When is the Starship orbital launch?

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[Adding] I don't usually engage on subjects far afield from model rocketry on this forum, but it's important to see the dynamics here. Musk isn't a child who just can't help himself, he's an adult with agency. It is abundantly clear that he is a white supremacist, abuses the workforces at the companies he runs, and openly scorns addressing his personal issues, which through those companies negatively impact the public. Also no human being "deserves" a billion dollars, never mind hundreds of billions, and that otherworldly level of wealth comes with the power to harm great numbers of people and face no consequence. SpaceX and Tesla have indeed been transformative for the space launch and automotive industries, and Musk's drive helped make that happen, but it's a serious problem for the country and the world that one person has this much sway over so much of the economy and public policy, especially a person with vile views about other people. Especially when fascists run rampant around the world and stand a good chance of ending democracy and of dooming civilization and nature, through war or permanent global warming.

I hope Starship works. I mourn the environmental destruction at the Boca Chica site, and unfortunately due to the above I can't find untrammeled enjoyment in SpaceX's successes.
 
ReynoldsSlumber said:
[Adding] I don't usually engage on subjects far afield from model rocketry on this forum, but it's important to see the dynamics here. Musk isn't a child who just can't help himself, he's an adult with agency. It is abundantly clear that he is a white supremacist, abuses the workforces at the companies he runs, and openly scorns addressing his personal issues, which through those companies negatively impact the public. Also no human being "deserves" a billion dollars, never mind hundreds of billions, and that otherworldly level of wealth comes with the power to harm great numbers of people and face no consequence. SpaceX and Tesla have indeed been transformative for the space launch and automotive industries, and Musk's drive helped make that happen, but it's a serious problem for the country and the world that one person has this much sway over so much of the economy and public policy, especially a person with vile views about other people. Especially when fascists run rampant around the world and stand a good chance of ending democracy and of dooming civilization and nature, through war or permanent global warming.

I hope Starship works. I mourn the environmental destruction at the Boca Chica site, and unfortunately due to the above I can't find untrammeled enjoyment in SpaceX's successes.
Click to expand...
FFS
 
From SpaceX:

Starship date corrected to June 5th. June 1st was the earliest date based on Musk but SpaceX corrected it to say the 5th.

"The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy. The primary objectives will be executing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster, and achieving a controlled entry of Starship.

To accomplish this, several software and hardware upgrades have been made to increase overall reliability and address lessons learned from Flight 3. The SpaceX team will also implement operational changes, including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage following boostback to reduce booster mass for the final phase of flight.

Flight 4 will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled Starship reentry."
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-4
 
Huxter said:
>> including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage

What's a "hot stage"? It's not the same as "hot stagging" right?
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if the stage is hot maybe it’s still doing the first part of the boost burn when it separates with a hot stage, but that sounds like a waste of fuel?
 
If they jetison the hot staging ring doesn't that negate the advantages gained by adding it? It seen like it would have been more efficient to have not have used the extra propellant to boost it in the first place.
 
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terryg said:
If they jetison the hot staging ring doesn't that negate the advantages gained by adding it? It seen like it would have been more efficient to have not have used the extra propellant to boost it in the first place.
Click to expand...
No. The hot staging ring is used to maintain distance from Ship and the Booster so that it can fire the Ship's motors and pull away from the booster and thus maintain velocity and get to a higher orbit. The ring is vented to all the exhaust to escape from the upper booster. The booster stage then flips around and performs its first back burn to aim it back towards the Gulf of Mexico and slow it down. The hot staging ring is then going to be ejected, having performed its function. The booster drops down into the atmosphere towards the landing point and the engines start up again to slow it down and direct it precisely to a given point for a soft splashdown.

Having that mass ejected from above the grid fins will change the mass of the entire booster and will therefore require less propellant to slow it down to landing velocity. 2ndly, the mass ejected will affect the centre of gravity of the booster to some extent perhaps allowing it to stabilize faster during descent.
 
Starliner rescheduled to June 5th; Starship rescheduled to June 6th.

Edit: I also found out I am going to have to get up at 5:30 my time (CST) to watch the Starship launch which is scheduled to take off at 7:00 am CDT (daylight saving). Saskatchewan maintains CST all year round which in effect puts us on a permanent daylight saving time. I'm a little bummed at having to get up that early. LOL 🤣
 
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I came across a video from CSI Starbase and Ryan Hansen the provided some speculation on why the hot staging ring is being jettisoned. I cannot stress the word "speculation" enough since he has no direct evidence or communication on this. But it does sound plausible. If in fact the hot stage weighs a massive 10 tons, the jettisoning of it would change the balance of the 250 ton Booster considerably and it would change the amount of fuel required to slow the vehicle down to landing speed. He suggests that the with the ring gone at a predictable point in the flight down, then the software controlling the grid fins will be able to adjust the balance of the booster much quicker as it is just beginning to enter the atmosphere instead of uncontrollably separating in the low atmosphere.

Coupled with graphics from Ryan Hansen, Zack puts together an awesome video. He is one of the guys I turned to for a deeper explanation into the workings of the space craft.
 
Think about how the forces from the grid fins work on the top of the rocket. With an empty F9 coming in tail-first there is almost no mass at the top and the grid fins would work well.

Add 10 tonnes and whatever mass the larger Starship has to the top and the CG is shifted much closer to the grid fins, so the fins become less effective at working against the inertia of the vehicle due to both shortened lever arm and larger mass increasing the rotational moment of inertia. Control system would not be particularly happy. The CG would shift quite rapidly towards the nose during engine burn too, as fuel is depleted.
 
Lord Rory Gin said:
I came across a video from CSI Starbase and Ryan Hansen the provided some speculation on why the hot staging ring is being jettisoned. I cannot stress the word "speculation" enough since he has no direct evidence or communication on this. But it does sound plausible. If in fact the hot stage weighs a massive 10 tons, the jettisoning of it would change the balance of the 250 ton Booster considerably and it would change the amount of fuel required to slow the vehicle down to landing speed. He suggests that the with the ring gone at a predictable point in the flight down, then the software controlling the grid fins will be able to adjust the balance of the booster much quicker as it is just beginning to enter the atmosphere instead of uncontrollably separating in the low atmosphere.

Coupled with graphics from Ryan Hansen, Zack puts together an awesome video. He is one of the guys I turned to for a deeper explanation into the workings of the space craft.
Click to expand...


The simulated desk that Zack is resting his arms on is kind of creepy, with no shadows and whatnot. I wonder what is really there that they don't want to show.

Hans.
 
I do not think they particularly care if these next few launches fail, since they are older designs. They are going to jetison the hot staging ring, but I do not know if that will make lot of difference with motor shutdowns caused by intake screen blockage.
 

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