When Will It Hop?
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SpaceX is set to launch the Starship SN9 prototype to an altitude of approximately 10 kilometers. A launch attempt is possible between 9 am and 6 pm Central time on Thursday, now postponed by FAA (some say: due to an unexpected car showing up near the launch site). However, as with testing, there is always a chance that teams could decide to stand down and try again on a different day, in the video “LIVE: Starship SN9 Flight Test“, below:
SpaceX Starship’s SN9 12.5K hop from SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site, Boca Chica, Texas. This is the second high-altitude 10K flight of a SpaceX Starship prototype, in the video “SpaceX Starship SN9 Launch [POSTPONED by FAA]“, below:
So, an unexpected nearby car caused concern by the FAA, therefore the launch for SpaceX Starship SN9 launch was postponed. It is not safe for any vehicle to be near the launch site during launch. Therefore FAA wants additional time to check on the security before launch time. The earliest possible time for launch will be Thursday, January 28, 2021, and possibly be delayed ’til Friday, January 29, 2021.
SpaceX will be conducting a 10 km test flight of their SN9 prototype vehicle. This flight will be a repeat of the largely successful SN8 test flight, with some possible minor flight profile changes. SN9 will lift off from Boca Chica, Texas under the power of its three Raptor engines. The Raptor engines will shut off one by one during ascent to decrease loads and acceleration on the vehicle. At apogee, the single Raptor engine still burning will initiate the vertical-to-horizontal flip before shutting off. SN9 will make use of its body flaps to keep it stable during descent. Prior to landing, SN9 will ignite two of its Raptor engines to re-orientate itself back into a vertical position and perform a propulsive landing, in the video “Watch SpaceX’s Starship SN9 fly!!! [TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE]“, below:
Let’s try this again, shall we? After the scrub on Monday, the anticipation for this next attempt has been real. SpaceX Starship SN9 is ready to fly and the day so far looks good! We are watching history in the making here. The countdown is on. Let’s watch this baby fly together, in the video “Watch SpaceX’s Starship SN9 Flight Live“, below:
SpaceX is trying it again. This time with Starship SN9 and this time with a new header tank pressurization system and the goal of sticking the landing! In the video “SpaceX Starship SN9 10-Kilometer Flight Live Stream with the Wai Family Take 2“, below:
SpaceX Starship’s THIN SKINNED Test Tank passes first trial | Super Heavy’s important part appears, in the video “SpaceX Starship’s THIN SKINNED Test Tank passes first trial, Super Heavy’s important part appears“, below:
SpaceX is taking everything up a notch with Starship. This thing is the ultimate challenge in aerospace engineering, a FULLY and rapidly reusable super heavy lift launch vehicle, capable of taking 150 metric tonnes to low Earth orbit. But Starship’s ultimate goal goes way beyond just terrestrial orbital ambitions, Starship is the first vehicle designed to actually take human beings to Mars and back again. In order to achieve this absolutely bonkers goal, SpaceX has had to employ a litany of new technologies, use new materials, develop the most advanced rocket engines ever made and come up with some wild ideas that have never been tried before… and maybe for good reason. So today I wanted to go over all of these new technologies and compare it to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to help point out what things are new, what things are different and what they’ve learned from the Falcon family that will apply to Starship in order to really understand just how ambitious this project is. We won’t be just scratching the surface here, in fact we’ll actually be taking you inside the rockets and showing you basically every single part and going over all of them with a fine tooth comb so you can learn as much as possible and have a definitive guide to Starship, in the video “Complete Guide To Starship: Falcon 9 VS Starship. What’s new? What’s different?” below:
Check out a video from October of 2020, “Why The SpaceX Starship Won’t Simply Orbit Mars“, below:
Below, is an excerpt from spacex.com, in italics, on the subject of SpaceX Starship SN9:
As early as Thursday, January 28, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9) – the second high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas. Similar to the high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8), SN9 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN9 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.
The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship’s attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN9’s Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.
A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.
There will be a live feed of the flight test available here that will start a few minutes prior to liftoff. Given the dynamic schedule of development testing, stay tuned to our social media channels for updates as we move toward SpaceX’s second high-altitude flight test of Starship!
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.
Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX tries another high-altitude test flight, this time for its SN9 rocket. The second flight of a prototype of Elon Musk’s next-generation Starship rocket meant for eventual trips to Mars was picture-perfect right up until the landing, which again ended in a fiery explosion. Watch a recap here, in the video “SpaceX Starship SN9 EXPLODES! Watch it here“, below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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