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Drum roll, please!

🕑 Added 2021-08-10 16:50:03 +0000 UTC

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The Saturn V had only 3,300 tons of thrust at liftoff? Apollo 15 had 7.5 million pounds of thrust divided amongst five engines. Please explain?

Steve Ehrmann

A question for your team: The Angry Astronaut has suggested a disturbing analogy with the Soviet N-1. When the N-1 blew up shortly after lifting off, the blast radius was huge. In his interview with Tim Dodd, Elon said it would be a win if the stack lifted off and didn't destroy "Stage 0" in the process. So a low altitude destruction is possible. What kind of damage might a methalox conflagration/explosion cause? That's part of what the FAA is looking into; this isn't just useless bureaucratic stalling. So what can you all discover about what might happen to, say, Brownsville TX if a Starship detonated at low altitude?

Steve Ehrmann

Thanks, Felix. Notes for next time - crossing the much-debated Karman line is symbolic but functionally what's defining is achieving orbital velocity parallel to the surface of the earth. Also, like you, I was gobsmacked to see the stack for the first time. But it wasn't historic, just a fit test. It's my impression that the engine plumbing wasn't completely hooked up, either. We can just glory in what this is: something that, to date, no one has ever seen before.

Thanks Felix and Welcome Back 👍

Glad to have you back Felix you Rock!

Bill Colbert

You say :There's been a lot going on in the space industry ...". Not really, except SpaceX. Everyone else seems to be napping while SpaceX has reached Warp 5!!

Glad you’re back. I’m a new subscriber and love your enthusiasm. I don’t know whether this is the right forum for this but… it suddenly struck me after your comment about SX using a Russian idea for the fins. That’s the core of SpaceX. Back in the old Cold War days when Russian tech may been at its peak, we got a look at a Soviet Foxbat 25 for the first time. We discovered that they were geniuses about knowing where they need high precision and also knowing where good enough was good enough. Imagine a capitalistic entrepreneur who does just that to fulfill a dream.

Wow, I knew what this stacking meant, but to hear it from somebody "for the first time (...) humanity is able of building an interplanetary transport system" really got a vibe :D

You're very welcome!!!

Thanks Felix!