Posted on 06/06/2024 10:40:53 AM PDT by Red Badger
Jared Isaacman
@rookisaacman · 4h Unreal SpaceX team.. great job. You just brought the most powerful booster in the world one step closer to reusability.
it’s the splashdown thingy... iirc not since Apollo
Sad thing about the Starliner relying on a Russian RD-180 engine to get them of the ground.
Yes, it’s docked.
Both craft (Superheavy and Starship) ended their flights, intact, in the water. This was according to plan.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, both crew and cargo versions, also splash down.
Well, that’s good news for Boeing.....I am happy to hear they could get outside and push it in. Ha Ha.
Somestatistics,& the future as E. Musk ses it for StarShip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pscFJSofcGs
Musk lays out the future of the Starship program:
Overarching goal of the company is to extend [ human ] consciousness to another planet - Mars - and achieve sustainability while Earth civilization is still strong.
The key thing is to have enough people and tonnage on Mars, so that if something would happen to Earth beyond our control, [ human ] consciousness would go on.
Musk thinks this can be done in ~20 years.
327 successful launches, ~300 landings, 261 re-flights, Dragon has has 45 launches, 50 crew members to orbit, 46 to ISS.
This year, SpaceX will do 90% of all Earth mass to orbit launches, China 6%, all others 4%.
Once Starship is flying, SpaceX will do 99% of all Earth mass to orbit launches. Final version of Starship will do over 200 tons to LEO with full reusability.
If all goes well:
Flight 4 will get through the high heat regime with both Starship and Booster landing on a virtual Tower. √
Flight 5 will see the booster land on a Tower; the possibility of catching the Booster with the arm this year is around 80-90%.
Starship will land on a Tower after about 2 consecutive successes of a given design landing on a virtual Tower - and will likely happen next year. Starship will then become reusable.
There will be 2 Towers at Boca and 2 at the Cape, all by sometime next year.
Next year will see orbital fuel transfer - a very important step in going to Mars. The Moon Ship will be specialized without heat shield and landing flaps.
Aiming to get the Booster engines to 330 tons of thrust with Raptor 3 engines. Which look like most of the engine is missing - but it is not.
Starship 3 will cost less per flight than Falcon 1 [ non-reusable]. Ultimately, the cost per flight will be down around $2-3 million per flight.
Musk sees thousands of ships departing for Mars every 26 months, most will be used as raw materials; later on, some ships will return to Earth, but most people going to Mars will never return.
Musk wants to get the cost of going to Mars low enough that most anyone can afford it.
Musk goes on to describe what he sees for the development of Mars.
C'mon we can fix this!, lol
NASA is too busy preaching climate change and has completely lost focus on space exploration.
OK, thank you... i did not know that
i thought they all landed upright
OK, thank you...
i thought they all landed upright
Falcon 9’s yes. This one is huge!....Maybe next time..............
As a historical note, the first few test landings of Falcon-9 were on water. The brought the booster to a halt just above the surface, and then let it fall in the drink.
SpaceX feature film: How NOT to Land an Orbital Class Booster
We've come a long way!
Obviously, what’s needed here is Vibranium chain mail over woven Adamantium fiber gambeson.
I’m sure we can buy the stuff from Wakanda ...
;’}
Seriously ... a flexible heat resistant material would be awesome. Just not clear on how to make such a thing.
It’s a challenge for the Materials Science crowd.
My daughter works for Virgin Galactica (space tourism) They take off from Truth or Consequences New Mexico for $500,000 you too can have an 8.5 minutes in zero gravity.
Reportedly they are planning a resort with a golf course there for the “travelers” to kick back a few days before and after the launches.
Too bad it doesn’t have enough gas to go 238,000 miles there, and back, to the moon. Perhaps someday we will solve the fuel issue?
“Sad thing about the Starliner relying on a Russian RD-180 engine to get them of the ground.”
There is only 16 Atlas V rockets left.ULA is burning through the last of it’s inventory. They discontinued the Atlas V as of 2021. The new Vulcan rocket uses the BE4 LOx/CH4 engine from Blue Origin. that is the direct replacement of the Atlas V it’s being human rated this year. So the long term launcher is using Jeff Bezo engines.
Boeing’s Starliner is considered four years behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon, which has already carried 50 astronauts, Russian cosmonauts and civilians on 13 orbital flights since 2020, all but one to the space station. But Williams and Wilmore say the Starliner is safer and more capable than the competition, with multiple upgrades.
https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/long-awaited-starliner-launch-breaks-a-six-decade-draught/
So the long term launcher is using Jeff Bezo engines.
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If it ever works.
Perhaps someday we will solve the fuel issue?
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its called refueling. There will be refuelers in orbit. SpaceX hopes to demonstrate that next year sometime
“NASA’s manned Starliner capsule docked with the ISS today as well”
Does NASA have a plan to colonize Mars?
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