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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 – 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 – 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 ...
Not many seem to be noticing but Space X is rapidly acquiring a monopoly on space travel.
I thought for sure that SpaceX would target April 20 to launch Starship. That would be so Elon to do.
Uh, I love reading about Space X, but not from National Puberty Radio. Let’s get a group that actually knows science, technology, and honesty...and one that is NOT supported by the most corrupt government in the history of the multiverse. Eff NPR.
pseudonym: Jefferson
Once he gets it to reliably deliver payloads, the US will nationalize it for “national security.”
A rocket almost 400 ft tall and 30 ft wide.. INCREDIBLE.
God speed, SpaceX !
Spacex got their faa launch license on Friday. So April 17th is the first attempt, not only spacex will be webcasting the launch.
That would be so Elon to do.
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He’s beholding to environmental scrutiny by the EPA which has to sign off and issue a permit, and to the FAA which has to issue a license.
Elon has no say in the permitting or the thousands of environmental tests and reports than SpaceX is mandated to produce and pay for.
SpaceX launches at the government’s convenience.
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And reusable too.
When I see Starship stacked on top of the booster on the pad, it feels like we’ve arrived at the future as envisioned by 1950s sci-fi. I love it.
Not a fan of monopolies nor his battery cars.
But SpaceX is impressive.
This is where Musk shines.
SpaceX gets stuff into orbit at <5% of the cost compared to when NASA did it. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-cost-of-space-flight/
To his credit, the growth we see is largely because of how he’s made it affordable. SpaceX is making space travel real.
The space shuttle was $51,000 per pound into orbit. He’s talking about getting that down to $200, or 1% of what it once cost!!! Frigging amazing!!!
Yes, Hitler’s birthday.
(I realize you’re more likely referring to the pot head day)
And they said, “Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me”......
first time this is going up. It’s experimental. We should adjust our expectations accordingly. It could go incredibly well. But there’s a lot that can go wrong, it could all end in a fiery spectacular failure.
I hope for the best outcome!
Godspeed Starship. Put on your hardhats.
I hope not......but...
There is always that possibility.
Wernher von Braun said he could put a man on Mars by 1985.
He could have managed it but it would have been massively expensive and inelegant... and it would have only carried 3 men.
Musk is going to do it for a small fraction of the cost and you could actually put a busload of men in the Starship.
The 6 months, or even longer, trip to Mars would be pretty boring.. a shame we don’t have nuclear engines yet.
I think the Musk plan is to send several automated and unmanned Starships to Mars loaded with supplies and return them to Earth before sending people... that’s very wise. You need some small nuclear reactors ready to go so you can power everything and generate methane fuel for return journeys.
Solar power on Mars would be pretty wimpy as the sun’s brightness is less than on Earth... you would have to send a Starship load or two just to get the panels up there.. nuclear is a better option.
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