totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[StrandedonEarth]

49 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

Im still pretty surprised they’re going for the catch on this one. The last one was very on fire when it hit the deck. They really want to risk the olm and tower? Seems like one nominal hover should be the minimum. 

Well, the second OLM/tower is going up nicely. They’ve had enough hi-energy events on the first OLM to have an idea of what is vulnerable. And in the worst case, they’ll gain more data on what needs hardening. I think the chance of an actual explosion is pretty low, just a rapid combustion of the remaining propellants. 

[darthgently]

58 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

Im still pretty surprised they’re going for the catch on this one. The last one was very on fire when it hit the deck. They really want to risk the olm and tower? Seems like one nominal hover should be the minimum. 

I wonder if they aren’t going to have fire suppression equipment out the yin yang at the OLM especially near the engine “hang” zone post catch?  I wonder if they might not cycle the deluge during the catch?  
 

As for the ocean landing, there is about zero chance that a big tube full of explosive vapors dropping and tipping onto the ocean surface isn’t going to involve fire.  Especially if they triggered the FTS to prevent hazards to nav etc.   Someday the detailed story will be told.  Until then, we speculate

Edited 20 hours ago by darthgently

[Nuke]

so when fireworks?

[darthgently]

I wish Musk would get an IMAX crew down there to record whatever happens properly.  Big drones with IMAX cameras.

[CatastrophicFailure]

1 hour ago, Nuke said:

so when fireworks?

Live view from the FAA:

Spoiler

 

[zolotiyeruki]

Keep in mind that when Superheavy (or Starship, for that matter) are being caught, there's not a whole lot of fuel left  for any explosion. Sure, if the arms miss the catch, there'll still be quite a mess to clean up, but we're not talking Russian-ammo-dump levels of kaboom here.

[darthgently]

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by darthgently

[darthgently]

 

Edited 11 hours ago by darthgently
Original post was deleted, then reposted. Probably to use better pic

[Nuke]

some of those engines look like you can hammer out the dents and refly them.

[CatastrophicFailure]

38 minutes ago, Nuke said:

some of those engines look like you can hammer out the dents and refly them.

A tenner says they do. 

Ok, KSP-educated crash analysts, what’s your analysis?

Interesting that it’s the outer ring of engines. Are there panels missing on the very outer edge for each engine or were they always exposed like that?

Also:

All Things Serve the Beam.