Starship Heat Shield Massive Update! New Tower With A Catch!
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2024
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SpaceX is finalizing repairs to the launch site. Flight 5 readiness is coming! Ship 30 is gaining tiles. What’s different about the new shield? A Massive Storm is hitting Starbase. Will it survive? Could China beat the US back to the moon?
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Editing: John Young, Alex Potvin, Stefanie Schlang
Photography: John Cargile, John Winkopp & Stefanie Schlang
3D Animation: Voop3D
Script & Research: Nathan, Soren, Oskar Wrobel, Felix Schlang
LIVE Production: Astro Roadie, Jonahan Heuer
Host: Felix Schlang
Production: Stefanie & Felix Schlang
Graphics & Media Processing: Jonathan Heuer, Felix Schlang
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Will they use Tower 2 as a catch-only tower while they wait for the OLM to be installed, or will they wait for the OLM to be built before bringing it online?
Only two or three engines on a catch. It can dig a hole for all anyone cares. lol
acetylene is pronounced " uh-set-ul-eene " but it sounded like you pronounced it " assa-tul-eene " ( I only leave this rude comment in case you want to sound more American, with our Uhmerican accent :D lol ) I hope I'm not offending you or anything, I just want to help you with any mispronunciations and try to give you the simplest phonetic spelling I can... This isn't the first time I've left comments like this and asked if it bothered you, but I never checked back to see if you even answered me... I just wish I was able to turn on notification for specific channels and not the bombardment I get 24/7 from ANYTHING that happens on the roughly 1000 channels I'm subbed to.... So I have to remember to check back and see if you responded.... it's a real PITA!!! (P.ain I.n T.he A.$_)
You're a family guy. Stay away from crude script from advertisers.
Catch only then simply move to the original OLM
Test new tiles rather than replace all tiles immediately. Some areas will suffer less stress, so might as well use up old tiles. That will save a little money.
The best part about this video was Felix maintaining the same energetic but matter of fact tone while selling a ball shaver. This is what professionalism looks like lol.
😂😂
Which end of the torso...
had to scroll pretty far to get to this important comment!
you said ball!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
When the blades dull, will it just pull them out? One has to wonder.
SpaceX: We can have Dragon to the ISS by June 25.
Nasa: Boeing, you have until June 25.
Boeing: 😱
Correction, Felix: the upright tanks weren't a mistake, they were an experiment.
Yup: It's not a failure if you learn something that makes the next iteration better. (Note that both requires learning something useful, and for there to _be_ a next iteration.)
what were they experimenting? Grain silo manufacturers have known for decades that silos should be place well apart to avoid destructive vortices during strong winds/hurricanes/tornados/rocket blasts.
@@roborchiston9419 I don't think vortices were the problem.
There isn't really an excuse for ignoring regulations.
@@michaelmicek from a legal perspective, I'll agree with you. But from an engineering/operations perspective there are very good reasons to at least question them (and get thing updated).
Dealing with FAA regulations that were written for different problems and don't make sense with what SpaceX is doing for example.
Also it's very likely that the existing regulations won't cover issues that will be encountered soon so questioning them will be important in that direction as well.
At 1:45 reminds me of working on a power plant as a laborer between college semesters in 1971. The plant was already topped out at about 100' and I was sent up on the first day of employment. As we were getting further from the ground, which was my first time working construction, the ironworker looked at me and said, "don't look down kid, anything higher than 30' will kill you."
Thank you for sharing your experience
Regarding a catch only tower and rocket flame protection under it: A landing booster will a) never intentionally get as close to the ground as a launching booster b) run a lot fewer rockets, and c) be running those rockets at lower throttle settings (near full power is good for launch but well below that is good for control and redundancy during landing). Some sort of active protection is likely desirable for rapid reuse, but near term the pad used before and during IFT-1 would likely be 100% acceptable while they are finalizing requirements and designs. (Heck, if they go with a permanent catch-only tower bare steel over concrete might be good enough and about as simpler as you can get.)
One: A catch tower won't happen, for reasons that should be obvious.
Two: we already know SpaceX will use the deluge during a catch
@@bryanillenberg #1 is clearly not true because I don't see any reason why they would avoid it and many reasons it could be an expedient step. If there is a non-obvious reason, feel free to elaborate. #2 just because the eventually plan includes a deluge plate says nothing about the first few catches. SpaceX has done many things when they knew from before day one that it wasn't the long term solution.
I'd bet a plugged nickel that the abort criteria for a landing at their only launch tower are very conservative (to the point id say >50% they abort short of the tower on flight 5). I'd make the same bet on that if tower 2 can be made ready to catch flight 6 uses it and then they will dig up fresh concrete afterwards to build an OLM.
@@bryanillenberg What's "obvious" to me is "why (duplicate and) risk an OLM if you don't need to?".
@@rsteeb a catch doesn't risk the OLM. Do the math!!
@@bryanillenberg A catch attempt that *fails* certainly risks everything near it. There's your calculus!
interesting to keep them separate..one for launch one for catch.. UNTIL they can proove that the catch function doesn't destroy the tower.. then they can both be used by both.
Makes a lot of sense
Can’t imagine how happy they were to get out of that boeing death trap.
Just think how they will feel getting back into it to return home!
The big advantage of partial upgrades is the opportunity to do a direct comparison between the two types.
I've never understood why the SQD arm doesn't swing out of the way to the side immediately after separating from the Starship. It seems there is enough of a time window for the action to take place before the Starship and Booster begin actually moving. I know this doesn't eliminate all of the force produced by the Booster engines, but it must be better than sitting right in line with the exhaust as the engines pass by.
Yeah I have thought about that too. Maybe some kind soul will respond to your comment and help us.
I'm SO surprised that a BOEING craft, of all companies, BOEING would have a defective craft? Whaaaaaat? This is unheard of!
Remember, this is not the Boeing of the 1960s to late 80s, which was run by engineers similar to how SpaceX operates today. Instead, Boeing has become a watered-down, money-hungry, lawyer-heavy, profit-first company over the last decade. This modern version of Boeing has never built a manned spacecraft or any spacecraft expected to return to Earth. The company today is a shadow of its former self, existing in name only.
I wonder if they had any 100% authentic titanium involved in those helium seals?
Sir, don't you think you are talking a little bit too much? There is zero evidence that Boeing was involved in the tragic destiny of those poor whistleblowers.
As bad as Boeing is, it's still good to have that second spacescraft as backup. If any critical issue is detected with Dragon, astronauts will still be able to come back from the ISS.
@@Divinicus1er yup. I am thinking more about ability to give a boost for station itself as dragon cannot do this.
Hopefully Sierra Dreamchaser will be more successful and will get also crew contract.
The vertical tank farm was a case of reinventing the wheel, which is every engineer's favorite self-inflicted quagmire. But an even more alluring trap for a company that actually succeeded at reinventing the wheel before (reusable rockets).
If memory serves the issue was not so much the tanks but the spacing between them and containment of leaks (though liquid methane would evaporate pretty swiftly anyhow; containment might make sense if it was adjacent to a non-industrial area...
@@disorganizedorg The issue was they get pummeled every time Starship launches. The cost and time of fixing the damage obviated the logic of building tanks in-house.
giggity
though re-usable rockets was more like the invention of the pneumatic tire rather than reinvention of the wheel.
@@ECL.. The word means "swamp." They named the cartoon character after it.
8:40 Your Starship will thank you, boys.
Maybe pad B doesnt need a water deluge system for FT5 landing since it doesn't take all those engines to land.
Its already been confirmed that Pad B is a launch tower.
I have no idea why Felix continues to repeat a disproven, and to be 100% honest, completely nonsensical idea.
The catchtower doesn't need a massive deluge system for the landing of a near empty booster. The thrust on landing is way lower that on lift-off. For now quick and dirty try and error keeps the momentum till they build the final version at the cape and rebuild Starbase..
They could build a deflector out of angled concrete with a steel plate on top. Quick, dirty and fast.
Space X didn't ignore the regulations, the regulations for storing liquid methane in Texas were changed during construction
Not correct. That law had been on the books for a very long time. They ignored it
@@MomedicsChannel so they decided to ignore it because they thought it would be a fun activity to take them down again? Sure
@@Miguel9t5Now you’re changing your argument?
@@MomedicsChannel Texas is famous for not enforcing material storage regulations, perhaps they thought they could get away with it.
11:00 Felix just casually producing two pieces of Space exploration history. Wow, I'd display those and annoy every guest by retelling the story of Starship's prototype launches.
You're only seeing the derrick mast of the crane so far. The only lifting it does is some crane components. It's main purpose is to raise the main boom and suspend the superlift counterweight. The crane will get its full main boom before it lifts any tower sections.
Re: tank regulations. It's rather stupid that the 133 year old Railroad Commission of Texas regulates such things, when they have long since been relieved of any regulatory authority over railroads. It's hard to kill a bureaucracy which has outlived its purpose.
I'm sure the RCT is just as competent as the regulators of their homegrown electrical power grid...
Can't really blame the regulators for their power grid. It's privatised, and the company that controls it just ignored them saying it needed to be weatherised.
@@Vaeldarg [it just ignored them]
I can blame the regulators for not forcing the weatherization. What's the point of regulations if one can simply choose to ignore them without consequence?
@@disorganizedorg They can't force it if they're not given the authority to do so by Texas's politicians. Companies being allowed to do whatever they want is really what is meant by those wanting "small government" and a "free market".
@@Vaeldarg ...by OTHER politicians. The commissioners are elected in partisan elections; it's politicians all the way down. That likely is the root problem: favoring campaigning skills over technical expertise, and politicians sure that their engineering opinions are better than those of actual engineers.
11:15 It seems that most of the unchanged tiles are on the edges. This is likely the furthest edge of the area that SpaceX initially determined needed tiles, and possibly a bit beyond as a buffer. If so, it may not be deemed that these tiles are much of an issue and not worth replacing with stronger protection. The main surface is the important and most likely region to fail, except for the ill-fated flaps.
I think it is likely just to keep the blankets in place while they work.
"Your Starship will thank you. " 🤣🤣
I would think SpaceX engineers would think, "how about we hang a booster from the crane and see if we can grab it with the chopsticks, before we try for real... 😮
An accident at catch could be devastating for the program.
Loss of the launch tower was a real possibility at every launch so far. I don't see how that would be devastating. Especially seeing how rapid they can build a second tower.
They already know that the chopsticks can hold the booster (doing that for every stacking).
Or do you mean a drop test for the booster? If so then I don't think that would be possible. Detaching a load as heavy as the booster from a crane would probably destroy the crane.
@@Jehty_ apparently I'm Nostrodamas, it appears that SpaceX is going to use a test booster B14.1 to hang from the crane.
As for my devastating comment, I agree launch is risky, landing brings more risk, but at current pace, if something goes wrong, it could be 6-12 months before they could launch again. If they drop a booster on Boca Chicha all bets are off, I'm so spooked by the risk, I'm selling most of my Tesla Stock. 😮 Right now, Nivida is a better bet anyway.
@@TheMotoracer838 ah, apparently they gonna lower the booster onto the chopsticks with the crane. That explains how they would do it without destroying the crane.
Why would the booster ever come close to Boca Chica? It's your stock, so do whatever you like, but I wouldn't base my purchases on fantasy horror scenarios that can't happen.
Everything at Boca Chica is disposable if it doesn't work properly. That is the essence of an iterative development process. Loss of any particular piece of infrastructure is an opportunity to improve or replace.
I LOVE how you used the phrase, "Rapid SCHEDULED disassembly." The disassemblies aren't always UNscheduled.
There was a good reason why Boca Chica was mostly undeveloped when SpaceX got there: hurricanes. People tried to develop it several times as evidenced by all the roads leading into tidal flats and the lot layouts for what looked to be an affluent beachfront community. A devastating hurricane goes through there a couple times a century and it's well due for another. So SpaceX better have their guard up.
I have a feeling those raptor engines put more stress on the launch assembly. Who knows about the rest.
That can happen anywhere on the Texas and Florida coast.
There was even a railroad line that passed directly through the launch site. You can still see the embankments.
It's pretty far south for hurricanes. King tides would probably be more of a concern because the bay is crazy shallow. They don't even sell v bottom boats in Brownsville.
Good point 👉 they might have to build a storm barrier,like they do in Holland 🇳🇱 😉
Although Starship launches as a single stack, it must be caught as two separate pieces. For example on the first full orbital test the Ship will arrive 90 minutes after launch, at which time the booster will still be on the OLIT which caught it, as there would not be enough time to haul it away on an SPMT. If they wait more than one orbit the Ship will not have enough cross-range capability to return to Starbase. Opportunities to return then happen every 12 hours as the Earth rotates under the orbital plane.
Yes, however, they should be able to catch a Ship with the Booster present.
Then either lower it to the ground for reloading or, if it's a tanker, it could be restacked and will be reloaded right from the tower.
It would appear that a rather than putting up with damage to the SQD at launch, I think the best fix would be to change the SQD arm and location.
First, you need to see the problem. If you watch the 4 launches you will note that the SQD is directly singed by 2 or three outer ring Raptors. This is a lot of heat and shock wave, so it gets burned.
So move the mount point for the arm to a rear vertical mount. This will require lengthening SQD arm and strength ingredient it. Increase the swing speed of the arm. Now the SQD is out of the heat and direct engine force.
What do you think?
I mean, ultimately, there is _very_ little point in going through the trouble of replacing the tiles on Ship 30. They're only doing it to further test the ablative layer. The ship is still going to have melting fins and it's still going to be sent to the bottom of the ocean. So if they decide not to replace troublesome tiles along the edges, that's no big loss to whatever can be gained by the replacement.
I'd bet a plugged nickel that something is being done about the leaking hot gasses that melted the fins. 90% odds it isn't a solution given it sounds like the specifics of the current ship is a bit of a dead end design wise, but SpaceX isn't dumb enough to not at least do some kind of "does it get better or worse if we change X" test out of the next launch. If nothing else I'm guessing the next Starship is going to shift a bunch of mass budget to sensors to better measure what's happening. Maybe even a few thermal cameras and/or "ablative doping" to make the gas flow more visible. That would provide an opportunity for model validation if nothing else.
(Random thought: I wonder if they could get away with leaking gasses if they constructed the gap like a rocket nozzle so that the back side of it sees supersonic expanding flow which should result in cooler gas flows.)
@@benjaminshropshire2900 We already know what SpaceX plans to do to solve the issue. They tweeted about it three years ago and we've seen the preliminary design changes for years. They're moving the fins backwards and shrinking them and tweaking their design. But the thing is, even though they're already making the first Block 2 ship with these changes, they still have three more Block 1 ships more or less completed. While SpaceX is obviously not against scrapping old designs, for now at least it seems as though they're going to go ahead and use up all the old prototypes. That means more melting fins. No doubt there are going to be people piling on SpaceX for "failing to prevent Starship from melting" even though the new tile system isn't intended to prevent that.
@@Asterra2 Your not disagreeing with me. The changes you mentioned in block 2 are exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned the current design being a bit of a dead end.
What I'm suspecting about is that they will do is use the existing block 1's for "semi-destructive tests", launch them with a few different tweaks where the goal isn't for them to survive but to collect as much useful data as possible. What are the biggest unknowns? What can be done to learn the most about those unknowns (even if the experiment guarantees the Starship won't survive to landing)?
@@benjaminshropshire2900 I was just pointing out that the melting fin issue isn't something that caught SpaceX's engineers by surprise. Obviously SpaceX agrees with your philosophy, if they were willing to literally discard and replace most of Ship 30's tiles rather than just saving that effort for Ship 31.
@@Asterra2 maybe maybe not on it being unexpected. If they thought the block 1 design had a 95% survival rate that would still justify a redesign before putting people in it. I'd guess that they would never have bothered putting tiles on a design they _expected_ to fail, there's more to learn by trying something where survival is a coin toss.
What's the protocol if Starliner is deemed incapable of reentry? Does NASA have a Dragon sent up?
They could send them down in the Dragon that is already there then send up a replacement Dragon when available. This does remove the Dragon as a lifeboat for that time frame.
That's the only option, really. There are variations on the theme - e.g. whether they send a dedicated retrieval missions to get them and come straight home, vs sending the next Dragon rotation early with Butch and Suni displacing two of the scheduled crew for that mission - but it all comes down to having them fly home on a Dragon.
16 Million Pounds Force IMPACT was clearly under estimated in the early designs for the Starbase Launch Site. That Blast is like a 4 to 5 Kilo-Ton Nuke! Stuff is Gonna Break..... Shielding & Distance.
IMHO I think it was a mistake for SpaceX to not do a flame trench w/ water deluge. Even though the current water deluge does mitigate the heat damage to the immediate area under the OLM, there are still problems. I'm not saying that the flame trench would miraculously solve all the problems and be impervious to any damage, but it would have protected the whole site better. The current design puts so much of the critical infrastructure in harm's way having to withstand the blast from T-0 until the stack is moving and the raptor exhaust begins dissipating. A damaged flame trench is easier to repair than damaged critical OLM or tank farm infrastructure.
These are prototypes for a system that can be manufactured and installed without moving a lot of earth.
I never understood why Elon was so against a dedicated catch tower.
Makes a lot of sense, especially during the test phase, not to slam a booster into your OLM and it's associated fuelling system no?
Well he was against a water deluge system until he wasn't, so never say never.
Catch the booster with the OLM catch the Starship with the catch tower.
@@Scanner9631 They will not be going for a Starship catch until they iron out the heat shield issues. At that point there will be plenty of time to catch the booster as the Starship will be in orbit for a while.
Ship Quick Disconnect fix: Pull it away *before* launch. One second isn't going to affect the fuel loading or power, but will get the SQD safely away from the rocket's exhaust
Still can't wait for flight 5
What prevents a gust of wind blowing the booster into the tower when landing? It's nearly empty and has a large sail area.
As someone from Texas. They say every year Hurricane season is going to be bad. I pray every year they are wrong and for the safety of everyone in the paths.
17:05 you forgot JAXA's SLIM!
That wasn't successful to it's Max potential that's why it's not counted
I wish they would stick a life size picture of someone on the starship, to help tell how big the ship really is,
A waving Elon with a big smile would look great going past the tower cam
It's 100 feet taller than our state capital building.
No reason it couldn't have some elegant nose art painted on it - Ms Shotwell in a business suit, Jessie Anderson in a SpacexSpacesuit, John Insprucker in Nerd uniform pulling out a Slide Rule. Different SpaceX Legend for each flight.
@@PiDsPagePrototypes Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters in matching thong bikinis...
Put a life size Slim Pickens mannequin on the side riding it.
@@ghost307 doesn't help a non american
Win win for space x. If they catch it on pad a, great. If it crashes on the pad, great…they can then rebuild pad a to fit the next gen star ship.
5:53 Loved the Stargate clip. Best sci-fi franchise ever!!!!
Just a guess, but "if" they try the Launch from A - Land at B approach, they may not need the water system immediately for landing. The heat-resistant concrete may be able to withstand the limited number of engines for a short duration land. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe concrete tornado 2.0. Fingers crossed though.
6:28 That render is hilarious. The booster would never be cooking that fast that close to the tower, but it sure is funny to see that.
Unless NASA gets it in gear, China is on track to land people on the moon. Starship should launch flight 5 on July 20th to commemorate the USA landing Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon 55 years ago as the booster 'lands' on the chopsticks.
That’s a fantastic idea.
NASA "getting into gear" wouldn't really have any effect on China's lunar progam. China is on track to land on the moon, no matter what NASA does.
NASA has no need to rush, as they already won the race to the moon by more than 50 years. NASA should continue with the Orion heat shield investigation, etc. and only launch Artemis 2 and 3 when it is safe to do so. NASA's top 5 priorities for Artemis should be:
1) crew safety
2) more crew safety
3) even more focus on reliability and crew safety
4) financial sustainability
5) advances in science and technology
When China lands on the moon is irrelevant
Of course, it's a bit like that time China took a photo of the dark side of the moon. ... Let's go ahead and pretend the Soviets hadn't already done it half a _century_ earlier. It's not a race anymore so it gets a big ol' shrug. Boots on Mars would, of course, be an entirely different matter.
@plainText384 not my scenario. Others have characterized today's space politics as a second space race, not me. The difference between 55 years ago and today is colonization or residency on the moon with a base and resource mining to develop a space economy. 🤔 It's quite different than 6 moon landings and 12 astronauts spending 0-4 days on the surface. Quite different. 🤔
@Asterra2 based on SpaceX and NASA's timeline, a moon landing and colonization of it is an important and necessary step in getting humans to Mars. So a moon landing and insituresource utilization is necessary according to the current plan.
I think they ought to put chopsticks on the back side of the launch tower and use those to do the catching. The ones on the front would still be used for assembling the rocket. But by catching on the backside it avoids the Orbital Launch Mount from getting blasted AGAIN from the rocket as it comes back down to be caught.
Deluge won't be used for a catch on either tower. The catch is done higher up with just a few engines at low throttle. That's far nearer to what happened on the suborbital launches, but around 10 times further from the ground.
Okay, let's address a few issues- the OLM has to be a more complex structure than any before it, due to the design of the booster. They have taken operations normally onboard a rocket and removed that weight to the OLM-prechill, spin start, and ignition of the 20 Raptors along the perimeter of the booster among others...these structures are well protected by shielding as soon as the hold down clamps are retracted. BUT- why are all these components above the launch ring still so exposed? That is a ONE THOUSAND FOOT flame plume moving incredible masses of superheated air at supersonic speeds under the booster- why have they not enclosed ALL exposed plumbing and components in sheet steel by now?? It would seem to be a more than obvious step...
A very very long sideways storm surge powered surge diverting pump would be a really cool thing, the harder the surge comes in, the harder it pumps it sideways with its own force. Regular tidal force propelled turbines in the normal tide zone, plant enough of them underwater in the maximum surge force zone and it could spin a heck of a half open archimedes screw type of pump, which could also be installed underwater, out of sight of beach goers if they want to freak out about an above water installation
A catch only tower makes sense. You could actually have multiple launch towers but only need one catch tower. They are cheaper and faster to build and/or rebuild. You could have the main launch towers only catch if absolutely needed, minimizing the chances of damage. Catch only fits into Elons "the best part is no part" methodology. Plus you could have 'emergency' catch towers spread around. One in Texas, one in Florida and maybe one in Hawaii to start. In the future when people are on board, you'll want options.
I love Captain "Suni" Williams' enthusiasm.
Spacex should use the heat tiles on the SQD hood.
Yes Felix, please tell us about your concerns regarding the current water plate deluge system.
started watching you guys since IFT-3
Thank you for giving good info!
Edit: been watching your live Starbase stream since it started
I can't wait to watch the big catch!
Don't think you need the water deluge during the landing, the weight of the booster is far less and therefore the thrust to support it is far less. The presence of the OLM might make a difference, I mean if you have it and there is a deluge system available on it, then obviously use it. Still want a tile - Whataboutit 🙂
they are using both types of tiles to evaluate the new ones in a live test
Only updating some of the tiles may also be so they can perform comparative testing. Instead of getting half the testing done per launch just put some of each type on a ship with monitoring capabilities to see which performs better.
It would be interesting to see how much of the sensitive infrastructure is either permanently elevated or already has a designated place to put it in the event of flooding. That might for example be one reason why the bullet tanks are all on pedestals rather than footings flush with the ground.
Tanks for the memories
they have many miles to go before rapid re-usability is achieved if ever. And we have not even seen what damage catching the booster is going to do to the OLM. And as I stated many times there is no way a crewed starship will ever land vertically
Thank you
Thank you, a great synopsis as alway.
can wait to see the 2 launch tower fully built at SpaceX and also for IFT5. :)
Let’s go for ift5!!!
I was in the Coast Guard bootcamp at Cape May, New Jersey when the first astronauts landed on the moon. I was part of the bootcamp band. We played for them at the beginning of their ticker tape parade in New York City.
Pretty good video! The weather information was important. The landing of the Starship is only 10% of the stress of lift-off so no need for a deluge system for landing.
I think spacex will change the launch platform in the future, so much time on refurbishing.
Thanks for the good work
Thank you for an excellent report
You are doing great!
It might well be, that not all parts of the heatshield need replacing. the temperatures as well as air flow are different in different parts of the heat shield. Assuming that Spacex wants an optimal shield it makes sense to reinforce those areas that get hit the hardest.
I think they only changed some of the heat shield, because that is the area where they had lost tiles, I don't remember any tiles falling off that were custom ones. It was all the standard ones on the main body of the starship, so maybe they think they don't need to out an extra shield under the custom tiles
I'm not sure of the pattern of tiles replaced vs not replaced, but it may be that ablators are being added in the more central, higher heat flux regions where the failure margins are more critical. The flap hinge areas may get ablative gap fillers added to reduce the potential for erosion on flight five, and punt the V2 lee-side hinge solution to a later flight.
One thing about SpaceX. When a thing is no longer useful or practical, then it upgrades and moves on.
Meanwhile, NASA was still using old, hardly modified Space Shuttle Engines?
Don't refurbish, but redesign might be the winning formula, I think.
A catch only tower won't need a water plate. The concrete below it will only ever endure 3 raptors.
Heat shield tiles: remember Space Shuttle used a mix of heat shield systems. Areas that experience greater heat had better tiles, areas with less heat used lighter or more durable tiles. Starship may be doing the same thing: only areas that experience greatest heat are upgraded. Or areas most likely to lose tiles. Areas where current tiles are good enough, will have old tiles left intact.
Are all these construction jobs done by SpaceX, or do they contract them out? Because I've never seen faster construction work, but at the same time SpaceX is a rocket company. Did they just teach themselves to build launch towers, factories, everything?
They contract the work out. There are dozens of contractors and sub-contractors involved in the construction of Star Base Texas.
The work goes pretty fast when one can afford to pay for multiple work shifts, crews to work at various sites simultaneously, priority service from suppliers etc,.
I wish road work could be completed at the same pace
@@johnharding3674 No you don't lol. I've been following the reconstruction of the road that failed in Wyoming on an Engineers channel (one that specializes in geotechnical work for roadways). There is no way they won't have to re-do the work immediately.
If it's just resurfacing? Well then, yes I agree with you. My town is about to close half of main street for 2 months to repair the road.
It doesn’t seem too efficient to have a catch only tower for ongoing operations because the caught booster would need to be transferred to the actual OLM. What they might be doing is building the tower, excluding the water quench system, on the possibility that the catch might include an RUD. After the catch is proven to be dependably successful, then they would complete the structure to allow its use for launches. Does that sound plausible?
yeah that whole SQD Arm prolly will have to be raised after flight 6-7. the block 2 ships will be up higher so will be interesting
For the Quick Disconnect (QD), Space-X should consider a double ended QD that disconnects from the ship and from the pad on the other end. Then swing the whole assembly out of the way. Sensitive hoses will become a thing of the past and with both ends disconnected, the QD can swing out of the way lightening fast!
Best advert in programming yet! Really enjoyed your humor! Manscape! 👍👍👍
If tower 2 will be used as landing/catch tower only there is no need for a water deluge system. I do not think they even would need an OLM. Best part is no part. lol.
Thanks! Um.. your Starliner face was hilarious! I sure hope the astronauts can get home safely 😓
The reinforced tiles must be heavier. One possibility is they are changing the "hotter" ones, and leaving as is the "colder" tiles. Why waste weight when You don´t have to? We didn't see the state of the whole heat shield, but as it splashed down in one piece (mostly), I think it worked well enough in general.
The second or third one of anything is always faster than the first.
Good content!
Danke für all die arbeit die ihr in eure Videos steckt, und beste grüße aus der heimat☺
You don’t like the water deluge plate? Why? It’s working.
Makes sense to land far away from the only OLM they currently have. As soon as the second OLM is installed, they would switch to using the old one for landing. Even if the new tower needs fewer refurbishments between flights, they will need a 3rd pretty soon, and it needs to be in this location because the new factory is there and seems to have more production capacity than could be operated by just two towers.
I just ate a whole warehouse pack of oreo cookies. I should be passing tar in about 8 hours.
Thanks for letting us know, really appreciate that
Brother it’s early in the morning. Eat some eggs and hit the gym fat so
Tar if you're lucky...
@@Inyourbox-kr5ufyou assume he’s in your time zone, 3:10pm where I am and he posted 25 minutes ago 🤷🏻♂️ could be an afternoon snack binge 😂
@@minmo2288 you’re right lmaooo I was just being a hater 😭😂
I think a real flame trench would *greatly* help mitigate the need to constantly repair the tower. The water plates idea IS excellent, but carrying the shockwaves away through a flame trench as a conduit would save a lot of early stresses on the OLM. Also, launching the vehicle straight up would be a help to the tower... AND, if the Super Heavy supports / arms could be retracted farther away from the launch path of the rocket, that, too might be a big help.
C'mon, folks. Subscribe already. Of all of the sites that deal with space and SpaceX, this is the best one, with the best information and pictures. And, no, I am not affiliated with them in any way.
Lost space technology was actually a real issue that we found out when I worked at Boeing on phenolic ablation heat shield almost 20 years ago, the original Avcoat formula either was not well documented or lost in some retired engineers notes. We had to re-discover how to make it. So much for iron mountain archives, universal digital storage would be better.
Partial upgrades allow for direct comparison.
It's possible that since tower one and the first OLM are outdated designs that they will risk that tower getting damaged because, hypothetically, they plan to demo and upgrade the first stage zero
Felix, I just double-checked the cost per year of the entire Apollo moon program and the cost per year of the U.S. Afghanistan conflict. We spent MORE in Afghanistan than we did on Apollo and the world was not changed one bit. To put another way we could have built a Mars or Lunar base for what we spent on the A-stan conflict. Ultimately UBL was taken out by a handful of Intel analysts and one SPECOPs team for around $20-million USD. We always have had the ability to fund and put astronauts back on the moon or on Mars. It is simply a matter of priority and selling it to the public.
Thanks Felix and Team..! Rocket Engineers are Rock Stars...!
I think what SpaceX should do is redesign the towers so that one side of the towers can be used for launching and have the OLM, the other side of the tower has no OLM and is used for catching the booster and the Starship after which the booster or Starship is simply lowered onto the transporter for a trip to the shipyard for inspection and any refubishment.
For those of you that remember the first shuttle launch, imagine what it will be like for that amount of time in the future. I mean boosters are coming back and landing right on the X, it’s as exciting as the launch to me.
it makes sense to go with a catch only tower for now, not only does it protect the launch tower from any unnecessary damage, but it also gives them a test tower to see how robust the design really is while they perfect landings.
It makes more sense to catch with the old tower, though, because... it's old and crufty.
Yes Ft. MYERS Florida was devastated
You got to also remember Butch and Sonny had to quarantine for a month with all the rocket failures.
thanks