Bigger, taller, and faster - the starship has got it all, and this time it's heavier,
and ready to soar the sky.
Spacex is right on an adventurous move to blast into space this year, and the first
step is giving the starship a full wet dress rehearsal - or call it flight preparation
test it needs to lift-off safely.
From the new raptor engines to the upgraded 33 raptor 2 engines, stacked under the super
heavy booster like a set of workhorses to propel the tallest and most powerful rocket
ever built.
The concept is a major horizon required to make the starship reach the moon.
Stick around as we elaborate more on how spacex moved ship 24 and booster 7 from their comfort
zone, overfilled the fuel tanks with propellant, and conducted a befitting wet dress rehearsal
on the fully stacked starship.
This is one of those magical tech savvy videos you won't want to miss as spacex went practically
crazy to do the unimaginable.
Last year, you could imagine how we all witnessed the long-awaiting first test flight of NASA’s
moon-bound SLS rocket, even though the rocket tank had a glitch, yet still sailed up.
We were happy NASA showed its best to the world.
The good news is - this year, it's now spacex's time to conquer space and perform more actions
at the launch pad in starbase.
All these while, spacex has been moving from one testing to another - it was around May
last year that the company did an ambient proof test on the starship to ensure that
the rocket and all its plumbings were structurally sound and fluid pipes are well sealed without
leakage
And Spacex continues to render sophisticated upgrades to booster 7 and ship 24, and they
were certain that the skyscraper-looking rocket can withstand what is coming.
Only a few rockets attract the kind of curiosity and prestige SpaceX’s behemoth Starship
does and the most incredible company in the world, loaded ship 24 and booster 7 with propellant,
filling both rocket's tanks to the brim.
This actually happened last month, on Monday, January 23rd.
After hours of conditioning the Starbase, Texas orbital launch site’s giant tank farm,
the company opened the floodgates and loaded Ship 24 and Booster 7 with approximately 10.7
million pounds of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant in about 90
minutes.
Once fully loaded, the combined weight of the rocket and propellant likely exceeded
5000 tons that is almost 11M pounds, making Starship the heaviest rocket in history.
However the starship will need a great deal of thrust to get into space with a weight
like this.
But you wouldn't believe that this was the first time spacex has fully integrated the
Starship and the booster and loaded the full-capacity fuel tank.
Spacex did not hold or slow down operation during the wet dress rehearsal.
The process continued for several hours, and no damages were noticed in the process, indicating
that the rocket’s systems were all working well enough together to smoothly complete
it on the first try.
The only shocking behavior visible during the multi-hour test came shortly after Starship
was topped off.
Booster 7 opened one of its methane tank gas vents to relieve pressure, which appeared
to vent liquid methane at the top of the booster and under the launch mount, producing a flammable
thick cloud thousands of feet long.
Well, the cause of the propellant cloud is; like that the Super Heavy was overfilled,
and the liquid vent was an intentional response to that error.
Thanks to his goodness there were no sparks reaching the methane cloud, else the starbase
would entertain a disastrous explosion in a matter of seconds.
Spacex went on to make an amiable tweet on twitter that reads;
"Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today.
This was the first time an integrated Ship and Booster were fully loaded with more than
10 million pounds of propellant"
And the same day, the company also completed the complex test associated with that milestone
without running into any major issues.
Also, you won't argue that spacex is always hell-bent on building, testing, and learning
from minimum-viable-product prototypes as quickly as possible, even if failures were
guaranteed.
So that's the company's production procedures.
They stuck to it and it worked out as intended.
However, in any testing, SpaceX always has it in mind that failures are imminent, and
even though any forthcoming failure will be a lesson, they always have another prototype
ready to carry the torch forward.
The wet dress rehearsal was somehow a miracle because Starship prototypes rarely completed
ground or flight tests on the first try, as they always encounter flops on every test
– and they were even weary of fear, perhaps something may go wrong.
Though safety engineers were ready to seize any catastrophic situation – just in case
the bad side of the coin is flipped.
There is a slight chance SpaceX simply got lucky on this one, but Starship’s first
fully-assembled wet dress rehearsal indicates that that caution has paid off.
Though the company still has a lot of work left to do - first is to prepare Ship 24 and
Booster 7 for first orbital launch attempt.
Booster 7 must still complete one or several more static fires, during which it could become
the most powerful rocket ever tested on planet earth.
To reduce risk during static fire test, SpaceX will likely remove Ship 24 while testing Super
Heavy, and reassemble both rockets again, only if Booster 7 passes its tests.
SpaceX also needs to repair the pad after static fire test, because as always, the launch
mount always have its normal issues - that is - the launch mount and base are usually
shattered by the heavy-stormy blast of the 33 raptor 2 engines - indicating that these
raptor engines are so powerful that spacex is still wrapping its head around a viable
means to aid it withstand booster 7 downward thrust.
Trust the company engineers are superb and let's watch as they amaze us with a lasting
solution.
The company later confirmed that the test was a “full flight-like wet dress rehearsal,”
and data gathered from it would “help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well
as the performance of Starship and the orbital launch operations.”
And don't forget too quickly that in rocket technology, a wet dress rehearsal is used
to fully load up a rocket with propellant and oxidizer to ensure that all of its fuelling
systems match design requirements.
While most of the attention during a rocket launch is focused on liftoff, pre-launch operations
start hours before.
These include fueling the vehicle and testing the ground system equipment, especially pipes
and nozzles for leaks and other possible faults.
The company has flaunt several photographs of Starship on the pad at Starbase since its
successful we dress rehearsal was reported this month, and from all corners of spacex
fans, it was set to raise $750 million in a funding all round, and that values SpaceX
at $137 billion.
Meaning; if the fully stack starship finally lift-off into orbit as we all are expecting
soon, spacex fans and investors will donate close to a billion dollars to support the
hard work Elon Musk has been consistently doing over the years.
What will now be the next step for spacex, after this wed-dress rehearsal - lets find
out.
The foresee next step will likely include static test firing of the booster’s rocket
engines.
Well, it's referred to as static test because the booster base will not be lifted from the
launch mount.
That's it will be static on the launch mount.
The 33 raptor 2 engines will only fire, perhaps to their full thrust potentials as clamps
on the launch mount holds the booster down.
And again, if all goes well as planned, the fully stacked starship orbital test flight
could come as soon as March.
Space and terrestrial body researchers have got a special interest in this particular
wet dress rehearsal - for instance:
Jordan Bimm, a historian at the University of Chicago who focuses on space technology
and exploration out of overwhelming joy, said that:
“If you want to use a rocket metaphor: The fueling stage is over.
A lot just happened and now it’s time to see who has orbital velocity amongst the smaller
startups,”
Also Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar and consultant specializing in space policy;
vibrated his thoughts saying;
"A successful Starship orbital flight would be “critical” to the growth of the space
economy"
Meanwhile, SpaceX continues construction of rocket facilities at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida on an integration/launch tower nearly identical to the one at Boca Chica.
Now this is for you…
If prominent researchers have got a lot more adorable praises for the starship's wet dress
rehearsal, what have you to say?
You also need to know wait is over for SpaceX Starship's first orbital launch attempt, so
everything seems to be going well, click on the video to know more about this.