Today amongst other things I’ll explain to you,
what separates a rocket enthusiast from a dreamer and when we can expect SpaceX’s Starship Serial Number 8 to fly.
My name is Felix, and I am your host for today’s episode of What about it!?
And as always, there’s been a lot going on in the Space industry lately, so let’s dive right in!
Starship Updates Hello, WAI Family!
We’re back for yet another Episode and we’re closing in fast on the highly anticipated Starship flight to 15 kilometers.
I got the question many times lately, what my estimate is on when we might see that first real flight.
So we’ll see together, if we can answer this burning question or at least get as close to it as possible.
Mauricio and his plane above Boca Chica.
It’s a weekly thing now thanks to many, who followed my call to become a flight supporter on his Patreon page.
So, first of all, thank you very much from me and Mauricio.
Thanks to all the support he’s getting, the always highly anticipated flyover now is a regular thing and it’s here to stay.
Maybe even bi-weekly, if support keeps coming in.
And it’s very much worth it. Looking at the more and more evolving work by SpaceX is a joy every week for all of us here on the channel.
We’re almost at 110000 people.
All united in one interest. One big family trying to understand, what Elon Musk’s next move will be and what the future might look like.
Rocket nerd though doesn’t fit the description of those, who subscribe to the channel.
It’s more than that. I’ve met many of you and the one thing I found that unites us all is dreaming.
SpaceX has sparked something very special in all of us.
We dream of a very special kind of future.
One, where humanity is traveling between the Moon and other Planets.
A future, where we stand on the Moon not just to plant a flag, take some samples and leave again.
It’s a future that involves houses on Moon and Mars.
Heck, Elon even said he wants to build a Mars Bar.
That’s what we’re dreaming of.
And SpaceX is the one company in the world that actually might be getting closer to turning this dream that unites us all into reality.
So let’s take yet another look.
Let’s see, what we can dream of next and let’s dive right in.
It has many names The Shipyard.
The Build Site or as I call it, the construction site.
Many names for one thing. The place, where SpaceX is working on constructing Starships and Super Heavy boosters.
Right now, most of the attention is still focused on the High Bay.
A giant rocket garage built mainly for one purpose.
Super Heavy Boosters are to be built here very soon.
It’s a huge steel construction coming in at 81 meters or 260 feet for those in the states.
That doesn’t make it the tallest high bay ever built.
NASA’s Vehicle assembly building at Kennedy Space Center is about double the height.
Still though,
it’s an impressive building and it has barely enough height to fit a Super Heavy booster in which fully assembled will be around 70 meters tall.
Recently, Austin Barnard tweeted a shot of the high bay and its surroundings and titled it “The city to the Stars”.
There it is again. The dreamer in all of us.
Besides being a wonderful shot, Elon Musk replied to it.
He said, that there will be a 360 degree glass Star Bar at the top of it.
Besides the idea being totally awesome, he’s also looking for a name for the bar.
So, in a homage to all our dreams connected with the Starship program, I propose the name Dreamers Deck.
Because, that’s what it is. A place for us dreamers to unite and watch Starships turn into reality.
Looking at Mary’s perspective of the high bay, it’s not exactly clear to me, where that 360 degree bar will be though.
Some believe that the last narrow segment on top will be the bar, but I do not think so.
That most likely is the structure for the gantry crane to be installed inside the high bay.
It also wouldn’t be 360, as there are already wall elements installed.
So, the only place left would be on top of the already existing roof.
There would need to be some sort of access as well.
Stairs… meh… too high. So, an elevator would need to be installed.
As small of an addition as it might sound, there will be lots of construction for it.
Here’s another perfect example for dreams coming true in Boca Chica.
Mauricio took a beautiful shot of the Lunar Starship Mockup sitting next to the mid bay and Starship Serial Number 5.
It’s most likely for the upcoming Starship presentation and it’s supposed to show the world yet again, that Starships won’t just be normal rockets.
They’re vehicles in the real meaning of the word.
Not an upper stage, pushing a payload, but a Starship, put into service and then operating for a long time.
Another item at the same site has recently sparked a lot of discussions.
It’s this ring segment with holes in it.
Some speculate, it could be meant for super heavy.
I do think though, that this might also be for the Lunar Starship mockup.
Several smaller and two larger holes can be seen.
I know, it doesn’t look exactly like the descent thruster openings on a Lunar Starship, but the design might already have changed slightly.
So one possible use for this swiss cheese ring segment could be to show the special descentthrusters on the Lunar Starship.
Mary aka Bocachica Gal has taken more awesome pictures for NASASpaceflight and for the world to witness what’s going on in Boca Chica.
Here you can see a beautiful shot of Starship Serial Number 5.
It did a 150 meter hop. The first ever for a Starship and work seems to continue on top of it.
It’s of course impossible to see from this perspective, what exactly the SpaceX work crew is doing up there,
but one possible reason could yet again be the Lunar Starship mockup.
To make a good looking mockup, SpaceX will need more than just a nose cone.
Starship Serial Number 5 has nothing else to do.
So, why not paint it white and make it look awesome for all of us to see and dream?
So, paint Starship SN5 white, add swiss cheese ring and then stack a nose cone on top?
What’s your thought? Are we on the right track here?
As always, tell us in the comments!
Yet another one of Mary’s awesome shots shows Aerodynamic covers freshly delivered to the SpaceX construction site in Boca Chica Texas.
These covers have been evolving a lot since Starship Mark 1 back in 2019 and each revision arriving at the construction site looks more and more
sophisticated. New Starship Aft Flaps have been delivered as well.
These might already be for Starship Serial Number 9, waiting at the Mid bay for further assembly work.
On Episode 126 I featured this picture from Nomadd from the NSF forums, and I asked you,
what you think about the bracing on the left side of the hull.
I got tons and tons of replies and talked to quite a few people.
First of all, thank you very much for actively helping me with my work!
In general I love the discussions in the comment sections of my episodes every time.
There are so many very smart people watching my episodes.
I am honored. After reding tons of comments and getting even more help from some personal discussions with you,
I think the most plausible explanation is an alignment bracket.
To be able to as precisely as possible mount the aft fins on the Starship prototypes, SpaceX seems to have come up with this bracket style apparatus.
Let’s see, if we’re right. Flaps are on site and it shouldn’t take long until workers show us exactly what they’ll do with them.
Now, let’s as always switch to the launch site again.
All eyes right now are on SpaceX’s Starship Serial Number 8.
Rightfully so. It’s closing in on a 15-kilometer flight.
Something the world hasn’t seen yet and it will most likely draw the attention of the world as well.
The nose cone has recently been stacked but work still seems to be going on.
After the recent static fire, Raptor engines have been switched out.
There’s no official information yet, but there must be some data output from Raptor engine 39, that SpaceX didn’t like.
So, they put in Raptor engine 36 instead and we’re back up to three engines.
So, this all is to be taken with a grain of salt, because there can always be complications,
but what is the timeline from now on and when can we expect the 15 kilometer flight?
Next up and in progress right now is final assembly
After work is finished on the prototype, we will most likely see yet another static fire.
SpaceX will want to test the new engine configuration and the header tanks have not been tested yet either.
Let’s real quick cut our virtual Starship open and see, where the header tanks are.
Located on the common dome right between oxygen and methane tanks and in the very tip of the nose cone,
they hold an extra bit of fuel and oxidizer separated from the main tanks.
This fuel is needed for landing burns.
The burn needs to be started in a horizontal position to initialize the belly flop maneuver to reorient the Starship for landing.
If the engines at this point would draw fuel and oxidizer from the main tanks which are almost empty from lift off and burns in orbit,
the risk of having an interrupted fuel flow would be very high.
This is why SpaceX installed header tanks.
They’re separate and much smaller tanks providing only the fuel and oxidizer needed for the landing maneuver.
So, A static fire testing the header tanks is very likely.
After this, Starship SN8 in theory would be ready for the big moment.
All this can in theory be done in a few days.
As of recording the episode, test dates are set for October 28th, 29th and 30th.
Two longer windows with 15 hours each and one smaller test window on the 30th with only 6 hours.
We’re back at daylight testing again for now.
SpaceX recently came to an agreement with Cameron County to reduce interference with the public and shift testing hours into the night.
These three tests though are set for day hours again.
My guess is that we’ll see the second static fire on these three days.
SpaceX will not want to wait long after the static fire is finished to not let the prototype sit in the open unnecessarily long,
so it’s fair to say, that a flight most likely will happen within the next week if nothing unforeseen happens and no extra complications occur.
Now, as a finisher, let’s dream a bit more, shall we?
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Looking at this extremely nice picture taken by Mauricio on October 23rd,
the redesign process the launch site is undergoing right now becomes more and more visible.
I’ve been talking about this for a while now and results are visible everywhere.
In the center of the launch site right between landing pad and Test stands more and more concrete marks the vanishing of the famous dirt hill.
Everything is rapidly being turned into a permanent launch complex.
Once the orbital launch mount is finished,
the test stands will vanish and make room for larger buildings needed at the site for maintenance and as a shelter in case bad weather sweeps
in from the gulf. Looking further to the left we arrive at the orbital launch mount and its surrounding infrastructure.
The new tent, a road going by and more prepared land between tent and highway 4.
I got a few comments on my last episode that received a lot of likes, concerning the tent.
Many do believe that it might just be for the Starship presentation.
I still don’t think so, but it definitely is possible.
Right now I think it’s a manufacturing tent to be able to better build the orbital launch mount next to it.
Later the foundation might be used for a crane to stack Starships on top of super heavy boosters.
What’s interesting to see is the new road next to it.
What will SpaceX build here? What are they up to?
Last but not least, the pipe connection between fuel farm and orbital launch mount is progressing nicely as well.
Above Starhopper in this picture you can see the fuel lines in the ground including access hatches in form of large concrete boxes in the ground.
Looking at another picture of the orbital launch mount itself, more of these access hatches can be found on the ground next to it.
It’s hard to say, when the pipe connection will be finished, but SpaceX is working relentlessly towards the goal.
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