As SpaceX prepares to structurally qualify its new interstage design, intended to be used for hot staging, let’s look at the new parts that will be used for this, and what we can learn from these new parts. (1/12)
The test article at the Massey’s testing site is labelled the “Hot Stage Load Head”, and will be used to qualify the interstage against the aerodynamic forces it will experience during flight. There are 3 main components to this. (2/12)
🖼️ @ChameleonCir
The bottom barrel section is the old Booster 11 forward dome section that was reassigned to become a test article for this, seemingly back in January of this year, possibly suggesting when this design decision was made. (3/12)
📸 @RGVaerialphotos
It wasn’t worked on for some time, until it moved into Tent 1 on July 6th, and later came back out with extra stringers. It’s important to note that these stringers should just be for the test article, overbuilding that part that is irrelevant to the test. (4/12)
📸 @LabPadre
2 hot staging vent rings were seen before this article here. The first was spotted on May 25th, and a revised design was spotted on July 20th. The one on this Booster forward dome, however, is the first to be seen with reinforcements. (5/12)
📸 @LabPadre @StarshipGazer
The vertical supports have triangular stringers on the inside, which add critical support to the ring and should also help direct the exhaust out. There is also diagonal bracing in some areas to help support against torsion forces. (6/12)
📸 @thejackbeyer
🖼️ @ChameleonCir
There is also a large hoop stiffener passing through the middle of this section, which has a band welded to it on the inside, adding additional strength. Doubler plating, increasing the steel thickness, can also be found in various places. (7/12)
📸 @thejackbeyer
It does seem that this will be attached using the staging clamps, as the housings for them were developed on the Booster forward. Currently, they are only chained together, likely because a real clamping system isn't necessary for this test. (8/12)
📸 @thejackbeyer @LabPadre
The vent areas are not evenly spaced, however. There are larger vertical gaps where the 3 staging clamps are, which makes it so this is essentially 3 pairs of vent areas. This also makes it so that each pair is near an RVac engine, which is good. (9/12)
📸 @NASASpaceflight
The top is the old leg skirt from Ship 26.1. This was cut off of the test tank a few months ago and returned to the Production Site to receive more stringers. Just like the Booster forward, this is just overbuilding the irrelevant areas. (10/12)
📸 @RGVaerialphotos @LabPadre
This is almost identical to the interstage testing done with Booster 6 at the end of 2022, where an almost identical leg skirt was used to pull down on top. Essentially this is pressing down with the Ship connection, providing more accurate info. (11/12)
📸 @RGVaerialphotos
When they are eventually assembled on the Can Crusher stand, we’ll be looking at something like this. We can only hope that it passes testing successfully, and maybe we’ll see one of these integrated with Booster 9 in the not-too-distant future. (12/12)
🖼️ @ChameleonCir
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Ship 24.2. A confusing test article with a confusing name that has had a confusing life thus far. Today we’re going to talk about how SpaceX is planning to structurally verify the Starship Payload Bay, and why this monstrosity exists. (1/16)
🖼️ @ChameleonCir
Ship 24.2 will be a 7-ring tall article composed of 3 main sections: a top ring with a dome and 24 external attachment points, a Ship Payload Bay that features a PEZ dispenser rack, and a bottom ring with a hatch in the side. (2/16)
🖼️ @ChameleonCir
Knowing that this is a 7-ring tall test article, we were able to quickly determine that the newly reconfigured nosecone cage is the perfect height to support this. We’ll come back to this later. (3/16)
With this new photo from Elon Musk, there’s been a lot of discussion about what exactly we’re seeing. Today’s quick thread is going to go a bit deeper into what we can learn from this photo. (1/10)
For starters, let’s figure out the positioning of things. The Quick Disconnect is located in the upper right of the photo, and aft flaps can be identified from the frames the motors sit in. This means that the tiled side is on the lower left of this photo. (2/10)
📸 @elonmusk
We can immediately see the Hydraulic Power Unit that powers Ship 25’s Thrust Vector Control in the lower left of this image. Ship 25 is the last Starship to use this, as B9+ and S26+ use an electric TVC system. (3/10)
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)
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)
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)
Ship 25 has had quite a life so far, and it hasn’t even had its first static fire. Let’s take a look at why this Starship has been so confusing, why many thought it was retired, and how it’s different from Ship 24. (1/13)
@RGVaerialphotos Ship 25 was fully stacked in the Highbay on September 12th, 2022, and was moved to the Launch Complex for cryogenic testing on October 19th. It conducted 3 cryo tests, before being moved back to the Highbay to receive its engines. (2/13)
@RGVaerialphotos@NASASpaceflight@LabPadre In the Highbay, all 6 engines were installed on Ship 25, and the PEZ Dispenser slot on the front was welded closed. Ship 25’s engines still use hydraulically-powered TVC, which changes to electric on Ship 26. (3/13)
A nosecone, a dome section, and a handful of ring sections. These are among some unusual Starship parts that we have been following for quite a while now, that are widely speculated to be related to the HLS Lander. Let’s take a look at some of these. (1/21)
@RGVaerialphotos So, fair warning, this is going to be a long one, but a lot has been happening and while we wanted to get this out sooner in a more concise manner, every time we got close, some new paradigm-shifting piece would show up. (2/21)
@RGVaerialphotos We're going to be treading through some speculative ground, so be careful. People often get set on the coolest theory and forget that there may not be much backing it up. We don’t tend to do this, but as it turns out, it can be fun. (3/21)
Super Heavy’s engine shielding is quite an impressive system, and Elon Musk has been talking a lot about this with Booster 9. Let’s take a closer look at how SpaceX isolates and protects all 33 engines on the Booster. (1/14)
@CosmicalChief@ChameleonCir Getting right into it, the covers are unsurprisingly made of stainless steel, and many areas beneath the vehicle are covered in this black material, which could be related to the extra heating in that area. (2/14)
@CosmicalChief@ChameleonCir@SpaceX@RGVaerialphotos These 13 circular pieces surrounding the center engine mounts get added to the aft section in the tents before stacking. SpaceX is always working towards reducing the number of tasks to be completed after final stacking. (3/14)