Posted on 09/20/2022 12:49:03 PM PDT by Red Badger
SpaceX Super Heavy static fire The big booster meant for the Starship mission got a step closer to flight. SpaceX
SpaceX is inching closer to being ready to launch its next-generation rocket on its first demonstration flight to space after another successful static firing for Starship's Super Heavy booster.
On Monday, the team at the Starbase development center in Texas lit up a Super Heavy loaded with seven Raptor engines for the first time. That's more than double the previous record, when SpaceX unleashed the fire under three Raptors just three weeks ago.
A static fire test is the rough equivalent of revving a car engine in neutral. The booster is held to the ground while the engines are fired. On Monday, the prototype dubbed Booster 7 successfully fired its seven engines for about 10 seconds.
After the test, Elon Musk said on Twitter that Booster 7 will move back to Starbase's high bay "for robustness upgrades" while another booster will roll out for testing.
"Next big test is probably full stack wet dress rehearsal, then 33 engine firing in a few weeks," Musk wrote.
SpaceX is still awaiting a launch license from the FAA for the first orbital test flight of Starship. The company cleared a major hurdle in June with the completion of an environmental review that allows the launch to go forward, but requires dozens of modifications to the mission plan.
Once SpaceX has the green light from regulators, Starship will be able to launch from Starbase and take a brief trip to orbit before performing a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Super Heavy will separate from Starship shortly after launch and attempt to land on a modified drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
All of this is leading up to Starship's eventual role in NASA's Artemis program to return astronauts to the surface of the moon as soon as 2025.
I bet Bezo’s is pissed.
Reminds me of the B36
B-36 was configured to have 10 engines, six radial propeller engines and four jet engines, leading to the B-36 slogan of "six turnin' and four burnin' ".
I certainly hope so, Ollie!......................
Those things had a bowling alley and a piano lounge for the crew on long flights.
The starship isn’t mounted. That’s just a booster. The actual spacecraft is that black rocket in the background.
I used to work there
B-36 was configured to have 10 engines, six radial propeller engines and four jet engines, leading to the B-36 slogan of “six turnin’ and four burnin’ “.
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I remember hearing those B-36 flying over my house as a kid. It was a sound like God’s own beehive.
6 piston engines and 4 turbojets. Hard to believe it was actually in service.
To be clear, they pick up the rocket and set it on top of that booster for actual flights. When it’s fully assembled they’re the tallest rockets on earth.
Standing next to one is mystifying.
I understood there was a booster in the works with 40 raptors
Yes, I see it....
Must have been a flying gas tank...................
“A static fire test is the rough equivalent of revving a car engine in neutral.”
Um.... No. It’s like tying the frame to a fixed point, dropping the clutch, and burning the tires. Big difference.
And we ain’t talking about a Volkswagen Beetle, either. More like a Mustang Shelby or a Dodge Hellcat.
“Doubles Number of Engines ... lit seven engines”
So last time they lit 3 1/2 engines?
Bwahahahaha
The way most static tests look
“The company cleared a major hurdle in June with the completion of an environmental review that allows the launch to go forward, but requires dozens of modifications to the mission plan.”
I wonder just how these government paper pushers felt qualified to discern flaws in the mission plan.
How will they be able to hold 33 engines to the ground if aimed vertically?
“Six turnin’, four burnin’.”
What movie was that from, I know I’ve seen it. Hilarious!
One of the Austin Powers movies.
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