Order of Kilopi
Yes indeed, that's a really great picture!
The first flight to altitude will be interesting. I'd expect it'll have to be on more of a fixed schedule than most of what they've been doing. They'll have to clear a lot of air and sea space, some of it belonging to Mexico. Maybe SpaceX will cover it on their YouTube channel like they do Falcon launches.
ETA: Just looked on Google Earth; the launch site is just 4km from the border.
Last edited by Trebuchet; 2020-Oct-14 at 10:20 PM.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
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NASA is paying for a large scale Starship propellant transfer test. The betting is it'll be between the main LOX tank and LOX header tank, which is in the tip of Starship's nose.
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/sp...020_selections
Ars Technica's Eric Berger: "the [depot] horse has left the barn"SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, $53.2 million
Large-scale flight demonstration to transfer 10 metric tons of cryogenic propellant, specifically liquid oxygen, between tanks on a Starship vehicle. SpaceX will collaborate with Glenn and Marshall.
Order of Kilopi
Oh, nice. It isn’t just SpaceX either, NASA is working with other companies as well. So much for the senator that was adamantly against it because it could lessen the need for pork fueled rockets.
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity." — Abraham Lincoln
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
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Possible 3-engine static fire tonight
Window is 2200-0700 Eastern
LabPadre is installing a seismograph
https://youtu.be/Ky5l9ZxsG9M
Order of Kilopi
And check out the boots at about 9:00 in this video. Quite a change from the beer bellies on so many of the crew.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
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Did it go off? I haven't been next to a pc for about 5 hours.Originally Posted by docmordrid
Possible 3-engine static fire tonight
Window is 2200-0700 Eastern
LabPadre is installing a seismograph
https://youtu.be/Ky5l9ZxsG9M
Order of Kilopi
Here is an article in ArsTechnica with more detail on the $250 million for space refueling research:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020...aft-refueling/
Again, not specific to SpaceX, but they are one of the companies getting funding for this. It mentions political as well as other factors. For instance how ULA was very interested in it and probably could have been ahead of other companies by now, but when Boeing got a very lucrative SLS contract, suddenly it was no longer being internally funded.
Although I’m not thrilled with SLS, I do have the impression that NASA management really is pushing for real gamechanging, but not pie in the sky, developments. Space refueling and fuel depots could revolutionize how space transport is done.
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity." — Abraham Lincoln
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
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Sounds like a pre-burner test tonight.
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October is running a StarLink sale...
StarLink 13
Date: October 18
Time: 0825 Eastern (1225 UT)
StarLink 14
Date: October 21
Time: 1236 Eastern (1636 UT)
StarLink 15
Date: October TBD
Time: TBA
Order of Kilopi
GPS III still seems not to have been scheduled, however.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
Order of Kilopi
Just some High Bay Heels, official footwear of very tall rocket construction.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
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I'm not sure if posted, but what procedures/hardware have they change to mitigate launch facility damage?
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Not much other than toughen things up when this pad was repaired. The static fire test will be Sunday.
Musk will be speaking at Mars Society 2020, the time is about 30 minutes from my posting this.
https://youtu.be/Opnk-cPOM50
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StarLink 13 in the books.
This is >800 satellites, enough for the public beta.
Gateways being installed in Australia & New Zealand, Canada's CRTC has issued StarLink a BITS license good to 2030.
SN-08 static fire tonight, window is 2200-0700 Eastern.
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Kimi has made a great new Starship animation showing the engine gimbals, leg & fin actuation, etc.
https://youtu.be/h1mAWWBMMNA
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Short static fire or pre-burner test at 1:06, and the payload module is being stacked.at the construction site
https://youtu.be/AyVDueIIZbY
https://twitter.com/brendan2908/stat...62337505845248
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Another SN-08 test tonight
CT: 2100 - 0600 (Boca Chica)
ET: 2200 - 0700
UT: 0200 - 1100
https://youtu.be/Ky5l9ZxsG9M
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BINGO!!
Pre-burner test and 3-engine static fire
https://youtu.be/FLZFMaJsxYM
Order of Kilopi
That "turn the screen all white" triple static fire was Michael Bay Peacemaker worthy.
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
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Wow...12 miles (19 km) away
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/...71751047761921
https://twitter.com/austinbarnard45/...66366425518086
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They have 3 road closures tomorrow, Oct. 21
Elon Musk ✓ @elonmusk
Data from 3 engine Starship static fire this morning looks good. Proceeding with nosecone mate.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1318677645358518272
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Oh, my...
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/10/20/...-internet.html
Microsoft partners with SpaceX to connect Azure cloud to Musk's Starlink satellite internet
KEY POINTS
• Microsoft is partnering with SpaceX to connect the Azure cloud computing network to the growing Starlink satellite internet service offered by Elon Musk's company.
• The partnership comes as Microsoft expands into the space industry, with the company a few weeks ago unveiling a new service called Azure Orbital to connect satellites directly to the cloud.
• Azure Space and the new partnership sets up Microsoft and SpaceX to compete further with Jeff Bezos' businesses Amazon and Blue Origin, which have announced plans for similar satellite services and more.
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Boca Chica road closures (all Eastern Time)
Most likely moving SN-08's nose cone goes to the pad for installation, perhaps the second static fire. A flight to 15+ km on the 22nd is possible, but we'll see.
October 21: 0800 - 1300, 1600 - 1800, 2200 - 0700
October 22: 1000 - 1900
They're also applying a white coating to a nose cone, so it's possible they're building the lunar Starship HLS (Human Lander System) prototype for NASA..
Last edited by docmordrid; 2020-Oct-21 at 06:36 AM.
Order of Kilopi
And they just keep building new nosecones. Musk said they'd build a few Starships just to streamline the construction process. They'll either need some creative thinking or a streamlined scrapyard with the number of prototypes rolling out...
With sufficient thrust, water towers fly just fine.
Order of Kilopi
They did scrap at least one last week.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.
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R-Boost (Raptor Booster) engine: 300 tonnes (660,000 lbf) of thrust
For use in the outer rings
Super Heavy's gonna be a friggin' monster.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1318708955628118025
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1318727162439008259
Order of Kilopi
Well it's steel, they can just ship it out for recycling as the need arises.
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But that isn't the engine that was mounted on SN-8
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R-Boost is for Super Heavy's outer ring.
BIG EFFIN' CRANE is at the pad for Starship nose section integration
IMG_20201021_161534.jpg
IMG_20201021_160347.jpg
https://twitter.com/SpacePadreIsle/s...66726944489473
Last edited by docmordrid; 2020-Oct-21 at 08:27 PM.
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More on SpaceX StarLink and Microsoft Azure teaming up, this one with the DoD Space Development Agency...
Earlier article
https://spacenews.com/spacex-ses-to-...-data-centers/
New article
https://spacenews.com/spacex-teams-w...ency-contract/
SpaceX teams with Microsoft for Space Development Agency contract
WASHINGTON — SpaceX earlier this month won a $149 million contract from the Defense Department’s Space Development Agency to build four satellites to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief of operating officer, revealed in a pre-recorded interview released Oct. 20 that Microsoft is a subcontractor working on the SDA program with SpaceX.
Shotwell in the video spoke with Tom Keane, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Global, about a new agreement to use SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband to connect Azure cloud computing data centers deployed around the world.
Keane also asked Shotwell to discuss the companies’ other partnership for the SDA contract.
“We were pleased that Microsoft was on our team,” said Shotwell. “We will be delivering to the government a number of satellites that host a capability to protect against ballistic weapons,” she added. “Microsoft will be doing quite a bit of work as a subcontractor which I think was kind of a funny twist to the relationship here.”
The SDA satellites, to be delivered by September 2022, will have a “wide field of view” overhead persistent infrared sensor capable of detecting and tracking advanced missile threats from low Earth orbit. The spacecraft will have optical crosslinks to pass data to relay satellites.
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