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SpaceX Launch. That's a BIG rocket!
NeoBlackdog
Member Posts: 17,184 ✭✭✭✭
Hope it goes off without a hitch!
Comments
Scrubbed for today; try again in two days or more.
Nevermind...
Looks like they cancelled for today.
I think they said 33 engines?
Yes, 33 engines on the first stage and six more in the upper. It loads 10 million pounds of propellents, liquid oxygen and liquid methane. It's just under 400 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. At 17 million pounds, it has more than twice the thrust of the Saturn V.
The last test successfully fired 31 engines and a Spacex rep said it was sufficient to achieve orbit. Seems like a crazy number of engines, but then I have always thought the 20 combustion chambers in the extremely successful Soyuz system was nuts.
Would be interesting to know the absolute minimum number of engines necessary to achieve orbit with a full load.
Brad Steele
If there are 33 engines, then each one is 3% of the thrust. I'd guess that they at least a 10% margin to achieve orbit, so that's loss of three engines.
Makes one respect the boys who flew to the moon on the Saturn V even more, Rocky. They did not have a 20% margin, which means all five of the F1s had to fire until they had burnt through almost a million pounds of fuel and O2.
Brad Steele
The Saturn V first stage engines were brutally powerful, each delivering 1.5 million pounds of thrust. But also very inefficient.
The Raptor engines on Starship are extremely efficient. The use a closed combustion cycle where the two turbine pumps each burn oxygen and methane, but also deliver their partly-burned exhaust into the engine along with the pure oxygen and methane. The methane pump burns oxygen rich and the oxygen pump burns methane rich. The Raptor also runs at the highest internal pressure of any engines to date.
Who knew you could launch a spaceship with O2 and cow farts. That is pure genius. That may save the planet, ridding it of toxic gases. 😁
Joe
how do you think the cow jumped over the moon??????
The real genius of it is that you can make both oxygen and methane from the carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars. Build a fuel plant and you don't have to be stranded there forever.
We've had visitors from mars for years,,,
Sorry, Joe. There are no little green - or grey - men. It simply isn't possible.
lotta little gray men, but you have to go to Florida to see them.............
What time?
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-test
They are trying again this morning with liftoff set for 8:28 am Central. Fueling is now underway, but weather may be a concern.
Weather's not lookin' too bad... Sure would like to see a flawless flight!
They got off the pad and a couple minutes into flight before it failed. That's actually great news.
Well, it looked impressive as hell for a couple minutes!
There were anomalies immediately. It looked like they lost three engines at liftoff, and then more later. Eventually, they lost control from what I assume was thrust imbalance.
Now looking at possible pad damage and fires. Not unexpected.
Just watched a replay and agree that there may have been several engine issues, including at least one explosion on the way up. Lots of combustion changes, too.
"Rapid unscheduled disassembly "
It was very cool for a few minutes...............baby steps. They will get it right.
Well, that didn't go so well. But they are very happy with the launch. Me? I'm happy it was un-manned.
Apparently it list 7 engines and attitude control. Surprised SpaceX did not have a plan to test the capsule escape/return system for this test. Would have been a spectacular ending to a failed launch.
Brad Steele
There is no escape system on Starship.
I counted at least six lost engines watching the replay, which means that there wasn't sufficient energy left to get to separation speed. I doubt that separation was ever triggered before control was lost.
There was also major pad damage. The concrete under the pad was destroyed and massive chunks of it went flying. Reports say one chunk even hit a car parked near the pad. If a chunk had hit the propellant tank farm, it would have been catastrophic. They're going to have to rethink that "no flame trench" idea. If they can somehow get around the high water table, that is.
Only way around the high water table is to install a ton of dewatering wells and pumps. With enough of them you can dry out the ground and do all the digging you want. ( former water well driller in another life )
Here's a pretty good amateur analysis of the launch, with a few OMG photos...
https://youtu.be/eCWUCkLYToo
No escape system? Can I get my deposit back on my lunar orbital ticket?
Brad Steele