News Changes to the SpaceX BFR rocket.

[Urwumpe]

Maybe it just looks at the coordinates of the IP, and as far as it stays inside the prescribed area, it can do all the gymnastics it wants?

Then it must be really coarse. Think of Lift force for example.

 

[GLS]

Then it must be really coarse. Think of Lift force for example.

They should take all that into account when defining the areas.

 

[kuddel]

Just for information: https://kscsma.ksc.nasa.gov/RangeSafety/overview/fts

 

[Thunder Chicken]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649062784167030785

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649068879799283716

Also, a large chunk of something, several meters long, came up the side of the vehicle as it left the pad.

I wonder if SuperHeavy shot itself down with pad debris?

EDIT: Wait, did they NOT use a water deluge system on this pad? For 17 MILLION POUNDS of thrust? Did Boring Company engineers start working for SpaceX?

 

[Thunder Chicken]

You can see from South Padre that SH was slow getting off the pad and tipped over as it came off the pad.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649187977644630017

 

[Urwumpe]

I wonder if SuperHeavy shot itself down with pad debris?

EDIT: Wait, did they NOT use a water deluge system on this pad? For 17 MILLION POUNDS of thrust? Did Boring Company engineers start working for SpaceX?

They had a water spray system in the flame duct, to shield to rocket from the sound.

 

[Urwumpe]

You can see from South Padre that SH was slow getting off the pad and tipped over as it came off the pad.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649187977644630017

Yes, but that was almost expected. 10% less thrust at launch had no such effect than 120m size. Same with the tip over to begin the gravity turn.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

They had a water spray system in the flame duct, to shield to rocket from the sound.

Was it used? I have seen some posts on twitter and other places saying it wasn't used, and I am not seeing any steam billowing out of the pad. Just lot of dust and debris.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649053476276797440

 

[Urwumpe]

Was it used? I have seen some posts on twitter and other places saying it wasn't used, and I am not seeing any steam billowing out of the pad. Just lot of dust and debris.

Likely yes, but it had never the throughput of water of the LC-39 sound suppression system.

And yes, that launch counts as terraforming,

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Likely yes, but it had never the throughput of water of the LC-39 sound suppression system.

And yes, that launch counts as terraforming,

In the FAA environmental assessment they stated that SpaceX was still considering whether to use deluge water or not. SpaceX had proposed a desalination plant for deluge water initially, but then said that IF they used deluge water, they would truck it in. That sounds pretty tedious, especially if there is a T-0 hold after the deluge system dumps. To recycle the launch, they'd have to defuel, and truck in more water to the pad tanks.

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/Final_PEA_Executive_Summary.pdf

I still haven't seen anything confirming whether deluge was in fact used on this launch. I could see Elon saying "F*** it, send it dry. What's the worst that could happen?"

SpaceX added "engine-rich exhaust" to our lexicon. Now maybe they need to add "pad-rich exhaust".

 

[Pioneer]

In the FAA environmental assessment they stated that SpaceX was still considering whether to use deluge water or not. SpaceX had proposed a desalination plant for deluge water initially, but then said that IF they used deluge water, they would truck it in. That sounds pretty tedious, especially if there is a T-0 hold after the deluge system dumps. To recycle the launch, they'd have to defuel, and truck in more water to the pad tanks.

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/Final_PEA_Executive_Summary.pdf

I still haven't seen anything confirming whether deluge was in fact used on this launch. I could see Elon saying "F*** it, send it dry. What's the worst that could happen?"

Does Pad 39 at KSC use a freshwater system? If so do they just get it from the surrounding swamps or truck it in? I can see the concern with using a seawater system being the corrosion on piping, but that could be mitigated with better piping materials. Unless a good amount of water vapor indeed surrounds the rocket on launch...

 

[AtomicTech]

In the FAA environmental assessment they stated that SpaceX was still considering whether to use deluge water or not. SpaceX had proposed a desalination plant for deluge water initially, but then said that IF they used deluge water, they would truck it in. That sounds pretty tedious, especially if there is a T-0 hold after the deluge system dumps. To recycle the launch, they'd have to defuel, and truck in more water to the pad tanks.

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/Final_PEA_Executive_Summary.pdf

I still haven't seen anything confirming whether deluge was in fact used on this launch. I could see Elon saying "F*** it, send it dry. What's the worst that could happen?"

SpaceX added "engine-rich exhaust" to our lexicon. Now maybe they need to add "pad-rich exhaust".

Let's hope they work on the reusability of Stage Zero...

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Let's hope they work on the reusability of Stage Zero...

That launch stand was completely undermined and I wonder if it may have actually shifted during the launch. It would be interesting to see better photos of it later. I am thinking that entire stand is a write-off as there is no way they'll get it stabilized in that hole well enough to support another stack safely. I wonder how much GSE got damaged by flying debris too. The van parked by the camera was 1100 ft away from the pad and got clobbered with debris. I wonder what the tower and tank farm look like.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Does Pad 39 at KSC use a freshwater system? If so do they just get it from the surrounding swamps or truck it in? I can see the concern with using a seawater system being the corrosion on piping, but that could be mitigated with better piping materials. Unless a good amount of water vapor indeed surrounds the rocket on launch...

It's a freshwater system. They probably pipe it in from municipal supply. Drawing directly from a natural body of water would require quite a lot of permitting and investment in water management infrastructure that really doesn't make economic sense. Much simpler to pay a water bill and fill the header tank between launches. It's "only" 300,000 gallons per launch, and would only need a flow of 200 gpm or so to recharge in 1 day (roughly the flow from a low-capacity fire hydrant).

 

[diogom]

Starbase doesn't currently have a water deluge in the traditional sense. The current system (seen to be called "firex & detonation suppression") is reportedly meant to dissipate build up of gases under the booster by spraying nitrogen and a fine water mist, to prevent situations like the detonation of July 2022 (and it was installed after the fact). It's seen right before the 31 engine static fire. There's a "proper" deluge currently mid-install, with buffer tanks and some plumbing in place, but there's no dedicated water tank (and a long way from the current water tanks) and none of it is routed to the pad yet. It's actually reused equipment which was meant for (and was installed at) KSC's pad.

 

[jedidia]

So I guess it looks like SpaceX has to solve the problem of reusable launchpads first, before they can tackle the problems of reusable super-heavy launch vehicles...

 

[Frilock]

I wonder what the tower and tank farm look like.

 

[GLS]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649172873494556679

 

[diogom]

RIP in pieces:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649425500526329863

 

[GLS]

Now they have a flame trench for the next one.