Posted on 09/14/2020 4:39:04 PM PDT by amorphous
Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, has announced via Twitter that the company's SN8 rocket will take a test flight sometime next week. The plan is for the rocket is to soar up to 60,000 feet (18,300 meters) and then return to Earth in a controlled landing.
SN8 is one in a line of SpaceX's Starships that are predecessors to vehicles for missions to the moon and Mars. SN5 and SN6 recently completed tests of 500 feet each, which the company calls short hops, before returning to Earth. They were meant to test the integrity of the steel walls of the rocket. Both were launched at SpaceX's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, and both had just one Raptor engine pushing them into the air. SN7 was intentionally destroyed in a test tank to determine the strength limits of the design. SN8 will launch from the same site and will have three of the Raptor engines to give it the power needed to reach the much higher altitude. The test next week will be the first time three of the Raptors will be tested together as a single unit.
Before the rocket can be launched, it must first undergo a few more tests. They are called static fires (in which the rocket is held down as the engines fire) and ground checkouts. SN8 (unlike its predecessors) will also be fitted with flaps to assist with steering and a nosecone, which will be used in the future to hold cargo or people. The addition of both, Musk notes, will give the rocket a look much like the final design. The plan also calls for turning off the three engines during the initial stage of a descent and controlled landingthe rocket will perform a belly flop routine to slow its descent for several minutes and then the engines will be restarted, allowing the rocket to land in an upright position.
Musk has suggested in the past that his Starships will be able to carry as many as 100 people at a time to the moon (or 100 tons of cargo). The ultimate goal, however, is carrying people and their cargo to Mars and back.
Tank 7.1 has not been tested to destruction yet, more like next quarter
Hope it goes well - “star” ships?
Heh - well there is the Sun - best to land at night - Bill Dana sorta
they are missquoting him.
what he actually said was:
SN8 Starship with flaps & nosecone should be done in about a week. Then static fire, checkouts, static fire, fly to 60,000 ft & back.
They have filed for a possible test date of oct 11th in about a month.
The word is SpaceX might blow up 7.1 tonight...
I wonder who dreamed up that flight profile. Has to be quite a trick to get the fuel flow re-established in the "belly flop" position.
SpaceX had a poster done up like an old “Amazing Stories” cover.
It was of Starship on the Moon and they were winching down Bezos’ little Blue Origin lander out of one of the upper cargo bays.
Blue Origin is older than SpaceX and they haven’t launched anything to orbit yet.
I don't think it matters what position the ship is in. The fuel flow and mixing is done with high-pressure pumps. I read somewhere about SpaceX using a rocket engine that drives the pump mixing the fuel. Old tech but refined by SpaceX.
Whatever else people say about Elon, he made 50s sci-fi a reality. A stainless steel rocket, with fins like an El Dorado, landing on it’s tail.
Looks like a couple of dents on the side or maybe thrusters.
But the pump has an inlet pipe which has to be at the bottom of the liquid...which is different vertical vs horizontal.
Hydrostatic testing with LN of test tank article SN 7.1 scheduled for this Thursday, destructive burst strength, seeking to exceed the design specification of 8.5 bar. SN 8 is outfitted with tanks constructed of the same speciality stainless alloy. SN 8 flight relies on SN7.1 having sufficiently good results.
SN 8 initial static fire testing is scheduled for a primary date of September 20th. A second firing with a flight-test fuel loading should follow within days of 20Sept.2020. Test flight would closely follow this test if all checks out with the vehicle.
You're right. I don't know what they do. Either use cold thrusters to reposition the rocket and the fuel, or ullage rocket motors to re-position the liquids towards the inlet pipe. Just a guess.
I understand both the LOX and LNG systems have bulkhead tanks that help avoid fuel flow disruptions.
Thanks for the clarification.
I personally think he is creepy (he just reminds me of a Bond Villain) but I am a big fan of what he has done at SpaceX.
How could Americans not admire that?
He made a believer out of me-I didn’t think anyone but NASA could do it, and when NASA became completely incompetent, I thought nobody would do it.
But here we are. I’ll give those props where they are due.
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