Thread by @Ringwatchers

Some interesting developments have been happening lately with Starship 28, with one of the major ones being the removal of its sliding Payload Bay door. Let’s take a closer look at how this was done, and what it could mean. (1/6)

📸 @CosmicalChief

On June 15th, crews attached a crane to Ship 28’s sliding door, and after somehow reorienting it inside of the vehicle, slid it out. We’ve included an animation of how it was removed if it’s hard to tell from the recording. (2/6)

📸 @NASASpaceflight
🖼️ @ChameleonCir

This is simply the sliding panel that we all see from the outside of the Ship. On Ship 28, you can see that it’s now missing, and what is likely related to the actuation mechanism can be seen hanging in the doorway. (3/6)

📸 @CosmicalChief
🖼️ @ChameleonCir

This is NOT what was done when sealing the doors on previous Ships, so it seems unlikely that this is what is happening. Maybe SpaceX has a new design, maybe it was damaged, or maybe it’s something else. (4/6)

https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1572668274474733568

It will be interesting to see if this happens to the other Ships. Either way, we can see some cool stuff in the clip. If you look closely, you can see the 2 arms on the interior that attach to the sliding rails. (5/6)

📸 @NASASpaceflight @LabPadre @RGVaerialphotos

So how exactly did they get the door reoriented inside the Ship? It’s likely that patience, skills with chain hoists, and probably some magic were all used. Hopefully, we see a new door go up soon to fill the gaping hole in the side. (6/6)