WELCOME BACK...
AND THANKS FOR TUNING INTO EPISODE 26 OF LABPADRE'S SPACEX AND STARBASE WEEKLY UPDATES.
WE'VE GOT SOME COOL STUFF FOR YOU TODAY.
SO LET'S DIG IN!
STARTING OFF EARLY ON FRIDAY MORNING THE CHOPSTICKS WERE
LOWERED AHEAD OF BOOSTER 7'S TESTING.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT THE BUILD SITE, A QUAD SECTION FOR BOOSTER 9 WAS MOVED INTO MEGA BAY.
OVER IN FLORIDA, MODULE 7 OF SPACEX'S NEW LAUNCH TOWER WAS FINALLY STACKED, WITH
MODULE 8 AND 9 COMING NEXT.
A LITTLE LATER ON AT STARBASE, A GROVE CRANE WAS SEEN MAKING ITS WAY TO THE LAUNCH SITE.
OVER AT THE BUILD SITE, THE RAPTOR DELIVERY
TRAILER ARRIVED AND WAS SEEN MAKING ITS WAY TOWARD TENT 1.
BACK IN FLORIDA, ANOTHER INTERNAL DIAMETER RING SEGMENT WAS STACKED ON THE TANK
STRUCTURE ADJACENT TO THE LAUNCH TOWER.
RETURNING TO STARBASE, SHIP 24'S LOX TANK HATCH WAS OPENED, HINTING THAT WORK NEEDED
TO BE DONE BEFORE FURTHER TESTING THE VEHICLE.
ROUNDING OUT THINGS ON FRIDAY, A VERY SPECIAL FLYOVER WAS SEEN AS JARED ISAACMAN TOOK
RGV AERIAL PHOTOGRAPY'S MAURICIO ON A FLYOVER OF STARBASE.
WITH CREWS AT THE BUILD SITE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK, A SECOND WORKSTATION WAS
MOVED INTO MEGA BAY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
AROUND MID-DAY, THE EASILY IDENTIFIABLE BOEING E-3A AIRBORNE WARNING AND CONTROL
SYSTEM, OR "AWACS," WAS SEEN FLYING OVER STARBASE.
FLYOVERS CONTINUED THROUGHOUT THE DAY, INCLUDING THESE 4 T-6 TRAINING AIRCRAFT
DURING SOUTH TEXAS' ROAR BY THE SHORE AIR AND SPACE EXPO.
ALSO SPOTTED FLYING OVER STARBASE WAS ANOTHER F-22, WHOSE APPEARANCES THROUGHOUT
THE WEEK DEMONSTRATED IT'S IMPRESSIVE CAPABILITIES FOR ALL TO SEE.
MEANWHILE AT THE BUILD SITE, SAND AND FORMWORK WERE PLACED AND REBAR WAS LAID OUT IN
FRONT OF MEGA BAY FOR A NEW CONCRETE SLAB.
LATER ON, A RING SECTION LOAD SPREADER WAS MOVED OUT OF HIGH BAY.
WORKERS WERE SEEN BREAKING UP AN AREA OF CONCRETE NEXT TO THE NEW REBAR
WHILE A FRONT LOADER CLEANED UP THE EXCAVATED MATERIAL.
CLOSING OUT SATURDAY EVENING, FALCON 9 BOOSTER B1069-2 LAUNCHED STARLINK GROUP 4-23
INTO ORBIT BEFORE LANDING ON SPACEX'S AUTONOMOUS DRONE SHIP A SHORTFALL OF GRAVITAS.
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING A GANTRY CRANE WAS
REQUIRED TO LIFT THE MASSIVE CAN CRUSHER BASE ONTO AN SPMT.
AFTER THE STACKING OF MODULE 7, THE LR11350 CRANE WAS CAREFULLY LAID DOWN TO RECEIVE A
BOOM EXTENSION AHEAD OF MODULE 8 AND 9'S STACKING.
THE RECENTLY MOBILIZED CAN CRUSHER BASE WAS WHEELED OVER TO THE SUBORBITAL FUEL FARM
AHEAD OF INTEGRATION WITH BOOSTER TEST TANK B7.1.
EARLY THE FOLLOWING MORNING THE AFOREMENTIONED TEST TANK WAS PLACED ONTO THE CAN
CRUSHER BASE, NOW AWAITING THE TOP HAT.
AROUND THE SAME TIME SHIP 25'S NOSE CONE AND
PAYLOAD SECTION WERE STACKED ONTO ITS FORWARD DOME SEGMENT.
WITH WORK COMPLETED IN S24'S LOX TANK, SHIP 24
WAS RELEASED FROM THE LR11000'S LOAD SPREADER.
A FEW HOURS LATER THE LAUNCH TOWER'S SHIP
QUICK DISCONNECT ARM WAS SWUNG OUT OF THE WAY AHEAD OF BOOSTER TESTING.
BOOSTER 7'S TRANSPORT STAND ALONG WITH A GROVE
CRANE WAS SEEN LEAVING THE LAUNCH SITE A LITTLE WHILE LATER.
THE CHOPSTICKS WERE THEN RAISED AND OPENED
SIGNALING A POTENTIAL STATIC FIRING OF BOOSTER 7'S RAPTOR 2S.
THE ORBITAL FUEL FARM LATER CAME TO LIFE, FILLING BOOSTER 7'S TANKS WITH PROPELLANT.
HOWEVER THE VEHICLE WAS EVENTUALLY DETANKED, AND TESTING WAS CANCELED FOR MONDAY.
LATE TUESDAY NIGHT, THE NEW RAPTOR MAINTENANCE PLATFORM WAS RAISED TO THE BOTTOM OF
THE LAUNCH MOUNT TO ALLOW ACCESS TO BOOSTER 7'S RAPTORS.
THAT EVENING IN FLORIDA, MODULE 8, THE SECOND TO LAST MODULE OF THE 39-A LAUNCH TOWER
WAS ROLLED OUT AHEAD OF STACKING.
JUST A FEW HOURS LATER, THE PLATFORM WAS LOWERED
BACK ONTO ITS WAITING STAND AND MOVED AWAY FROM THE MOUNT.
WEDNESDAY MORNING AT LAUNCH COMPLEX 39A ANOTHER
RING SECTION WAS STACKED ON THE INNER RING OF THE NEW TANK.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WE WERE FINALLY TREATED TO ANOTHER STATIC FIRE AT STARBASE.
ONCE THE TANK FARM SPUN UP AND PROPELLANT LOADED, BOOSTER 7 ROARED AGAIN.
THIS TIME, IT SEEMS THAT 2 RAPTORS WERE LIT
AND AT LEAST ONE OTHER SPUN UP BUT DID NOT FIRE.
SHORTLY AFTER THE STATIC FIRE, SPACEX'S ROBOTIC DOG ZEUS WAS SEEN WALKING THE PERIMETER
OF THE ORBITAL TANK FARM, LIKELY MEASURING GAS LEVELS IN THE AIR.
EARLY THURSDAY MORNING TANK STACKING CONTINUED AT THE CAPE.
THIS TIME WITH ANOTHER SECTION OF THE OUTER TANK BEING ADDED.
WRAPPING UP THE WEEK, FALCON 9 BOOSTER B1069 WAS LIFTED TO THE DOCK FOLLOWING ITS
TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SERVICE FOLLOWING ITS HARD LANDING IN DECEMBER.
ONCE AGAIN A SPECIAL THANKS TO SPACEFLIGHT NOW, AT CAPE CANAVERAL FOR PROVIDING US WITH
QUALITY CONTENT AND UPDATES.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT AND THANKS FOR WATCHING OUR SPACEX AND STARBASE WEEKLY UPDATE.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK AND THANKS FOR WATCHING... LABPADRE - OUT!