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Worth noting, the first stage flight probably constitutes the most powerful machine ever successfully operated by humankind, no? (A fusion bomb generates more

Worth noting, the first stage flight probably constitutes the most powerful machine ever successfully operated by humankind, no? (A fusion bomb generates more power for a minuscule period of time, but that sort of competes in a different class.)

IAmGraydon 3y ago
Yes in terms of thrust, it’s almost double the nearest competitor, the SLS. SLS generates 8.8M pounds while the Starship generates 16.7M pounds.
- TT-392 3y ago
  Wouldn't its nearest competitor be the N1 rocket? That thing did have some liftoffs.
  - IAmGraydon 3y ago
    Yes you’re probably right, it had just slightly more thrust than the SLS, at about 9M pounds.
  - mkl 3y ago
    N1 had half the thrust of Starship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_heavy-lift_launch_vehicle#Comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_heavy-lift_launch_vehicl... Nothing else comes close, even planned ones that aren't operational yet.
    - TT-392 3y ago
      I didn't say N1 came close to starship, just that it was closer than SLS
Retric 3y ago
Depends on what you consider a machine, the largest power grids are more powerful. Though those are arguably multiple devices acting together not a single device. Most powerful local machine that’s close to steady state is probably Three Gorges Dam at 22.5 GW. Starship is like a top drag racer where it’s quickly damaging itself in normal operation, but it’s the most powerful local machine that can last for over a minute. However, there’s a lot of pulsed devices that briefly get to much higher energy levels like artillery or experiments that charge capacitor banks for massive discharges like Z machine which briefly hits 300TW.
- jakeinspace 3y ago
  I might be off here, but I think the super heavy booster actually puts out more power than 3 Gorges. At stage separation, the booster and starship were moving at ~5500 kph, or about 1500 m/s. The nominal maximum thrust of the super heavy booster is given as 75,000 KN on Wikipedia. Possibly that level of thrust is only happening ar liftoff, I’m not sure, but if the engines were still burning that hot at stage sep, then that would give an instantaneous power output of 75,000,000 N * 1500 m/s = 112.5 GW. Edit: misread your comment, we’re in agreement. But I’ll leave the arithmetic.
  - Retric 3y ago
    Right ballpark but missing a few important caveats. Rocket engines generally throttle down to maintain a constant acceleration, otherwise you need to add more structural support to the following stages which costs weight. Also, calculating power output like that is misleading. A solar powered ion engine on a probe has constant solar power and constant acceleration but would have increasing calculated power output over time as it keeps accelerating. What’s going on is rather than the engine being more powerful the propellant starts with more kinetic energy.

IAmGraydon 3y ago

Yes in terms of thrust, it’s almost double the nearest competitor, the SLS. SLS generates 8.8M pounds while the Starship generates 16.7M pounds.

TT-392 3y ago
Wouldn't its nearest competitor be the N1 rocket? That thing did have some liftoffs.
- IAmGraydon 3y ago
  Yes you’re probably right, it had just slightly more thrust than the SLS, at about 9M pounds.
- mkl 3y ago
  N1 had half the thrust of Starship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_heavy-lift_launch_vehicle#Comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_heavy-lift_launch_vehicl... Nothing else comes close, even planned ones that aren't operational yet.
  - TT-392 3y ago
    I didn't say N1 came close to starship, just that it was closer than SLS

Retric 3y ago

Depends on what you consider a machine, the largest power grids are more powerful. Though those are arguably multiple devices acting together not a single device. Most powerful local machine that’s close to steady state is probably Three Gorges Dam at 22.5 GW. Starship is like a top drag racer where it’s quickly damaging itself in normal operation, but it’s the most powerful local machine that can last for over a minute. However, there’s a lot of pulsed devices that briefly get to much higher energy levels like artillery or experiments that charge capacitor banks for massive discharges like Z machine which briefly hits 300TW.

jakeinspace 3y ago
I might be off here, but I think the super heavy booster actually puts out more power than 3 Gorges. At stage separation, the booster and starship were moving at ~5500 kph, or about 1500 m/s. The nominal maximum thrust of the super heavy booster is given as 75,000 KN on Wikipedia. Possibly that level of thrust is only happening ar liftoff, I’m not sure, but if the engines were still burning that hot at stage sep, then that would give an instantaneous power output of 75,000,000 N * 1500 m/s = 112.5 GW. Edit: misread your comment, we’re in agreement. But I’ll leave the arithmetic.
- Retric 3y ago
  Right ballpark but missing a few important caveats. Rocket engines generally throttle down to maintain a constant acceleration, otherwise you need to add more structural support to the following stages which costs weight. Also, calculating power output like that is misleading. A solar powered ion engine on a probe has constant solar power and constant acceleration but would have increasing calculated power output over time as it keeps accelerating. What’s going on is rather than the engine being more powerful the propellant starts with more kinetic energy.