AAPL stock: Click Here |
|
| Tips and Deals ---- For Sale & Free Items ---- 'Friendly' Political Ranting |
You are currently viewing the Tips and Deals forum
|
High Winds Blow Over Musk's "Starship" Prototype in Texas Date: January 23, 2019 01:42PM |
He's no fun, he fell right over!
-Firesign Theater
(How can you be...)
Before
after
SpaceX’s new test rocket topples over thanks to strong Texas winds
[www.theverge.com]
A prototype of SpaceX’s next big rocket fell over and sustained damage in south Texas, thanks to high winds in the area. Images from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas show part of the vehicle sideways on the ground and slightly crumpled. The damage from the mishap will take a few weeks to repair, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Since the holidays, SpaceX engineers in south Texas have been building a prototype of the company’s new Starship rocket. Formerly known as the BFR, the Starship is the next-generation vehicle that SpaceX is developing to transport cargo and people to orbit, as well as to the Moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond.
The Starship prototype has been coming together relatively quickly in Boca Chica, which is also the location of SpaceX’s future private launch site. On January 5th, Musk said that SpaceX was aiming to do the first test flights with the vehicle in four weeks, though eight weeks was probably more likely due to “unforeseen issues.” Well, one of those issues turned out to be wind. In a tweet, Musk said that gusts moving at 50 miles per hour broke the Starship’s mooring blocks, used to secure the vehicle to the ground. This caused the Starship’s fairing, the top half of the spacecraft, to fall over. Musk noted, however, that the actual propellant tanks needed for the prototype are fine.
The prototype that fell over isn’t an exact replica of what the finished Starship will look like. The test vehicle is slightly shorter than the final Starship design, and it will also have just three engines, while the final plans call for seven. Once the damage is repaired and the prototype is complete, the company wants to perform short “hop” tests with the vehicle. These tests entail igniting the vehicle’s engines and sending the rocket to low altitudes between 1,640 and 16,400 feet, before landing it upright back on Earth. The flights should be similar to the hop tests that SpaceX did with its Grasshopper prototype, meant to test out the technology needed for the Falcon 9’s landing system.
-Firesign Theater
(How can you be...)
Before
after
SpaceX’s new test rocket topples over thanks to strong Texas winds
[www.theverge.com]
A prototype of SpaceX’s next big rocket fell over and sustained damage in south Texas, thanks to high winds in the area. Images from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas show part of the vehicle sideways on the ground and slightly crumpled. The damage from the mishap will take a few weeks to repair, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Since the holidays, SpaceX engineers in south Texas have been building a prototype of the company’s new Starship rocket. Formerly known as the BFR, the Starship is the next-generation vehicle that SpaceX is developing to transport cargo and people to orbit, as well as to the Moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond.
The Starship prototype has been coming together relatively quickly in Boca Chica, which is also the location of SpaceX’s future private launch site. On January 5th, Musk said that SpaceX was aiming to do the first test flights with the vehicle in four weeks, though eight weeks was probably more likely due to “unforeseen issues.” Well, one of those issues turned out to be wind. In a tweet, Musk said that gusts moving at 50 miles per hour broke the Starship’s mooring blocks, used to secure the vehicle to the ground. This caused the Starship’s fairing, the top half of the spacecraft, to fall over. Musk noted, however, that the actual propellant tanks needed for the prototype are fine.
The prototype that fell over isn’t an exact replica of what the finished Starship will look like. The test vehicle is slightly shorter than the final Starship design, and it will also have just three engines, while the final plans call for seven. Once the damage is repaired and the prototype is complete, the company wants to perform short “hop” tests with the vehicle. These tests entail igniting the vehicle’s engines and sending the rocket to low altitudes between 1,640 and 16,400 feet, before landing it upright back on Earth. The flights should be similar to the hop tests that SpaceX did with its Grasshopper prototype, meant to test out the technology needed for the Falcon 9’s landing system.
|
Re: High Winds Blow Over Musk's "Starship" Prototype in Texas Date: January 23, 2019 01:49PM |
valuable comment:
PART of it fell over.
"The top of it (empty shell) fell over, not the base of it where all the real hardware is."
story said "part" but really didn't convey the whole tale.
PART of it fell over.
"The top of it (empty shell) fell over, not the base of it where all the real hardware is."
story said "part" but really didn't convey the whole tale.
|
Re: High Winds Blow Over Musk's "Starship" Prototype in Texas Date: January 24, 2019 10:23AM |
Womp-womp.
rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.