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5 minutes ago, rudi1291 said:

Won´t they need the SuperHeavy to archieve orbit with enough fuel to land?

Yes, its even worse since you only have 3 engines without superheavy. On separation they will burn all 6 then shut down the surface engines then they don't need so much trust. 
 

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16 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

... I think someone at Bigelow’s art department needs to research the Falcon Heavy a bit more... :unsure:

I think someone at Bigelow's art department needs to get a new job.

 

Also, nice! Full Starship tests in 4 to 6 months! Production seems to be really moving along.

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Did he actually mean 2-3 orbital periods of the Earth's Moon in the geocentric coordinate system?

If so, maybe he has a secret plan how to push the Moon a little farther, so make it move slower.

Edited by kerbiloid
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They've now test fired the Raptor many times, and test fired it twice on the Hopper, and they've tanked up the Hopper and done dress rehearsals minus firing several times. I think the rocket part they are comfortable with. Presumably Hopper hops will be used to validate their flight models, at which point they can mess with the orbital prototypes. Any orbital flight with those is very likely a LOV event (intentionally) to test whatever entry profile they are thinking of.

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13 hours ago, Dale Christopher said:

2-3months?

This may be the craziest Elon timewarp statement I’ve seen so far

Considering it took 5-ish months to get Starhopper from a water tank to the first static fire, and that the proto-Starship already has been under construction for 4 months, they may be able to finish it within that time, but there are just too many things that we don't know. There is still the heatshield and the wings and whatnot, and we don't know if these things are either completed and waiting to be installed, being worked on, or just don't exist at all.

Also i have no idea how long it takes to build a new launch setup of Starship. I don't even know what he means by that tweet.

If i were to geuss, they may be able to do their thing in 3-6 months, depending on what they currently have hidden inside those structures and tents.

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Hidden for length XD

Spoiler

The thing I remember feeling the most space related excitement for was the pathfinder mission that dropped the lander onto mars in a bouncy castle, that was probably my generations moon landing, but that excitement faded quickly. Probably partly a result of growing up, partly that the party seemed to be over after that. Or maybe I just got used to robotic missions. Whatever the case, nothing compared to that first Mars rover for me. 

I have to admit though, seeing Elon accomplish what he has and seeing what’s coming up, and hearing timescales of months instead of decades... I am feeling pretty good about about the future. Kinda like maybe I wasn’t born in the wrong era after all.

It’s a motivation to get my excrements together to be honest. The idea that a future full of exciting new frontiers for humanity may be racing toward us like a freight train instead of a future of stagnation and boredom, gives me some optimism.

It’s almost like humanity stopped dreaming or something after Apollo and just decided to stop trying... the indifference with which we are turning our planet into a excrementshole would seem to be symptomatic of something but I don’t know if I can articulate what... the world seems pettier, or maybe it’s just that the internet has revealed just how juvenile our race is. 

I’ll say one thing though, staying here on Earth isn’t healthy. I think we will become increasingly toxic both literally and figuratively if we never get off earth. The powers that be bicker amongst themselves while the majority of the world slaves away at meaningless tasks, forced into taking out lifelong debts merely to live decently, ensuring a lifetime of servitude... (the retirement age in my country exceeds the life expectancy of males in my family...)

sigh this turned into a rant. 

My point is, Starship could succeed in putting us on the right path, for the glimpse of the future I was given as a child watching Pathfinder on Mars. And that’s amazing. 

^_^

Edited by Guest
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4 hours ago, Dale Christopher said:

Hidden for length XD

  Reveal hidden contents

The thing I remember feeling the most space related excitement for was the pathfinder mission that dropped the lander onto mars in a bouncy castle, that was probably my generations moon landing, but that excitement faded quickly. Probably partly a result of growing up, partly that the party seemed to be over after that. Or maybe I just got used to robotic missions. Whatever the case, nothing compared to that first Mars rover for me. 

I have to admit though, seeing Elon accomplish what he has and seeing what’s coming up, and hearing timescales of months instead of decades... I am feeling pretty good about about the future. Kinda like maybe I wasn’t born in the wrong era after all.

It’s a motivation to get my excrements together to be honest. The idea that a future full of exciting new frontiers for humanity may be racing toward us like a freight train instead of a future of stagnation and boredom, gives me some optimism.

It’s almost like humanity stopped dreaming or something after Apollo and just decided to stop trying... the indifference with which we are turning our planet into a excrementshole would seem to be symptomatic of something but I don’t know if I can articulate what... the world seems pettier, or maybe it’s just that the internet has revealed just how juvenile our race is. 

I’ll say one thing though, staying here on Earth isn’t healthy. I think we will become increasingly toxic both literally and figuratively if we never get off earth. The powers that be bicker amongst themselves while the majority of the world slaves away at meaningless tasks, forced into taking out lifelong debts merely to live decently, ensuring a lifetime of servitude... (the retirement age in my country exceeds the life expectancy of males in my family...)

sigh this turned into a rant. 

My point is, Starship could succeed in putting us on the right path, for the glimpse of the future I was given as a child watching Pathfinder on Mars. And that’s amazing. 

^_^

Nice!

I already have a little poem thing ready but i will only share it after/if starhopper hops succesfully.

(its actually more of a meme)

Edited by NSEP
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11 hours ago, Dale Christopher said:

It’s almost like humanity stopped dreaming or something after Apollo

The Apollo program itself was ignited by b-hurt after R-7 flights.
If the USSR could into better bombers, maybe they would still be discussing, to moon or not to moon and how much would it cost. And SLS/Orion would be not like Saturn/Apollo, but exactly the Saturn/Apollo.

Edited by kerbiloid
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42 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

The Apollo program itself was ignited by b-hurt after R-7 flights.
If the USSR could into better bombers, maybe they would still be discussing, to moon or not to moon and how much would it cost. And SLS/Orion would be not like Saturn/Apollo, but exactly the Saturn/Apollo.

Spoiler

I'd say that while the "Space Race" was entirely an artifact of the Cold War, and honestly part of the reason it continued funding was the JFK assassination creating a sense of "doing right by his memory," the reality was that it was too costly, and once established as government programs---by all countries---they became typical government programs, working to keep themselves and their staff employed more than attempting some great endeavor. Not out of a conspiracy of the staff, just because that's how large agencies end up working---everywhere. We were lucky to have the driving goal with a time limit, frankly.

That's where on topic, SpaceX is so great to watch, and the same for Blue Origin once they start actually doing something. They have this goal that is different even than becoming a launch provider to sell rockets, they are working to go to Mars---to stay. I'm the first one to say their goal is in fact kooky, but it's a goal that means that they will do things that government agencies simply would not bother trying.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, tater said:
  Reveal hidden contents

I'd say that while the "Space Race" was entirely an artifact of the Cold War, and honestly part of the reason it continued funding was the JFK assassination creating a sense of "doing right by his memory," the reality was that it was too costly, and once established as government programs---by all countries---they became typical government programs, working to keep themselves and their staff employed more than attempting some great endeavor. Not out of a conspiracy of the staff, just because that's how large agencies end up working---everywhere. We were lucky to have the driving goal with a time limit, frankly.

That's where on topic, SpaceX is so great to watch, and the same for Blue Origin once they start actually doing something. They have this goal that is different even than becoming a launch provider to sell rockets, they are working to go to Mars---to stay. I'm the first one to say their goal is in fact kooky, but it's a goal that means that they will do things that government agencies simply would not bother trying.

 

 

I don't want to diverge too far into political/economic theories, but the idea that governments always screw everything up is more libertarian mythology than actual fact. Reminds me of this:

 

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On 7/19/2019 at 8:54 PM, CatastrophicFailure said:

I think someone at Bigelow’s art department needs to research the Falcon Heavy a bit more... :unsure:

Nah, it's just launched in a configuration where the side boosters, the fairings and the second stage are all deployed at the same time...

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8 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

I don't want to diverge too far into political/economic theories, but the idea that governments always screw everything up is more libertarian mythology than actual fact. Reminds me of this:

I wasn't saying they screw everything up at all, look at Apollo as the on topic example, or many other things. I said that large, government agencies become entities in their own, that often function for reasons that differ from their original raison d'être.

In the US, spreading stuff to as many States as possible has a long tradition, going back to the way the Washington Administration sourced the initial 6 Frigates for the nascent USN, though, so it's to be expected.

Edited by tater
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