SpaceX Raptor engine.

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TheGreenGoblin
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SpaceX Raptor engine.

#1 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:49 am

For those who have the time to go full nerd for over 40 minutes.

He wears a cap (fortunately it is not back to front nor is it a MAGA cap) and has a slightly irritating voice but he knows his stuff! Making America, and the world, a better place by sharing his knowledge. Can't say fairer than that.


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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#2 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:49 am

A good synopsis of the Raptor engine technology.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/spacex- ... e-starship


The bleeding edge nature of the Raptor's technology will probably mean that this might happen again!

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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#3 Post by Boac » Wed Aug 05, 2020 7:29 am

Hey! It worked!


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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#4 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Aug 05, 2020 6:38 pm

I am delighted to be wrong. What an extraordinarily sight. Watching the engine gimbaling like that is amazing! Well done SpaceX.
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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#5 Post by Boac » Wed Aug 05, 2020 6:42 pm

Anyone know what the 'final' Starship will look like? Is SN5 part of it, eg the first stage, the Mars Lander, ?????

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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#6 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:44 am

SN5 or 5+x is meant to be the Mars lander I believe.






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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#7 Post by Boac » Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:47 am

Thanks for the 'find', TGG - very useful videos.

All very confusing to a simpleton. I will watch with jaw duly dropped as events unfold and hopefully a clearer picture of where SN5 fits into it all. All quite amazing.

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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#8 Post by Boac » Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:12 am

With the help of Wiki, I THINK:

The initial project for the MCT (Mars Colonial Transporter) became the ITS Interplanetary Transport System (Mars colonisation) around 2016. The first stage was to be an "ITS booster" while the second stage would have been either an "Interplanetary Spaceship" - "IS" - (for beyond-Earth-orbit missions) or an "ITS tanker" (for on-orbit propellant transfer operations). The ITS booster and the ITS tanker would be recoverable and re-usable, as is the Falcon.

The ITS became the 'BFR' around 2017. with 3 planned versions, 'BFS' cargo, 'BFS' tanker, and 'BFS' crew, designed to handle earth orbit, trans-lunar orbit and Mars there and back.

September 2018 brought another design change, renaming the BFR/BFS as "Starship" for the upper stage and "Super Heavy" for the booster.

September 2019 brought the assembly of 'Starship Mk1", with canard and tail fins. After failures in testing, Mk1 was abandoned and work went on on Mk3.

December 2019 brought the renaming of Mk3 as "Starship SN1". February 2010 brought the 'stacking' (vertical assembly') of SN1 but another test failure in February resulted in work proceeding on SN2.

This is where it really gets 'grey'!! Musk announced various 'test vehicles designated SN3 and SN4. Both ultimately lost during static testing. March 2020 brought SN5 and SN6 as test vehicles for orbital flight with SN5 making its first 'hop' on 4t August 2020. SN7 and SN8 are in development with a different stainless steel construction. In July 2020 SN8 was announced to be "expected to include a nose-cone fairing, aerodynamic control surfaces, and three Raptor engines before undertaking higher altitude test flights later in 2020.

Phew! It looks as if SN5 may just be a simple test vehicle for either the booster OR the Mars lander - not sure which, but may complete a 'high altitude' flight itself this year.

Anyone else who can decipher this amazing programme please chip in!

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Re: SpaceX Raptor engine.

#9 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:35 pm

Boac wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:12 am
With the help of Wiki, I THINK:


Phew! It looks as if SN5 may just be a simple test vehicle for either the booster OR the Mars lander - not sure which, but may complete a 'high altitude' flight itself this year.

Anyone else who can decipher this amazing programme please chip in!
It is a labyrinth as you say. Hence my SN5+x...

He thinks big, the boy from Pretoria...

https://www.space.com/elon-musk-starshi ... olony.html
SpaceX is currently building its first Starship orbital vehicle, called the SN1, at the company's South Texas facilities. Also on Thursday, Musk tweeted a photo of technicians working on the SN1's nose cone and liquid-oxygen header tank.

Starship could get up and running soon. SpaceX representatives have said the first operational missions of the vehicle, which will likely loft communications satellites, could come as early as 2021. And there's already one crewed mission on Starship's manifest — a round-the-moon voyage booked by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, which is targeted for 2023.
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