5 ms·

Ohhhh, is that why it was spinning going into the reentry attempt?

• me_me_me 2y ago
  deepcut :D
  • jdewerd 2y ago
    It wasn't intended as a jab, spinning it up to settle the propellant for transfer sounds like a good idea to me. Of course, failing to exit the spin is still mission-ending but they'll figure it out. Now we just need the Attenborough voiceover about the mating habits of starships as they spin through space.
    • me_me_me 2y ago
      you would but you need to stop the spin and then dock the two together. That would send fluids to the back of the tanks. At this stage it might be easier to build fueling station in the orbit with actual transfer pumps.
      • avmich 2y ago
        I'd definitely prefer to decouple the carrying fuel to the orbital depot and the refueling at the said depot, when it already does have the fuel amount needed. As for spinning two Starships of significantly different mass... that should be interesting to see. Doable, yes :) but interesting nevertheless.
      • jdewerd 2y ago
        Spin after docking, of course. Pushing the liquids is not the hard part. Settling the liquids in 0g is the hard part.