SpaceX Starship : Texas Prototype(s) Thread 18 : Discussion

[Chris Bergin]

New thread (18) for discussion of the Starship prototype being built in Boca Chica, Texas.  Previous posts on these prototypes can be found in these threads:

Discussion 1

Discussion 2

Discussion 3

Discussion 4

Discussion 5

Discussion 6

Discussion 7

Discussion 8

Discussion 9

Discussion 10

Discussion 11

Discussion 12

Discussion 13

Discussion 14

Discussion 15

Discussion 16

Discussion 17


Thread 18 - you're in it!

UPDATES:

SpaceX BFS : Phase 2 - Starship Orbital Prototype(s) - Photos and Updates -3 (Previous)

SpaceX Boca Chica - Production Updates - MASTER Thread (4) (New/Current)

Starship SN9 Test Launch - UPDATES (New/Current).

Starship SN10 Test Launch - UPDATES (New/Current).

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[edzieba]

Since it got lost at the tail of the last thread: new internal baffle ring for the LCH4 header tank.

[WiresMN]

Since it got lost at the tail of the last thread: new internal baffle ring for the LCH4 header tank.

Has this style of baffle been used in the CH4 tank before?

[raivo45]

Since it got lost at the tail of the last thread: new internal baffle ring for the LCH4 header tank.

Has this style of baffle been used in the CH4 tank before?

I'm pretty sure we saw one inside the header tank of SN9 after the explosion, and it can also be seen in a picture of SN4(I think) that Elon shared on twitter on April 6 2020. So it has probably been there from the start.

[Haur]

Since it got lost at the tail of the last thread: new internal baffle ring for the LCH4 header tank.

Has this style of baffle been used in the CH4 tank before?

I'm pretty sure we saw one inside the header tank of SN9 after the explosion, and it can also be seen in a picture of SN4(I think) that Elon shared on twitter on April 6 2020. So it has probably been there from the start.

At least as far back as SN8, as shown in Steve Jurvetson's photos.

Perhaps more visible in the SN9 wreckage due to the header tank popping itself in half, though, as in this image from bocachicagal. The SN4 image is a bit hard to tell, but doesn't look quite the same as this.

[_MECO]

Since it got lost at the tail of the last thread: new internal baffle ring for the LCH4 header tank.

Has this style of baffle been used in the CH4 tank before?

I'm pretty sure we saw one inside the header tank of SN9 after the explosion, and it can also be seen in a picture of SN4(I think) that Elon shared on twitter on April 6 2020. So it has probably been there from the start.

At least as far back as SN8, as shown in Steve Jurvetson's photos.

Perhaps more visible in the SN9 wreckage due to the header tank popping itself in half, though, as in this image from bocachicagal. The SN4 image is a bit hard to tell, but doesn't look quite the same as this.

Interesting that the baffle is oriented to Starship's vertical position. I guess it needs to really prevent sloshing when Starship is horizontal i.e. when that baffle is vertical.

Also, I spend like a good 5 or 10 minutes writing a post explaining how inspired the community and the stuff happening in Texas is making me. It almost immediately garners six, ten likes from people. Maybe it's in the wrong thread, maybe not, but the boot deletes it and doesn't even inform me. No move to the homeless posts thread, not even evidence I ever posted it. Nice

[Semmel]

Watching Texas Tank Watchers... (hey boss, if you read this, I mostly only listen and work on my stuff until excitement starts..)

I have to say, super impressed with the turbulence mitigation. I work in ground based astronomy and turbulence is a big deal for us. In astronomy, you dont get a video stream of the sky, instead you look at a small patch and have long exposures. You dont want to read out the sensor too often to reduce read out noise. But that means that turbulence will smear out your image. So it doesnt look wiggly as in the stream, it looks blurry. In telescopes you take a bright star and use a second camera that watches through the scope to observe the wiggliness of the extra star. This is used to change the shape of a highly flexible mirror just in the right way to take out the wiggles. This is super complicated, requires a small supercomputer, and a very expensive mirror shaping system. This is called adaptive optics. Sometimes, if no suitable stars are available, artificial stars are generated in the upper atmosphere, which is why you see sometimes telescopes shoot eff-ing lasers into the sky. This just tells you what LENGTH the astronomers go to deal with atmospheric turbulence.

You did it on a video stream, basically in real time, in software, based on the image alone. I guess you didnt invent this but used some existing software for that, but I must say, its very impressive and my hat is off to who ever created that. I can only guess how it works... maybe detect edges in the image, compute a de-turbulization map to straighten the edges out, and apply that to the entire image. In any case, super good result!

[cuddihy]

Any theories on why SpaceX has posted no link yet to a live stream on their website?
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/index.html

[Eagandale4114]

Any theories on why SpaceX has posted no link yet to a live stream on their website?
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/index.html

For SN - 9 they posted it around T-10.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Ouch ...

https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1367185551804219396

Sticky valve in Boca? Does this mean the Starship launch system is down for six weeks?

[mrhuggy]

More vehicles arriving at the build site including a truck.

Normal, not a bad sign. There were other vehicles coming and going outside of the roadblock earlier too. We heard over the Starhopper PA during SN9's test flight that build site workers only evacuate to west of the Stargate building a short time before the flight begins.

Still only four cars parked outside the tank farm. At least one worker running around frantically. (Per LabPadre Lab Cam)

Yhea they took the other turning rather than going down the road. I haven't seen anything of them since.

[Oersted]

habemus white vapour.

[edzieba]

Have SpaceX (or the FAA) confirmed SN10's target altitude?

::EDIT:: SpaceX stream. 10km.

[Giggleplex7]

Looks like Raptors are still fickle.

[wrvn]

Have SpaceX (or the FAA) confirmed SN10's target altitude?

Its 10 km from SpaceX stream.

[sdsds]

Understood it was an out-of-bounds thrust reading from a sensor that caused the abort, but was there any visual or auditory indication the startup was other than nominal?

[Rocketdog2116]

Understood it was an out-of-bounds thrust reading from a sensor that caused the abort, but was there any visual or auditory indication the startup was other than nominal?

It looked like the vapor that comes from the nozzles before actual combustion lasted longer than normal... maybe a slow start?

[1]

I find myself wishing they'd turn this particular camera feed on for more than just test flight attempts. The sound of the wind and the rocket breathing is surprisingly relaxing.

[Slothman]

I find myself wishing they'd turn this particular camera feed on for more than just test flight attempts. The sound of the wind and the rocket breathing is surprisingly relaxing.

The rocket is not breathing like that for anything but tests. And you can get wind noises off of youtube any time.

[I14R10]

Why do they have to detank and then tank again? Couldn't they just fill it up a bit and try again?