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> Also, If I understand it right, both booster and starship will end up in the ocean. You mean for the first test flight? Do you have a source? Long term pla

by gpm 5y ago

> Also, If I understand it right, both booster and starship will end up in the ocean. You mean for the first test flight? Do you have a source? Long term plan is definitely land landing, but I haven't seen anything about the first test flight. I assumed that they would try and land it from the start, they've already landed starship a few times, and it seems like that's where a lot of the unknowns still are (e.g. they're apparently adjusting wing size down after the last landing)?

gridspy 5y ago
The test flight trajectories are posted with the FAA and covered in numerous places, for instance Article: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/05/13/spacex-outlines-plans-for-around-the-world-starship-test-flight/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/05/13/spacex-outlines-plans-... Video (Marcus House): https://youtu.be/9-9k513UIVw?t=298 https://youtu.be/9-9k513UIVw?t=298 Basically both vechicles (the massive booster and the starship itself (2nd stage) are going to "land" on the water, which means a hover and then sinking into the water. Booster - Boost and separate, boostback burn and splashdown off the coast. Starship - 90 min orbit at about 120km, reentry and spashdown near Hawaii It's fairly quite likely that both would crater on this first flight - for instance this is the first booster flight and also the first reentry for the starship itself. The Falcon 9 booster also had similar flight plans until it could successfully fly a controlled trajectory to the surface of the ocean before they risked a drone ship too.
- gpm 5y ago
  Thanks :)
- milansuk 5y ago
  Yep, this is what I meant, thanks for the sources. Although, I'm not sure about that "then sinking into the water" part. There are big LO2 and methane tanks and If they are empty enough and closed, both Starship and Booster shouldn't sink. I guest, we'll see it soon.
  - krisoft 5y ago
    "sinking into the water" means that it enters the water. A splashdown. It doesn't mean that it will sink to the bottom.
  - HALtheWise 5y ago
    It's generally considered unlikely that the skyscraper-sizes rocket can fall over in the water and remain intact enough to float, although it did happen once to Falcon 9, so it's not impossible.
  - gridspy 5y ago
    In a recent interview [1] Elon stated that empty booster "has the density of an empty beer can" which is a great mental aid. So it will certianly float. But part of it will be underwater, initially the very expensive flamey part (engines). They will not "be the same" after the experience. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw
- gsnedders 5y ago
  > The Falcon 9 booster also had similar flight plans until it could successfully fly a controlled trajectory to the surface of the ocean before they risked a drone ship too. They also don't yet have any drone ships capable of landing the Starship or booster. But yes, it'll very much "prove it can more or less land" prior to actually giving them anything (breakable) to land on.
maccam94 5y ago
The plan for the first test flight is to aim for a controlled water landing, but the odds of that being completely successful aren't high enough to risk a land landing. The new drone ships are still under construction: https://spaceexplored.com/2021/07/07/update-on-spacexs-gulf-coast-fleet-a-shortfall-of-gravitas-droneship-and-phobos-launch-platform/ https://spaceexplored.com/2021/07/07/update-on-spacexs-gulf-...

by gpm 5y ago

gridspy 5y ago

The test flight trajectories are posted with the FAA and covered in numerous places, for instance Article: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/05/13/spacex-outlines-plans-for-around-the-world-starship-test-flight/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/05/13/spacex-outlines-plans-... Video (Marcus House): https://youtu.be/9-9k513UIVw?t=298 https://youtu.be/9-9k513UIVw?t=298 Basically both vechicles (the massive booster and the starship itself (2nd stage) are going to "land" on the water, which means a hover and then sinking into the water. Booster - Boost and separate, boostback burn and splashdown off the coast. Starship - 90 min orbit at about 120km, reentry and spashdown near Hawaii It's fairly quite likely that both would crater on this first flight - for instance this is the first booster flight and also the first reentry for the starship itself. The Falcon 9 booster also had similar flight plans until it could successfully fly a controlled trajectory to the surface of the ocean before they risked a drone ship too.

gpm 5y ago
Thanks :)
milansuk 5y ago
Yep, this is what I meant, thanks for the sources. Although, I'm not sure about that "then sinking into the water" part. There are big LO2 and methane tanks and If they are empty enough and closed, both Starship and Booster shouldn't sink. I guest, we'll see it soon.
- krisoft 5y ago
  "sinking into the water" means that it enters the water. A splashdown. It doesn't mean that it will sink to the bottom.
- HALtheWise 5y ago
  It's generally considered unlikely that the skyscraper-sizes rocket can fall over in the water and remain intact enough to float, although it did happen once to Falcon 9, so it's not impossible.
- gridspy 5y ago
  In a recent interview [1] Elon stated that empty booster "has the density of an empty beer can" which is a great mental aid. So it will certianly float. But part of it will be underwater, initially the very expensive flamey part (engines). They will not "be the same" after the experience. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw
gsnedders 5y ago
> The Falcon 9 booster also had similar flight plans until it could successfully fly a controlled trajectory to the surface of the ocean before they risked a drone ship too. They also don't yet have any drone ships capable of landing the Starship or booster. But yes, it'll very much "prove it can more or less land" prior to actually giving them anything (breakable) to land on.

maccam94 5y ago

The plan for the first test flight is to aim for a controlled water landing, but the odds of that being completely successful aren't high enough to risk a land landing. The new drone ships are still under construction: https://spaceexplored.com/2021/07/07/update-on-spacexs-gulf-coast-fleet-a-shortfall-of-gravitas-droneship-and-phobos-launch-platform/ https://spaceexplored.com/2021/07/07/update-on-spacexs-gulf-...