Posted on 07/04/2024 6:52:46 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The flaps burned through because they had little to no heat shielding and will be corrected in Flight 5. Other materials would have had heat shielding to begin with.
Re-usability is good, but Starship’s weight makes reusability a wash with the multiple refuelings.
NASA will not cancel the Lunar Gateway station because to do so would admit failure, IMHO, since they have no other way to go.
No, the reusability beats everything, because launches are cheaper than building a new ship each time and *then* paying for the launch.
Here’s an article you might be interested in:
Starship Faces Performance Shortfall for Lunar Missions
https://www.americaspace.com/2024/04/20/starship-faces-performance-shortfall-for-lunar-missions/
The current version of SS can only lift 40-50 tons to LEO
“The success or failure of the Human Landing System program will be decided by Starship’s payload capacity. Due to its high dry (unfueled) mass, Starship HLS cannot reach the Moon without first refueling in LEO. To complete the Artemis 3 mission, SpaceX must therefore implement orbital refueling on an unprecedented scale”
At current payload: “Even if NASA and SpaceX achieve their stated goal of a 6-day turnaround between Starship launches, it will take over half a year to stage all of the propellant in orbit”
“To extrapolate Griffin’s calculation, it would only have a 52% probability of success even if attempted” ... “ If Starship’s payload capacity does not increase, it is likely a showstopper for the Artemis program”
We’ll have to wait until StarShip 3 with 200 tons to LEO comes on line some years in the future.
Think it might be the wrong guy as the few articles he’s published does not include the one at hand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.