SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship updates

[DocM]

Super Heavy's going to look NUTS!!

 

Peak Thunderbirds 😄

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by DocM

[Unobscured Vision]

While funny-looking, that "wiggle" is critical for countering & dampening the cavitations that will occur when the engines first fire up and while they are in-use. Essential for stabilizing them. Most gimballed engines have such a method of dampening such forces. Even the SSME's did this.

 

Cool to see and I bet the response on these is very quick.  

[DocM]

LabPadre webcast of tonight's hop test, assuming it isn't scrubbed too.

 

 

[DocM]

SpaceX official webcast

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

It's live!

[DocM]

Aborted...venting

[Unobscured Vision]

Boy, did it. Wonder what went askew.

[DocM]

In previous new vehicle tests they set their limits too tight, causing frequent aborts.

[DocM]

They tried again tonight, but couldn't fit it in.

 

There's another road closing tomorrow, so...

[DocM]

So, the liquid nitrogen  superchilling system over-chilled the propellantss and....

 

 

 

[DocM]

😄😄😄

 

 

[DocM]

StarHopper hop after the CRS-18 launch (or scrub). 

 

Watch the SpaceX YouTube channel for a webcast link. If you're subscribed to SpaceXchannel you should get a notification.

[DocM]

StarHopper's T-0 is 2030 Eastern 

 

[DocM]

 

 

Huge plume caused a grass fire

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by DocM

[DocM]

Hop at about 01:18

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

 

[Beittil]

Well, that's why they have their private squad of fire fighters... 

 

Haha, awesome... 

[DocM]

@BocaChicaGal footage w/good audio.

 

Crank. It. UP!!

 

 

 

[Skiver Veteran]

I'm looking forward to that 200m hop, hopefully we'll get to see her out of that shroud of smoke.

 

I know they're working on a lot more experience this time around, but can anyone measure their success with these tests against grasshoper? I was expecting a lot of problems and aborts before it got off the ground and back successfully so this seems to have gone amazingly well but not sure how quick they were with Grasshoper?

[DocM]

Grasshopper flew 8 times successfully before being retired. 1.8m, 5.4m, 40m, 80m, 250m, 325m, 250m, and finally 744m. She's now a trpphy at their  McGregor test facility.

 

F9R Dev-1 flew 4 times successfully, 250m - 1,000m, but a blocked engine sensor caused her to deviate from the planed trajectory then self-destruct during the 5th flight.

 

F9R Dev-2 never flew. 

 

Instead, SpaceX started a series of post-separation tests during real launches, perfecting supersonic retropropulsion and soft "landings" on the ocean.

 

You know the rest.

Edited July 26, 2019 by DocM

[Beittil]

The poor people at Spaceport America are still weeping over all the lost revenue when SpaceX did move to testing on live launches after mothballong Dev2. Lol

[DocM]

Yup, but if the damned thing's already up there after a launch so why use a single purpose vehicle based in the middle of nowhere?

 

Not to mention operational difficulties from being so close to White Sands (76 miles) and using their tracking.

[DocM]

Drone view

 

 

[DocM]

The crawler is prepping to move StarHopper back to the starting line. 

 

 

 

[DocM]