Zack Golden Profile picture
Nov 19, 2021 11 tweets 8 min read Read on X
#Starship addicts! Ever wondered how @SpaceX plans to deliver more than 1000 LOADS of cryo fluids to the Orbital Tank Farm?

Well, offloading 17 tankers simultaneously might speed things up! Check out this thread to see how it all works & preview some major changes to come! The white lines at the "parking lanes" represent p
1. Shown in the @RGVaerialphotos photo from above, there are (3) LOX, (2) LN2 tanks, and (2) CH4 tanks that need to be filled. There are (~12) stations/ports to offload LOX & (5) for CH4.

*LN2 is able to be offloaded at any of these ports which I will explain next.
2. Pretty common to see up to 3 tankers offloading these days at the OTF, as shown by @StarshipGazer .

Once complete, 17 offloading ports means you can have 34 trucks in rotation. Assuming a 90 minute offload time, there is an 11 tanker per hour capacity for the OTF currently. 3 Lox tankers offloading at the Orbital tank farm. Will be i
3. @StarshipGazer we can see that each "parking spot" has 2 ports. One coming from the bottom pipe line (LN2) and one coming from the top (LOX/CH4). Interesting note: Only the LOX and CH4 ports have lock out tags currently.
4. This is where the LOX inlet manifold penetrates through the retaining wall and into the (3) LOX GSE tanks. This fill line will likely remain flooded at all times. Since all (3) LOX tanks are connected, they will be filling all 3 tanks at the same time. Same for LN2 and CH4
Here's where things get interesting........

5. Sometime between 9/23 and 10/31 (#crowfest2) the pipes used for CH4 offloading were removed along with 40ft of cryo tubing. So this is what our updated parking lot looks like.
@RGVaerialphotos Why dey do dat?
6. Well, when I went out to #Starbase for @LabPadre's amazing #Crowfest2 event, I was curious about this as well. So on 10/29 I took this picture which shows a replacement CH4 fill line located about 20' behind the old one.
Note:Parts of old CH4 fill line still remain
The fact @RGVaerialphotos was the first to notice this during his flyover on 11/10...

7. Idk guys, its sure looking like the CH4 fill lines got completely moved to the "landing pad"

But, who really needs one of those if you are going to catch SS/SH in midair, right? @elonmusk
8. Looking at it from the ground we can see at least 3 CH4 terminals thanks to @StarshipGazer .

#speculation This brings us to (at least 17) LOX/LN2 and (3) CH4 for a total of 20 stations. I think it safe to assume we might see this "landing pad" gas station grow some even more
9. Anyways if you are still following, that brings us to the end. Here is the updated Orbital Tank Farm + "Landing Zone 1" cryogenic tanker truck offloading terminal or #OTFLZ1CTTOT for short. Anyways let me know what yal think! Alternate theories welcome!
Hopefully you guys liked this. If you want me to continue to do more of these once a week let me know below...a little follow would hurt either! Thanks!

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More from @CSI_Starbase

Jan 29, 2023
1/11) Hey #StarshipAddicts, I just wanted to take some time to correct some misconceptions I have seen floating around about this event during the WDR. Hopefully this thread will clear the confusion. At the end, I will suggest a possible solution to this issue.

🎥@Labpadre
2/11) To start off, we should all be able to agree that Wet Dress Rehearsal involves Liquid Methane, and Liquid Oxygen. There is zero nitrogen involved, other than for super chilling of propellants and various gas purges (interstage & OLM/OLIT)
3/11) Now, lets take a look at the depressurization vents on top of the methane tank of the booster. There are no pipes on the inside of the tank that connect to these valve. So when they open...you can literally stick your arm inside of the booster methane tank
📸@ChameleonCir
Read 11 tweets
Dec 1, 2022
(1/4) Hey #StarshipAddicts, here's a little update about the status of exterior cladding on the Orbital Launch Integration tower.

As of today, the first 3 levels of the OLIT have been covered on the sides facing the Launch Mount.

What is the status for the rest of the tower?
(2/4) More paneling for the tower has been spotted by @RGVaerialphotos at the Massey's site which is owned by @SpaceX.

As shown in this image, there are 18 bundles of tower cladding. Each bundle has 9 panels. There are a total of 162 center panels on site already.
(3/4) Each level of the tower requires 4 center panels. Doing a little math...

Panels Available =162
Number of sublevels on OLIT = 24
Remaining levels without cladding = 21
Panels Needed for each side OLIT after bottom 3 levels are covered = 84
Read 6 tweets
Jul 17, 2022
Hey #StarshipAddicts It's been a while since I've done this but here's a short thread explaining what is about to happen at the Starbase Orbital Tank Farm Image
1) Last week this trailer arrived to the Sanchez Gas site. As of yesterday it appears that SpaceX has started to move these items over to the Launch Complex, which is something I wasn't expecting until after the first Orbital Test Flight. Here's why... Image
2) At the OTF there are currently two active liquid oxygen pumps (green). To the left of those are two additional inactive pumps which were delivered back in March (red). So why weren't these ever fully installed? Image
Read 12 tweets
Mar 9, 2022
(1/11) Why didn't #SpaceX use #Mechazilla to lift #Booster4 onto the #OrbitalLaunchMount?

This piece of equipment is the main reason for using the #LR11000 Super crane to lift the booster, instead of the #Chopsticks. I'm going to refer to it as the Locator Pin.
(2/11) When fully extended, the locator pin is inserted into this position on the starship #StarshipSuperHeavy's Hydraulic Power Units (#HPU's). There are two of these located on either side of the booster.

📸:@considercosmos
(3/11) I'm not sure if the aero cover actually makes contact with this hard point on the booster, but its not meant to take much force either way. In order to not damage the booster, these locator pins are designed to have a relatively light tough.

📸:@StarshipGazer
Read 14 tweets
Mar 8, 2022
(1/8) #StarshipAddicts, I think we have a major update for you about one of the #Starship variants we have been expecting to see at #Starbase!

It has been speculated that this nose cone barrel section was to be used for the #CargoVariant.
(2/8) Thanks to @RGVaerialphotos, we now know what it looks like from above. In this image you can see in interior structure which is most likely used to open the "payload bay"
(3/8) If you watched the most recent episode from @RGVaerialphotos flyover review you will remember us mentioning that the size of this payload door makes a lot more sense for #HLS #LunarStarship than it does for #Cargo version.

Read 10 tweets
Feb 16, 2022
(1/10) Hey #StarshipAddicts! If you didn't get a chance to check out the latest @RGVaerialphotos Flyover review livestream then you missed some interesting details about new progress around #Starbase. Here's a summary of last weeks top finds. A lot of info in this image alone! Image
(2/10) CH4 Storage Tanks:
The tanks shown in this picture are assumed to be the additional Methane storage tanks needed in order to fully fuel a #Starship/#SuperHeavyBooster for orbital launches and also suborbital WDR / Cryo testing on the new staging pads. ImageImage
(3/10) CH4 Storage Tanks:
@LabPadre #Gatorcam caught these four tanks rolling into the port on a barge on the morning of Feb 15, 2022 at KSC. These are identical tanks to the four tanks that we have seen at the Sanchez site.

@LabPadre
Read 11 tweets

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