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What a week for SpaceX! Two days ago they landed Bob and Doug, and now they succeeded to hop a water tower (as a side project nonetheless, AFAIK only a small pa

by BbzzbB 6y ago

What a week for SpaceX! Two days ago they landed Bob and Doug, and now they succeeded to hop a water tower (as a side project nonetheless, AFAIK only a small part of SpaceX is on this team)! Can't wait to see future iterations and improvements of this beast, especially to see more Raptors strapped on!

Robotbeat 6y ago
The water tower was last year. This is a prototype using the same production technique as for the production versions. EDIT: More grain silo than water tower. ;)
- byw 6y ago
  Is it just me or does the workmanship look like a step up?
  - djaychela 6y ago
    They've been interating on the construction process with each one built. I've been welding (DIY) for 30 years, and the first ones looked pretty bad to me - lots of distortion, and I actually thought the first one was just a mock-up. But the process is clearly improving with each build. I still think the nose cone looks like it will improve in the future, as it doesn't look as precise as the main body is now looking, but I'm sure they're working on it. This, overall, is an amazing achievement. I watch every F9 landing that I can, and it never ceases to amaze me. The FH two-booster landing looked like straight out of a SciFi movie. But this... this is next level again. The 20km flight will be truly incredible.
    - fiftyfifty 6y ago
      It's also worth pointing out that the new prototypes, like SN5 that flew today, are made with significantly thinner steel over what "Star Hopper" was made with last year. They have spent a lot of effort perfecting their manufacturing technique so they can make these things as light as possible and still achieve the safety margins that they need to support manned flight. That's why they need the 22 ton weight on the top for this flight, because they can't throttle a single Raptor engine low enough to hover these new designs.
erikrothoff 6y ago
Elon has mentioned that it’s all hands on deck for Starship. The only resources not on Starship should be focused on making the Dragon secure and certified. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/07/elon-musk-email-to-spacex-employees-starship-is-the-top-priority.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/07/elon-musk-email-to-spacex-em...

by BbzzbB 6y ago

Robotbeat 6y ago

The water tower was last year. This is a prototype using the same production technique as for the production versions. EDIT: More grain silo than water tower. ;)

byw 6y ago
Is it just me or does the workmanship look like a step up?
- djaychela 6y ago
  They've been interating on the construction process with each one built. I've been welding (DIY) for 30 years, and the first ones looked pretty bad to me - lots of distortion, and I actually thought the first one was just a mock-up. But the process is clearly improving with each build. I still think the nose cone looks like it will improve in the future, as it doesn't look as precise as the main body is now looking, but I'm sure they're working on it. This, overall, is an amazing achievement. I watch every F9 landing that I can, and it never ceases to amaze me. The FH two-booster landing looked like straight out of a SciFi movie. But this... this is next level again. The 20km flight will be truly incredible.
  - fiftyfifty 6y ago
    It's also worth pointing out that the new prototypes, like SN5 that flew today, are made with significantly thinner steel over what "Star Hopper" was made with last year. They have spent a lot of effort perfecting their manufacturing technique so they can make these things as light as possible and still achieve the safety margins that they need to support manned flight. That's why they need the 22 ton weight on the top for this flight, because they can't throttle a single Raptor engine low enough to hover these new designs.

erikrothoff 6y ago

Elon has mentioned that it’s all hands on deck for Starship. The only resources not on Starship should be focused on making the Dragon secure and certified. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/07/elon-musk-email-to-spacex-employees-starship-is-the-top-priority.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/07/elon-musk-email-to-spacex-em...