What SpaceX just did with Starship's Welding shocked the entire industry!

What SpaceX just did with Starship's Welding shocked the entire industry!
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=========
SpaceX Starship's Welding changes everything!
The striking and sleek image of the towering Starship, lifting off brilliantly in April, left countless big fans in awe. It wasn't just the sheer power of the Starship that drew admiration, but also its outer beauty that garnered high praise.
Look Starship like a colossal blue whale with sleek and shiny skin, and we cannot find any traces of it.
However, if you've been following Starship from the beginning, you would know that the first Starship prototypes were incredibly rough and unrefined.
Let's take a depth look at how SpaceX mastered the Starship's welding in this episode of Alpha Tech.
In the genesis of the Starship project, SpaceX envisioned a spacecraft crafted from lightweight carbon fiber.
The potential of harnessing carbon fiber, renowned for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, seemed to herald a promising future for the Starship.

[@LG-qz8om]

What impressed me most was when i saw the rocket tumble in flight yet remain intact. Every other rocket that even slightly deviates from a straight course immediately splits and disintegrates. So despite that flight not meeting all its objectives, that one action (remaining intact while tumbling) was the best proof to have confidence in its structural integrity. It is my consideration that it is likely the strongest rocket to date.

[@georgytodorov7947]

It was more a gentle spin rather than a tumble and if you take the time to actually analyze the footage you'll be able to see all sorts of leaks and streaks and whatnot coming out of the body - no person in control of their critical faculties will define this as "remaining intact". For something DESIGNED to be able to spend a serious amount of time on its side in descent that is definitely NOT a reason to proclaim any sort of objective was met. As for any other craft slightly deviating from its course exploding - yeah, that's one of the things that didn't work on Musk's sorry excuse to leech off government funding - the FTS. That abomination should have exploded the second it showed signs of being out of control, not a minute later, obviously due to physics rather than intentional human intervention.

[@georgytodorov7947]

@@TruRepublican 😂😂😂😂

[@fobbitoperator3620]

Fair point!

[@mdwallace]

​@@georgytodorov7947i recall the venting was linked to the self destruct charges that failed to have an immediate result; they were small and it wasent to have the remaining fuel do the work

[@georgytodorov7947]

@@mdwallace you recall the official Musk statement on the matter or an independent verified source? Please spare me a few minutes of your time and let's do some thinking. Let's for the sake of argument accept the FTS charges did fire as designed (which they obviously either did not or were so poorly designed as to be practically useless - both signs of extremely poor engineering). I would ask a couple questions first: Where are those "failed charges" located? I'm no engineer but common sense urges me to believe that the most efficient way for them to do their job is to rupture the tanks in such positions as to facilitate the immediate mixing of the two propellant components - that is to say the single sheet of steel separating the two parts of the *single* tank (genius design feature number one right there). That wouldn't be a great idea with all that liquid whatever either side of the barrier. If I remember my admittedly amateurish research on the matter correctly, most high explosives tend to not work exactly as expected under extreme cold conditions. Anyway let's pretend that some real qualified thinking people work for The Stink and they figured out another location where the charges can be placed and... well do something (remember the best case scenario is operator initiated rapid disassembly). Where would that be? On the outside skin of the vessel? Cause remember it's all one single tube - no internal components to speak of. So... Outside it is. Where? How do you shield them from the extreme conditions of liftoff and reentry? How does that affect aerodynamics? Load/mass distribution? Remember the Challenger and Columbia disasters? How do they prevent anything like that happening again due to say... bird impact (known to happen)? What about a Lightning strike? Too many variables for a company with SpaceX's track record to deal with. And of course they would have to be somewhere around the tank itself - no explanation for the leaks seen on the upper part of the craft. Then there's the option to put the charges either side of the tank (top and bottom that is) and hope for the best. This would probably be the one to take into consideration, given that the leak is supposed to be caused by partial rupture of the tank right? Sooo... The skin is welded shut right? No cracks no openings - all one smooth sausage... Then all of a sudden *whooosh* all sorts of gases and vapor and stuff venting all over the place. Do I have to finish this line of thought or will you reach the obvious conclusion yourself? Of course none of this actually matters since an engineer's job is to have everything figured out WAY BEFORE the first weld is ever made. You know... material properties, forces expected, working conditions, how to make things do what we expect and want them to... Humanity figured rocket science out close to a century ago! Imagine if government made ICBM's had the track record of Elon's. There wouldn't have been a cold war - both the US and USSR would have wiped themselves out within the first several tests of these things.

[@tonywadkins5258]

This welding technique is over 30 years old. It is hardly SHOCKING!

[@mikedrake5738]

Translation: We hate Elon because he believes in free speech. Oh, almost forgot: REEEEEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEEEE

[@littlehippo5004]

Yup, and ULA has been doing it for years

[@barraberson]

I find shocking grinding of welds...

[@Cantthinkofahandle117]

​@@mikedrake5738I'm pretty sure the comment was about the title of the video calling a common welding process "shocking", and has nothing to do with Elon or SpaceX. Your comment, however, is sad and pathetic. Try to think more and react irrationally less.

[@mikedrake5738]

@@Cantthinkofahandle117 lol

[@francoislancon798]

I majored in a welding specialty in my studies, that was about 45 years ago but all basic principles are still valid. I found your video very interesting and technically accurate. Well done!

[@roadboat9216]

I am already wowed. This is what I love about SpaceX. They take failure and make it work for them. Constantly improving.

[@ElonMuskxx]

Thank you for your love, care and support, it's nice to chat with you here.. where are you texting from?❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🦋❣️

[@thopkins2271]

SpaceX does amazing things. But this is hardly the first use of friction stir welding in spacecraft. In fact SLS uses it.

[@Musk.Moments]

This stuff is just getting crazier and crazier

[@warrenwhite9085]

Compare private enterprise SpaceX’s innovation, efficiency, spirit to Federal Agency NASA’s waste, bloat, sloth, & incompetence. Compare SpaceX’s Clean, green, reused, cheap Starship to NASA’s 1960s technology throwback, throwaway, polluting, $4+billion per flight SLS/Orion.

[@stephenhurd1489]

It looks like a colossal something

[@carbonstar9091]

Clarification. In fluxcore the flux is inside the wire. Not wrapped around it.

[@wytze01]

Hence the name.

[@roaddog6201]

OK, a few points of better clarity here. The Flux core is turned into a gas when heated it releases this gas to prevent oxygen from getting into the weld and causing porosity. Not rust tig welding is just pernounced as it sounds not spelled out. There are 3 different types of mig-fluxcore welding short circuit, spray, and pulse. All 3 have different benefits and drawbacks. The main thing is that Flux core is just the type of wire used in the mig process. There are 3 types of Flux core inner shield and outer shield and duel shield. There is also a solid core that can be used in conjunction with gas. Also, the Flux core can be used in conjunction with gas. The main difference is in feed and heat forced into the material. The hard part about welding 304 stainless that becomes very apparent when dealing with 316 stainless in burning out the chromium by having to much heat in the material what tiger is reliable on one thing of putting a lot of heat into your work. And hitting the weld after you have it welding in the industry is called penning. It is done while the steel is still jot to relive some stress from the contraction of the weld cooling. Overall, it's a good video. I just wish you had a bit more research on the topic before.

[@charliesiempelkamp511]

Wow! I wondered about that. I didn't know you could use friction-stir welding on stainless, much less thin stainless sheet metal. Thank you for this video. I found it very interesting and informative.

[@alphatech4966]

Glad I could help!

[@elmer6123]

Excellent history of SpaceX welding processes.

[@gregsteele806]

I had no idea they used friction welding at such a scale. I remember having a toy back in the 70's that let you friction weld plastic models together, but I never imagined they'd use it with stainless steel. Very neat.

[@jolinar.setesh]

Actually it would have used for carbon fiber welding

[@davidbonk1672]

I think I remember that toy. It had plastic girders and plastic rivets, and a tool like a drill that would use the friction of the spinning rivet to fuse it into the girders.

[@clavo3352]

I feel a Romantic loss for the skill of welding. On the other hand this is great stuff!

[@gregsteele806]

@@davidbonk1672 Yeah, that's the one. Then you could use the power tool to rev up the tires (one of mine built dragsters) They always seemed to fall apart at a moment's notice, but putting them back together was part of the fun.

[@jannejohansson3383]

Russian's use same machine with aluminium bodies of rocket's.

[@hadorstapa]

Not only was the launch test article structurally sound enough to endure Max-Q, it even survived its own self-destruct charges, which have been beefed up for future iterations.

[@georgytodorov7947]

What are you talking about? Those charges never fired. A crucial feature not working is nothing to be proud of. Even if they did fire and nothing happened - that's something that needs to have been tested before the craft was even considered for launch. Additionally the engineer's job is to do the calculations needed based on the material strength, construction methods and all sorts of other factors during the design phase - not after the damn thing proves to be a literal death trap for the umpteenth time. All this tells anyone with an IQ higher than the average european shoe size is that: 1. Elon can't put three brain cells together across all of his companies. OR 2. Someone did do their job, but the solution was overruled by His Great Smellyness for not being cool or futuristic or something enough to suit the particular dose of whatever he is on that day (as has been known to happen countless times so far). Besides has anyone considered what beefing up the charges would mean for this piece of crap's already terrible track record?

[@gregoryrapier3021]

I started welding in 1966. By 1971 I was certified in Arc welding steel plate all positions. Over the years I was certified to weld Mill steel, aluminum, Titanium, stainless sheet and tubing as well as many other metal alloys from 0,004 to 0.120 some over 1 inch thick. I have even welded pot metal. I welded everything from cast iron engine blocks to to parts that are on the voyager 1 and 2. Made parts that went on F 18 fighters as well as others. Also for commercial air craft. I had to hole tolerances of 0.003 many times.

[@ITelcontar6]

Having worked with carbon fiber composites in both fiber-wrap and woven matrix composite forms, I think it is important to note that the weak link in carbon composites is NOT the carbon fiber, but rather the composite resin that is needed to solidify and form the rigid part. These resins are not as durable under high heat applications, as Musk's team surely found out. But the carbon fiber itself, likely would have no problem. with the heat levels anticipated.

[@Darth_Chicken]

Could you replace resin with something else? Flexible concrete? Low melt alloy?

[@ronaldfharring7326]

Clearly, present day carbon fiber technology is not up to the task of serving as the skin of spacecraft. Perhaps future carbon fiber technology will solve the limitations of current binding materials.

[@noapologizes2018]

Friction welding and laser welding are the wave of the future for starship construction. No doubt about it. I like stainless steel but titanium and tungsten should be utilized where stresses and heat are greatest. But I'm sure these guys already know this and do. Elon Musk and his Space X team never fails to surprise the world.

[@Stuff_And_Things]

That FSW process is amazing. I've never seen that outside of plastics joining. Musk surrounding himself with out of the box thinkers is really paying off for all of us.

[@daledavies2334]

Used to weld turbocharger turbines to the shaft. Also used to weld stainless steel tubing lengths for a joint free run. Especially used in nuclear power plants where a leak is just not acceptable. Just two examples.

[@Red-Raider]

That was amazing!! I just wish we could get more video of the welding and other processes! Can’t get enough of Space X

[@alphatech4966]

More to come!

[@davidhomer78]

To sum it up: Spacex tried to do it very cheaply even though welders in other industries could have told them it wouldn't work. After initial failure they tried other inadequate methods that failed. They finally tried proven methods that were already in use in other industries to achieve moderate success. No extra credit for Spacex engineers.

[@4Lights.5Liights]

Thank you for a video offering the material science processes that make it probable for less failures.

[@ElonMuskxx]

Thank you for your love, care and support, it's nice to chat with you here.. where are you texting from?❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🦋❣️

[@roadsterman]

Never grind or sand a structural weld. It is a stress riser. Glad you are on the right track now. Good luck .

[@alphatech4966]

That's the plan!

[@ingentingbra]

Welding engineer here. I have visited The Welding Institute in the UK aswell. I'm 95 % sure you are wrong. FSW is used a lot on aluminium. Not on steel and stainless, since it's a much tougher metal which reduce toollife to around 50 meter. The tool itself is veeeery expensive. I have followed Starhip since the beginning and I have seen no proof that they use FSW in videos etc. They do use it on Falcon Heavy though, where aluminium is used.

[@coldwarkid6611]

Starship looks like a rocket from one of those awesome 1950's sci-fi movies.

[@capitalggeek]

I've got my fingers crossed that the launch heat & reentry heat will give the Starship & SuperHeavy a heat rainbow.

[@markwarren625]

Thank you for the time & effort to produce this video. Technical videos highlighting cost effective manufacturing techniques and discussing developmental improvements are additional modern day tools to educate students entering the work force. McDonnell Douglas engineering / Boeing Delta IV rocket program was also developing the FSW (friction stir welding) process in the late 1990s.

[@alphatech4966]

Glad it was helpful!

[@clitisswood7330]

Where do you think the people working there come from ?

[@chalattil]

Starship just keeps getting more impressive!

[@shockcat5988]

I remember being a kid watching black and white movies with rockets that would takeoff and land. Now they’re here. It blows my mind.

[@roadsterman]

There are about 50 welding processes. Friction stir welding is not a new. Process. For accurate information cosult the American Welding Society.

[@MrJdsenior]

@@roadsterman Yes, I've seen other formats too, for cylindrical sections, whereby you spin one up to high speed and force them together with great force, in a lathe designed for the task. The entire weld is made at one time, which I would expect might increase strength due to only one melting, or plasticizing interface being completed simultaneously, instead of a traveling bead.

[@birdtrap12]

i cant wait to be a part of space x's welding team

[@successfulvictorypublisher6090]

I thoroughly enjoyed this superbly-created video enlightenment regarding Starship's Welding Process! Very clear-cut explanations! Keep up the great work!

[@alphatech4966]

Thank you very much!

[@frankbumstead3838]

Yes I did learn something new. The final welding solution was known by me previously, but it's interesting to see the Friction Welding results.

[@omkhuluBasss]

I didnt know you could grind down a weld to strength it

[@mikegamerguy4776]

Can't stand musk, but the talent he has managed to assemble at Space X is astounding. Space X achievements are impressive, and Space X itself is an impressive achievement.

[@davekewing1]

Evidently the wielding is Very good with all the processes used , not only getting through max q but surviving the tumble and attempted self destruct well beyond expectations ! That thing just wouldn’t die a quick and easy death, very tough nut to crack!

[@Edythe-sx5ht]

For me, it was enlightening.

[@kxkxkxkx]

It barely got to 10% of their intended speed 😂 yeah a real success for you dupes

[@albeit1]

Well put together. The video and the Starship. But not sure the industry was shocked.

[@wolfman007zz]

FSW (Friction Stir Welding) is used and was pioneered by NASA/Boeing for the Artemis Core Stage! SpaceX borrowed it.

[@MK_Maestro.1]

According to Wikipedia, FSW .....It was experimentally proven and commercialized at The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK in 1991. So defo not pioneered by NASA.

[@wolfman007zz]

@@MK_Maestro.1 The practical, real world use on space vehicles and structural aluminum, with concurrent inspection and testing of the welds, was pioneered by NASA/Boeing. Don’t be obtuse. And we all know Wikipedia “never” gets its facts wrong, don’t we??!

[@bob_frazier]

WOW, that was well done. Great video in every metric. Subscribed.

[@crippledbeast_U-toob]

All the problems you stated they ran into during R and D, I immediately knew how to avoid, would have avoided them before they happened,and all the fixes you said they used, were what I said aloud as I was watching, one would think Musk would have found a real metalurgist before getting that far. I also have suggestions to improve upon what they are doing now and also wonder how long before something else that came to my mind watching this will be a problem at some point. There may still be a hidden problem in the fuselage that wasn't mentioned. When Costa Concordia sank, I found the reason the hull ripped open from photos of debris that to this day, has never been mentioned in reports or in investigations. Surprises me what "Experts" and "Engineers" don't know these days.

[@waterlife.1905]

Majority of those who know work for the DOD or NASA. Easy money. If you work for space x you gonna get dirty, burnt, and sweaty. But it's rewarding and the pride...

[@thanniss]

He just needs an actual welder. One with TIG experience that’s actually good not a KZbinr.

[@Brickktopp]

Watched friction stir welding being carried out on Eclipse jet … really cool process

[@shockcat5988]

The implosion on the voyage to the titanic proves carbon fibers reliability, certainly 😂

[@DMortFay]

like the easy-to-understand explanation of the processes used.

[@bryanaustin8362]

Welding technologist here, you describe amateur welders using FCAW on the mark 1 ship then grinding them down. Was there no welding engineering oversight? Are you sure it was such an experimental situation? I would not expect that from a company like Space X, then again was Elon too busy with Twit... X?

[@orvjudd1383]

Great video. It looks like Space X went from total amateurs to experts in welding technology. It looks like they hired some talented material scientists.

[@ElonMuskxx]

Thank you for your love, care and support, it's nice to chat with you here.. where are you texting from?❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🦋❣️

[@Raging.Geekazoid]

0:13 _"It garnished high praise."_ F-ing geniuses.

[@stevelux9854]

Space-X finally started making the rockets more like and then surpass the military made ICBMs. The riveting was also a big improvement.

[@liampollard2908]

The closeup of the engines being maneuverd reminds me of the film "District 9" when the alien spaceship takes off!

[@diannebaginski4787]

I used to work at LTV in cleveland making stainless steels and coldroll. Looks a lot like our products.

[@wheelsofafrica]

Mind-boggling! Beyond brilliant.

[@uweporth9337]

good video. kept me interested from start to finish. I learned a lot.

[@ingopinkowski1091]

I am coming from the steel industry, I had a discussion with Ph.D. engineers about the use of aluminum against steel. My argument was that steel can be made much thinner than alu, has rust resistance, and has higher strength. That was 30 years ago. I guess I won.😁😁😁

[@gregorysagegreene]

Very good detail on technical progress.

[@PhilipX2030]

I appreciate the rapid evolution iteration of SpaceX engineering, and the crossovers with cyber truck, automation for rockets 🚀 drawn from the Tesla factories.. it's basically "not fair" how this confluence of innovation will take over the market and "own the future"

[@tomwalsh7547]

ULA has been using friction stir welding for long time, there are KZbin videos of a factory tour showing it. Its a very cool video.

[@martinsoos]

I am surprised that they don't weld in a helix, with the laser welding, they could make one tube out of one longer role and knock off the same weld length as the length of the final cylinder.

[@seancollins9745]

it would be stronger, I have been saying this for a while, just wrap a big tube, then slide in the addons

[@KarolKarolak]

Helix welding cannot be done for practical reasons. There is no practical way to measure diameter of the Starship or SH Booster. The only thing that can be precisely measured is circumference and that can be precisely measured before strip of metal is welded into a ring. This measurement has to be temperature compensated in order to give consistent results. Ring to ring variations influence matching of ring edges for welding to each other and to "y" joints. Just try to imagine how would you precisely measure circumference of spirally welded tube?

[@martinsoos]

@@KarolKarolak Start with one large building and a fixture suspended in air from one side with the same length as the finished part or longer. Suspend the first loop with full support all around the loop. When you measure the length of the diameter at a set temperature, wrap that loop around till you can spot weld the mark to the side of the role. The squareness of the roll you are making the tube with won't matter since the end will be cut square with the tube after the final length of the tube has been welded. If you want a smaller example, look at the paper tubes that come at the end of wrapping paper.

[@seancollins9745]

@@KarolKarolak ahh, it's not that difficult, a good quality servo system can hold the circumference to within a few microns if machine rigidity is good enough. the calculation of feed and speed is no different than what they are doing now. the tolerance of spiral wound pipes is pretty amazing considering the low tech process used to make it. typical holding thousandths of a inch over thousands of linear feet, with mostly manual machine tools calibrated by guys with high school diplomas.

[@KarolKarolak]

@@martinsoos How do you know that your "loop" represents circumference of a circle and not circumference of an ellipsoid?

[@sagecoach]

Over-the-top detailed information is much appreciated. The Budd Company built stainless steel railroad passenger cars skillfully 70 years ago, and many are still operating in their demanding environment.

[@sitarnut]

If you're old enough you might remember the glorious Comic Book days..this was the late 1940's through the 60's. Super Space Ships everywhere from nearly all the Publishers. The Space X Starship is a mirror image of the Science fiction artists imaginations as early as the 1920's. Pulp Science fiction Novels / Mysteries were littered with Rocket Ships...happy times.... in fact, "Mystery in Space" starring Adam Strange from the 60's taught us plenty about science.

[@stuartwiner7920]

This is very interesting, but it would have been nice if you had addressed the latest tumble. It might not have had anything to do with the welding, but there might be something to share about it and there's a lot of curiosity.

[@H3rmanHan01]

Really god technical pverview. I had not known of FSW. Great content in this video. Well Done.

[@alphatech4966]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@prilep5]

They should put dimples on the surface like the golfballs maybe will help with sturdiness and aerodynamics

[@jeanneharriman2869]

Blessings from Kalispell Montana USA

[@2persons]

I've welded thin and thick walled pipe for the oil fields and sent the same welds through pipe-bending machines where it was necessary the weld be good enough not to break or leak when pressurized. Anyway all I'm trying to say and doing a bad job of it is the THIS refined older system of weld is well, naturally sheer genius. Way to go SpaceX.

[@rodanderson8490]

This explains why Blue Origin, Boeing, LM, and other rocket companies have not tried to copy the stainless steel technology used on Starship. It is too complicated and would require a HUGE investment they simply are not willing to make.

[@halkrohn9530]

A Breezeline internet commercial accompanied this video. I had Breezeline and they had hours of down time every day for weeks on end before I switched to another provider.

[@slavko321]

Great video!

[@tompittmtb4314]

Rockets have been made using FSW for a lot longer than space X has been around!

[@terranhealer]

You forgot to mention anything about the NDT program in checking weld Integrity

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Carbon fiber seems to be an auto fail material in the hands of a dilatant. High temperature, compression loads, either can case failure in carbon fiber materials. Glad to see SpaceX using due diligence in engineering the Starship.

[@bakedbeings]

They can still get a sick vinyl wrap with carbon fibre print, noone'll get close enough to tell the difference.

[@makespace8483]

Good report!

[@MAM80233]

Good Report - There were new things to learn.

[@wm9782]

Learned so much thank you

[@TheSilmarillian]

Every generation throughout history has produced two sometimes three people that change the whole course of humanity Elon is one of our current generation me thinks

[@rossdean1997]

I would think Niobium stabilized 347 or Titanium stabilized 321 stainless would hold up better to the heat than the 304L (the "L" just indicates it has half the Carbon of 302). If any TIG welding is needed, then 347 would be the choice. The cold rolling does elongate the grains but that is not what makes the metal stronger. The rolling is called work hardening and the increase in strength is from an increase in dislocations in the microstructure.

[@skiqsr]

We have been using pressure welding for years to refurbish internal jet engine parts from the hot section.

[@duderguy1571]

Friggin crazy how much power that giant spray can can handle.

[@kenmason6135]

BTW, cold rolling was how the first ICBM and first US astronaut to orbit the earth, was made, the Atlas. It's tensile was 210,000 PSI but maraging still being stronger.

[@boutrosboutrosboutrosboutros]

Well done. will check back for more videos

[@jameswest4819]

A Scandium/Aluminum alloy would lighten the weight around 20 percent and give the material Titanium qualities.

[@richardwebb4808]

Rolls - Royce tried to use carbon fibre fan blades on the RB211 which had been destined for the Lockheed L1011 (I think) but the ends of the blades delaminated and were useless, they had to be replaced by Titanium. This extra cost led to the bankruptcy of RR and they were then able to renegotiate the engine price. LH were stuck as they had configured the plane to suit the engine.

[@peronik349]

So the starfactory is full of master welder now !!! 😊

[@CosgroveNotts]

They had any old welders in the early days 😂

[@johnsheffield1387]

An interesting video, I didn't see anything in it that warrented the clickbait title about them shocking the welding industry.

[@JohnWarner-lu8rq]

How does this guy know the first welders were inexperienced? What a foolish comment. There are legions of TIG welders that have government and other X-Ray certifications. And, Mr. announcer, stainless doesn't "rust." A t 4:17 "he" mentions a defective horizontal weld, and yet the opening is a vertical one. I'm beginning to think that whatever this site says, it's best to take it with a grain of salt.

[@bazoo513]

What "shocked the entire industry" is that it took four or five years of "experimenting" for SpaceX to adopt the best practice in stainless steel welding, those taught in any trade school for master welders. Also, it is shocking that Musk actually had to buy mandrels and graphite fiber winding machines before figuring the disadvantages of this "sexy" technology. That's Musk's "developed philosophy" - build first, think later.

[@blengi]

because using said technologies on a *radical **_new_** design* being delivered to space at mach 27 and fulfilling economic, engineering, supply chain etc requirements unlike any other system makes one set of domain knowledge 100% completely transferrable from day dot everyone know win98 is best os no need for reassessing anything from first principles lol

[@bazoo513]

@@blengi The "radical new design" (once Musk found out that carbon composites are expensive and tolerate heat less than stainless steel does - but, hey, Space Shuttle used them for thermal protection (that killed seven astronauts)) consists of pressurized stainless steel tanks. Welding pressurized stainless steel tanks is not (pardon the pun) exactly rocket science, but SpaceX wasted a year using techniques suitable for welding balcony balustrades or garage doors, before "discovering" TIG and later automating it using a welding robot. Tell me what, exactly, is "radically new" developed from the "first principles" in SpaceX designs? Merlin engine, using reliable traditional open cycle gas generator design drawing on decades of NASA experience and that of others? Propulsive landing, like DC-X did half a century ago? Using stainless steel for rocket hulls, like Atlas did in '50s? Adopting full flow stage combustion cycle like Soviet RD-270, and many smaller as opposed few huge engines (like N-1 vs. Saturn V) ? Designing a (relatively) huge launches, although not as huge as, say, Sea Dragon? Using conical capsule design for cargo and crew transport, like Apollo? I am listening. What I admire Gwynne Shotwell for is managing to fly the Tom Mueller design (Falcon series) so reliably and dependably.

[@ikuona]

Less hype, more facts . I like it, thx!

[@Savage2Flinch]

FWS did not set starship apart from other rockets as claimed. It was used on Delta II, Delta IV, Atlas V, as well as the space shuttle external tank.

[@wonttell4873]

Remember the ole spin welder toys. They used plastic, but same principle.

[@Scottishrepublic]

Fascinating

[@jeffreymach7741]

I hear often how Cost-Plus contracts are the problem and Fixed-Price contracts are better, but that is not what is born out by experience. Fixed-price is great when you a) know exactly what you want, and b) know exactly what that will take. Government contracts that try to set a fixed price when their requirements are half-baked, or when the contractor hired has yet to figure out how to make what they are being asked, are doomed to either fail or be anything but fixed in price as the change orders pile up. The answer has always been better, more careful management of the project, but that takes work and requires managers that won't reward their "friends".

[@youtubeleavemealone]

They're bragging about upgrading to 30 year old technology? From flux core, which is normally used by home hobby welders that can't afford TIG? This does not sound like cutting edge to me.

[@stinger4712]

Mind well and truly blown... 🤯

[@dansegelov305]

So, SpaceX are using a welding technique that's been used by just about every rocket manufacturer in the world, for decades? How f*cking innovative!

[@rareinformation2]

that ! does not shock the entire industry. We`ve been having FSW welding in use in Germany for more than 25 years. It was invented in the 60ties in Russia. I would have recommended it from the beginning for its obvious advantages. Space X maintains a very great mistake by just hiring people from the States and having the door shut to foreign experts as external advisors.

[@jimml1938]

Musk would love to hire foreign workers for SpaceX but is prevented by U.S. law. Do a web search for an article titled "SpaceX Can't Hire International Rocket Scientists Even If It Wants To" for more details.

[@costrio]

Also, I think the process would reduce drag somewhat.

[@bryanst.martin7134]

You left out a key factor in the composite construction, the resin binder at 50% ratio. It shrinks and expands in the light and dark of space life.

[@alphatech4966]

Thank you for your comment! i will note that!

[@yessroman]

At 0:12 “beauty that GARNISHED high praise” 🤣 you mean like.. ketchup ? ... try ‘garnered’.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

3:18 No. That would be stick welding. Flux CORE means flux inside, metal outside, not the other way around.

[@JasonVladimir]

Amazing!

[@jessehanson8928]

Great video, very informative. Keep up the good work.

[@alphatech4966]

Much appreciated!

[@ElonMuskxx]

Thank you for your love, care and support, it's nice to chat with you here.. where are you texting from?❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🦋❣️

[@TheNevarLaW]

Flux core has the "gas" in solid form in the CORE, not the outside... it combustes/releases when the high amps are ran true it✌🏻👊🏻 Here in belgium we call it flux core✌🏻

[@zWhistler]

LOL . In Missouri, we also call it flux core. ✌

[@rogerking7258]

I'd argue that FSW isn't really welding, being more akin to taking two balls of dough and entangling (mixing) them together so thoroughly that they effectively become one item. However, it is really strong; my one completely unscientific experiment was to take two plates of steel joined together by FSW, clamp one in a large vice, and then belt the the other with a sledge hammer. Nothing whatever happened which was extremely impressive.

[@bobtimmermans7714]

Don’t know if this documentary is the real picture how SpaceX did the first weldings assembly of the SS plates? Cause stick, Mig or maybe pulsed mig, like they show the images of the welding seems in this documentary, is really not on a level for aviation not even thinking for space purposes! I can’t believe the developers crew didn’t ear or think to do this job with plasma welding? Plasma welding for this kind of thickness and keyhole welding is really a piece of cake and this technique is well known for almost 80 years! The new development is laser welding reach the same results in thin and semi-thick plates.

[@jackreisewitz6632]

4:42 - Wondered why they hadn't gone with tig instead of wire feed to start with. Seems that the techniques they adopted afterward are the same processes NASA employs in the Mars rocket.

[@NAV-tv7xf]

Nothing matters if Spacex cannot get the Raptors working reliably.

[@steveo6034]

Yup, and so far we haven't seen a launch or static fire where zero Raptors shutdown. I think there is definitely a Raptor reliability problem.

[@Turningwrenchs]

Welding has been my go to for years first weld was oxy and gas very very hard to do but everything else came easy after welding a car togeather with cuting troch and cloth hanger but thats how we did it 50 years ago.