FFS[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.
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?>> including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage
What's a "hot stage"? It's not the same as "hot stagging" right?
Or get the CG lower.Maybe they are just trying to lighten up the booster - even marginally- while they practice the descent.
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.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.
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.
I don't know. I'm sticking with SpaceFlight Now. I got check my coffee pot soon.Is Spaceflight now the best option for video coverage on Youtube? I miss when SpaceX shared launch coverage directly.
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