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5 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

The original claim was: "The hull is made of steel, thus doesn't need tiles".

This claim was never made.

2 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Perhaps in other vessels aluminium was enough, and the steel was claimed as both structural and heat-proof?

Perhaps you have a citation?

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38 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

This claim was never made.

To be fair, at the very least I think Elon said or tweeted that for LEO operations tiles might not be required. That's in my head, anyway, though I have no link ATM.

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2 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This definitely isn't a flight test vehicle, it only has a single tank.

My best guess is that it's a test tank for structural validation and will be tested on that booster thrust simulator they've been building.

Or lifted by the catch arms as a test before B4

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6 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This definitely isn't a flight test vehicle, it only has a single tank.

My best guess is that it's a test tank for structural validation and will be tested on that booster thrust simulator they've been building.

They could lower it with a crane to test catching as well, I suppose (vs hopping it).

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1 hour ago, tater said:

To be fair, at the very least I think Elon said or tweeted that for LEO operations tiles might not be required. That's in my head, anyway, though I have no link ATM.

IIRC, it was hoped to not need tiles if they went with a double-walled belly cooled by methane transpiration through pores in the outer skin, but eventually went with a more traditional approach (KISS). 

That said, steel needs no further protection on the lee sides, unlike aluminum which needs thermal blankets. So the steel approach is still simpler overall. 
 

Mmmm, glue….  

 

Edited by StrandedonEarth
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3 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

IIRC, it was hoped to not need tiles if they went with a double-walled belly cooled by methane transpiration through pores in the outer skin, but eventually went with a more traditional approach (KISS). 

That said, steel needs no further protection on the lee sides, unlike aluminum which needs thermal blankets. So the steel approach is still simpler overall. 
 

Mmmm, glue….  

 

I still recall Elon saying something, but I lack the will to read like every Elon tweet for X years, lol.

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4 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

IIRC, it was hoped to not need tiles if they went with a double-walled belly cooled by methane transpiration through pores in the outer skin, but eventually went with a more traditional approach (KISS). 

I remember that, too. So it must have been a thing once...

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