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SpaceX's First Starship Launch Tomorrow
- Dig1t 4y agoThis is so exciting, I’m contemplating ditching work and driving down to see this in person. Is it worth seeing in person?
- 93po 4y agoPeeps are speculating that it's gonna be impossible to find a patch of grass to stand on but I know nothing about the setup there
- jeffrallen 4y agoIt is highly likely to be rescheduled. Consider all the letters in NET.
- pixl97 4y agoNET just means "We can't do it before this date and time", no that we will be able to do it after that date and time due to unknown delays. I fully believe that they will attempt tomorrow, but we'll see if any mechanical issues delay the actual launch.
- exhilaration 4y agoYou should read the previous thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35575298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35575298 lots of good stuff in there about visiting, especially this video https://youtu.be/aWvHrih-Juk https://youtu.be/aWvHrih-Juk
- bryanlarsen 4y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPazqKRf9NM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPazqKRf9NM is also useful, it has more information about getting there. I'm heading down there, but my flight has been delayed and I missed a connection so I'm only flying to Houston and then am going to have to drive overnight to get there on time...
- ncr100 4y agoIMO it is worthwhile to see a spectacle. Helps many of us to really truly know and feel like we are alive.
- consumer451 4y agoSo this is not a factor? I was worried. https://twitter.com/davidgojr/status/1647184578648449024 https://twitter.com/davidgojr/status/1647184578648449024
- pixl97 4y agoOnly a factor if it prevents the lifting mechanism from moving away before launch.
- igravious 4y agoLet's goooooooo!
- guitarlimeo 4y agoI'm soo excited for this. I thought it was years since they flew SN15 but it was only a year wow. They are developing at an unbelievable speed
- silexia 4y agoSpaceX and Elon Musk have done an amazing job of advancing humans into space once again!
- belter 4y ago[flagged]
- sebzim4500 4y agoWhat's your evidence for that? For all the bellyflop tests Elon was certainly around, SpaceX was clearly iterating quickly then.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ForHackernews 4y agoI think it's fairly commonly known that Gwynne Shotwell is the one actually running SpaceX. https://www.nasa.gov/content/national-space-council-users-advisory-group/membership_roster_g_shotwell/ https://www.nasa.gov/content/national-space-council-users-ad...
- sebzim4500 4y agoIt is 'common knowledge' in that people say it a lot on HN/reddit. In this case, Shotwell is responsible for overseeing integration at Starbase, so it at least makes some sense to give her credit for the test flight. In general though, Musk is the CEO and lead engineer and it really feels like people talk up Shotwell's contribution as a childish way of downplaying Musk's.
- belter 4y agoLead Engineer in title you mean? "Elon Musk: The Fake Engineer" - https://www.processindustryinformer.com/elon-musk-the-fake-engineer/ https://www.processindustryinformer.com/elon-musk-the-fake-e...
- darknavi 4y ago*NET (no earlier than) tomorrow. You always have to keep grounded expectations for launch dates otherwise you will be sorely disappointed.
- verdverm 4y agoThey are stocking extra propellants at the suborbital tank farm for backup and shorter turn around times should they need it. It takes a lot of trucks to bring enough fuel for a full load
- pixl97 4y agoNET is just slightly different than 'attempt'. Look at NET as 'cannot happen before'. SpaceX is going to start the process tomorrow but any number of conditions and delays could arise that will push the launch attempt back. If we don't hit Monday there is a very good possibility it cannot happen on Tuesday because of weather.
- ksec 4y agoI still remember vast majority of HN comments suggest SpaceX's Starship couldn't be done.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- rendang 4y agoInteresting! Do you have the link to that discussion?
- 93po 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35219490 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35219490 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33973607 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33973607 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31368497 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31368497 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31153986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31153986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21944855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21944855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30353028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30353028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21400885 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21400885 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24215739 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24215739 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27010713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27010713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27765151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27765151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23077358 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23077358 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24460854 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24460854 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10497425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10497425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19874192 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19874192
- shkkmo 4y agoMost of those are not skeptical that starship can work. Lots of doubt around the specific claims for the amount that it can drop launch costs by, launch cadence, first launch time frame (which was correct in it's prediction of no 2022 launch), but not really much actual doubt that SpaceX can successfully launch starship.
- detrites 4y ago> The Starship and its Super Heavy rocket will launch from SpaceX's Starbase test site near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas, with the Super Heavy booster attempting a soft water landing splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico while the Starship vehicle circles the Earth for a water splashdown off the coast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. > the entire flight will take around 90 minutes
- samcheng 4y agoTexas to Hawaii, the long way
- umeshunni 4y agoBut still only 90 minutes
- colechristensen 4y agoOnce around the planet in low earth orbit is about 90 minutes. This is just how long these things take. In other words it would be difficult for a suborbital flight around the planet from Texas to Hawaii to take anything other than about 90 minutes.
- verdverm 4y agoThe folks a NasaSpaceFlight have/will be doing live pre-shows up until the launch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfSrVZh7fM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfSrVZh7fM (this sunday show will catch you up) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg (24/7 live stream, apparently they already have a countdown timer lol)
- CommieBobDole 4y agoI hope it goes well, but I'm concerned that they've never done a test flight or a full-duration 33 engine static fire on the first stage booster. SpaceX has always been about real-world testing and rapid iteration based on the (often catastrophic) results of that testing. I worry that the lack of testing is due to a business desire to avoid the (stunning) cost of building and losing 33 Raptor engines on each failed test article, rather than an engineering judgement that such tests are not needed.
- verdverm 4y agoEvery engine has been through a full cycle test at their engine facility before being installed. This is the case for all of SpaceX engines from Falcon to Starship. The first trip to space is not the first full duration fire
- 93po 4y agoTo be fair, firing 33 engines at the same time when they're a meter or two apart is a pretty different environment. But as others said and I agree, this is that test.
- adolph 4y ago> firing 33 engines at the same time They've gotten up to 31 at an unspecified less than full throttle https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/business/spacex-static-fire-starship-super-heavy-scn/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/business/spacex-static-fire-s...
- euroderf 4y agoWell, let's hope it goes better than the N1.
- 93po 4y agoI'd assume it would go better than a rocket that was entirely designed on physical paper.
- 6stringmerc 4y ago[flagged]
- 93po 4y ago...they literally already are?
- sebzim4500 4y agoI guess he means pad operations? There is a sizable crew to set up the launch and then monitor to determine whether to activate FTS. Obviously, the actual flying is autonomous.
- ricktdotorg 4y agoSpaceX's booster landings continue to be pretty much the only thing(s) that have properly, legitimately stunned me as an adult. i'm not a Musk fan generally, but when it comes to SpaceX i doff my hat and try hard to pause whatever i'm doing if i see an upcoming launch + first stage landing live on youtube. as a Gen-Xer, brought up on footage of [the now] archaic space systems like the various Skylab & Shuttle missions, this is truly an extraordinary time for space fans.
- capableweb 4y agoI'm in the same box (SpaceX seems amazing, Musk less so) and I keep wondering: Is SpaceX succeeding because of Musk or despite of Musk?
- ghiculescu 4y agoBecause of.
- jutrewag 4y agoHis style of management is effective because it’s fear based and slave driverish. Fortunately in this case he can get people to work purely on the basis of the ideals and lofty goals they are working towards.
- wongarsu 4y agoIn a way, the ideals are part of the compensation package. SpaceX don't have to have good work conditions because people want to work there. The same way the video game industry has bad pay with bad work conditions because there's a steady flow of people wanting to make games, even if only as a tiny cog in a massive machine. Or how teachers or nurses are paid poorly, because enough people want to do it anyways. Which isn't supposed to be an endorsement of any of this. Ethically it's very questionable, but it is a logical outcome in our flavor of capitalism.
- jfengel 4y agoSome from column A, some from column B. He picked the right people to work SpaceX and Tesla, which is his greatest feat and deserves much praise. He informed himself, then involved himself more than was probably required or even good, but he had adult supervision. He's deliberately ignoring adult supervision in Twitter and making a hash of it. The fact that both Tesla and SpaceX continue in his absence suggest that whatever direct benefit he once provided does not seem to require more.
- vzqx 4y agoWhat's up with the launch times in the article? > scheduled to launch ... no earlier than Monday at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT). It will be 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) local time. Looking at other websites the correct time is 8 EDT, 7 CDT, 1200 GMT.
- euroderf 4y agoI want giant space stations like in Charlie Bonestell's art[1]. I hope this is the way to get there. [1]https://www.bonestell.org/Image-Gallery.aspx https://www.bonestell.org/Image-Gallery.aspx
- timbit42 4y agoThese are my favourite space stations, which I first found in a library in the 80's: https://bitrebels.com/geek/this-is-how-nasa-imagined-space-stations-in-1970/ https://bitrebels.com/geek/this-is-how-nasa-imagined-space-s...
- throwaway29303 4y agoVery excited for this! Good luck to everyone involved! Let's gooo! Woohoo!