Posted on 04/16/2023 2:00:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin
...150-minute window that opens at 8 a.m. Eastern on Monday, April 17.
Standing at nearly 400 feet tall, Starship is made of gleaming stainless steel, an unusual choice in a business where every pound of weight matters. SpaceX started out looking at advanced, lightweight composites for Starship...steel was cheap, abundant, and most importantly, incredibly tough. It could hold cryogenic rocket fuel and tolerate the grueling heat of re-entry better than other materials.
The rocket also uses an unconventional fuel choice ā methane. Most high-powered rockets use hydrogen for fuel because it is lightweight and highly efficient...
...methane does have some advantages...cheaper to produce and easier to handle the hydrogen, and trace amounts of methane are present in the atmosphere of Mars. That means that a future Starship mission to the red planet might be able to refuel by drawing methane from the atmosphere or another local source.
To make up for its extra weight, Starship depends on powerful engines called Raptors. The spacecraft itself uses six Raptors to fly, but the super-heavy booster that will lift it into space uses 33 of the engines, working together.
Again, the decision to use such a large number of engines is a trade-off, according to Lozano. It allows the rocket to produce an enormous amount of thrust, which it needs to get off the ground. But, he adds, "having that large number of rocket engines firing simultaneously ā it's actually quite hard. I think that's going to be one of the biggest challenges."
Musk believes that the cheap, durable design of Starship will make it a workhorse for getting things into space. Speaking last year, Musk said he hoped Starship could be reused every six to eight hours, and the booster might be reusable, in theory at least, every hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I’m good using this one.
If anyone else wants a new one I can work with that too.
OK. You have the info. Please keep posting.
I wonder if I maybe able to see from my house? When I lived in Florida I could watch Saturn launches from 50 miles away. Watched liftoff on TV and then ran outside for the rest. What a view!
Yes ...... the center of it. But polidiots closed it as a strategic supply with limited access. I think “Only China” etc can get unlimited supply of our resources.. But I can only get hot air for my chinesium balloon’s ...... But if I keep talking the hot air will be back on the market ........ I’ll show em !!!
He = helium?
Use a scope or binoculars. I’d love to see a launch in person.
SICK-EM !!! RIP OUT THE ACHILLEAS TENDONS AND THEN THE LIPS AND TOUNGE !!!
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LOL !!!!
If you get to the area at the right time, go over to the launch area. Anywhere close by works.
That worked well. Looks like all 33 went off right on schedule.
Too many moving parts. Getting just one complex system to work is very hard.
See, I'd want to see it right up close and personal. Give me a folding chair 15 feet from the launch pad.
It would be the experience of a (short) lifetime!
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