3 ms·
To be mass-efficient, steel for a rocket the size of Falcon 9 would have to be so thin as to crumple easily—a "balloon tank". This makes manufacturing and handl
by CarVac 6y ago
To be mass-efficient, steel for a rocket the size of Falcon 9 would have to be so thin as to crumple easily—a "balloon tank". This makes manufacturing and handling difficult, as the structure must be either fully supported or pressurized at all times. (Starship is large enough that the steel skin ends up a workable 4mm thick)
This has precedent in early Atlas rockets and the Centaur second stage still used to this day, but that's not what SpaceX had experience with on Falcon 1 (where it would have been even more unreasonably thin) and they probably just leveraged their knowledge to create as derivative a vehicle as possible when making F9.
- m4rtink 6y agoFor the record, a couple Atlas rockets did crumble under their own weight due to unexpected loss of pressure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imkdz63agHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imkdz63agHY And some Atlas missiles on display are still being pressurized to this day: http://heroicrelics.org/ussrc/atlas/dsc18272.jpg.html http://heroicrelics.org/ussrc/atlas/dsc18272.jpg.html Like really, there is a compressor next to the rocket that keeps constant pressure inside against the slight leaks. Pretty impressive for 40-50 old rocket left outside exposed to the elements to be still this airtight. :)