when most of us here starship we think about something from a science-fiction
movie or our favorite TV show however we live in a time where the idea of
starships won't be considered as fiction for a long time anymore
it is in fact becoming a reality and the first step have been taken what is a
starship all the space related travel of modern times has been interplanetary and
accomplishing interstellar travel will be a tremendous breakthrough for our
species interstellar travels will provide answers and solutions to the
future of our existence a starship can be classified as a spacecraft designed
for interstellar travel it must be able to travel at speeds faster than light or
make use of a shortcut as provided by wormholes to reach a destination far
away from earth spaceX are actively working on the first interplanetary ship
starship the pioneering generation of starship will accomplish much less than
interstellar travel nonetheless it provides a foundation that is crucial to
reach the ultimate goal initially known as big Falcon rocket Elon Musk announced
a name change of the craft feeling that the name is more suited for the end goal
and future versions of starship what is the purpose of starship the current
intention of starship is to aid humans in becoming a multi-planet species in
the short term it will enable the transport of the largest payloads up to
date and further down the line it will provide transport for a high number of
people to another planet whether it be to and from the moon or Mars
additionally starship has the ability to support earth to earth transport which
will enable long-distance trips to be completed within an hour the main
selling point of starship is that it will be the first of its kind to be
fully reusable reusability in this case mean that starship will be fully
reusable after landing and its booster called super-heavy will detach from the
main ship after entering low-earth orbit re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and
successfully land on the launch pad to be used again without any
refurbishment as well as serving the purpose to make starship refillable why
starship is built from stainless steel the large diameter of starship is the
most noticeable this large diameter is due to a pressurized volume of a
thousand cubic meters which can hold a cargo load of up to 150 metric tons or
100 people at first the main material selection of starship seems
counterintuitive with materials such as aluminium and carbon fiber that is
lighter and provides adequate strength stainless steel does not seem like a
good choice due to starship being fully reusable it will be sent from and re-enter
the Earth's atmosphere for ascent you want something that is strong at
cryogenic temperatures due to the liquid oxygen propellant and for entry a
scorching heat must be withstood this is where the high quality stainless
steel 301 alloy starts to shine at cryogenic temperatures the stainless
steel exhibits an increase in strength thus not having any issues of the
material becoming brittle steel can easily operate at temperatures of around
840 degrees Celsius whereas both aluminium and carbon fiber are unable to
operate at these temperatures as required another benefit of the
stainless steel is that heat shielding on the back side is unnecessary the side
facing the wind does however require a means of cooling and will be the first
to feature a regenerative heat shield this heat shield will operate by means of
transpiration cooling where a double walled shell with either water or fuel
flowing between the stainless steel layers of micro openings on the outer
side of the shell provide an exit to the fluid the heat at the windward side will
then be marginally absorbed by the fuel and thus cool this side of starship
although stainless steel is the heavier material choice it provides overall
better properties for the extreme operating circumstances of the
spacecraft as well as being the more economic approach we will be part of the
generation that colonizes Mars but will we stop there will we go beyond that and
pursue interstellar travel let me know what you think about the future of space