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Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

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Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#141

Post by tjpnz »

cletus wrote: post #52

So I'm excited to see this tech develop but I wonder how much of a market there really is for super-heavy lifters. I can't wait to see a future version where they land the various stages rather than just dumping them into the sea. The first Falcon Heavy launch was super impressive. SpaceX already has the Falcon Heavy and there have only been a handful of launches, primarily military. I guess the argument is it'll ope…

It will make space tourism viable for people who aren't super wealthy, an influencer or both.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#142

Post by ceejayoz »

mulmen wrote: post #92

With a successful propulsive splashdown will the ship be recovered for examination?

Only one of the SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters stayed afloat after a gentle touchdown (they weren't quite sure what to do with it, with a persistent rumor the Air Force used it for target practice); there's usually enough propellant left to make it kaboom when it tips into the water. I'd also imagine they didn't put a boat close to the landing target this time around for safety reasons.

I'm hoping they had a reconnaisance aircraft out there, though.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#144

Post by georgeecollins »

consumer451 wrote: post #134
pixl97 wrote: post #68

What the hell, half melted starship actually did the landing flip and hit the ocean slow!!! That was amazing!

Do we have Navy assets nearby to destroy it, or is it just going to bob around in the Indian ocean? Or will we trigger the abort system now?

Gulf of Mexico

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#145

Post by gibolt »

namlem wrote: post #130
gibolt wrote: post #110

Here is a reminder that the only other rocket that can survive re-entry is Falcon 9. Now we have the 2nd!

The Falcon 9 second stage doesn't survive reentry and the booster only needs to get through a partial reentry at much slower velocity.

It is not fully reusable. But partial reentry is reentry, something no other rocket had been able to do.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#146

Post by consumer451 »

georgeecollins wrote: post #144
consumer451 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have Navy assets nearby to destroy it, or is it just going to bob around in the Indian ocean? Or will we trigger the abort system now?

Gulf of Mexico

This branch of the thread is about Starship, which landed intact in the Indian Ocean afaik.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#147

Post by krapp »

madaxe_again wrote: post #95
thebiglebrewski wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about the other 10K+ people who did the actual work to make this happen? Or is it all about that one guy? :)

Those 10k+ people would all be doing something different if it weren’t for that one guy - so ultimately, yes.

How do you know? It's entirely feasible someone other than Elon Musk could have founded a similar company with similar goals, the same or equivalent competent staff, and had the same success. There is no unique magic sauce that Elon brings to the table here, other than money.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#148

Post by datameta »

consumer451 wrote: post #134
pixl97 wrote: post #68

What the hell, half melted starship actually did the landing flip and hit the ocean slow!!! That was amazing!

Do we have Navy assets nearby to destroy it, or is it just going to bob around in the Indian ocean? Or will we trigger the abort system now?

I believe they said they would trigger the abort on splashdown.

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#149

Post by nomilk »

Full video: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1798689697184764071

Various shades of plasma visible during re-entry:

Reddish/orange: 1h 26m

Blue/purple: 1h 28m

White/blue: 1h 34m

Yellow: 1h 37m.

The forward flap visible in camera view starts melting away around 1h 38m (until basically the end of coverage).

(the two stunning minutes from 1h 27m to 1h 29m were the highlight for me)

Re: Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico

#150

Post by rtkwe »

creshal wrote: post #59
cletus wrote: post #52

So I'm excited to see this tech develop but I wonder how much of a market there really is for super-heavy lifters. I can't wait to see a future version where they land the various stages rather than just dumping them into the sea. The first Falcon Heavy launch was super impressive. SpaceX already has the Falcon Heavy and there have only been a handful of launches, primarily military. I guess the argument is it'll ope…

FH had the problem that it had a comparatively small fairing compared with an upper stage that's "only" okay-ish for deep space insertions, so you can neither put really huge LEO payloads on it, nor can you give a deep space probe a really big kick stage to make up for the deficits of the upper stage. Starship solves all these issues: The upper stage is more fuel efficient, and it has more room for really big payload…

Starship might honestly have a similar payload issue with the weird door design, the way it hinges up means you need a more complex release plan than most which just pop straight off the front of the booster.

During the third test flight they also tested their weird side eject design for Starlink (or other flat pack style satellites) and the video looks like the door completely ripped itself apart.

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