Starship Prototype Unveiled • Hacker News Board

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#291

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:04 AM UTC

wolf550e wrote: post #189

brandonjm wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is certainly a little bold of Bridenstine to comment on other space companies being behind schedule given NASA’s own delays.

Elon Musk said 5% of SpaceX was working on Starship and that the hardware for crew would be ready this year (in interview to CNN after the QA he said October for in flight abort and November for DM-2).

I think that 5% claim is dubious.

Almost certainly the top minds at spacex are focussed on starship, and the 5% number might only be kinda-true because starship is being built with a lot of contractors.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#292

Post by nickik » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:06 AM UTC

aflag wrote: post #121

AimForTheBushes wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any reason to believe it would be happening now if he didn't exist?

Maybe not. That still doesn't qualify him as an Engineer, though.

He is has been the Chief Designer for SpaceX since Falcon 1.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#293

Post by londons_explore » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:13 AM UTC

bitcurious wrote: post #127

tlb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you picture them rolling a piece of steel 50 meters wide? As far as I know, the widest rolling mills in existence are 5 meters wide.

Just curious - what industry are you in that you know off of the top of your head the max size of rolled steel?

Nearly anyone who buys sheets of rolled steel eventually finds they can't buy a sheet bigger than a certain size...

Same exists for most goods - try to buy a dustsheet to cover your room, and you can't buy one wider than 5 meters without a seam

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#294

Post by nickik » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:21 AM UTC

DanCarvajal wrote: post #33

philwelch wrote: post #31

I suspect that Starship will fly to space before SLS ever will. I also think Starship has a significantly higher chance of flying at all than SLS.

Starship could have Falcon Heavy level of delays (which I think it will) and still beat SLS.

I think people are missing an important point when talking about Falcon Heavy. Yes it was delayed, but the Falcon Heavy that was eventually launched, was WAY, WAY better then the one announced in 2011.

The payload of the 2011 version was almost reached by the Falcon 9 itself. That was one of the major reasons for the delay, not design and production issues. The Falcon Heavy profited from all the advancments on Falcon 9 and it made no sense to actually build a Falcon Heavy before Block 4.

In fact the first costumers for Falcon Heavy flew on Falcon 9 instead.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#295

Post by simonh » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:26 AM UTC

paragraft wrote: post #144

35787 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow what an incredibly substantive comment. I remember pretty clearly he said that there would be a single seam weld. Maybe I’m remembering wrong. Or maybe they’ll seam weld multiple rolls into a really wide roll and the only weld required to turn the final roll into the shell is that final hotdog weld.

I think the idea's to go like a Pringles can, with a spiraling single seam.

They can't do that because they need to thickness to taper off up the sides of the vehicle.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#296

Post by nickik » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:34 AM UTC

hadlock wrote: post #222

cryptoz wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FH was 5 years+ behind schedule before it was built and launched. Starship already has multiple constructions going on, with multiple prototypes to test and multiple full-size vehicles planned quickly. In 2011, FH was supposed to have "arrival at launch site" by 2H 2012. It first launched in 2018 (after arriving at launch site in 2018 not 2012). The same level of delay would mean the first Starship does not reach orb…

The center core of the Falcon Heavy has been described by Musk as effectively an entirely new rocket, due to the million pound lateral forces holding the three rockets together. It's not just three Falcon 9 strapped together.

Yes but there is still a HUGE amount of communality between the systems.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#297

Post by computerex » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:37 AM UTC

quotemstr wrote: post #206

computerex wrote: post #80

I just want to point out that SpaceX has not yet successfully put a human in LEO. The moon seems well beyond their technical capabilites at the moment and Mars seems like a fools dream at this point in time.

They could if they wanted to. I'd fly on SpaceX's current hardware given the chance, "human rated" or not.

Then I think you'd be very reckless with your life, given the failure that happened with crew dragon this year that resulted in the vehicle blowing up.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#298

Post by nickik » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:38 AM UTC

oska wrote: post #248

caconym_ wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me the SLS is like Brexit: obscenely wasteful and short-sighted, seemingly inevitable, but somehow I still don't believe it will ever leave the ground. The Artemis thing is like a joke for real, though. After the last 30 years of bullshit we've seen from the US government's manned space exploration efforts I think I'll be living in a SpaceX-manufactured igloo on Titan before Richard Shelby and his obstructionist,…

Just as a comment: I really hate seeing Brexit dragged into every conversation. We're talking about rockets here, which should be a million miles away from any discussion of Brexit.

Yes. Thank you. Brexit is the ultimate 'this proves my world view' and gets dragged into every conversation.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#299

Post by computerex » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:40 AM UTC

SECProto wrote: post #139

computerex wrote: post #80

I just want to point out that SpaceX has not yet successfully put a human in LEO. The moon seems well beyond their technical capabilites at the moment and Mars seems like a fools dream at this point in time.

> I just want to point out that SpaceX has not yet successfully put a human in LEO. Does this preclude them from doing so in the future? They certainly will within the next year or so (crew dragon). The moon has been out of reach of humans for 47-ish years mostly because we haven't had the orbital capacity to get there. Humanity has not had a super-heavy-lift launcher since the Saturn V (excluding the Shuttle and Ene…

> Does this preclude them from doing so in the future?

Certainly it doesn't preclude them from doing so, but a healthy dose of skepticism never hurts. Talking about the moon and mars when they have not yet successfully put someone in LEO is a little bit like putting the wagon before the horse.

Re: Starship Prototype Unveiled

#300

Post by michaelt » Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 9:41 AM UTC

infectoid wrote: post #182

abledon wrote: post #2

I would love to know what the "Day-in-the-life" of a welder working on those ships would be. Did they train specifically for aerospace welding? How did they land that specific gig. Must be so inspiring to wake up and work on that.

I'd watch a Bob Ross of welding if that channel existed.

You might enjoy https://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks then