SpaceX

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Re: SpaceX

#701 Post by Boac » Mon Jul 19, 2021 9:22 pm

On the way to a static fire with BN3, but Cocoa beckons........................

(I think I would have moved that yellow crane :)) )

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Re: SpaceX

#702 Post by Boac » Fri Jul 23, 2021 5:58 pm

Meanwhile the latest Dragon re-supply capsule has 'autonomously' un-docked and re-positioned to another port.

Amazing.

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Re: SpaceX

#703 Post by llondel » Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:29 pm

Hopefully it informed the crew it was moving. Imagine what would happen if someone went to open the door to the capsule only to find it wasn't there any more.

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Re: SpaceX

#704 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jul 24, 2021 10:21 am

"Let me in HAL!"

"I can't do that Jim"...
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Doing OK, thanks

#705 Post by Boac » Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:56 pm


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Re: SpaceX

#706 Post by CharlieOneSix » Sat Jul 24, 2021 10:12 pm

From that Reuters article.....
The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company,....
I suppose Heavy is an appropriate description - must be quite a bit of wake turbulence....
The helicopter pilots' mantra: If it hasn't gone wrong then it's just about to...
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Re: SpaceX

#707 Post by Boac » Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:23 am

Yes - best to give it good separation if you are following it...........

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Re: SpaceX

#708 Post by Boac » Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:33 pm

Boca Chica Tower is being 'topped out' right now.

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Re: SpaceX

#709 Post by Boac » Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:46 pm

Things really galloping at BC now. Orbital recovery tower at full height, Orbital launch pad in final assembly, Booster 4 (the one to 'fly') fully stacked and getting 'motors' fitted prior to moving to the launch area, and Starship 20 (the 'topping' on the B4 cake) also fully stacked. The 'fuel farm' almost complete. Not long now. One heck of a time to be alive and following.

They have produced 100+ Raptor engines, but bearing in mind the booster will carry 33 of the babies and the Starship 3 Raptors and 3 Raptor vacuum engines .................. that is almost 3 vehicles-worth......and Musk reckons to eventually launch 1000 a year eventually when his 'Mars programme' gets going.........

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Re: SpaceX

#710 Post by Boac » Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:29 am


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Re: SpaceX

#711 Post by Boac » Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:00 pm

Booster4 is on the road.

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Re: SpaceX

#712 Post by Boac » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:32 pm

Booster4 is up on the launch table and SN20 has a full compliment of Raptors in the High-bay. Won't be long now!

It wasn't!! SN20 now 'mobile'.

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Re: SpaceX

#713 Post by Boac » Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:31 pm

This is incredible! They are now hooking up the HUGE crane to SN20. Is Elon going to stack it now on top of the booster?

a) If so, will he risk a static fire test of the booster with the whole caboodle?
b) Stacking would rule out any static fire test of SN20
c) Can this mean a launch of the whole gizmo?

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Re: SpaceX

#714 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Aug 06, 2021 4:49 am

The more I see of Elon Musk's grandiloquence and braggadocio, the more I am apt to think, that he was another South African fan of American comics from the 60's and 70's...

We will know that my theory has been proven when he dons green tights over his large codpiece and bungs a metal helmet on his bonce.

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Re: SpaceX

#715 Post by Boac » Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:13 am

That looks more like Bezos and the flying phallus!

Stacking expected this US AM.

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Re: SpaceX

#716 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:28 am

Boac wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:13 am
That looks more like Bezos and the flying phallus!

Stacking expected this US AM.

Him too! Two big swinging gantries, the both of them! =))
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Re: SpaceX

#717 Post by Boac » Fri Aug 06, 2021 1:23 pm

A fully-stacked Musk-Rocket! The tallest assembled rocket ever developed.

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Re: SpaceX

#718 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Aug 06, 2021 2:18 pm

Boac wrote:
Fri Aug 06, 2021 1:23 pm
A fully-stacked Musk-Rocket! The tallest assembled rocket ever developed.
The last remaining Saturn 5, lying on its side at the launch site at Cape Canaveral, was pretty impressive when I saw it, as the was Shuttle Launch the day before. Still one cannot but fail to be impressed by Musk's machinations!
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Re: SpaceX

#719 Post by Boac » Fri Aug 06, 2021 2:53 pm

...and it is off again. Let's hope the fit was OK

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Re: SpaceX

#720 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:44 pm

SpaceX has achieved another major milestone in its Starship fully reusable launch system: It stacked the Starship spacecraft itself on top of a prototype of its Super Heavy booster, which itself is loaded up with a full complement of 29 Raptor rocket engines, and the Starship on top has six itself. The stacked spacecraft now represents the tallest assembled rocket ever developed in history.

This stacking, which happened at SpaceX's development site in south Texas, is a significant development because it's the first time the two elements of the full Starship system have been united as one. This is the configuration that will be used for launching the next Starship prototype on its test mission that will hopefully achieve orbit.

Taken together, the massive combined launch system reaches nearly 400 feet tall (around 390 feet, to be more precise), and combined with the orbital launch stand on which it rests, the whole thing is about 475 feet high, which is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The stacking itself is impressive, but don't expect it to last: The likely next step is for the two halves of the launch system to be separated again, with both undergoing more work, analysis and testing ahead of a reassembly in preparation for the actual eventual orbital launch test.

As for when the orbital launch test will actually take place, it's not currently clear. The disassembly, testing and reassembly will take some time, but the company is definitely still aiming to make that happen before end of year.
Just imagine how many marshmallows one will be able to toast on the fire if this baby goes boom when it comes to launch time?
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Your destination remains
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