Here are the TFRs. Two on the 17th and 18th from 6am to 9am MDT. The yellow section. About 15 miles long and averages 7 miles wide.
The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
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Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#42April 17 is the anniversary of Apollo 13’s splashdown, if anyone was wondering. Edit: in case anyone wasn't aware of the coolest website on the internet https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/
I wasn't aware of this website! It's great, I'm following Apollo 11 right now.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#43April 17 is the anniversary of Apollo 13’s splashdown, if anyone was wondering. Edit: in case anyone wasn't aware of the coolest website on the internet https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/
I certainly wasn't and appreciate you posting it, great site! A little intimidating initially, but after a minute curiosity has you flicking between the different controller channels and stages in the mission.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
SpaceX moved beyond what they could test without the launch (and catch) tower. They've spent a lot of time and money developing the ground systems - in comparison the early crude Starship prototypes were comparatively cheap and easily replaced - and I would imagine they really would prefer not to accidentally demolish the tower again.
If I recall correctly after this Methan explosion 9 month ago they got more cautious and slower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjbjXTomxqI
And they also have previous painful experience of destroying a Falcon 9 pad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BgJEXQkjNQ Really can't afford to repeat that if they are to make the timeline for using Starship as NASA's next lunar lander.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
It can’t be that hard to not land it in your launch area right? Can’t they have a separate land and crash area (preferably separated by a few tens of kilometers)?
You would need to build a second tower with catch arms there. The booster does not have landing legs and will not touch down on the ground, the plan is to have it settle on the same "tower arms" that are used as a crane to stack the booster and the ship for launch, with engines still well above ground.
They managed landing legs and they decided to up the level of difficulty a few notches or something?
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's correct, there will be no catch attempt this launch. They're going to simulate a landing by attempting to do soft land it in the Gulf of Mexico. The reason is pretty straightforward: this vehicle has never flown before and a lot can go wrong. There is a lot of ground equipment including propellant tanks very close to the launch tower. If anything goes wrong hundreds of tons of metal + propellant is going to ca…
It can’t be that hard to not land it in your launch area right? Can’t they have a separate land and crash area (preferably separated by a few tens of kilometers)?
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Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#47i was at south padre island for the first starship landing. even though it blew up a minute or two after it landed, i consider it the first landing. i had seen pretty much every major launch from spacex on their livestreams but i was still taken aback at seeing starship. its as odd as watching a skyscraper slowly levitate upward into the sky. and to see it standing after the dust settled was unreal. and after it was…
I wonder if you could head over to Matamoros and give a fisherman $50 to take you out on the water. The launch tower is maybe 500yds from the beach.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Feline friends always love it when humans put out nice new warm beds for them! Certainly a warm heated spot in the cold could serve no higher purpose :): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/outdoor-cats-are-u...
> the American Veterinary Medical Association recommends keeping cats indoors to avoid dangers associated with diseases, parasites, cars, attacks from other animals, poisons and extreme weather Now it’s not only children but cats too? I grew up in a location where cats could go anywhere they pleased (in or outside), and it’s really strange to me that some countries recommend or require them to always be inside.
Outdoor cats live much shorter lives than indoor ones.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder why they don't plan to execute the flip and landing burn with the ship, just for additional test data. So far it fully worked only once (and _almost_ worked a couple more times), surely it can't hurt to have another go at it, even if the ship is ultimately not being recovered. I guess propellant margins may be a cause, but then they'll likely want to have a "nominal" amount of leftover fuel onboard anyway to…
I think the chance that the second stage survives reentry on the first attempt is almost zero anyway. IIRC Musk said something like that in his second interview with Tim Dodd.
True, but remember he only gave falcon heavy a 50/50 shot of getting high enough before exploding to not damage the launch site on its first launch.
Musk is incredibly optimistic about schedules, and pessimistic about launches.
Re: The FAA has granted SpaceX permission to launch its Starship rocket
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