SpaceX (general discussion)

FighterJock said:
Dragon029 said:
Rumour is that there'll be a static / tethered fire (of the Starship Hopper) test on Monday 2pm, followed by another static or just an untethered flight of the Starship Hopper at 2pm on Tuesday.
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Will SpaceX be televising the event? Or will it be behind closed doors.
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With the previous test, SpaceX didn't provide a livestream, probably because with all the pressurisation testing, pre-burning testing, etc they themselves probably weren't sure when they'd be ready to do the tethered burn up until maybe 12 hours prior.

This time however Elon has said on Twitter that they will attempt to officially livestream it, and some of the watchers (@SpacePadreIsle on Twitter) on the scene have noticed new cameras attached to a pole:
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I'd recommend keeping an eye on https://twitter.com/SpacePadreIsle and https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal (the latter being the source of many Starhopper photos as she lives in the little community down the road from the launch site).

Referencing from the time of this forum post, 7 hours ago crews were seen putting on fire suits, 6 hours ago sheriffs cleared the beach, 2 hours ago the road leading up to the launch site has been closed, 1 hour ago it apparently sounds like fueling has begun and about 30 minutes ago the flare stack (used to burn off fuel that's warmed up and turned to gas in the storage tanks) was seen burning; there might be some pre-burner tests tonight, or that rumoured static / tethered fire, with tomorrow hopefully giving us a free-flying Starhopper.

Edit: I forgot to mention; while SpaceX didn't provide a livestream and doesn't have one running right this moment, the fact that they're doing this in the open, next to public land / communities means that there's been multiple 3rd party livestreams. Here's one from Spadre that's running right now:

 
In the Everyday Astronaut footage I count at least 3 unexpected fires.

#1 is visible at about the 21 second mark in the Everyday Astronaut video and appears to be coming from piping that runs up the side of the tank.

#2 is visible at the same time as #1, but is more visible in the second half of the video, from the 1:46 mark, and appears to be either a low pressure leak of one of the tank access hatches (a leaky seal), or some part of the hatch itself / its seals slowly burning:

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Note that the image below was taken from a position slightly further to the left (reference the way the three fuel tanks overlap with the hopper but don't in the above photo)
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#3 is the big fireball which begins at the base of one of the legs; at least one person on the NASA Space Flight forum thinks that this is where the umbilical connects, but I'm not sure that's 100% accurate:

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EDIT:

The above daytime photos of the Starhopper are old; I knew that, but assumed that they hadn't moved the piping that I circled with #3. The piping that runs vertically is still there, but rather than having semi-loose hoses that snake off to one leg, they instead have quick-disconnects right at the base of the the vertical piping (with there being two disconnect systems, one on each of the sides that has a tank access hatch). What this means is that rather than a pipe bursting, they might have just simply had a quick-disconnect leak:

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SpaceX problem is they have no Flame trench under test side
Each time they testing Starhopper, it's engulfed in own rocket exhaust burning everything on it...
 
Michel Van said:
SpaceX problem is they have no Flame trench under test side
Each time they testing Starhopper, it's engulfed in own rocket exhaust burning everything on it...
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They aren't going to be landing on a flame trench so. . .
 
Bocachicagal on NSF took some pictures of the hopper this morning. I wouldn't assume that there's no damage, but at least superficially it looks like nothing had happened:

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It’s a test article I imagine it is built like a tank too withstand various trials & tribulations.
 
NASA, SpaceX Earn Emmy Nomination for Demo-1 Mission Coverage

NASA and SpaceX were nominated for an Emmy! Teams from the agency’s Commercial Crew Program are among six finalists in the Outstanding Interactive Program category for their coverage of SpaceX’s Demo-1 mission in March 2019.

The nomination recognizes the teams’ tremendous efforts in sharing with the world Crew Dragon’s historic journey to the International Space Station. The mission marked the first time a commercially operated spacecraft docked with the space station, and brought the United States a critical step closer to launching astronauts in American spacecraft on American rockets from American soil.

NASA and SpaceX spent years preparing a collaborative approach to mission coverage, which featured multiple live broadcasts from agency and company facilities across the country during each phase of the mission, continuing through Crew Dragon’s stunning return to Earth. Throughout NASA’s coverage, the agency engaged social media users around the world and at local social media influencer gatherings at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019.

Marie Lewis / July 17, 2019

NASA, SpaceX Earn Emmy Nomination for Demo-1 Mission Coverage – Commercial Crew Program

blogs.nasa.gov blogs.nasa.gov
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1151527796411392001

I just got off the phone with the Cameron County judge's office, and I was told SpaceX has withdrawn all planned road and beach closures for this week. There is currently NO TESTING DATE planned at this time. #SpaceX #BocaChica #Starship #StarHopper
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This is a great reminder in all of this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1151512803615936512

Friendly reminder, #StarHopper is a giant experiment. @SpaceX
is pushing the boundaries of what’s physically possible to extract from methane and oxygen. A hiccup here or there is expected when pushing the limits of physics. Build. Test. Break stuff. Learn. Repeat.
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Would it need to be more capable than those on the Saturn V, Shuttle, or Falcon Heavy?
 
Interview with Elon Musk published by CBS:


Covers a number of topics and Elon says ‘about 6 months’ when asked about taking crew to ISS.
 
Hobbes said:
30 engines, actually. 24 on the circumference and 6 in the center.
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Dam, you right Hobbes
Super Heavy will be a Monster 35 Raptors x 249 metric tons = maximum 8610 tons Thrust

Eight Thousand Six Hundert Ten metric tons

Saturn V had around 3447 metric tons and the N1 4626 metric tons.

I wonder what Blue Origin will build as rocket New Armstrong, same or bigger Thrust als Super Heavy ???
 
They probably intend to throttle those 36 engines gradually at max power across many flights. So should we not see that impressive number as a safe limit giving extra margin to the project?
 
Moose said:
Hard to know with Musk. Sometimes he makes decisions like he's an engineer, sometimes like he's Jeremy Clarkson.
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Are we seriously criticizing him for having a personality? Could you imagine Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates doing "Meme Review"?
 
Any chance the number of engines have increased because they don't have the level of efficiency required? Rather, is the rest of the program going faster than the engine optimization?
 
NeilChapman said:
Any chance the number of engines have increased because they don't have the level of efficiency required? Rather, is the rest of the program going faster than the engine optimization?
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I'm hoping that's not the problem. Or that the rocket is heavier than they thought it would be. Hope it's just for more payload.
 
sferrin said:
NeilChapman said:
Any chance the number of engines have increased because they don't have the level of efficiency required? Rather, is the rest of the program going faster than the engine optimization?
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I'm hoping that's not the problem. Or that the rocket is heavier than they thought it would be. Hope it's just for more payload.
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Good point on weight of rocket. Most things 'grow' in weight throughout the prototyping process don't they.

Still, extra motor means extra fuel. Of course this is only for lifting to LEO isn't it. Isn't refueling of Starship to occur in LEO?

Anyway - something's change. We'll find out soon enough.
 
Video of thruster testing overnight via Mary (@BocaChicaGal)

 
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sferrin said:
Moose said:
Hard to know with Musk. Sometimes he makes decisions like he's an engineer, sometimes like he's Jeremy Clarkson.
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Are we seriously criticizing him for having a personality? Could you imagine Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates doing "Meme Review"?
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I thought it was humorous observation, not criticism. Were I to criticize him directly, it wouldn't be for having an oddball personality. Having one myself, it would be hypocritical.
 
Moose said:
sferrin said:
Moose said:
Hard to know with Musk. Sometimes he makes decisions like he's an engineer, sometimes like he's Jeremy Clarkson.
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Are we seriously criticizing him for having a personality? Could you imagine Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates doing "Meme Review"?
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I thought it was humorous observation, not criticism. Were I to criticize him directly, it wouldn't be for having an oddball personality. Having one myself, it would be hypocritical.
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There is a fundamental difference between oddball and psychopathic. For Exhibit A, just google the phrase "I’ve got to fire someone today".
 
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martinbayer said:
Moose said:
sferrin said:
Moose said:
Hard to know with Musk. Sometimes he makes decisions like he's an engineer, sometimes like he's Jeremy Clarkson.
Click to expand...


Are we seriously criticizing him for having a personality? Could you imagine Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates doing "Meme Review"?
Click to expand...
I thought it was humorous observation, not criticism. Were I to criticize him directly, it wouldn't be for having an oddball personality. Having one myself, it would be hypocritical.
Click to expand...
There is a fundamental difference between oddball and psychopathic. For Exhibit A, just google the phrase "I’ve got to fire someone today".
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What's "psychopathic" about realizing things are so dire that people need to be fired, and not being happy about it?

"With Tesla’s financial situation growing more dire this year, Musk took to saying “I’ve got to fire someone today,” one executive recounted. “No, no, I just do. I’ve got to fire somebody.”"

You portray it as some comic-book caricature of a boss twirling his moustache as he gleefully looks for somebody to fire.
 
I fully recognize and acknowledge that Musk is a brilliant, driven visionary who is revolutionizing the aerospace industry (and potentially others, like automotive, as well, though the jury is still out on that - by the way I *wholeheartedly* share his utter disdain for publicly traded companies), but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel compelled to turn a blind eye to his personality deficiencies, which are well documented. Exceedingly few people fall at either extreme end of the spectrum between saints and villains when it comes to treating fellow human beings, but based on his track record (once again, I highly recommend reading his biography by Ashlee Vance) he seems to fairly consistently behave like a jerk in his personal, professional and business relationships. And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
 
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