> The LLCC consists of a two-story building (referred to as Stargate) Indeed.
Funny, I thought the Stargate was at least 28 stories below ground...
Starship is approximately 30 stories tall so the math works out.
Starship / Super Heavy
41–50 of 298 posts
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#42Where do one finds out when SpaceX performs test launches? I would love to take my kids to see them.
Even for orbital launches on the production Falcon 9, schedules are subject to change due to technical glitches or just bad weather. Test launches are subject to both, with technical glitches being nearly part of the plan. For starship launches, there's a nearby town where residents usually get something like 24 hours' notice of an attempt, in case they want to be elsewhere, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
The site has extensive solar power, I'm not aware of environmental concerns for solar-powered desalination. I would guess that it is driven by a real need for water and a hedge against environmental assessment difficulties.
What are they going to do with all the brine. It's quite toxic and I don't think it's a good idea to dump that back in the sea.
Brine has set waste disposal costs and methods - near the ocean and with active oil wells nearby there are many options.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you expand on the bubble wall?
When launching rockets on land you need flame diverter trenches to deal with exhaust and water deluge systems to deal with the sound (the water droplets absorb sound). When launching on water, dealing with the exhaust is more straightforward, but sound travels much better in water than in air, so it's a much bigger problem (mostly for marine life). One idea is to create a curtain made out of air bubbles that effectiv…
Wait, the water they spray on a land launch is only for sound suppression?
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#45Next level space age begins, sooner we will be on Mars.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#46The FAA recently updated this page as part of the new Environmental Assessment at Boca Chica which is required before SpaceX can be approved for orbital flights. Their current approval is good for testing (vertical) flights of Starship and Superheavy, but does not currently permit orbital flight from Boca Chica as I understand it. They are currently in a public comment period thru Jan 22.
What's the environmental impact delta between a 12km launch and landing and an orbital launch and landing? I can't imagine the difference to the ground environment is that significant.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#47> The fully integrated Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle will be approximately 400 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. For reference, the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo program was 363 feet tall. It was 33 ft wide at the first stage, while Starship is 30 ft wide all the way to the top. It's just massive. And it's fully reusable. What a game changer.
I'm really interested in seeing how it will perform its "belly flop" landing. Seems like a high risk maneuver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTYMry7fq0#t=1m17s
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#48> The fully integrated Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle will be approximately 400 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. For reference, the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo program was 363 feet tall. It was 33 ft wide at the first stage, while Starship is 30 ft wide all the way to the top. It's just massive. And it's fully reusable. What a game changer.
I'm really interested in seeing how it will perform its "belly flop" landing. Seems like a high risk maneuver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTYMry7fq0#t=1m17s
They've already done it[0], and it was a complete success until a propellant pressure issue resulted in lower than needed thrust, and a hard impact on the pad.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm really interested in seeing how it will perform its "belly flop" landing. Seems like a high risk maneuver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTYMry7fq0#t=1m17s
They've already done it[0], and it was a complete success until a propellant pressure issue resulted in lower than needed thrust, and a hard impact on the pad. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qwLHlVjRyw
It oriented almost perfectly. I'm truly amazed at what SpaceX has accomplished so far. Just need to stick that landing a few dozen more times. It's quite a reorientation.
Re: Starship / Super Heavy
#50Got lost in a rabbit hole after reading this news. Most incredible thing to me was that due to the reusability the per launch costs may end up being $2M (vs $185 million in 1969–1971 dollars - $1.23 billion in 2019 value for the Saturn V).