WELCOME BACK AND THANKS FOR TUNING INTO EPISODE 33 OF LABPADRE'S SPACEX AND STARBASE WEEKLY
UPDATES.
WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO LAUNCH DAY...SO LET'S DIG IN!
STARTING OFF THIS WEEK IN FLORIDA, IN THE EARLY HOURS OF SATURDAY MORNING, FALCON 9
BOOSTER B1069 LAUNCHED FROM SPACE LAUNCH COMPLEX 40 CARRYING THE HOTBIRD 13F TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SATELLITE ON ITS WAY TO GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT.
THE NEXT MORNING, SPACEX SUPPORT SHIP BOB TOWED A SHORTFALL OF GRAVITAS OUT OF PORT
CANAVERAL IN PREPARATION FOR THURSDAYS STARLINK 4-36 LAUNCH.
THAT AFTERNOON AT STARBASE, SHIP 24 WAS LIFTED FREE FROM BOOSTER 7 ONCE AGAIN.
UNLIKE LAST WEEK, HOWEVER, THE SHIP WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY
RESEATED, BUT RATHER THE CHOPSTICKS ROTATED THE SHIP CLEAR OF THE BOOSTER AND
LOWERED IT BACK ONTO ITS WAITING TRANSPORT STAND.
LATE MONDAY MORNING, BOOSTER 10'S 6 RING PARTIAL METHANE TANK WAS STACKED ONTO THE
NEXT 3 RING SECTION IN MEGA BAY.
THAT AFTERNOON, AT HISTORIC LAUNCH COMPLEX 39A, ONE OF THE CRYOGENIC STORAGE TANKS
THAT WAS INSTALLED BETWEEN THE NEW VERTICAL TANK AND THE STARSHIP LAUNCH TOWER, WAS
REMOVED FROM ITS MOUNT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS.
A SHORT TIME LATER, THAT SAME TANK WAS SEEN BEING DRIVEN AWAY FROM THE PAD BEFORE
ENDING UP IN THE PARKING LOT NEXT TO THE DOCK AT THE VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING'S TURNING
BASIN.
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING, DRAGON RECOVERY VESSEL SHANNON RETURNED TO PORT CANAVERAL
AFTER BEING STATIONED IN THE GULF OF MEXICO FOR POSSIBLE RECOVERY OPERATIONS FOR
CREW-4'S RETURN TO EARTH LAST WEEK.
EARLY ON WEDNESDAY BACK AT STARBASE, THE SHIP QUICK DISCONNECT MECHANISM ON THE
LAUNCH TOWER ARM UNDERWENT ADDITIONAL TESTING AS IT WAS EXTENDED AND RETRACTED
MULTIPLE TIMES.
THIS TESTING CONTINUED OVER A ROUGHLY TWO HOUR PERIOD BEFORE SPACEX WAS APPARENTLY
SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS AND THE QUICK DISCONNECT WAS LEFT IN THE RETRACTED POSITION.
MOVING BACK TO HISTORIC LAUNCH COMPLEX 39A ONCE AGAIN, SHORTLY BEFORE NOON
WEDNESDAY, THE TRANSPORTER ERECTOR, WHICH HAD RECENTLY BEEN RECONFIGURED IN
PREPARATION FOR THE UPCOMING FALCON HEAVY LAUNCH, WAS RAISED TO THE VERTICAL POSITION
ON THE FALCON LAUNCH PAD.
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, THE TRANSPORTER ERECTOR WAS LEANED BACK, LIKELY IN A LAUNCH
SIMULATION, BEFORE LOWERING THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE GROUND.
SOON, WE SHOULD SEE IT ROLL DOWN THE RAMP TO SPACEX'S HORIZONTAL
ASSEMBLY FACILITY TO PICK UP THE FALCON HEAVY FOR THE USSF-44 MISSION, EXPECTED TO
LAUNCH AT THE END OF THE MONTH.
A FEW HOURS LATER, DOUG RETURNED TO PORT CANAVERAL TOWING JUST READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS WITH FALCON 9 BOOSTER B1069 FROM THE HOTBIRD 13F LAUNCH EARLIER IN THE
WEEK.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, A NEW STARSHIP WAS ROLLED OUT OF HIGH BAY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE
SHIP 24 MADE ITS FIRST TRIP TO THE PAD ALMOST 5 MONTHS AGO.
SHIP 25 WAS MOVED DOWN HIGHWAY 4 TO THE LAUNCH SITE TO BEGIN ITS
TESTING CAMPAIGN.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, TWO STARSHIPS AND TWO SUPER HEAVY BOOSTERS ARE
STATIONED AT THE LAUNCH COMPLEX.
SHORTLY AFTER THE SHIP ARRIVED AT THE LAUNCH SITE, CREWS WENT UP IN LIFTS TO CONNECT IT
TO SPACEX'S LR11000 CRANE NEXT TO SUBORBITAL TEST STAND A.
A FEW HOURS LATER, THE SEEMINGLY NEVER ENDING SAGA OF THE CRYOGENIC PUMPS CONTINUED
AS A CRANE PICKED UP A NEW PUMP AND INSTALLED IT IN THE THIRD METHANE PUMP SLOT.
A SHORT TIME LATER, THE PUMP'S MOTOR WAS LIFTED AND
INSTALLED AS WELL.
AROUND THE SAME TIME, THE SHIP QUICK DISCONNECT ARM ON THE LAUNCH TOWER WAS SWUNG
OUT, INDICATING THAT SHIP 24 WOULD SOON RETURN TO ITS PERCH ON TOP OF BOOSTER 7.
THURSDAY MORNING, CREWS GOT TO WORK AND SHIP 25 WAS LIFTED OFF ITS TRANSPORT STAND
AND PLACED ONTO TEST STAND A WHERE IT WILL SOON UNDERGO TESTING.
LIKELY, THIS WILL START WITH AMBIENT PRESSURE TESTING BEFORE
MOVING ON TO CRYOGENIC PROOFING.
THIS STAND ALSO HAS THE SHIP THRUST RAMS, SO PUCK
SHUCKING IS ALSO POSSIBLE.
WHILE SHIP 25 WAS IN THE AIR, SHIP 24 DECIDED TO JOIN IN THE FUN AS THE CHOPSTICKS LIFTED
IT FREE OF ITS TRANSPORT STAND.
OVER THE NEXT HOUR, THE SHIP WAS ONCE AGAIN LIFTED AND TRANSLATED OVER ABOVE THE
BOOSTER.
NEXT, THE QD ARM WAS ROTATED BACK TO THE STACK AND THE SHIP WAS SLOWLY
LOWERED DOWN TOWARDS THE SUPER HEAVY.
THEN THE CHOPSTICKS MADE SMALL ADJUSTMENTS TO ALIGN IT PROPERLY WITH THE TOP OF THE BOOSTER
BELOW.
AS CONTACT WAS MADE, BOTH VEHICLES SHIFTED SLIGHTLY BEFORE THE SHIP
WAS LOWERED THE LAST BIT, COMPLETING THE FULL STACK.
AS SHIP 24 WAS BEING LIFTED, ONE OF SPACEX'S DRONES FLEW BY ROVER 2 ON ITS WAY TO
OBSERVE THE STACKING OPERATIONS AT THE ORBITAL LAUNCH PAD.
WHILE 2 STARSHIPS WERE BEING LIFTED AT STARBASE, FALCON 9 BOOSTER B1069 WAS ALSO LIFTED
INTO THE AIR AT PORT CANAVERAL AS IT WAS MOVED FROM THE DRONE SHIP TO THE DOCK.
AS THE BOOSTER WAS BEING SET DOWN ON THE DOCK, IN THE BACKGROUND B1062 WAS LAUNCHED
FROM SPACE LAUNCH COMPLEX 40 FOR THE STARLINK 4-36 MISSION, SENDING ANOTHER 54
STARLINKS INTO LOW EARTH ORBIT.
BACK IN TEXAS, THE TOWER SHIP QUICK DISCONNECT WAS EXTENDED TOWARDS SHIP 24.
ONCE CLOSE THE THE SHIP, IT IS ADJUSTED AND ALIGNED
WITH THE PORTS ON THE SHIP BEFORE MAKING THE FINAL ATTACHMENT.
LATER, THE QUICK DISCONNECT WAS RETRACTED IN A LIKELY FULL SPEED TEST OF THE SYSTEM,
SHOWN HERE IN REAL TIME.
SHORTLY AFTER THIS APPARENT LAUNCH SPEED TEST, THE QUICK DISCONNECT WAS AGAIN
EXTENDED TOWARDS THE SHIP BEFORE ALIGNING AND CONNECTING TO THE VEHICLE ONE MORE
TIME.
MEANWHILE, DOWN HIGHWAY 4 AT THE BUILD SITE, SHIP 27'S PAYLOAD BAY SECTION WAS MOVED OUT
OF TENT THREE AND INTO THE RING YARD.
A SHORT TIME LATER, SHIP 27'S NOSE CONE WAS MOVED FROM THE WINDBREAK, DOWN HIGHWAY 4,
AND JOINED THE PAYLOAD SECTION IN THE RING YARD.
NEXT, SHIP 26'S RECENTLY STACKED COMMON DOME AND MID LOX 8 RING SECTION WAS ROLLED OUT
OF HIGH BAY AND MOVED OVER INTO MID BAY.
HIGH BAY DID NOT STAY EMPTY FOR LONG, HOWEVER, AS SHIP 26'S COMBINED NOSE CONE AND
PAYLOAD SECTIONS WERE MOVED INTO THE BUILDING FROM MID BAY ABOUT AN HOUR LATER.
AND FINALLY FOR T HIS WEEK, WITH SHIP 25 SECURED TO TEST STAND A, CREWS TOOK LIFTS UP AND
UNHOOKED IT FROM THE CRANE.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT ANOTHER SPACEX AND STARBASE WEEKLY UPDATE BROUGHT TO YOUO BY LABPADRE.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK AND THANKS FORO WATCHING.
LABPADRE -- OUT!