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SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

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Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#71

Post by stetrain »

fluoridation wrote: post #47
stetrain wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that understanding of the consensus is incorrect. The mission plan for Artemis 3 is that a specialized Starship upper stage will be refueled in LEO and then transfer to lunar orbit where it will wait for astronauts arriving on SLS/Orion. Yes the mission profile is more complex, but that complexity can mostly be settled before the astronauts launch on their mission. NASA seems to think it is a viable plan whic…

Wikipedia: > After a multi-phase design effort, on April 16, 2021, NASA selected SpaceX to develop Starship HLS and deliver it to near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) prior to arrival of the crew for use on the Artemis III mission. The delivery requires that Starship HLS be refueled in Earth orbit before boosting to the NRHO, and this refueling requires a pre-positioned propellant depot in Earth orbit that is filled by…

How did the fuel you put in your car get there? Your car didn't come with all of the fuel for the trip, nor did it spawn at the gas pump.

It was pumped, shipped, refined, and trucked to that point using a complex supply chain, enabling your final trip to happen with one fuel transfer.

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#72

Post by idontwantthis »

enraged_camel wrote: post #20

Incredible achievement, but what is more incredible is how many people (including almost all of my friends circle) have started rooting for SpaceX to fail due to the shenanigans of its founder. I think as a culture we've lost the ability to compartmentalize. We should be able to criticize and even despise the head of a company, and at the same time celebrate when the intelligence and hard work of the countless smart…

[flagged]

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#73

Post by saubeidl »

bilsbie wrote: post #68
nerdjon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is something I am finding myself wrestling with a lot right now. On the one hand I am a major space nerd and I see the value of what SpaceX is doing. Especially with it really seeming like no one is anywhere near their level. What kind of scientific advancements will be possible once this thing can be used normally and launches like this become commonplace. But at the same time it is impossible to ignore the Elo…

What if the guy who built the world’s best rocket from scratch, who popularized EVs and brought self-driving tech to the masses, who built brain computer interfaces, dug tunnels, started OpenAI and PayPal… What if he’s not an idiot? What if we should actually be listening to what this guy says and considering it? What if he has the same ability to see what nobody else can see early on in politics… As he’s shown acros…

What if his motivations and class interest are not aligned with ours?

Are you the richest man in the world? If not, could it be that what is good for the person in that position is not good for you or most other people?

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#74

Post by ajmurmann »

fhd2 wrote: post #54
ekianjo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had virtually infinite budget at the time. SpaceX is much, much cheaper.

Is it though? I'm not knowledgeable on this at all, but it _seems_ like Space X is blowing up a lot more expensive equipment compared to NASA back in the space race days. Genuinely curious how it compares and how true my outsider impression is.

https://orbitaltoday.com/2022/09/05/starship-vs-saturn-v-cho... claims Saturn V development cost $50 billion vs Starship at $5 billion. Not to mention the cost per mission once Starship is fully functioning and reusable.

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#75

Post by anonymars »

loeg wrote: post #16
boxed wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding to previous comment, looks like the cost per launch when the system was up and running was ~1billion USD inflation adjusted. I'm going to assume Starship will beat that easily.

Looks like Starship test flights are already beating that $1 billion per-launch cost (I'm seeing estimates in the $100-500 million range), and they'd like to get the marginal cost down to ~$10 million.

I'm confused -- how is it meaningful to compare the cost of Starship test flights with operational Saturn V missions?

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#77

Post by pfannkuchen »

ballenf wrote: post #53
stetrain wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, although it was stated before the flight that they were intentionally flying with some heat tiles removed and with a more aggressive profile to test some outer limits.

They even removed some near fuel tanks. In the past the missing tiles were in less critical areas. I'm surprised they didn't take less risks just to avoid a narrative of failure.

Does it really seem like Elon cares about public opinion at this point?

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#78

Post by bilsbie »

nerdjon wrote: post #31
enraged_camel wrote: post #20

Incredible achievement, but what is more incredible is how many people (including almost all of my friends circle) have started rooting for SpaceX to fail due to the shenanigans of its founder. I think as a culture we've lost the ability to compartmentalize. We should be able to criticize and even despise the head of a company, and at the same time celebrate when the intelligence and hard work of the countless smart…

This is something I am finding myself wrestling with a lot right now. On the one hand I am a major space nerd and I see the value of what SpaceX is doing. Especially with it really seeming like no one is anywhere near their level. What kind of scientific advancements will be possible once this thing can be used normally and launches like this become commonplace. But at the same time it is impossible to ignore the Elo…

I love the arrogance that anyone who disagrees with you is “anti-science”.

Please tell us which culture war topics he’s anti-science on.

Re: SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight

#80

Post by gtirloni »

GeekyBear wrote: post #64
gtirloni wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it common to plan an explosion to test how something will react in these launches? Honest question, I know nothing about rockets. In SRE, we have chaos engineering so I'm wondering if it's the same concept.

It's very common for extremely hot metal pressure tanks to rupture when plunged into water.

I understand but I'm asking more from a process perspective. If these are planned.
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