Rakaydos Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 8 minutes ago, Beccab said: They definitely will, it doesn't impact anything and will provide a whole lot more of essential data this way. We already know the basic flight plan, which ends with the soft landing of starship if it is able to survive Splashdown, anyway. It's explicitly going to be a water landing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minmus Taster Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Already? Are they going to finish tiling at the orbital site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Spaceception said: Already? Are they going to finish tiling at the orbital site? It's basically finished now, so that's likely. They can probably do the remaining tiling within a day. It does make sense for the future, if they are going for fast reusability they want to be able to replace tiles without having to go back to the high bay Edited August 5, 2021 by Beccab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakaydos Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 14 minutes ago, Spaceception said: Already? Are they going to finish tiling at the orbital site? After final preflight weld inspections, probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 It was my understanding that their cranes couldn't go high enough to lift Starship onto Superheavy on the orbital pad...how are they going to stack without the lifting arms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: It was my understanding that their cranes couldn't go high enough to lift Starship onto Superheavy on the orbital pad...how are they going to stack without the lifting arms? I believe the crane that they used to stack the launch tower is big enough, but I'm not sure. It doesn't look like S20 has engines anymore (or maybe they just removed those yellow pool noodle looking things from around the RVacs), so it's entirely possible that it's rolling to Pad B for preflight tests today Edit: looks like it still has engines, false alarm Edited August 5, 2021 by RealKerbal3x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said: I believe the crane that they used to stack the launch tower is big enough, but I'm not sure. It doesn't look like S20 has engines anymore (or maybe they just removed those yellow pool noodle looking things from around the RVacs), so it's entirely possible that it's rolling to Pad B for preflight tests today. I saw the engines on in another shot later, they're still on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 minute ago, RealKerbal3x said: 4 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: It was my understanding that their cranes couldn't go high enough to lift Starship onto Superheavy on the orbital pad...how are they going to stack without the lifting arms? I believe the crane that they used to stack the launch tower is big enough, but I'm not sure. Here's what I'm going off of: IIRC there was discussion on NSF that while the cranes they currently have can absolutely do hoists at well over 140 meters, the crane lift capacity at that height is less than the dry mass of Starship. But perhaps that was before they built Frankencrane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I would assume they move SN20 to a test stand first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 LR 11000 unhooked from the booster, which means that they either need to stack S20 with the LR 13500 there or that they need it to stack the cryo shell that is moving with S20. Or, best case and at this point not that unlikely, do both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 10 minutes ago, tater said: I would assume they move SN20 to a test stand first. The only suborbital test platform capable of handling a six-engine static fire is currently occupied by BN3. My money is on a stack for fit check and photo op. If they weren't going to stack for a fit, they would have left it in the high bay and completed the heat shield there, where it's easier to do. Also it appears they are preparing to pull off the load spreader on BN4: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) This is a super simple and cheap render but a cool comparison now that we officially have Starship, Superheavy, and the full GSE in the same frame: And here's a closeup of the tip of Starship: You can see the red adhesive they're using. Above picture normalized to pad height: Spoiler Edited August 5, 2021 by sevenperforce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 The base of all the comparison vehicles should move up to the base of the SS/SH stack, other than that a nice comparison of vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Just now, tater said: The base of all the comparison vehicles should move up to the base of the SS/SH stack, other than that a nice comparison of vehicles. See edit from 30 seconds ago Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 12 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: See edit from 30 seconds ago Hide contents And should add BO's lunar lander, just for kicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 minute ago, cubinator said: And should add BO's lunar lander, just for kicks. Nah, I'm only doing things that have actually been built Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Load spreader is off the booster. Definitely looks like they are going straight to stacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 New road closure for tomorrow, they are going to finish the GSE soon at this pace it seems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealKerbal3x Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 People are now working LR11350 (the one that could stack starship on SH) and its booster lifting jig has been lowered, depending on which jig they mount now we will know what they want to do next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 14 minutes ago, Beccab said: People are now working LR11350 (the one that could stack starship on SH) and its booster lifting jig has been lowered, depending on which jig they mount now we will know what they want to do next My money is 100% on immediate stacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 46 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: My money is 100% on immediate stacking. Your money is safe! Wooooo! Edit: even better, thanks to Ocean Cam we could hear a speaker announce stacking of S20 at 2pm local time, or one hour from now Edited August 5, 2021 by Beccab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSchmuckatelli Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 They are gonna be perilously close to the max height/weight lift for that crane. I wonder if they'll anchor it somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.