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SpaceX Starship

Void_of_Light said:
it seems like adding legs like the falcon has would solve that.

maybe this is just cheaper for a prototype and they have a real solution planned.

i can’t imagine they will try to land on the moon or Mars the way it is now.
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You're right that bigger legs that keep the engines further off the deck would definitely help. I think the fact that the Falcon 9's engine are fully exposed versus being in that skirt probably vastly changes the pressure and heat that gets swirled around in there. But it seems like they haven't figured out how they want to handle the leg situation yet, these definitely seem to be a temporary answer. The reality is they'll probably have multiple different vehicles with different leg configurations in the end. You may or may not have heard that Elon put the idea out there that they want to catch the boosters (assumed by the grid fins) with their launch tower, then set it back on the mount. More recently, he has even talked about trying to catch the starships themselves with the launch tower. The idea is insane, but if they make it work they save many many tons of dry mass which further improves the payload capacity. But this only works for earth bound starships, most likely their refuelling tankers that are going to ferry tons of fuel up into LEO to make the rest of this system work as intended.

But that's not the only version as they also have to be able to land on unimproved surfaces like the moon and mars. The latest render of the Lunar starship (a page or two back) has 4 larger legs closer in design to what the Falcon 9 has, which makes sense for landing on rough terrain and needing to be able to level the vehicle on any slope it lands on.
 
I just saw the starlink satellites for the first time last night. Me and some frienda we’re sitting around a firepit and I looked up and saw 10-12 racing across the sky. I hollered oh shit there are those starlink satellites. My friends had no clue about them never heard of them. Then about 5-10 minutes later about 50 came by. They were from horizon to horizon.

I have to say it was super cool, but Im not looking forward to them being a constant sight in the sky if that is what they have planned. To see them once a night is cool though.
 
KungFooMASTA said:
I just saw the starlink satellites for the first time last night. Me and some frienda we’re sitting around a firepit and I looked up and saw 10-12 racing across the sky. I hollered oh shit there are those starlink satellites. My friends had no clue about them never heard of them. Then about 5-10 minutes later about 50 came by. They were from horizon to horizon.

I have to say it was super cool, but Im not looking forward to them being a constant sight in the sky if that is what they have planned. To see them once a night is cool though.
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I am. I can think of no cooler reminder that we have a future other than squabbling in the dirt.
 
I actually got to see two Starlink trains last night as well, and I'll have another chance tonight.

You shouldn't be too worried about the visibility though. They're only visible in the weeks after their launch, as they're still shiny side down reflecting light and they're still in dense formations. As they get into their final position they continuously spread out, and they flip their non reflective side downward so they become essentially invisible. So tightly packed clusters were just launched, spread out clusters are part way through orbit raising, and you can't even tell they're there once operational.

Here's a map to give you an idea of where they are (and how many there are)
Starlink satellite tracker

And here's a cool tool that allows you to plug in your town, and tells you of all upcoming passes, how bright they will be and where/when to look
SpaceX Starlink Satellites Tracker
 
Another Starlink launch tonight, the stream goes live in an hour 40 or so. This one is special, because it's the first time any falcon 9 has attempted it's 10th flight. That was a milestone they talked about back in the day, but so far it looks like they're just going to blow right past it. Hope they land this one.

 
Heck yeah. I really like that system, and hope they get it reliable enough to start getting paying customers. They've had a rocky few years with some malfunctions, but hoping for the best.

Actually interesting timing on the bump, it's been a bit quiet on the Starship front. But there's actually a live stream right now, they're constructing the orbital launch tower that will support the full stack of Starship + Super Heavy booster. With the successful flight of SN15, they've been pouring tons of time and effort into the infrastructure out there at the launch pad itself to get ready for an orbital attempt coming this summer.

There was a chance SN15 was going to fly again (they lifted it back onto the launch mount), but as of this live stream, it sounds like they may be putting it on a transporter to take it back to the construction site. SN16 is done and waiting though, just seems to be on hold for this infrastructure work

 
Falcon 9 with another 60 starlink satellites scheduled to go up at 2:59 EDT today.
If anyone even cares anymore -lol. Those launches are becoming so common place that soon the only time we will hear about them is when they fail.
 
Fuzzydog said:
Falcon 9 with another 60 starlink satellites scheduled to go up at 2:59 EDT today.
If anyone even cares anymore -lol. Those launches are becoming so common place that soon the only time we will hear about them is when they fail.
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I care, every launch brings me closer to finally having real Internet at the house.
 
Void_of_Light said:
I care, every launch brings me closer to finally having real Internet at the house.
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I’ve got my dishy kit sitting in the RV ready and waiting to be set up when we get to our new home in Maine next month. The more satellites that go up, the better the speed and connection will be.
 
Hey, did you guys know another 60 are going up today :flipoff2:

This is the last launch to complete this "shell" of sats, so that's pretty cool. Sounds like they'll start doing some polar launches soon along with the start of the next shell. Which is sweet, because it should mean launches will be coming from Vandenberg again soon so I can finally go see one.
 
It got hot today so that means my cable Internet is going to magically stop working and actually just did over lunch. Time to sign up for star link
 
Blacksheep10 said:
It got hot today so that means my cable Internet is going to magically stop working and actually just did over lunch. Time to sign up for star link
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I'm sure you've pulled your hair out checking just about everything, but just in case... is your cable modem, router, wifi, whatever somewhere that might not have good airflow causing them to overheat?
 
Harry Johnson said:
I'm sure you've pulled your hair out checking just about everything, but just in case... is your cable modem, router, wifi, whatever somewhere that might not have good airflow causing them to overheat?
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More than likely its the connection at the pole or ground box. The service at my old place would get shitty every time there was a major temperature swing. Finally got a good tech that tightened every connection from the ground box and wherever the next tie was and never had a problem in the remaining 4 years I was there.
 
Whole road goes out. 13 houses. 4 different techs all summer last year. No answers. Fuck them. Time for something via waves not wires.
 
Successful launch and landing of the first stage, second stage is in the coast phase now. I do have to say, the shock wave of the rocket going supersonic about 1 minute into flight was the biggest I can recall seeing to date, that was sweet.
 
TheFlyingDildocupine said:
Watching those things land autonomously on a barge that drives itself never gets old.

I slapped starlink on my house, it's surprisingly good. The self aligning robotic dish made me have a geek-gasm when I fired it up.
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Who gives a shit about your opinion? I mean, really?
 
AgitatedPancake said:
Successful launch and landing of the first stage, second stage is in the coast phase now. I do have to say, the shock wave of the rocket going supersonic about 1 minute into flight was the biggest I can recall seeing to date, that was sweet.
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I thought it went bye bye when that happened. I don't think it's normal to see it do that . Might have been because it was such a clear day. Very Challengerish
 
bgaidan said:
More than likely its the connection at the pole or ground box. The service at my old place would get shitty every time there was a major temperature swing. Finally got a good tech that tightened every connection from the ground box and wherever the next tie was and never had a problem in the remaining 4 years I was there.
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Figured as much, but I thought I'd throw that out there just in case.

I had to argue with a cable tech here about signal quality. Nothing with my setup had changed when suddenly we started dropping packets left and right. Cranky old dude came out and said it must be my wifi and tried to leave. I told him I wanted him to check the signal from the street and he got all pissy and tried to argue with me. Stood my ground and he went out in a huff to do it. 45 minutes later he comes back in, says he needs to check something on the pole and goes to get his ladder. 2 hours and 2 more cable vans later and I had my speeds back. Screw lazy cable techs. They will go out of their way to make an issue someone else's problem unless you force the issue.
 
Void_of_Light said:
I thought it went bye bye when that happened. I don't think it's normal to see it do that . Might have been because it was such a clear day. Very Challengerish
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Yeah It grabbed my attention real quick when I saw it, especially because it had an effect on the exhaust. I'm definitely not used to seeing it go that intense, but like you noted it just must have been the perfect conditions.

As far as you guys commenting on the reliability of your cable, Starlink will get there soon enough but right now during the beta, they're not at 100% uptime yet. Most people have pretty solid reliable service, but I've also seen comments from some that do have intermittent outages still just because they're still improving the software side of the whole system, and the satellite density isn't super high yet (even at 1,600 sats up). But in the next year or two with thousands more sats, I'd expect the uptime to be right on par with standard expectations of 99.9999whatever percent haha
 
"What is Spaceship Two's flappy wing about?"

The system, conceived by Scaled Composites aerospace designer Burt Rutan, was modeled after the self-righting characteristics of a badminton shuttlecock — which is the origin of the "feathered" label.

It was developed to resolve a dilemma Rutan faced when he was designing SpaceShipOne: How can a rocket craft that shoots almost straight up and descends almost straight down transform itself into a glider during atmospheric re-entry?

Rutan's solution was to give the plane transformable wings. During the rocket-powered ascent, SpaceShipOne would have a sleek aerodynamic profile. But when the plane reached the height of its flight and started heading back down through the atmosphere, the back sections of the wings would be rotated as much as 65 degrees.

The result? The wings assumed a V shape, which increased atmospheric drag to slow down the craft. The configuration also kept the plane in the proper heads-up orientation even if the pilots did nothing — which is the origin of the "carefree" label. When SpaceShipOne slowed down enough to handle aerodynamic flight, the wing sections were rotated back into the straight position for the final glide back to the runway.

The system worked, and helped SpaceShipOne win the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004. SpaceShipOne is now hanging from the ceiling of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, alongside Charles Lindbergh's historic Spirit of St. Louis airplane.
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I'm about 40 miles south of St. Louis and got the invite to join beta back in March. Speeds have doubled since I got it. I have about 5-6 minutes of downtime every 24 hours, so it can sometimes be problematic on zoom calls. Ping times are usually between 30-60ms.

Screenshot_20210523-120553_Speedtest.jpg
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Something a bit different than sending 60 starlink satellites - a brand new Falcon 9 booster taking a dragon resupply ship up to the ISS tomorrow at 1:29 EDT.
 
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