Comments on: FAA issues launch license for the fourth test orbital launch of Starship/Superheavy

By: Mitch S.

Mitch S. — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 21:53:28 +0000

Steve Richter,
Interesting quote by Musk.
I’ve been wondering about the thermal protection system ever since Musk announced his Starship (BFR) plans.
I doubt they were originally expecting to use a Shuttle like tile system but it looks like they haven’t found a better alternative.
Having stainless steel under the tiles rather than aluminum probably helps but according to that Musk tweet it doesn’t help much.
Hard to see Musk achieving his goal of airliner like turn around with a delicate tile system.

By: Ronaldus Magnus

Ronaldus Magnus — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 19:37:21 +0000

Some of my earliest memories are just before Alan Shepard launched into space. The rockets they were developing and testing often exploded, either on the pad, or shortly after launch. The grit and guts of the Mercury 7 were immense. The excitement of SuperHeavy and Starship reminds me of those days. Watching the 33 Raptor engines push Starship skyward is a sight to behold. As Mr. Zimmerman has noted, SuperHeavy is already an operational rocket, just not reusable, YET. Just like the previous space program, I wonder what scientific inventions will reach every day people eventually.

By: Andi

Andi — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 17:16:53 +0000

wayne,

Thanks! I’ll look into that

By: TallDave

TallDave — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:48:08 +0000

should start putting some V2 Starlinks in the pez

By: Seawriter

Seawriter — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 15:14:39 +0000

If the launch is successful, then with the Rocketlab and SpaceX launches yesterday and the Starliner launch today that would be four launches in three days. Has that cadence ever been achieved before?

By: Steve Richter

Steve Richter — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 14:14:40 +0000

Any bold predictions as to how well Starship will function during reentry?

This Elon tweet from May 30 did not sound optimistic in terms of heat tiles protecting the ship:
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1796049014938357932

Right now, we are not resilient to loss of a single tile in most places, as the secondary containment material will probably not survive.
I will explain the problem in more depth with @Erdayastronaut next week. This is a thorny issue indeed, given that vast resources have been applied to solve it, thus far to no avail.

By: wayne

wayne — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 03:46:08 +0000

Andi–
total tangent–

You might like “Timeghost; WW2 in Real Time,” featuring D-Day.
They did a 24-hour special last year.
Part 1 covers midnight to 6am.,
(Part 2 covers the beach assault.)

“D-Day; Invasion by Air Part 1”
https://youtu.be/c0AKc7xxQQk
(5:59:59)

(When WW-2 wraps up in August, they begin prep for covering the Korean War in Real Time.)

By: Andi

Andi — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 03:23:56 +0000

On D-Day no less, and the 80th anniversary thereof at that. Let’s hope it’ as successful!

I can’t help but cry when I think of those 18- and 19-year-olds who stormed those beaches, and compare them with the 18- and 19-year-olds of today.

By: David Eastman

David Eastman — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 22:22:59 +0000

The most interesting thing in the announcement: “As part of its request for license modification, SpaceX proposed three scenarios involving the Starship entry that would not require an investigation in the event of the loss of the vehicle. The FAA approved the scenarios as test induced damage exceptions after evaluating them as part of the flight safety and flight hazard analyses and confirming they met public safety requirements. If a different anomaly occurs with the Starship vehicle an investigation may be warranted as well as if an anomaly occurs with the Super Heavy booster rocket.”

By: F

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 22:20:20 +0000

Best wishes for a successful test flight!