorry :D ). Not the maggot cheese, though... nope.

Looking to upgrade your mountainside? :D Suit yourself...I love crispy and crunchy things. Bugs go well on pretty much anything.

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1 minute ago, tater said:

Meanwhile I've been looking at real estate in Italy. Rather eat pretty much anything chosen at random in Italy vs bugs (sorry :D ). Not the maggot cheese, though... nope.

Off topic but if you like spaceflight, never move anywhere near Italy. We don't have launch sites literally anywhere near, the nearest active one is Baikonur I believe which is some 5,000 km far. I'd almost go to the US just to see a Falcon 9 launch

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1 hour ago, Beccab said:

Off topic but if you like spaceflight, never move anywhere near Italy. We don't have launch sites literally anywhere near, the nearest active one is Baikonur I believe which is some 5,000 km far. I'd almost go to the US just to see a Falcon 9 launch

Italy is gorgeous, and the food is awesome. We don't plan on moving there, just maybe a (not very expensive) apartment someplace as a vacation place. Of course vrbo is pretty cheap, too, and no investment required. BTW, you can rent a house with a pool in Cape Canaveral on vrbo for $2-300/night (multi bedroom). If you're fine with just the beach, half that.

 

1 hour ago, cubinator said:

Looking to upgrade your mountainside? :D Suit yourself...I love crispy and crunchy things. Bugs go well on pretty much anything.

I'm actually open to bugs, just not cockroaches ;)

I ate a bunch of bugs (intentionally!) in Thailand when I was there a long time ago. Street food bugs, whatever they were. There's a giant waterbug that is also in a good chili paste thing I had.

 

1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

I reckon this thing is gonna come together quicker than we expect.

Yep.

ObSpaceX:

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2 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Speaking of colonising Mars...

This needs to be underlined again. There was that dry spell up thread where Musk/Mars/etc was the topic of conversation.

Some of us might find colonizing Mars unlikely/odd/impossible/crazy, but SpaceX is serious about it. Starship is not about selling launches. It's not about getting investors, etc. It's about sending ridiculous quantities of stuff/people to Mars. Not flags and ~4 sets of footprints in 12 years, loads of people, and ASAP. I tend to think it's crazy (in a sorta good way, lol), but they really are just doing it.

It's like that exchange with the former CEO of Boeing about Boeing building the first human Mars lander. Musk didn't tweet an infographic about how his idea was better, he replied, "Do it."

 

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