Zitat The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Friday the conclusion its mishap investigation into the first integrated test flight of SpaceX’s reusable Starship launch vehicle. It stressed SpaceX has 63 corrective actions that need to be taken before Starship can make a second test flight.
“SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch,” the FAA said in a statement.
The announcement came days after SpaceX completed stacking its Starship vehicle (S25) on top of a Super Heavy Booster (B9). Company founder Elon Musk said it was ready for Integrated Test Flight 2 (IFT-2) and was “awaiting FAA license approval”.
The FAA said the mishap investigation report itself won’t be released publicly due to the disclosure of proprietary information within it, but spoke generally to some of the needed changes. ... Without the full list of 63 changes that the FAA is mandating from SpaceX, it’s impossible to know exactly how close it is to reaching compliance, but the company did provide some updates on Friday.
In its own statement, SpaceX said the first Starship flight offered “numerous lessons” that are guiding the updates being made ahead of the next launch.
“SpaceX has built and tested a hot-stage separation system, in which Starship’s second stage engines will ignite to push the ship away from the booster. Additionally, SpaceX has engineered a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines,” SpaceX stated. “Using fully electric motors, the new system has fewer potential points of failure and is significantly more energy efficient than traditional hydraulic systems.”
One of the big issues that came up during IFT-1 was the delayed destruction of Starship as it failed to reach stage separation. While making its ascent, there were “fires from leaking propellant in the aft end of the Super Heavy booster, which eventually severed connection with the vehicle’s primary flight computer. This led to a loss of communications to the majority of booster engines and, ultimately, control of the vehicle.”
“SpaceX has since implemented leak mitigations and improved testing on both engine and booster hardware,” SpaceX stated. “As an additional corrective action, SpaceX has significantly expanded Super Heavy’s pre-existing fire suppression system in order to mitigate against future engine bay fires.”
Zitat Abhi Tripathi@SpaceAbhi I've seen dozens of "Twitter experts" misunderstand this (often time by adding "Breaking..." to their post for extra clicks) so let me reiterate and further explain what Chris details below.
SpaceX LEADS the investigation. SpaceX issues the corrective actions. They pre-write a mishap investigation plan before they even launch. Then they execute their plan if they have an actual mishap. The FAA formally reviews the plan and also the investigation results and SpaceX-recommended corrective actions (but...informally they already know what's coming because of close coordination). The FAA provides feedback, and could recommend adding something if warranted. Their main job is to verify and enforce that SpaceX does what SpaceX said it will do once they approve the final report. In reality, 90% or more of corrective actions may be finished before the report is even formally submitted. Just depends on how well the root cause(s) are understood and easy to fix.
The general public often believes the FAA writes all the corrective actions and has a large team of people conducting the investigation with a heavy hand (e.g. "the big bad government"). No way. I doubt that will ever be the case for any mishap or anomaly. That is simply not how the government is staffed.
The FAA (and their NASA colleagues who have the relevant technical expertise) are typically in super close contact with the SpaceX team through the head of SpaceX Flight Reliability (where the chief engineers reside).
The statements released by the government are usually kept vague but factual, often to the great dismay of social and traditional media (as well as "stans") who want a juicy bite, ideally brimming with conflict. It is in a government agency's best interest to maintain flexibility and work with who they are overseeing...while keeping the politicians and click-bait journalists and influencers away. Inflammatory statements could rally politicians to one side or the other, and then SpaceX and the FAA's job could become charged and harder. Many people want to see that happen for many reasons.
If the final approval stalls, often times it is over a corrective action that was too open to interpretation. As an example of what I mean, if a corrective action is worded as such: "Redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness." Ooh boy. So you want to break that down into discrete actions defining what "robustness" means.
Zitat Abhi Tripathi @SpaceAbhi As I stated in an earlier post this week, getting a rocket on the pad and then getting a “you can’t launch yet” statement from the FAA earlier this week is all part of predictable chain of events. Nothing dramatic in any of these moves so far. 4:15 PM · Sep 8, 2023
Observation/description ID# Corrective Action Description Status
Tank sensing C1 Replace certain fittings with welds inside tank / Complete
Aft and cavity environment failure C2 Increase fire suppression capacity by 15x /Complete
Booster leak mitigation C3 Replace certain manifolds with welds in specific location / Complete C4 Replace certain flanges with better seals and improve joint design / Complete C5 Replace certain fittings with welds in specific location / Complete C6 Replace accessible valves of a certain type with new design / Complete C7 Replace certain flange bolts with higher strength bolts and increase torque / Complete C8 Disallow certain seal re-use, and add cameras to monitor all engines during ground operations / Complete C9 Increased scrutiny on leak checks / Complete C10 90+ cameras added to detect leakage during operations / Complete
Raptor leak mitigation C11 Add leak capture and drain hardware for valves of a certain type / Complete C12 Add leak checks and screen for porosity on igniter units / Complete C13 Improved igniter seal design / Future Action C14 Weld certain alignment bolt holes shut / Complete C15 Reassess k-factor and torque for engine hot joint #1, add leak capture and route overboard / Complete C16 Reassess k-factor and torque for engine hot joint #2 / Complete C17 Add safety cable to certain fluid lines on high risk locations / Complete C18 Add one methane sensor per engine bay / Complete C19 Ground test campaign to better characterize typical engine leakage / Complete C20 Improve structural FEA/Fatigue analysis for all medium to high criticality lines / Complete
Collateral damage from fire C21 Add insulation to engine lines sensitive to thermally driven loads / Complete C22 Add insulation to avionic harnessing / Complete C23 Add backup wire to specific harnessing / Complete C24 Improve thermal protection of avionics tray / Complete C25 Change routing to flight computers / Complete
Booster reliability improvement C26 Replace sensor with more reliable units / Complete C27 Coat gimbal assembly with lubricant / Complete C28 Add pump pressure sensors to certain location / Complete C29 Add pump temperature sensors to certain location / Complete C30 Replace pump temperature sensors to certain location / Complete C31 New seal design for certain areas of booster / Complete C32 Add electric actuation system / Complete C33 Better manage engine bay pressure by increasing fire suppression capacity by 15x / Complete C34 Change certain booster valve timing / Future Action
Booster reliability improvement C35 Add final leak checks for critical joints / Complete C36 Add support bracket for certain sensor / Complete C37 Add support bracket for certain sensor / Complete C38 Add check valves to certain areas of engine / Complete C39 Improve oxygen valve design / Future Action C40 Improve oxygen valve seal design / Future Action C41 Improve design of ht manifold / Future Action C42 Change nitrogen shutdown usage / Complete C43 Change engine shutdown logic / Complete C44 Increase capability for ground leakage mitigation / Complete C45 Redesign fire suppression system / Complete C46 Change conditions around bolts / Complete C47 Change timing of specific valve actuation / Complete
Avionics reliability improvement C48 Eliminate certain type of connector / Complete C49 Redesign network architecture / Future Action
Risk Process C50 Improve risk tracking process / Complete
Safety System C51 Implement improvements to safety system / Complete C52 Verify flight safety systems design improvements using additional type of test article / Complete C53 Verify flight safety system design improvement via analysis / Complete C54 Perform component testing / Complete
C55 Review and improve operations surrounding flight safety systems / Complete
Change Control C56 Improve CAD controls / Complete C57 Ad engineering walkdown / Complete C58 Improve use of change management system / Complete
Pad Design C59 Redesign of launch pad deck / Complete C60 Improve assumptions for new pad deck design / Complete C61 Add water cooled pad deck / Complete
Pad Design Process C62 Improve pad deck design documentation / Complete C63 Improve pad design process / Complete
PS.
Zitat Scott Manley@DJSnM A lot of these changes are ‘reduce chance of thing leaking under flight conditions, and adding stuff to help find origins of leaks’ I don’t know if they’re going to be able to downlink 90+ engineering cameras in flight or if that’s primarily for pad operations. 3:48 PM · Sep 10, 2023
Zitat SpaceX poised for ‘mid-November’ launch of second Starship test flight
More than half a year after its first flight, SpaceX believes it’s on the cusp of getting to launch its Starship rocket for a second time.
On Friday afternoon, the company updated its website to announce that the second integrated flight test (IFT-2) of it’s towering rocket “could launch as soon as mid-November, pending regulatory approval.” Sources suggest the launch could be as soon as Nov. 13, but that’s far from set in stone.
Those regulatory hurdles surrounding the fully reusable launch vehicle are now mainly centered around the conclusion of an environmental review, which is in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had concluded the Starship-Super Heavy safety review. In a statement to Spaceflight Now, the agency said that “The environmental review is the last major element to complete before the FAA makes a license determination.”
Auch wenn es nicht so aussieht: aber es ist nicht SpaceX, sondern die Flugishcerheitsbehörde FAA, die hier in der Zwickmühle sitzt. Natürlich können sie durch die Verweigerung weiterer Probestarts den gang der Dinge um Monate, wenn nicht Jahre, verzögern. Aber die Freigabe ist die einzige Mögichkeit, das "System Starship" in der Prais zu testen, uz verbesern & eine Freigabe für bemannte Starts zu erhalten. Und der Termin für die Bemannte Landung von Artemis 3 steht mit Ende 2025 bislang fest. Und bis dahin muß das Starship nicht nur eininge erfolgreiche Starts, sondern verläßlich mehrere sichere Landungen hintereinander absolviert haben.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Everyday Astronaut@Erdayastronaut Hey @elonmusk / @SpaceX, for the upcoming Starship IFT-2 mission, is there a way to have mission control audio come through local analogue airways, or a low latency digital stream (like on spaces) so those watching in person have a reliable countdown? X / YouTube streams are 10-20 seconds behind real time and makes for the potential to miss the launch due to delayed information. Or at least a low latency YouTube stream for Mission Control audio or launch like the old days would be nice too! 6:50 PM · Nov 6, 2023
Elon Musk@elonmusk·38m We can improve the latency for real-time video on 𝕏. It should be as fast as your connection will allow.
Everyday Astronaut@Erdayastronaut·28m I think the lowest latency option would be for SpaceX to do mission control over X's "spaces" so it's virtually real time. Even SRT feeds or HVEC will always have some noticeable latency, no matter the connection speed
Wer einmal ein paar Starts von SpaceX mitverfolgt hat, weiß, daß das Videosignal (bei beiden Stufen der Raketen) mit ungefähr 10 Sekunden Zeitverzögerung läuft.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Elon Musk@elonmusk Was just informed that approval to launch should happen in time for a Friday launch
Zitat SpaceX@SpaceX Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval → http://spacex.com/launches 2:58 AM · Nov 11, 2023
Zitat FAA clears SpaceX for second Super Heavy-Starship test flight
SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket has been cleared for a second test flight Friday in an attempt to boost the unpiloted Starship upper stage into space for the first time, the company announced Wednesday.
The Super Heavy’s liftoff from SpaceX’s Boca Chica flight test facility on the Texas Gulf Coast is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Friday, the opening of a two-hour window.
Zitat Liftoff is currently scheduled for Saturday, November 18th after Elon stated that one of Booster 9’s grid fin actuators needed to be replaced.The new 20-minute launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT, meaning the expected T-0 may vary due to the circumstances of the test.
Zitat Chris Bergin - NSF@NASASpaceflight Now inside T-24 hours. Hot Staging Ring is reinstalled after workers replaced three grid fin actuators overnight.
Preparing to return to full stack for a launch attempt on Saturday morning.
Zur Erinnerung: beim "Stacking," beim Aufeinandersetzen, wird die 50m hohe Zweitstufe mit Hilfe der Mechazilla-Greifarme so eben von der 70m hohen Startstufe demontiert, abgesetzt & nach der Nachbesserung wieder aufgesetzt. Jeder dieser Liftvorgänge dauert ca. 90 Minuten.
Womit übrigens 3 Starts von SpaceX innerhalb von 24 Stunden anstehen (vorausgesetzt, es verzögert sich nichts): Starlink Tranche 6-28 von Cape Canaveral in 14h, 30 Min, Starlink 7-7 von Vandenberg in 17h 45 Min und Starship von Boca Chica in 23h 30 Min.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zu den beiden anderen Starts, die ich ein Stockwerk höher erwähnt habe: Starlink 6-28 von Cape Canveral hat um 08:05 MEZ abgehoben; 7-7 ist gestern abend um 24 Stunden verschoben worden und soll in 18 Stunden starten.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Start. Explosion des Boosters 30 Sekunden nach Stufentrennung in 60 km Höhe. 09:28. Starship hat Umlaufbahn erreicht. 10:30. Wie es aussieht, ist auch die Zweitstufe, noch über den Golf von Mexiko, explodiert.
Das "hot staging" bei der Stufentrennung (Zündung der sechs Merlin-Motoren, während die Stufen noch nicht getrennt sind) hat wie vorgesheen funktioniert. Keins der 33 Triebwerke der Startstufe ist ausgefallen.
Zitat Chris Bergin - NSF@NASASpaceflight Ship 25 FTS triggered. But what a win!
Amazing performance from the Booster - firing all 33 going uphill. Hotstaging worked. All six engines on Ship 25 firing for a long duration.
And all our cams around the pad are OK. No rock tornados this time! Thanks Water Deluge System! 2:17 PM · Nov 18, 2023
Die Stufentrennung ist bei Minute 2:48 in einer Höhe von 73 Kilometern und einer Geschwindigkeit von 5280 km/h erfolgt. Der Booster ist 13 Sekunden später bei der Zündung der Triebwerke für den "Boostback burn" zur Abbremsung für die Landung explodiert, in 80 km Höhe. Das Starship ist bei t +7.07 explodiert, bei einer Geschwindigkeit von 17.752 km/h, in einer Höhe von 149 km.
Zitat SpaceX@SpaceX Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting second integrated flight test of Starship! Starship successfully lifted off under the power of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster and made it through stage separation
The booster experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after stage separation while Starship's engines fired for several minutes on its way to space.
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary 3:12 PM · Nov 18, 2023
Zitat Zack Golden@CSI_Starbase Lots of TPS tiles missing on S25 today. It’s important to note that SpaceX likely fully expected this to happen. On S28 every tile was tested using a suction cup to verify adhesion. This was not performed on S25 and as a result a large number of tiles along the ring weld lines fell off during flight.
In other words, it’s not as bad as it looks. 4:00 PM · Nov 18, 2023
Letztlich ist das hier zu diesem Zeitpunkt frei flottierender Flurfunk, aber ich geb' das mal weiter.
Zitat Seemed from the footage like slosh & possible ullage collapse extinguished one or more engines and kept others from starting up for boostback, followed by FTS. Awesome progress, very exciting that both stages made it through stage sep intact.
"Ullage" bedeutet in der Nautik fehlenden Treibstoff in einem Tank, infolge von Lecks oder durch Verdunstung. In der Raumfahrt werden kleine Hilfstriebwerke, sog. ullage engines, verwendet, die kurz vor der Neuzündung eines Hauptantriebs gezündet werden und den Treibstoff im Tank gegen den Boden/die Brennkammer drücken. Nach der Stufentrennung beim Start und dem MECO (dem Main Engine Cutoff) befindet sich die Startstufe im freien Fall, so daß das nicht durch die Erdschwerkraft erfolgt.
PS. Und dies noch.
Zitat Scott Manley@DJSnM I resynced the telemetry bar with the video of MECO & Hot Stage. Now it's more obvious the order of engine shut down, relight and failure on the boost back. I suspect that booster failure is something like a fluid hammer effect given the stop and restart puts lots of stress on plumbing.
One thing I wondered was whether the engines failing on one side had any relation to the rotation, but by matching the restart we can see the rotation probably isn't correlated with this. 3:13 PM · Nov 18, 2023
Erster Gedanke: bei den beiden atmosphärischen Zündungen der F9-Booster (in 52 bzw. 3 km Höhe) kommt es aber zu keinem vergleichbaren Druckstoß ("water hammer")... Zweiter Gedanke: dort zünden auch nur 3 bzw. 1 der Merlin-Triebwerke, und die Raptor-Motoren der zweiten Baureihe, wie sie in B9 verwendet worden sind, sind ganz andere Ungeheuer in ihren technischen Spezifikationen, die mit einem inneren Druck von 300 Atmosphären arbeiten. Zudem ist flüssiges Methan 8mal so dicht wie flüssiger Wasserstoff, der dort verbrannt wird.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Scott Manley@DJSnM So, if we can trust the telemetry from Starship’s flight, there was a significant negative g observed on the booster during staging. More force was transmitted to the booster than anticipated during hot staging, this would have generated a lot of propellent slosh that may have been enough to damage the booster and ultimately cause it to fail.
One last observation - during hot staging the booster velocity drops rapidly for a moment, this is faster than can be explained by gravity. If this is accurate the booster had negative g loading for a moment, possibly lifting propellent off bottom of tanks. It's very short, but still a bigger deceleration than I expected 9:44 PM · Nov 18, 2023
Die entsprechende Stelle findet sich im Video des Starts bei Minute 02:45, bei einer Höhe von 71 km. Innerhalb von nur einer Sekunde sinkt die Geschwindigkeit des Boosters von 5620 km/h auf 5578 km/h.
Zum "Hot staging": kurz vor der Stufentrennung sind erst die 20 Triebwerke des äußeren Rings abgeschaltet worden, dann die 10 des inneren. Die drei zentralen Raptor-Triebwerke haben weiterhin Schub geliefert, um den Treibstoff für die zweite Stufe in Richtung der Triebwerke zu pressen. Zum Zweck der heißen Stufentrennung, also vor der Abtrennung der beiden Komponenten die 6 Raptor-Triebwerke des Starship zünden zu können, hat Space X zwischen die beiden Stufen einen großformatig perforierten Trennungsring, in technischen Jargon "vented interstage" genannt, montiert, um die austretenden Gase seitlich abzuleiten. Nach dieser Vermutung oben hätte dieser Schub so stark auf den Booster eingewirkt, daß der restliche Treibstoff dort zu sehr Kobolz geschlagen hätte.
Die russischen Raketen verwenden seit 65 Jahren heiße Stufentrennungen; die NASA hat es nur für die Titan II verwendet, mit der die 12 Starts des Geminiprogramms zwischen 1964 und 1966 durchgeführt worden sind. Der Knackpunkt ist, daß es sich bei allen diesen Systemen um Einmal- und Wegwerfraketen (ge)handelt (hat), bei denen eine Neuzündung der Triebwerke nie vorgesehen war.
Die Startstufe, Seriennummer B8, ist Ende 2022 voll montiert worden und hat seine ersten Kühl- und Druckbetankungen am 22. und 29. Dezember 2022 bestanden. Die Vented Interstage ist vier Monate nach dem ersten Starship-Start, am 18. August 2023, aufgesetzt worden. Am 5. September ist das Starship Nr 25. zum ersten Mal aufgesetzt worden; abgebaut am 14. September; am 21. September ist auch der Zwischenring wieder abgebaut worden. Von Anfang Oktober bis zum Start gestern ist die Kombination noch 5 Mal montiert und wiederabgebaut worden; das ditte Mal, um am 9. November das Selbstzerstörungssystem (Flight Termination System) am Booster zu installieren.
Auf Starbase befinden sich zurzeit noch die Booster 10 bis 13, zwei davon betriebsfertig in der Mega Bay 1; Nr. 11 auf dem Teststand für Kühltests bei der Betankung mit flüssigem Methan/Sauerstoff und Nr. 13 in der Endmontage.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat Elon Musk@elonmusk Just inspected the Starship launch pad and it is in great condition! No refurbishment needed to the water-cooled steel plate for next launch. Congrats to @Spacex team & contractors for engineering & building such a robust system so rapidly! 8:54 PM · Nov 19, 2023
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #40 Auf Starbase befinden sich zurzeit noch die Booster 10 bis 13, zwei davon betriebsfertig in der Mega Bay 1; Nr. 11 auf dem Teststand für Kühltests bei der Betankung mit flüssigem Methan/Sauerstoff und Nr. 13 in der Endmontage.
Zitat Elon Musk@elonmusk Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in 3 to 4 weeks. There are three ships in final production in the high bay (as can be seen from the highway). 3:07 AM · Nov 20, 2023
Herr Musk ist in solchen Terminesetzungen bekanntlich überaus großzügig. Im April hieß es nach dem ersten fehlgeschlagenen Start: "in zwei Monaten." Es sind dann doch 7 geworden.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Verspäteter Nachtrag zu Starship / Integrated Flight Test 2.
Zitat Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore Elon on Starship Flight 2: "Flight 2 actually almost made it to orbit (...) The reason it didn't quite make it to orbit is we vented the liquid oxygen (...) ultimately led to a fire and explosion (...) we wanted to vent the (LOX) because we normally wouldn't have had that (LOX) if we had a payload. Ironically if it had a payload it would have reached orbit" 12:11 AM · Jan 13, 2024
Update zu Starship, Integrated Flight test 2 (IFT-2).
Zitat February 26, 2024
Following stage separation, Super Heavy initiated its boostback burn, which sends commands to 13 of the vehicle’s 33 Raptor engines to propel the rocket toward its intended landing location. During this burn, several engines began shutting down before one engine failed energetically, quickly cascading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) of the booster. The vehicle breakup occurred more than three and a half minutes into the flight at an altitude of ~90 km over the Gulf of Mexico.
The most likely root cause for the booster RUD was determined to be filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxidizer turbopumps that eventually resulted in one engine failing in a way that resulted in loss of the vehicle. SpaceX has since implemented hardware changes inside future booster oxidizer tanks to improve propellant filtration capabilities and refined operations to increase reliability.
At vehicle separation, Starship’s upper stage successfully lit all six Raptor engines and flew a normal ascent until approximately seven minutes into the flight, when a planned vent of excess liquid oxygen propellant began. Additional propellant had been loaded on the spacecraft before launch in order to gather data representative of future payload deploy missions and needed to be disposed of prior to reentry to meet required propellant mass targets at splashdown.
A leak in the aft section of the spacecraft that developed when the liquid oxygen vent was initiated resulted in a combustion event and subsequent fires that led to a loss of communication between the spacecraft’s flight computers. This resulted in a commanded shut down of all six engines prior to completion of the ascent burn, followed by the Autonomous Flight Safety System detecting a mission rule violation and activating the flight termination system, leading to vehicle breakup. The flight test’s conclusion came when the spacecraft was as at an altitude of ~150 km and a velocity of ~24,000 km/h, becoming the first Starship to reach outer space.
SpaceX has implemented hardware changes on upcoming Starship vehicles to improve leak reduction, fire protection, and refined operations associated with the propellant vent to increase reliability. The previously planned move from a hydraulic steering system for the vehicle’s Raptor engines to an entirely electric system also removes potential sources of flammability.
The water-cooled flame deflector and other pad upgrades made after Starship’s first flight test performed as expected, requiring minimal post-launch work to be ready for vehicle tests and the next integrated flight test.
Zitat SpaceX has announced that the third test flight of its Starship giant ‘Super Heavy’ rocket, subject to the usual weather considerations, will happen on March 14th.
Recent days have seen various final tests and rehearsals take place at the Boca Chica launch site and the FAA and other national agencies (for wildlife and environmental impact) have given their authorisations. The FAA required 17 modifications to take place following Starship #2’s explosive end on November 18th 2023.
Zitat After SpaceX completed a fueling test of its third full Starship stack on Sunday night, successfully loading more than 10 million pounds of methane and liquid oxygen propellant onto the rocket, it was only a matter of time before the world's largest rocket took flight.
Now, we have a tentative date. In a post on the social media site X, the company posted a link to watch "Starship's third flight test" at 7:30 am ET (12:30 UTC) on March 14. Published on Tuesday morning, the social media post was 'hidden,' but somehow discovered late Tuesday night.
Nevertheless, this is a credible date that the company is working toward. The hardware, following the fueling test on Sunday night at the company's Starbase site in South Texas, appears to be in good shape. And although SpaceX has yet to receive its launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency recently announced that it has closed its investigation into the second Starship test flight in November. So a mid-March launch date is plausible from a regulatory standpoint.
Zitat Rare North American Space Koala@culpable_mink I'm begging SpaceX to let a pie float off into space during the door test on Flight Test 3, since it's launching on π day. 7:58 PM · Mar 6, 2024
Zitat Der Pi-Tag (englisch Pi Day) ist ein zu Ehren der Kreiszahl Pi von ihren Anhängern am 14. März gefeierter Tag.
Er findet am 14. März jedes Jahres statt und geht auf die US-amerikanische Datumsschreibweise 3/14 (bzw. die ISO-Schreibweise -03-14) zurück, die aus ersten drei Ziffern von π in der passenden Reihenfolge besteht. Besonders genaue Anhänger feiern um 13:59:26 Uhr und erreichen die Kreiszahl damit bis zur siebten Nachkommastelle (3/14 1:59:26 pm). Am Massachusetts Institute of Technology wurden 2015 in Anlehnung an den Pi-Tag einige Termine auf Samstag, den 14. März um 9:26 Uhr ET (3/14/15 9:26 am) gelegt. Als Begründer dieser Tradition gilt Larry Shaw, der den Pi Day 1988 am Exploratorium in San Francisco initiierte, wo er seitdem jährlich begangen wird. 2009 wurde in den USA der 14. März vom US-Kongress zum offiziellen Nationaltag für die Kreiskonstante Pi erklärt.
Der Pi-Tag wird traditionell mit dem gemeinsamen Verzehren von kreisförmigen Kuchen begangen (im Englischen wird der griechische Buchstabe π lautgleich wie das englische Wort pie, Kuchen, ausgesprochen). Ein solcher Kuchen von 20 Zentimeter Durchmesser hat zudem π Quadratdezimeter Grundfläche. Zur Verbreitung des Gedenktages trägt auch bei, dass zufällig der 14. März auch der Geburtstag Albert Einsteins und (seit 2018) der Todestag Stephen Hawkings ist. Seit 2020 ist der 14. März außerdem der Internationale Tag der Mathematik.
Da das Starship, wenn alles gut geht, eine Kreisbahn erreichen wird, wäre das eine angemessene Veranstaltung. Zudem handelt es sich um Einsteins 145. Geburtstag.
Dem kleinen SF-Leser fällt natürlich an dieser Stelle Fredric Browns Erzählung "Pi in the Sky" ein, erschienen in der Winter-Ausgabe 1945 des Pulp-Magazins Thrilling Wonder Stories.
Zitat Pi in the Sky
By Fredric Brown, first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories.
Two American astronomers work to understand why fixed stars are moving at impossible rates, only to find that a corrupt and wealthy inventor is behind the entire phenomenon.
Roger, a young scientist, reacts with confusion when he observes that the star Pollux has moved by a tenth of a second, which should be impossible, as this is much faster than the speed of light. By the next morning, news is out that many major stars have begun to move within the past forty-eight hours. Astronomers nationwide struggle to figure out why this is happening. Roger tries to explain the phenomenon to Elsie, the girl he likes. He goes to a restaurant and hears the voice of Milton Hale, another prominent astronomer, on the radio, offering very little clarity. Roger goes to a movie theatre and watches as an ad for cookware tries to turn the situation into a marketing ploy. Frustrated, he stabs the movie screen and is arrested and thrown in jail. A schooner off the coast of California loses the ability to navigate; its crew members observe a number of stars forming an octagonal shape. A mysterious mist is beginning to settle over some parts of the nation. Across the country, Dr. Hale finishes his radio segment and goes to a bar. He does some work and calculates that the upcoming midnight will be a significant time, so he takes money from the safe of the university's president for a taxi, which he hires to take him to Boston. He arrives at a millionaire's--Rutherford R. Sniveley's--mansion, but the man himself is supposedly absent. He is an inventor of gadgets. Dr. Hale asks the driver to take him to the White House, but the driver falls asleep and Dr. Hale has to get a ride to the airport. He steps off his flight and realizes that he is at the White House Hotel in Seattle and has missed the deadline of midnight by a few hours. At midnight, the stars converge to spell out a message: Buy Sniveley's Soap, but the name is misspelled. Sniveley, angry, accidentally falls off the balcony of his house and dies. It is revealed that Sniveley created a device to refract the images of stars to make it appear that they have moved to spell out a message, though the stars actually have not moved whatsoever. The President orders for the device to be destroyed. Hale permanently moves to Seattle, and Roger gets out of jail and marries Elsie. Sniveley's Soap sales increase exponentially.
Und beim Stichwort "Pi in the Sky" längt sich zwangslos das hier an:
Zitat Pi in the Sky was an experimental, aerial art display where airplanes spelled out pi to decimal 1,000 places in the sky over the San Francisco Bay Area. The display took place on September 12, 2012. It was then displayed again in Austin on March 13, 2014, during the SXSW festival, at which time it was said to be the largest art piece ever displayed in the state of Texas.
The numbers, each 0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi)[8] high, were created by a group of five[9] skywriting airplanes, and appeared as a dot matrix.[3] The string of numbers was produced in a large loop 161 kilometres (100 mi)[8] in circumference, at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet (3,000 m).[5]
The aircraft used were 1979 Grumman AA-5B Tigers, small, single-engined planes provided by the company AirSign Aerial Advertising, based in Williston, FL. The numbers were produced by spraying natural, burnt-off canola oil,[10] which dissipated, causing no environmental damage.[11]
The exhibition began in the skies over San Jose, then continued over Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, San Bruno, San Mateo, Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Mountain View. The planes deliberately flew over the headquarters of NASA Ames, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Apple.
Und falls jemanden an dieser Stelle ein kleines déjà vu überkommt: ja, das war hier schon einmal Thema:
Zitat 28. Februar 2021, "Der Mond als Reklametafel. Nachtrag"
Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, "Himmlische Reklame" (1873/1883)
Es geht hier nicht um Gefühligkeit. Geschäft ist Geschäft. Es ist an der Zeit, daß sich ernsthafte Geschäftsleute mit den Verdienstmöglichkeiten neuen Idee, von der hier die Rede ist, fassen und sie fortentwickeln.
Auf den ersten Blick scheint das gesamte Vorhaben unmöglich und eine Ausgeburt des Wahnsinns zu sein. Der Himmel zu bestellen, die Sterne einzuspannen, die Dämmerung auszubeuten, den Abend nutzbar zu machen, das Firmament, das bis heute nichts Nützliches hervorbringt: was für ein Traum! Was für ein Plan, voller unüberwindlicher Schwierigkeiten! Aber gibt es irgendeine Aufgabe, an der der Mensch, der sich dem Geist des Fortschritts verschreibt, scheitert? ... Auch ohne großes Nachdenken sollten einem sofort die Folgen dieser brillianten Erfndung klar werden. Es sollte selbst den Großen Bären erstaunen, wenn zwischen seinen himmlischen Pfoten diese beunruhigende Botschaft erschiene: "Sollten Sie ein Korsett tragen? Ja oder nein?" Oder, noch besser: wäre es nicht ein Schauspiel, das so recht geeignet wäre, empfindsame Seelen aufzuregen und den Klerus zu empören, wenn auf unserem himmlischen Begleiter, auf der hellen Mondscheibe, jener wunderbare Lockenbrenner erscheinen würde, dessen Bild wir alle auf unseren Boulevards bewundert haben und das von dem Schriftzug "Für prächtige Mähnen!" umrahmt ist? Wäre es nicht ein glänzender Einfall, wenn über den Sternen, die im Sternbild der Bildhauerwerkstatt ein V bilden, zu lesen stünde: "Venus - Reproduktion Fa. Kaulla!" - Und wie passend, wenn einer jener Liköre, die uns zur Anregung der Verdauung empfohlen werden, damit beworben würde, daß gleich unter Regulus, dem Hauptstern im Sternbild Löwe, über der Ähre, die die Jungfrau in der Hand hält, ein Engel ein Fläschchen in der Hand hielte, mit einem Spruchband, das seinem Mund entquillte, auf dem die Worte: "Gott, wie gut tut das!" zu lesen sind...
Kurz gesagt: man versteht, daß wir es hier mit einer noch nie dagewesenen Werbemethode zu tun haben, die ungeahnte Möglichkeiten eröffnet. Sogar die Regierung könnte sich ihrer, zum ersten Mal überhaupt, bedienen.
Zitat The third flight test of Starship could launch as soon as March 14, pending regulatory approval.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.
Starship’s second flight test achieved a number of major milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship. Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.
The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety.
Zitat Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision for Tiered Environmental Assessment for SpaceX Starship Indian Ocean Landings
Proposed Action
SpaceX's Proposed Action is to conduct up to a total of ten nominal operations, including up to a maximum of five overpressure events from Starship intact impact and up to a total of five reentry debris or soft water landings in the Indian Ocean, within a year of issuance of a concurrence letter from that National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The following sections provide a description of the project's location and proposed reentry operations.
# Biological Resources (Marine Environment), Final Tiered EA Section 3.3. Under the Proposed Action, Starship operations would occur in the Indian Ocean. Starship may land or, in the event of an anomaly or early unmanned missions, be expended in the ocean no closer than 200 nautical miles offshore. SpaceX will, to the maximum extent practicable, avoid areas determined to be sensitive to disturbance or highly productive and presumed to have an increased probability of supporting higher densities of marine life. These areas include seamounts, upwellings, coastal areas, coral reefs, and other predominant oceanic habitats; these habitats are not described in detail due to their exclusion from the proposed Action.
Direct debris strikes from Starship are extremely unlikely for all species of concern, fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals. This is due to the small size of the components as compared to the low density of marine life as compared to the vast open ocean in addition to the low population density of marine life within the landing area. If debris from the vehicle struck an animal near the water's surface, the animal would be injured or killed. Additionally, there are no known interactions with any of these species after decades of similar rocket launches and reentries. Given the low frequency of Starship/Super Heavy ocean descent and landing operations, and the fact that marine wildlife, marine mammals, and special status species spend the majority of their time submerged as opposed to on the surface, it is extremely unlikely that any adverse impacts from fallen objects would occur. SpaceX expects residual liquid oxygen (LOX) and methane to remain on Starship during descent and landing. Unlike other launch vehicles propellants and fuels, LOX and methane are not toxic pollutants. Starship is expected to experience an explosive event upon impact with the ocean's surface and subsequent vehicle failure. Structural debris of Starship is made of inert materials, such as steel, carbon composite, silica heat tiles and is not anticipated to affect water quality. For these reasons, after considering the new information, the chance for marine species to be exposed to the residual propellant is still extremely low and therefore discountable.
Sonic booms that would occur during descent and landing would intercept the ocean's surface. However, exceptionally little energy from in-air noise is transmitted into the water. Due to the limited occurrences of ocean landings, the low magnitude of the sonic boms (no greater than 2 pounds/sq. ft. (psf) for Starship), the substantial attenuation of the sonic booms at the air/water interface, and the exponential attenuation with water depth, sonic booms would not result in impacts on marine species beneath the surface, even when the new information regarding the vehicles landings is considered.
Indirect effects
Water quality would not be impacted by residual fuel remaining after a Starship breakup. Starship is expected to experience an explosive event upon impact with the ocean's surface and subsequent vehicles failure. The explosive event would be expected to consume all remaining fuel. As all liquid fuel is likely to be consumed during vehicle breakup, only structural debris would remain. For events where the vehicle would break up in the atmosphere, residual propellant would be dispersed and evaporated such that only structural debris would remain.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
IFT-3. 7 Minuten seit Abheben. Die zweite Stufe hat gerade 150 km Höhe erreicht und eine Geschwindigkeit von 14000 km. Bilderbuchstart.
Minute 9. Die zweite Stufe hat ihre Reisehöhe von 160 km erreicht, bei einer Geschwindigkeit von 264.00 km/h. Der Flug wird kein "richtiger Orbit", da das Perigäum, der erdnächste Punkt, mit 50 km Höhe in der Atmosphäre liegt; die Stufe soll nach 60 Min. Flug in den Indischen Ozean stürzen. Min. 12. 180 km Höhe, 26.400 km/h. Min. 15. 200 km, 26.270 km/h. Min. 19. 222 km, 26.170 km/h. Min. 22. 230 km, 26.132 km/h. Min 30. 226 km, 26.142 km/h. Die Rakete ist mit 5000 t Gewicht nicht nur das schwerste Objekt, daß je in den Weltraum gestartet worden ist; die Oberstufe ist mit 50 m Länge auch das größte. Min 35. 200 km, 26.267 km/h. Min 40. 161 km, 26.440 km/h. Nb. Kein einziges der 33 Raptor-Treibwerke des 1 Stufen ist während der Starts ausgefallen, und keins der 6 der zweiten Stufe. Min 45. 113 km, 26650 km/h. Die Zweitstufe hat gerade in 120 km Höhe eine 100-Grad-Kippung um die Querachse durchgeführt, um den Wiedereintritt vorzubereiten. Min 47, 94 km, 26.743 km/h. Min 48, 83 km, 26.760 km/h. Min 48:48, 75 km, 26.550 km/h. Wie es aussieht, sind der Videofeed und die Telemetrie in 65 km Höhe verlorengegangen.
Zitat Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer)@DrChrisCombs This reentry video is one of the craziest things I've ever seen 3:15 PM · Mar 14, 2024
Allerdings sind die Treibwerke bei der Bremszündung der Startstufe komplett ausgefallen. Sie ist mit einer Geschwindigkeit von 1110 km/h auf das Meer aufgeschlagen.
Nachtrag.
Zitat Dr. Phil Metzger@DrPhiltill Propellant transfer demo is complete! This is important not just for the Starship architecture but for most of what humans will do in space going forward. 2:54 PM · Mar 14, 2024
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