First, just a short video linked from Twitter. This is from last week's Transporter 2 mission. At the beginning there's a small black speck visible in upper third of the frame. The video follows that speck for 45 seconds.
Despite the holiday weekend, dropping in on the Lab Padre webcams showed work being done on Super Heavy Booster 3 (B3). No word on when tests might start. The giant crane that has been stacking the Orbital Launch Integration Tower (OLIT) has been lowered onto the ground. It's either getting extended to place the final section of tower or being worked on for some other reason.
A shot of B3 being worked on yesterday, the holiday.
As I write four different bucket trucks/cherry pickers are at various heights on B3 for current work.
Finally, as of a couple of hours ago, the Port at Long Beach says they're expecting Mighty Servant 1 carrying OCISLY tomorrow morning at 6AM Pacific time (PDT). Relayed by Gavin Cornwell of SpaceXFleet.com.
That gives a scale to the ambition. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLooks as though they have the quick disconnect LOX and LCH4 lines there for BN3. But right now it appears that gaeouss N2 is connected to the booster. That leads me to guess that they will be testing that function with the real stuff in this test campaign. Hope the don't get a Starship SN4 result.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that recently Musk said that going 9m was probably a mistake. A big glorious mistake, as it would be far easier to do what he is doing with even a 6m or 7.5m diameter system.
ReplyDeleteAnd then immediately SpaceX released a graphic showing an 18m diameter super-Starship, next to a standard 9m Starship.
Very interesting.
Struck by the contrast that the vehicle is being worked on by dudes in hard hats and Carharts, rather than white suited engineer priests. Not that engineers couldn't wear Carharts.
ReplyDeleteI am an engineer and I wear Carhartt's...
DeleteSome Engineers are VERY hands-on, while others are more comfortable wearing a white shirt/black tie, black pants, and black shoes while sitting at a desk.
DeleteI'm in the "Work Boots and Hard Hat" category....have a hard time being bound to a desk when I could be out there DOING things.
Built in the great outdoors in giant tents and assembled in an open-aired building by guys in t-shirts and jeans and carharts.
ReplyDeleteWhereas everyone else's junk is assembled in clean rooms and secret closed facilities and everyone wears lab coats and bio-hazard suits.
SpaceX is more like a real ship assembly, like in water ships.
And I believe SpaceX will be leasing the former Sea Launch facilities in Long Beach. be nice to see activity there again. I looked at Google Maps the other day, and it saddened me to see the empty docks and parking lots there.
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