SpaceX

Looks like the Ship Quick-Disconnect is back!

Unrolled tweet thread at threadreaderapp.com by Ryan Hansen Space @RyanHansenSpace. It's a look at the details of the steel plate parts and assembly under the Orbital Launch Mount.

RGV Sneak Peek shows some nice shots of the steel plates, as well as the pour under the OLM. Looks like a lot more concrete is needed though, wonder when that’ll happen.

The steel plates look ready for transport, so I bet this next pour will be soon — it seems to be the main hold up.

SpaceX @SpaceX on Twitter

Ship 25 completes a six-engine static fire test at Starbase in Texas

11 seconds. In the audio, only a little bit of HONK at the end.

Someone pointed out that the flames start out as a triangle, but then switch rotated 60 degrees when the vacuum engines start - V to ^.

A comment in The Other Place mentioned that it looks like a little spalled concrete at 4 seconds in.

So the big news of the day and night was what is believed to be the center plate of the water deluge system. It is thought that it will be placed directly under the Orbital Launch Mount.

@LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.ee already posted (at top level) "CSI Starbase video on new Deluge system", a deep dive part 1. The URL I see for the post is https://lemmy.world/post/879748 , because that's how I access this. The canonical one is https://lemm.ee/post/530280 .

CSI Starbase SPMT Tracker @SpmtTracker posted a tweet with a picture of what is very likely to be a vertical stand for the center plate. The image is on Imgur. The tweet is here. Ryan Hansen Space @RyanHansenSpace tweeted a rendering of how it might look under the OLM. This should be the image:

@LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.ee posted below (if sorted by new) a link to a 13-minute video by Starship Gazer, of people working in the tent on the center plate. https://lemm.ee/comment/534238 . Someone commented that, from 4 minutes on, it's comedy gold. People were grinning around them. I'm told that someone is standing on top of the cheater pipe at one point.

NASASpaceflight posted a video of the rollout of the center. It's about 1 hour 26 minutes long. The stand / jig was on the first truck; the center plate with some people on it was on the next truck. The clearest views are about 17 minutes on.

More pour info, this time from tweets from Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase. The truck counts basically match those from @LettuceTurnipTheBeet@lemm.ee's post earlier.

SpaceX has received their final load of concrete for today's Orbital Launch Mount foundation work. Here are the totals after the 15.3 hour marathon:

June 25th - 132 Truck loads

July 3rd - 171 Truck loads

Total Volume = 2,302 m^3 = 3030 yd^3

Total Weight = 5,411 Tons

For reference, a Fully loaded Starship ~ 5,000 Tons

Note: There were 4 additional trucks that showed up but were turned back around without offloading.

Shoutout to agents @VickiCocks15 and @SpmtTracker for keeping track of all these.

4:11 PM · Jul 3, 2023

and

Obviously this number is significantly greater than we predicted. For those who asked, that previous number was not considering the area in yellow, which were also completed today. This area is technically outside of the true foundation of the OLM

with a picture by RGV Aerial Photography.

Ship 25 completed a flight-like chill and spin of the Raptor engine pumps, stopping just before engine ignition. As a result of the test, cryogenic liquid oxygen formed a visible cloud beneath the ship. This checked out vital systems in advance of the upcoming static fire.

source

John Kraus @johnkrausphotos:

In a Twitter Space with @ashleevance, @elonmusk shares that Starship will hot-stage during the next flight, lighting engines on the ship with some engines still running on the booster, as to Never Stop Thrusting!™️

"Hot staging" is firing the upper stage engines while it's still nominally attached to the lower stage (like resting on or loosely attached). The advantages that I gather exist: It's fast. It takes care of stage separation without needing springs or little rockets or a flip or anything. Before firing a liquid-fueled stage that may have gases in a tank ("ullage"), you have to settle the contents so that the engine intakes suck only liquid (maybe using "ullage rockets"), but if you're still accelerating at separation, that's automatically taken care of.

But if you intend to reuse the first stage, well, I wonder whether six engines igniting will be too hard on it.

Apparently U.S. Titan rockets, a lot of Soviet / Russian ones (Soyuz, Progress, N-1), and (some?) Chinese Long March rockets were designed with hot staging.

Joe Barnard @joebarnard replies: "'okay so when I hot stage it’s “an anomaly” and I’ve “torched another flight computer” but when SpaceX does it it’s fine???'

Much lifting and lowering and all sorts of craney stuff, but it's believed that all the manifolds are in place by now. A nice Imgur picture of a manifold being craned.

What about it!? @FelixSchlang tweet from 3:03 PM - Jun 29, 2023:

It happened!!!

SpaceX opened the wall to the inventory tent and revealed one of the water deluge plates to us up close and countless other things in there!

High res pictures for supporters on all platforms coming soon!

The image alone.

In a reply, they said it looks to be upside down.

In The Other Place, u/warp99 wrote,

Looks like the segments are around 400mm thick and constructed from 40mm (38mm=1.5"?) steel plate The overall shape is a hexagon about 10m across the flats with each corner notched out.

They also speculated on how to weld the edges together: maybe put them on a stand above the final location, weld them from above and below, attach cranes and remove the stand, lower into place.

Starship Gazer (as seen on Nitter) had more pictures.

New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

Starbase live-

8:57am- Black pipe lifted over towards the dog house area (most likely a cryo pipe but couldn’t tell for sure)

9:07am- LR11000 moves a deluge pipe. Lifted over to the work area by where the deluge stand is parked

9:30am- Second deluge pipe lifted. Moved to the same area

9:54am- 3rd deluge pipe moved

10:12am-4th deluge pipe moved (So apparently all of the pipes they moved to the side a couple weeks ago, they’re moving back over to be worked on)

10:20am- Looks like all of the boards have been removed and now they are starting to remove the metal poles of the scaffolding below the OLM.

10:26am- 5th deluge pipe moved. Crane didn’t swing back over this time so the Y pipe looks like it will stay in it’s current position

12:15pm- Scaffolding continues to be removed

2:15pm- Crane is starting to use the bucket to lift loads off of the top of the OLM as well as underneath.

5:15pm- Crane has lowered and left the OLM area. The 2 man lifts that have been working on the scaffolding have also lowered. Work continues around the base of the OLM.

6:30pm- Crane and man lift back up working on the BQD side of the OLM

9:15pm- Fireworks

9:25pm- SPI fireworks

(This gets synced)

Check out this RGV picture from the plate in the tent from above: https://twitter.com/rgvaerialphotos/status/1674925187437928450?s=46&t=Mj914Aam14loAYQOISZ9zQ

I know Twitter links are kind of impossible to follow right now, but don’t think I can embed an image in a comment. Anyway, that plate is huge, will be interesting to see them lift and transport it.

TheSpaceEngineer @mcrs987 has a thread on Twitter about hot-staging. A lot of people have been assuming that the lacy structure in his second picture will be the interstage that lets the exhaust out. He argues that it's unlikely, because (1) it doesn't look structurally sound, (2) it has been marked for scrap and no others have been seen, (3) the stringer pattern doesn't match the booster.

He advocates for another ring, which looks much more solid but has some reinforced holes. There have been two of them so far. He also says it resembles the hot-stage interstage of the Titan 2.

Looks like everyone is leaving the launch site in preparation for the static fire.

[Edit] Deputies at the road closure point.

Christian Schiffer - schiffer-soft @schiffer_soft tweeted a diagram of Super Heavy and Starship. It's for something for @Senkrechtstart3; "Senkrechtstarter is the biggest german YouTube-Channel about spaceflight, rockets and newspace." They asked for corrections. Errors have been noted: "Why did you keep the CH4 header tank on the common dome?", and the shapes of the header tanks. But it looks like a good start.

New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

Starbase live-

11:56pm- 2nd manifold is lifted off it’s stand (Who needs sleep anyways)

12:12am- Manifold is going up after some weight was added to balance the load

12:14:40am- Starts to swing over

12:18am- Lowering. This should go to the left of the plate installed earlier

12:23am- Trying to get it aligned

12:25am- Starting to bring it in closer to the OLM

12:31am- Lowered a bit more. (Looks like they’re at the 10ft mark where they paused for quite a while earlier. So I’m off to bed)

12:45am- Lowered into place.

1:21am- Raised again

1:50am- B10 turns into Massey’s

2:01am- Manifold is lowered again

2:20am- Manifold go up, Basket go down

2:25am- Manifold goes down

2:36am- Basket goes up

2:59am- Basket goes down

3:35am- Small crane swings what may have been the 3rd manifold into place under the OLM

3:51am- Grover moves a piece of small diameter pipe over to the left side of the OLM where the excavators are working

5:30am- LR11000 is disconnected from the manifold section

8:10am- Day shift off to a slow start

9:25am- White pipe is lifted by a small crane over by the berm. RGV’s pictures show that they might be running a new water line from the current vertical tank over to the OLM.

9:32am- LR11000 lifts the counterweight that was used to keep the last manifold level during the lift

11:04am- Basket goes up

11:21am- Retaining wall goes up where they’ve been excavating

11:24am- Basket goes down

11:36am- 2 workers carry a plastic pipe over to the pit being dug by the long reach excavator (if it’s metal, enter those guys in a body building competition)

11:55am- 2 dump truck loads of gravel dumped on the other side of the excavator

12:00pm- Nic is leaving NSF

12:53pm- Basket goes up

1:06pm- Basket goes down

1:24pm- Grover lifts a couple pieces of metal off of the top of the OLM

1:40pm- LR11000 moves another counterweight away from the OLM

2:11pm- LR11000 lifts another counterweight

2:17pm- Small crane lifts a piece of metal out of the excavation pit

2:53pm- In todays adventure of what’s stuck at Starbase. We have a small bulldozer hanging off the side of a low boy trailer.

2:53:54- Random kid says hi

2:58pm- The excavator wins again. Bulldozer is on the trailer.

3:34pm- Grover moves what looks like a long straight piece of rebar over to the cryo pit area

3:49pm- Grover lifts a triangular piece of metal to the top of the OLM.

4:13pm- Grover lifts another triangular piece of metal to the top of the OLM.

4:30pm- Grover lifts more rebar over for the cryo pit lid

4:50pm- Basket goes up (to the door on the side of the OLM)

5:02pm- Rocket cows hack the stream

5:03pm- Basket goes down

5:37pm- Basket goes up

5:44pm- Basket goes down

6:32pm- LR11000 picks up a deluge pipe

6:51pm- Grover swings out of the way

6:57pm- LR11000 Starts swinging deluge pipe over. Straight pipe with a curve on the end closest to the OLM.

6:59pm- Starts lowering pipe to the back left side OLM

7:47pm- Small crane lifts a short piece of pipe next to the bigger piece the LR11000 lifted over

7:51pm- Short piece swung back away

9:00pm- Looks like some work on the lid for the cryo pipe vault. Some people going in and out of the ring around the OLM. They’re hiding what we really want to see behind the tarps though.

9:15pm- LR11000 moves to pick up Y pipe

9:41pm- Lifting straps connected to the crane

9:56pm- Y pipe lifted

9:58pm- Swung around the OLM

10:06pm- Lowered to just above the OLM

10:08pm- Guide rope got stuck on smaller crane. Had to go back up.

10:09pm- Going back down

10:12pm- Sat on the ground right outside the pit.

10:14pm- Lifted Up slightly and rotated

10:15pm- Lowered into the pit

10:25pm- For those wanting to keep track, In Ryan’s renders, we’ve seen the bottom pipe that goes to the middle manifold and the Y section that goes over it lifted in so far. There should be 2 short pieces next to connect the Y to the other 2 manifolds.

(This gets synced)

They’re pouring the next (final?) layer under the OLM as we speak. NSF Live Feed.

Three pumps working in tandem, same as last time. Might take another 10 hours or so.

Awesome shot from below someone under the OLM: https://twitter.com/mktsutherland/status/1676747510931668992

Exciting stuff happening right now (See Starbase Live).

• Launch site movement with the SPMT that transported the steel plate for the water deluge system and the SPMT with the Jig!
• Jig is being moved into position and now a crane is being raised! Things are getting exciting this morning.
• At the same time S28 is getting a payload door.

edit: And here’s the latest RGV Flyover video, which is the flyover from last week. Interesting content, but already heavily out of date.

New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

Okay, I was 3 hours into watching the replay and counting trucks when I noticed Rover 2 chat has picked up the count again. So let’s go with their numbers instead of me going cross eyed trying to watch this for 12 hours.

Rover 2-

12:45pm- 144 trucks

13:15- 150 trucks

13:32- First pump truck leaves site. 151 trucks

13:43- Second pump truck leaves site. 152 trucks

14:25- 160 trucks

15:00- It’s the pour that never ends It goes on and on my friends Some trucks started pouring, not knowing how deep it was And they’ll continue pouring because 33 raptors tried to dig to china

15:01- 168 trucks

15:23- 3rd pump truck leaves. The concrete trucks though, they keep coming. 170

15:35- 4th back up pump truck leaves. Truck 171 pulls in

15:45- 174 trucks in. 5 trucks have left with their tag wheels down though indicating they are still full. So they might be done.

16:00- I’m calling it. The last truck was stopped and diverted down to the electrical trench.

174 trucks in. 6 trucks left loaded. So 168 trucks overall. Add in the 132 from the last big pour and we’re at even 300 truck loads.

Starbase Live-

12:23pm- First pump truck lowers

1:13pm- Second pump truck lowers

3:12pm- Third pump truck lowers

(This gets synced)

S25 propellant load is underway.

~~Road closure tomorrow 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.~~

A new road closure is scheduled for tomorrow (June 21). Also 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.

New comment from /u/santacfan on Reddit:

Starbase Live-

5:32pm- Plate starts to be lifted off of the moving jig

5:34pm- SPMT starts rolling out from under OLM

5:36:30m- Plate starts to be lowered

5:40pm- Plate starts to be tilted to horizontal

5:48pm- It’s a little close on one corner. Pulling on those guide ropes a little harder

5:54pm- People are walking on the plate

5:56- Looks like they might be measuring the gaps between the plate and legs. Still tension on the lifting straps

5:59pm- SPMT with moving rig is rolling back to the build site. (So strike that as a possibility for tomorrow’s closure)

6:00pm- Slack on the lifting cables. Officially down

7:56pm- Plate lifted back up a couple of feet

8:02pm- Plate lowered

8:05pm- Plate raised again. Stands placed around edges.

8:39pm- Plate raising even higher

9:08pm- Forklift bringing in even higher stands

(This gets synced)

Renders by Ryan Hansen of the water deluge system, with the final result being:

"SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever built. Its impact is still felt in this Texas community", a CNN article dated Friday, 7 July 2023.

Musk has repeatedly said he’d like to try to launch Starship again as soon as this summer, but the FAA said in a statement to CNN that SpaceX has yet to take public safety actions or submit a mishap report with corrective actions for FAA review and approval.

S25 lost about 11 tiles during the first static fire.

Should we now be creating thread #47?

The big plate is on the transport stand and moving under the OLM as we speak.

That was quick! I thought the concrete would have to set a bit longer before taking such a load but apparently not.