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2 hours ago, Spaceception said:

"Ironically if it had a payload it would've reached orbit." Hmm, could this be one of the reasons IFT-3 is going to have a payload bay? They're going to have that payload so they don't need to vent the LOX again?

IFT-3 is going to work, I can feel it.

This makes little sense to me. Assume SS methane tanks was not full as no payload and very low orbit, but it carried extra LOX as ballast or something who was to be dumped before SS burn?Why not fully fuel Starship? It would allow an go for even if Superheavy under performed a bit because engines out. 
Or simply run SS lighter, don't think it would affect first stage that much except hot staging. 

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12 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

This makes little sense to me. Assume SS methane tanks was not full as no payload and very low orbit, but it carried extra LOX as ballast or something who was to be dumped before SS burn?Why not fully fuel Starship? It would allow an go for even if Superheavy under performed a bit because engines out. 
Or simply run SS lighter, don't think it would affect first stage that much except hot staging. 

Yes, it does raise more questions than it answers.  But I recall something about a plan to do a propellant transfer test on that flight and wonder if the extra LOX had something to do with that also.  Hopefully more info comes out soon

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It might be as simple as wanting to not carry 100 tons of liquid oxygen through re entry (ship may not be structurally capable of re entering with significant fuel outside the header tanks), and it may be easier to drain the lox while under acceleration. While they could do this with ullage or something it may not have enough time in its atmosphere crossing orbit to drain it all that way.

Underfilling would not be done in case of a lot of engine outs or other underperformances. Also to keep dynamic environment similar. 

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10 hours ago, darthgently said:

Yes, it does raise more questions than it answers.  But I recall something about a plan to do a propellant transfer test on that flight and wonder if the extra LOX had something to do with that also.  Hopefully more info comes out soon

The propellant transfer test is an separate SS with no wings and heat tiles. Its build but I guess they wait until they reach orbit before using it. 

 

9 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

It might be as simple as wanting to not carry 100 tons of liquid oxygen through re entry (ship may not be structurally capable of re entering with significant fuel outside the header tanks), and it may be easier to drain the lox while under acceleration. While they could do this with ullage or something it may not have enough time in its atmosphere crossing orbit to drain it all that way.

Underfilling would not be done in case of a lot of engine outs or other underperformances. Also to keep dynamic environment similar. 

For performance they also needed extra methane. Anyway having the dump port inside the skirt then engines was running was not smart. Yes the port would add ullage there unlike on the side. 

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18 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

The propellant transfer test is an separate SS with no wings and heat tiles. Its build but I guess they wait until they reach orbit before using it. 

I definitely misunderstood the goals of IFT-2 in that regard.  Thanks for the reality check

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3 hours ago, magnemoe said:

The propellant transfer test is an separate SS with no wings and heat tiles. Its build but I guess they wait until they reach orbit before using it. 

I think now they have something different in mind for IFT-3.

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SpaceX is targeting Sunday, January 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 12:59 a.m. PT.

 

Looking for time on the SLC-40 launch.

Looks like 8:10 Eastern time for the SLC-40 launch.

Edited by tater
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SpaceX is targeting Saturday, January 13 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 7:52 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 11:50 p.m. ET. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Sunday, January 14 starting at 7:45 p.m. ET.

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SpaceX is targeting Sunday, January 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 7:27 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 11:25 p.m. ET.

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12 hours ago, Nuke said:

i wonder if elon would let me borrow a raptor for snow removal. 

I think he can but you have to pay the fuel. It would probably not achieve full thrust with fuel I need to keep my house warm a year (comparable to about 1.5 tons of methane).

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2 hours ago, Hannu2 said:

I think he can but you have to pay the fuel. It would probably not achieve full thrust with fuel I need to keep my house warm a year (comparable to about 1.5 tons of methane).

You could have started collecting fryer grease from local restaurants a few years back and liquifying your own LOX.  By now you might have enough griesel and LOX to do this, but you'd probably have to re-jet the engine to get it to work and would need a pallet of oven cleaner and a barrel of elbow grease to avoid the clean-up fee SpaceX probably charges on loaners/rentals run on griesel

And you will probably need a lot of this if you want to chill the griesel

Hot Shot's Secret Diesel Winter Anti-Gel– 16 Oz Squeeze, 7-in-1 Diesel Fuel Additive – Prevents Gelling and Fuel Line Freeze-Ups – Boosts Cetane – Cleans Injectors – Improves Performance, Amber https://a.co/d/6QLroyY

 

Edited by darthgently
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16 hours ago, Nuke said:

i wonder if elon would let me borrow a raptor for snow removal. 

Russia sometimes uses jet engines for this.
One major downside with the raptor engine is its 250 ton trust, this is more an problem than the fuel and oxidizer use. 
Even if you have an M1 tanks its just 60 ton. 
So it will take out some houses, sending an huge truck filled with rocket fuel flying trough the air. 

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25 minutes ago, zolotiyeruki said:

Rats! I'm here with the family today, and we were hoping to watch it. Oh, well. KSC is a lot of fun anyway

I was impressed at how nice the new areas were. Really well done.

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