9 ms·

The tower catch will be a highlight but technically just as important will be the second full reentry of the upper stage. Last time we had the amazing 'little f

The tower catch will be a highlight but technically just as important will be the second full reentry of the upper stage. Last time we had the amazing 'little flap that could' that was basically ripped apart put just valiantly continued to do its job. Musk said they had solutions for this in place, will be interesting to see how the hinge holds up. This could be a came changing flight test. Because the rocket goes back to launch sites, lots of people will have really good cameras set up, lots of views. We will see this catch attempt with a lot of detail.

electronbeam 2y ago
1st stage reusability matters more so they can reach a cost model similar to F9, second stage is really just bonus. If they never get the second stage working with reusability they could strip the design down to a simple S2
- jjk166 2y ago
  If they struggle with first stage re-usability for a while, that merely adds cost. Further they probably want to iterate and scale anyways, so in the short term they're gonna be building a lot of first stages anyways. Second stage reentry is necessary for this thing to ever carry people, ostensibly the mission the ship was designed for. It is a hard requirement.
zizee 2y ago
I don't think the ship being launched has all of the planned improvements to the fins/hinge. This launch is S30, with the big improvements coming with S33. Newer versions of the ship have smaller flaps, hinging from points offcenter, so that they are protected by the body of the ship. Images probably demonstrate this better than words. Current: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=61266.0;attach=2300649;image https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;... New: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=61266.0;attach=2300651;image https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;...
- dotnet00 2y ago
  This one has a 'stronger' heat shield though, although they haven't clarified stronger in what sense. The tiles were stripped off and replaced shortly after IFT-4.
  - zizee 2y ago
    Good stuff. Fingers crossed this will help a bit.

electronbeam 2y ago

1st stage reusability matters more so they can reach a cost model similar to F9, second stage is really just bonus. If they never get the second stage working with reusability they could strip the design down to a simple S2

jjk166 2y ago
If they struggle with first stage re-usability for a while, that merely adds cost. Further they probably want to iterate and scale anyways, so in the short term they're gonna be building a lot of first stages anyways. Second stage reentry is necessary for this thing to ever carry people, ostensibly the mission the ship was designed for. It is a hard requirement.

zizee 2y ago

I don't think the ship being launched has all of the planned improvements to the fins/hinge. This launch is S30, with the big improvements coming with S33. Newer versions of the ship have smaller flaps, hinging from points offcenter, so that they are protected by the body of the ship. Images probably demonstrate this better than words. Current: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=61266.0;attach=2300649;image https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;... New: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=61266.0;attach=2300651;image https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;...

dotnet00 2y ago
This one has a 'stronger' heat shield though, although they haven't clarified stronger in what sense. The tiles were stripped off and replaced shortly after IFT-4.
- zizee 2y ago
  Good stuff. Fingers crossed this will help a bit.