SpaceX Starship : First Flight : Starbase, TX : 20 April 2023 - DISCUSSION

[Herb Schaltegger]

"Recycle in minium 48 hours" enables a launch on 4/20.

A 48 hour recycle is 4/19. A 72 hour recycle would be 4/20. As a non-stoner, I am annoyed by the juvenile fascination with the weed jokes.

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19. 

[ChrisC]

Mission control audio feed https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ln8hXptcA90

Did anyone actually hear anything on that loop?  I scrubbed to a few random points during the countdown and never heard anything.  I was going to listen all the way through later today, but they've now taken that video private.

(LOL you amateurs with "CST".  See my sig.  And good to see rdale here )

[TomH]

This is where doing that other WDR the week before likely would have discovered the issue. But hey, this is why we test things -- to learn. SpaceX isn't viewing this is a failure.

And if they had done that WDR with no issues, it would have been a lost opportunity to launch. They would not have been able to launch due to not having the license. Doing the WDR does cost money. Using today as an opportunity to launch, but to turn it into WDR if unable to launch was far more prudent and cost effective from a probabilities POV. Besides, this vehicle has been through WDR before and this issue did not happen. Had a WDR have been done a week ago, there is no guarantee the valve would have frozen. Playing armchair quarterback from the outside is not helpful.

[jpo234]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

During the Stream they said "Wednesday".

[litton4]

Mission control audio feed https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ln8hXptcA90

Did anyone actually hear anything on that loop?  I scrubbed to a few random points during the countdown and never heard anything.  I was going to listen all the way through later today, but they've now taken that video private.

(LOL you amateurs with "CST".  See my sig.  And good to see rdale here )

Silence here, too......would have been nice to hear about the scrub reasons

[Indygreg]

I am really curious how big the crowds are in south padre?  I would think the little rv park there would be booked for years.

[rdale]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

I may be too juvenile to understand - is the new attempt 4/19 or 4/20?

[edzieba]

Starship uses supercooled propellants, correct?
Is there an ability to recycle during the window, or is it a one attempt and done situation? They certainly don't need the extra performance on this flight.

SpaceX stream commentary now clarify: 48h minimum recycle time.

That's likely not a hard limit for any Starship stack recycle, but probably for the specific bodged-together setup at BC, where if they run out of N2 for the chillers it needs to be trucked in from the air liquefaction plant at the build site (along with any makeup for boiloff losses).

[jpo234]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

I may be too juvenile to understand - is the new attempt 4/19 or 4/20?

NET 4/19. But that's only 46 hours and not 48, which is where the joke comes from.

[abaddon]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

During the Stream they said "Wednesday".

Because someone missed the same point as Herb.

Coming from a guy named "Herb" the irony is thick.  (Not a stoner either... but c'mon, it was sitting right there)

More on topic, I'd have given 90% chances of a scrub today for a variety of reasons.  Hopefully the pressurization issue is easy to fix and they can make a proper go and at least light off some engines on the next shot!

[EDIT] Fixed to quote the right post!

[Indygreg]

I am really curious how big the crowds are in south padre?  I would think the little rv park there would be booked for years.

Coming from a guy named "Herb" the irony is thick.  (Not a stoner either... but c'mon, it was sitting right there)

More on topic, I'd have given 90% chances of a scrub today for a variety of reasons.  Hopefully the pressurization issue is easy to fix and they can make a proper go and at least light off some engines on the next shot!

I don’t know who herb is. I was just curious how big the crowds are down there.

[sanman]

"Recycle in minium 48 hours" enables a launch on 4/20.

A 48 hour recycle is 4/19. A 72 hour recycle would be 4/20. As a non-stoner, I am annoyed by the juvenile fascination with the weed jokes.

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

Anything sacred about 7 am, as opposed to 9 am ?

[Slothman]

Mission control audio feed https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ln8hXptcA90

Did anyone actually hear anything on that loop?  I scrubbed to a few random points during the countdown and never heard anything.  I was going to listen all the way through later today, but they've now taken that video private.

(LOL you amateurs with "CST".  See my sig.  And good to see rdale here )

Silence here, too......would have been nice to hear about the scrub reasons

I think at some point I heard "Ship lox load concluded" or something similar. But nothing else. Unfortunately the video is gone now.

[Herb Schaltegger]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

During the Stream they said "Wednesday".

Because someone missed the same point as Herb.

Coming from a guy named "Herb" the irony is thick.  (Not a stoner either... but c'mon, it was sitting right there)

More on topic, I'd have given 90% chances of a scrub today for a variety of reasons.  Hopefully the pressurization issue is easy to fix and they can make a proper go and at least light off some engines on the next shot!

[EDIT] Fixed to quote the right post!

Seriously? Like I never heard THAT joke before in the last 5+ decades but admittedly middle school was a long way away.

That said, when a launch is recycled for 24/48/72 hours or whatever, it’s NOT that the count restarts 48 hours after the scrub or T-0  time, it’s that the new target T-0 time after the scrub is however many hours later.

Not sure why there is so much stubborn confusion about this from PM3 and anyone else.

[clongton]

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19.

Why? Do you understand why scheduled launches slip the next launch time from previous scrubs? It's because they need to meet up with other objects or slots - in orbit - that have phased since the scrub. This is a test flight - emphasis on flight. It doesn't have to meet anything in orbit. It can be launched any time day or night that suits them.

[matthewota]

Launch control box in foreground.

[Danrar]

A minimum 48 hour recycle to 7 am CST is 4/20.

What? Today is 4/17. Forty eight hours is two days. That’s 4/19.

T-0 today was 8:20. Next T-0 will likely be 7:00. That would be a 46 hours and 40 minutes recycle on 4/19. Not juvenile enough to understand this?

I may be too juvenile to understand - is the new attempt 4/19 or 4/20?

NET 4/19. But that's only 46 hours and not 48, which is where the joke comes from.

It's unlikely the "minimum 48 hours" is actually 48 hours but instead a statement that it should take ~<2 days to get enough new propellent delivered to fill the tank farm. I take that as meaning a 4/19 run is possible.

Grabbed the Pez animation:

[geza]

Launch control box in foreground.

What is this?

[dnavas]

This is a test flight - emphasis on flight. It doesn't have to meet anything in orbit. It can be launched any time day or night that suits them.

One thought is that it might be better for re-entry to be in the dark for thermal monitoring.  I think that's still plenty of schedule room, but there's debugging to be done, probably more than just a stuck valve (likely plenty of minor things to review as well).  We'll know a date when it's released -- I'm not sure I'd trust anything specific prior to successful detank and a few hours of workers in the area.

[Stan-1967]

Launch control box in foreground.

What is this?

It belongs in the party thread or a Wiley Coyote cartoon.