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SpaceX SN8 to launch and fly to 60,000 feet next week
PHYS.ORG ^ | 14 September 2020 | Bob Yirka

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 landing—the 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.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bocachica; elonmusk; spacex; starship
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Maybe Elon means next month instead of next week?
1 posted on 09/14/2020 4:39:04 PM PDT by amorphous
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To: amorphous

Tank 7.1 has not been tested to destruction yet, more like next quarter


2 posted on 09/14/2020 4:41:54 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!at)
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To: amorphous

Hope it goes well - “star” ships?

Heh - well there is the Sun - best to land at night - Bill Dana sorta


3 posted on 09/14/2020 4:43:31 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: amorphous

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.


4 posted on 09/14/2020 4:48:21 PM PDT by orionrising
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To: markman46

The word is SpaceX might blow up 7.1 tonight...


5 posted on 09/14/2020 4:50:12 PM PDT by cabojoe
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To: amorphous
The plan also calls for turning off the three engines during the initial stage of a descent and controlled landing—the 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.

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.

6 posted on 09/14/2020 4:58:36 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom ("And oft conducted by historic truth, We tread the long extent of backward time.")
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To: amorphous

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.


7 posted on 09/14/2020 5:02:29 PM PDT by eddie willers
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To: eddie willers

Blue Origin is older than SpaceX and they haven’t launched anything to orbit yet.


8 posted on 09/14/2020 5:31:47 PM PDT by Moonman62 (http://www.freerepublic.com/~moonman62/)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Has to be quite a trick to get the fuel flow re-established in the "belly flop" position.

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.

9 posted on 09/14/2020 5:41:46 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: amorphous

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.


10 posted on 09/14/2020 5:47:31 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ....)
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To: amorphous

Looks like a couple of dents on the side or maybe thrusters.


11 posted on 09/14/2020 5:53:18 PM PDT by HighSierra5
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To: amorphous
that thing looks so Flash Gordon ....


Here

12 posted on 09/14/2020 5:56:27 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true.... I have no proof, but they're true.)
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To: roadcat

But the pump has an inlet pipe which has to be at the bottom of the liquid...which is different vertical vs horizontal.


13 posted on 09/14/2020 5:59:43 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom ("And oft conducted by historic truth, We tread the long extent of backward time.")
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Here’s video explaining the Raptor engine design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbH1ZDImaI8


14 posted on 09/14/2020 6:05:18 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: amorphous

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.


15 posted on 09/14/2020 6:14:28 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
But the pump has an inlet pipe which has to be at the bottom of the liquid...which is different vertical vs horizontal.

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.

16 posted on 09/14/2020 6:17:11 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I understand both the LOX and LNG systems have bulkhead tanks that help avoid fuel flow disruptions.


17 posted on 09/14/2020 6:17:30 PM PDT by amorphous
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To: Ozark Tom
They're suppose to be doing some pressure testing tonight after 9:00 P.M. CST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky5l9ZxsG9M

18 posted on 09/14/2020 6:27:23 PM PDT by amorphous
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To: orionrising

Thanks for the clarification.


19 posted on 09/14/2020 6:30:53 PM PDT by amorphous
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To: DesertRhino

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.


20 posted on 09/14/2020 6:39:54 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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