SpaceX Finally Addresses Important Starship Catch Problem!

[@Whataboutit]

Ship 26’s wild story seems to continue! What do you think? What’s next for Ship 26?

[@SpaceX_daboi]

Ship 26 is by far the weirdest Starship

[@AndersJB-se8ff]

@@Whataboutit place a momentum wheel on chopstick arm, and eliminate the arms momentum..

[@Ultrex_Idk]

Turn it into a water tank for workers to drink from

[@Free_Born]

There was talk of moving a starship horizontally maybe that's S26 next test?

[@ferruzzio]

What if Ship 26 will be modified to support the first batch of Raptor 3 engines for..... testing?

[@sehajpalsphone]

Felix, I don't comment much but genuinely if you see this, everytime I see a post from you, I light up dude you make me so happy with your continuous uploads. Can't wait to hear some space x news. Thanks mate from Australia ❤

[@BavarianToaster]

You light up and I turn on 💀

[@ProfessorJayTee]

@@Yeah-right-2024 Learn some tact, sometime.

[@Yeah-right-2024]

@@ProfessorJayTee Just call it like I see it. sorry if your "feelings" were hurt.

[@oldtimer2662]

We are Borg

[@dawsonfowler6663]

​@Yeah-right-2024 learn to enjoy and care about people. I hope that whatever has you feeling like you need to drag others down gets better. ❤

[@skierpage]

1:44 " the chopstick arms are equipped with these small cushioning rails." Nothing is small on Starship. Those rails are as tall as a person!

[@JimmyRussell-c2s]

Another use for retired Starships are for the international space station to farm food in. 30 ft diameter,plants don't get dizzy spinning

[@matraxialartemis1674]

The more I watch testing for the booster catch, the more nervous I become that it'll be a RUD but I'm in for it!

[@TJ-W]

If anything isn’t right, they’ll redirect it back out to sea. But anything is possible. Can’t wait!

[@df1ned]

I mean, I assume thats where the second tower will come in - as a backup after they more than likely partially blow up the first one, so hopefully it wont slow them too much even if they don't nail it first try

[@GrigoriZhukov]

Maybe if for no other reason than the better they, that means errors are more destructive.

[@df1ned]

@@TJ-W Yeah, if anything isn't right with the ship itself. And that will only work up to around the start of the landing burn. Also while youre hundreds of meters up, it might be kinda hard to know if you are on target to within like a meter. So yeah, but there is still plenty of stuff to go wrong. Like just landing a rocket is trivial compared to this. And even that was thought near-impossible until they did it. And even that took them many many attempts

[@dawsonfowler6663]

@@matraxialartemis1674 I feel the same

[@nathanmays7926]

Sierra should just wait a few years. Once Starship and New Glenn are cruising the cosmos, ULA will be willing to sell for $1.

[@dphuntsman]

Problem is, neither company is moving at the speed we need space business to move at. And I’m not sure merging two slow moving space businesses will yield one faster, more nimble space business. I’d love to be proved wrong, for Earth’s sake. - Dave Huntsman

[@Autoxdriver]

Bezos is all about LEO, he just wants to build big space stations. I guess you could call that "cruzing the cosmos". Actually a smart move on his part, he doesn't have to compete directly with Starship.

[@sebastjanbrezovnik5250]

There is one major reason why Starship industry moves faster than any other... ...they invested in the right base resource at the heart of the company....smart and motivated people! You achieve speed with the right employees mindset and knowledge pool. Pair that then with financial background and you see the bright future.

[@straighttalk2069]

@@sebastjanbrezovnik5250 I believe Elon time is the only reason SpaceX moves so quickly.

[@marcwolf60]

'OLD' Glenn......

[@TheBlade996]

2:43 Thanks for the Darmok callout, IMO one of the very best Star Trek Next Generation episodes! ❤

[@vincentlenart1697]

@@TheBlade996 haha. I missed that! Thank you for pointing it out.

[@dennisleas8996]

Good episode, Felix. Good variety of topics. Two comments, however: 1. ULA did not develop the Atlas nor the Delta rockets. Atlas came from Lockheed-Martin but was born with General Dynamics (Convair division). Delta came from Boeing through a long lineage from Douglas Aircraft's Thor missile. Vulcan Centaur is the first rocket developed by ULA themselves. 2. I think most commenters miss the purpose of catching SH by the tower. (Hint: It's to quickly launch it, again.) Even the Wikipedia article on 'SpaceX Starship' mostly misses the point that the Starship system includes the launch mount and the integration tower. The ground facilities *cannot* be separated from the flight article in order to achieve the long-term goals of SpaceX. For rapid and complete reuse, the launch 'pad' must support: a. maintenance and between-flight inspection/refurbishment; b. final assembly (stacking) and disassembly; c. testing (spin prime/static fire/etc.); d. launch e. landing method that permits rapid reuse (within hours as a goal) Landing anywhere else, say a landing pad, means that you will need a crane, a transport stand, an SPMT and a lot of transit time to put that SH back on the launch mount. (I suppose a landing pad beside the tower, within reach of the chopsticks, might work, but would be suboptimal.)

[@thecanadianlanguageschooln8828]

It’s pretty certain that each booster won’t be able to just re-fly without some checking/certification as a minimum, which means rapid launches are more about the OLM and GSE to stay fully functional for multiple launches before switching to the other OLM while the first undergoes some maintenance (both will likely be operational at the same time generally, but with staggered down times). So as for the boosters themselves, assuming a 3 day refurbishment process and a launch cadence of say 4 launches per day, they would need only around 12 functional boosters, with another 1-3 in the mix in case of technical difficulties. That means that catching the booster on the OLM really serves very little value if it doesn’t go back on the OLM immediately and puts the GSE at unnecessary risk. In my opinion, they’ll figure this out eventually and the landing/catching process will change/simplify.

[@dethangelishere394]

wow you made some very nice points. thank you for the comment. i dont know about anyone else, but i learned from your comments. it gives me a new perspective on the starship and the goals of SpaceX.

[@matthewb.1947]

I would also say the increased payload is right up there in value as well

[@ulbuilder]

@thecanadianlanguageschooln8828 catching the booster reduces the booster weight by removing landing legs and the additional structural reinforcements needed to handle landing in its own legs. That means more pounds to orbit for the same amount of fuel. If they can control the booster accurately enough to catch it with the chop sticks, I can't think of any better way to land the thing. Also, the goal is to eventually reuse these with little too no refurbishment between fights. Treat them more like how we treat airliners today. If they reach that, then the chop sticks make even more sense. They could have starships loaded ready to fly, booster lands, placed on OLM, starship stacked, both refueled, and then launched. Same booster launched more than once in a single day..... would be quite amazing if they can accomplish that.

[@marcwolf60]

One of the main advantages of a Methane Oxygene system is the lack of residule carbonisation residue. Kerosene no matter how pure will always produce soot - meaning over time this buildup will have to be cleaned off. Starship will not have this issue and will have a faster turn around.

[@SirCharles12357]

Ship 26: Future Orbital Tanker Tester?

[@ZanTeth55]

hmmm.... sounds plausible... or maybe tester for the Moon mission?

[@jim6584]

I am betting SX will need to add some additional catch pins to Super Heavy and to curve the chop sticks to increase the likely hood of catching the SH. I also think they need some teeth on the chop sticks to lock the pins into groves so the whole thing doesn't slip off. I know "The best part is No Part" but common sense says the margin for catching it is down to a few inches, that isn't large enough. Put 3 pins on each side and curve the chop sticks so that catching 2 pins at once becomes the most likely results. Especially in these early tests. If it lands with the required accuracy they can always remove the additional pins in the future. A big crash landing might delay the next test flight by 6-12 months

[@dannylee6632]

The margin is tight but I think you're missing the scale on this. Those catch points are a lot bigger than a few inches. They could also be planning to vary how the chopsticks close on the fly so that they center on the rocket. Straight arms actually allow much more leeway in where the booster can land. Having the pins correctly indexed for alignment should be the easy part compared to the rest.

[@sjgerber]

Hi Felix, love your channel. One thing, Big Blue is the nickname for IBM, and has been for decades.

[@oldtimer2662]

Open the pad door HAL 🤔

[@andrew1717xx]

Imagine have a sliding padio door that could have voice activation. 😅

[@oldtimer2662]

@@andrew1717xx lol Siri I said open that pad bay door 😂

[@mikegardner107]

@@oldtimer2662My name is ALEXA! (Door lock Clicks). Enjoy your walk… I’m sorry, the patio door lock seems to be inoperable…

[@NeroontheGoon]

Nice to see the story of Darmok and Gillard is alive and kicking. “Temba, with arms wide open!”

[@koffeekage]

Ship 33 getting raptor 3s would be optimally memetic

[@Shadow_banned_by_YouTube]

Ship 69 then?

[@metmans]

​@@Shadow_banned_by_KZbin?

[@kstricl]

@@Shadow_banned_by_KZbin That's when Elon goes up.

[@Shadow_banned_by_YouTube]

@@kstricl 420 also

[@kstricl]

@@Shadow_banned_by_KZbin that's when he returns to his home planet ;)

[@jamesmelandry3595]

“ You just can’t trust ship 26” priceless!

[@ericpiper9002]

@@jamesmelandry3595 Yeah that made me laugh out loud! Lol

[@chiaricharlie6608]

Thunder Clap, love it. Thanks Felix!

[@aaron5303]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking of 26 being used to test Raptor 3's when I saw its engines removed.

[@banjoreno]

The chop sticks are not giving me much confidence but really looking forward to seeing the catch attempt

[@AdvantestInc]

The catch test for Booster 14.1 is a brilliant example of SpaceX pushing the boundaries of what's possible in rocket recovery. Can't wait to see the results!

[@myyklmax]

The 2nd Launch Tower has it top set on.

[@ScottRagland]

thx, fren! any notion how long ago it went on, fren; or how long it had been there when you mentioned it here? *pantpant*... ;-)

[@husker91]

Always downvote members. Plus this dude is a definite pedo.... ^^^

[@mevalemadre6223]

I always wonder about those canard fins on BO, Neutron, et. al. The Russians came up with grid fins because they did the best job as far a control authority at supersonic and hypersonic speeds, and, despite their appearance, didn't offer much drag penalty vs. regular fins. SpaceX likely went with them for these utilitarian reasons. SpaceX (Elon musk in one of the EA interviews) noted that it was hard to get enough control authority in pitch to get the stage nose down and maintain aim even with the grid fins. In fact, that's why SH's fins aren't 90 degrees apart... they were moved to improve control authority in pitch, and Musk has said he'll fly with three fins... the two for pitch and one for yaw. Also remember that when Falcon Heavy launched, there was discussion about decreased grid fin effectiveness on the side boosters because instead of having a long trailing interstage structure, FH side boosters have a short ogive nose cone, and that difference resulted in more disturbed flow, less clean air flow over the grid fins. I think SpaceX even contemplated flying larger grid fins on the side boosters to maintain control. So, all that said, I look at BO and RL canard fins and have to wonder if they will have sufficient control authority, or if they will largely be enveloped in the boundary layer flow coming up the rocket body and not really have the clean flow to work with? On top of that, BO New Glenn flies with those strakes, which are great to add cross range, but I have to believe those strakes are going to seriously mess up the airflow behind them and negatively affect the control authority of the two most critical fins (pitch) on the rocket. For Neutron, they have a design that looks a lot like a Falcon Heavy side booster, and we already know that "nosecone just behind fin" arrangement negatively impacts control authority of those fins. I wish them all luck... time will tell.

[@dj_sp3rmcount]

@@mevalemadre6223 grid fins are actually the most perfect type for the job, as they produce higher drag at subsonic and transonic speeds, such that they act as air brakes, and as you said at supersonic and hypersonic speeds they are the most effective form of control surface, the Russians not only used them with the N1 rocket, but also on the R-77 air-to-air missile

[@erickessler6094]

Haha Felix, Go Ship 26 as test bed for the new Raptor 3 engines! 🎉😎🇺🇲

[@ironspider9280]

1:35 can we just take a moment to appreciate how cool this was

[@paulschiltz112]

@@ironspider9280 yes

[@adak2050]

Felix, time to put Starship talk on hold and focus on Monday's Polaris Dawn launch. Short of catching the booster with the tower, this is the most important mission Space X will undertake this year. Humans going the furthest from Earth in 50 years, testing Space X's brand new EVA suits, first private space walk, lot's cool research. This isn't just going up to the ISS or testing new rockets, but humanity finally venturing out and it needs your kind of love...as in a whole episode dedicated to explaining it..

[@Mega747400]

we have been to the moon there going up there to prove nothing just a billionaire wasting money just like titan

[@lowellbrown1122]

Lol. Mmmmmmmm.

[@BackUp-z4t]

Thanks again for good reporting.

[@shootloadrepeat]

The Tim Dodd tour changed my mind about BE's progress. It is much further along than I thought, and the hardware is at a surprising maturity level. Bezos also seemed to be extremely in-touch with every small detail and system of it, so resigning as Amazon CEO seems to have given him a lot more time to devote to the program.

[@dphuntsman]

Yeah; interesting thing is, Elon told him to do that, years before he actually did it. - Dave Huntsman

[@qwerty112311]

A choreographed tour dispelled all your notions about the state of the program? Seriously?

[@simongeard4824]

They *are* much further along than they'd ever previously revealed... though that's not saying much, since prior to Tim's video, the factory could have been an empty shell for all we knew. But even allowing that the video was filmed a couple of months before it was released, it's very hard to see them being ready to launch before the end of the year... and they're supposed to be launching Escapade in just a month or so during the Mars transfer window.

[@jessiejanson1528]

That's a lot of risk for a first launch.

[@simongeard4824]

@@jessiejanson1528 Eh, it's a low-budget mission... that's why they're flying on this New Glenn debut flight, because their budget didn't extend to a dedicated launch vehicle. But it *will* be embarrassing if Blue fails to launch their first real payload because they weren't ready in time to hit the launch window...

[@rockyo59]

The Vulcan salute the thumb is supposed to be extended

[@rs4race]

Wow. I wonder what the landing alignment tolerance is. Seems like the rotational alignment would be pretty tight.

[@alanm8932]

14:36 Tim's video - _"watch it when you're done with this episode."_ Well, you can't get much nicer than that! Well done Felix 😊

[@benphartine]

Felix, please do a video on how the rocket motors are mounted onto the rockets and explain how the motors don't crush themselves with do much thrust especially the Bell after the nozzle. Thank you

[@BusstterNutt]

Thank you for all the hard work in making these excellent videos.

[@JamesWitte]

Your background music starts with a very outer wilds vibe. love it

[@JonnoPlays]

Display for sure.

[@BxVelocity]

Just loved " Mechazilla, his arms wide" with the Darmok character...

[@admarsandbeyond]

New Glenn was officially announced and revealed in 2016 but BO had been working on it since at least 2010 (along with the BE4 that would propel it). When they revealed their biconic orbital capsule in 2012 they said they would be flying it on Atlas for it's first flights until their (then unnamed, later called New Glenn) reusable heavy launcher was completed. They even presented some renders with a booster with canard wings.

[@plainText384]

For reference: SpaceX has been talking about a 100+t to LEO vehicle since 2005, before they had even launched Falcon 1 (though it was called BFR back then and underwent many design and name changes between 2005 and the Block 2 Starship being developed right now)

[@admarsandbeyond]

@@plainText384 Paper concepts and vague ideas are not development. If they were then SLS started development in the late 80s when the first concept of a Shuttle derived LV was proposed. Spacex has been talking about a big launcher since it's inception, that doesn't mean they were actively developing one since 2002. Starship begun development officially when it settled to a methalox Raptor powered stainless steel LV in 2019 and they started making proof of concept hardware and prototypes. BO has been actively working on a heavy reusable launcher (called NGlenn in 2016) and its engines "a couple years" before the announcement of their crew capsule in 2012 (which was partially funded by NASA with the intention to fly on NG after the first flights). They even considered NewSheppard as a proof of concept prototype to test propulsive landing (they later decided to make a business out of it)

[@plainText384]

@admarsandbeyond Not all Shuttle derived launch vehicles are superheavy lift vehicles designed to support crewed missions to the moon and beyond. But yes, you absolutely should count Constellation towards SLS development. No, Starship did not begin development when they settled on Raptor and Steel in 2019, and no, it wasn't all paper concepts and vague ideas before that. Before raptor, they were working on Merlin 2, and before steel, they were developing carbon composite tanks. And it wasn't just concepts and paper, they initially built the BFTS test stand at McGregor for Merlin 2, and they built and tested carbon composite tanks as well.

[@admarsandbeyond]

@@plainText384 So the nearly identical to the SLS NLS (National Launch System, 1991), a superheavy LV with a Shuttle derived main tank as its core stage, 4 RS25s and 2 Shuttle SRBs doesn't count because it didn't have exactly the same mission as the SLS (which arguably it does as both are nothing but jobs programs), but Constellation (which had as a mission to go to an asteroid) counts. You can have your opinion about what rocket development is, but that's not the definition given by space agencies and organizations. Officially SLS development began in 2011 when they started to design actual hardware and test it. Merlin 2, was just a concept (a bigger Merlin, and BFTS was built and used for Merlin testing for F9) that never went anywhere, just like the huge hydrolox raptor, Falcon 5, BFS, ITS, the carbon fiber tanks etc. All concepts and some proof of concept test hardware.

[@tinkercavedweller]

nice the TNG Darmok reference! I recently rewatched the episode!👍😂❤

[@up4open]

what happens if the rocket is twisted in the circumference? Just slips right through or lands on the grid-wings.

[@Saiphes]

That tower slaps

[@ThomasTomiczek]

Btw., the dampening rails are more like shock absorbers ;) I Wonder whether the whole arms will also move downward. This is SO crazy.

[@TheZoltan-42]

Ship 26 and hopper are real bros by now. 🤜🤛

[@jayseven6089]

3:05 Mrs Schlang approves of this 😉. Sorry, I had to. Great video as always! Much excite for flight 5!

[@moparpelican340]

Great job Felix. Love your channel. I live only 10 miles from Starbase. Every static fire, launch and sonic boom we all feel around here as well as shaking the houses!!!!

[@centrocristianovidaabundan5971]

Felix, you about killed me... "Temba, his arms wide." Funniest thing I've seen this week.

[@Chuck8541]

My reaction towards SpaceX first tour with The EveryDay Astronaut, was one of awe. My reaction towards Blue Origins tour....left me lacking. There was no amazing hardware, and it felt like Bezo's was just regurgitating slides given to him. For example, Elon could go toe to toe with Tim Dodd about rocket hardware, Bezos - despite throwing money to find the Merc. capsule, seemed like he was out of his depth, and didn't have much knowledge.

[@MRGOODANGEL]

Cool channel 😮❤❤❤

[@clay-tw5gc]

S26 will most likely be the test vehicle for Rapter 3. But we all know that S26 is the most power hungry Starship. When it is done with Rapter 3, its going to say, "That was nothing, give me Rapter 4!"

[@menotyou1234]

I think it could eventually be an orbital tanker that stays in orbit, after it static fires the Raptor v3 engine layout design.

[@clay-tw5gc]

@@menotyou1234 S26 will still want a Rapter 4 when it becomes a tanker.

[@clay-tw5gc]

Perhaps. But then we all know what is coming next, Rapter 5.

[@raytribble8075]

Ship 26 will be rigged up with twin Warp Nacelles and rebranded as the Phoenix. ULA has done some remarkable (albeit over priced by SpaceX standards) launch vehicles over its history. But for someone to buy this company and its architecture at this phase of orbital launch vehicle development may be a tough sell. Last I heard no one is interested in purchasing a “Rotary Phone” in today’s market. That being said, someone may have an idea how to bring it into the modern age.

[@MrMgrPL]

Elon Musk is Zefram Concrete?

[@mikegardner107]

Will “RAPTOR” eventually become the name for Impulse Engines?

[@HankScally]

I had always wondered why Elon named this rocket 'Starship' (I had always liked 'Interplanetary Transport System'...more descriptive of its function) . I can only assume that Elon has some engineers locked up in a back room somewhere with Dr. Acubierre developing his warp drive. Ship 26 could become the 'Phoenix'.

[@raytribble8075]

@@mikegardner107 it very well could be…

[@raytribble8075]

@@MrMgrPL there are so many visionaries that deserve their own segment in what we call “rocketry” and Elon will be known for he and his teams part of this journey.

[@keenanmatthews1208]

One thing to look at for the ship being re-tiled is added cameras. You might be able to go through old photos. I believe they wanted to add more cameras, and you might be able to spot them adding some wiring.

[@scruffisme]

I've watched a lot of space discussion videos over the past few years, but I've found that I look forward to WHAT ABOUT IT updates the most. Thanks for the great content.

[@paulcarpenter999]

Ship 26 is what they called a "Battleship Test Article" in the Apollo days - an over-engineered ground test piece of hardware.

[@billreal76]

WOW ... That was a lot to put together! Thanks, Felix and the WAI Team!

[@hansclijsters3042]

Great video!

[@ricardiagnostics]

Thanks for the update, Felix, and thank you for the whole Wai Team

[@kneekoo]

12:38 Oh, dear... the second BE4 has only been delivered on July 9th 2024?! 13 years in development and it looks like Clusteraptor v1.

[@sebbby46]

Can't watch your "Shirt Products" are blocking half my screen...

[@SiyabulelaMbolekwa]

Hi Felix😊

[@ForestvilleOppa]

@2:42 I don't know if I've previously asked this before on this channel, but it's a two-point catch system. How will they stop the booster from swinging, hopefully not into the tower as it shuts down? Is that plan to squeeze the booster with those bumpers? Oh boy.

[@johnmortimer7782]

Why have only 2 small catch pins at this stage? Any error in the orientation and they are going to miss. Why not have a partial rim around to allow for any error at this stage? Got a better chance at not destroying the pad. Once the accuracy of landing has been proved you can then go back to pins later.

[@tomwithuhn9472]

You are a great content host. Thanks for what you do.

[@Adetriuss]

Felix! Your video quality is astonishing! Tnx for your amazing job! Greetings from Sardinia 🎉

[@whaletune]

You surprised me! That was a great chopping arms effect you had! Out of the blue!

[@MatsukawaZaraki]

I want to know what the gap in ship 33 is and why nobody is talking about it?? It looks like a whole small section is missing when it gets picked up in the mega bay

[@mikebrant192]

Felix, your staff is getting awesome graphics. Nice work!

[@evantspurrell]

those catch arms are amazing

[@max8286]

I would use the new tower for the catch attempt to minimize risk for the OLM platform...

[@theharbinger2573]

Proper Vulcan greeting requires the thumb to be extended away from the palm.

[@KNETTWERX]

Well, they did it! On some angles, you do see the catch rails move.

[@JasonBlack66]

Canard Deflection at any speed creates a hell of a lot more turbulence behind them (relative to airflow) than "Grid Fins". Why does that even matter? Because the differences in air pressure in those wake and turbulence zones can act against the side of the rocket. Thats why all steering surfaces are usually at the aft end or down wind end of the vehicle. this way any turbulence will have an effect on the rocket for less time. Grid fins just produce less Turbulence as well as the Eddie currents are small enough that they quickly dissipate or move apart and again have even less impact on the side of the vehicle.

[@jamescarroll4945]

Hey Felix, I just subscribed to your channel it's cool that you love SpaceX. As much as I do, the Raptor 3 engine looks really clean. When do you think they will use them

[@alvianchoiriapriliansyah9882]

V2

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

An excellent episode. The next slight will be extremely interesting, both to see the catch (fingers crossed) and also to see how the Starship copes with re-entry with its improved heat tiles. The flight 4 Starship landed 6km off target probably as a result of a fried wing, but hopefully the 2nd starship will be 100% on target. I hope by flight 6 we’ll see some payload in the form of Starlink satellites being released.

[@WorkerDroid]

I think S26 has a future…tanker, orbiting platform, fuel transfer testing, fuel temp management tests, perhaps even a lunar flight test vehicle. It’s never coming back to Earth, but if it’s a good chassis, put it to work. Perhaps a lunar lander mock-up. Or passenger version mock-up. I think SpaceX is heavily into industrial testing right now, and they will certainly need to develop refuelling, habitat and lunar mission versions. I’m hopeful 26 gets a launch someday.

[@PauloCarvalhoZX]

Can someone explain me how the booster's pins will align perfectly with the chopstick arm as expected? The pins location is tiny in comparison with the full diameter of the booster. Everyone is concerned and all the tests seem to be about the booster being at a precise location to be catched. But even if the booster is perfectly vertically aligned and at the perfect speed to be catched, it can still seriously fail if the booster horizontal rotation is not exactly at the precise orientation for the pins to meet the chopstick arms. Furthermore, I haven't seen how the booster can "rotate" horizontally. I don't see any horizontal thrusters to align the rotation. What am I missing?

[@ricchamen6304]

Great content and nice show Felix.

[@Whataboutit]

Thank you 🙏

[@PlanXV]

Sierra space is a big company

[@davidpotter8297]

The Earth > Mars Hohmann transfer window runs from mid-October to early November 2024. If New Glenn slips more than a few weeks, they can't launch EscaPade for another 26 months. It still needs a static fire and full WDR, with a slippery hydrogen upper stage. I wish them luck.

[@shellac23]

Thank you for all your updates dude.

[@TimothyLipinski]

Great Video ! Nice to see six (6) leg on a BIG Rocket ! The Delta Clipper was built with four legs and by about flight number twelve some one failed to connect a landing leg and the test rocket tipped over ! Like to see the SpaceX Starship upper stage with legs to land soon on earth, the moon of earth and soon maybe on Mars also ! tjl

[@MrPDawes]

I hope they did all the inertia calculations. When that much mass hits a stationary target with also a lot of mass, it's going to leave a mark. Almost need the dampening in the pin itself to reduce the inertial shock. This could be made with just a few tens of Kg

[@carlschubert8466]

Got to think. They must be really confident in catching accuracy when the new arms for tower B are much shorter.

[@midac7069]

Is tower B being built to do the first catch? So as keep a fully functioning launch tower safe?

[@menotyou1234]

Felix, you left out Rocket Labs new Neutron Rocket..!!! p.s. - I luv the subliminal Startrek screen shots..! "Megazilla, his arms wide open..!"

[@jamesdewhalley2665]

Literally only you and I seem to have picked up on that.

[@DaisyVision15016]

Thanks Felix.😊

[@joedupre3326]

Ok, I get the vertical catch , air shock cushion effect, I understand x,y,z control of the booster to achieve the catch... However how many lift pins there are 2?, right. So it is not just x,y,z, but also "theta" the rotational aspect to land the "pins" on the catch rails, if the theta is a bad position like 180 deg out of phase with the catch rails, then down she goes right??

[@nv7213]

I would think that they use the grid fins and the ability of the 3 center raptors to control theta in order to line it up correctly

[@euba0149]

I think you are right about 26 getting the first raptor 3s

[@simongeard4824]

"Blue was an influential player in the early 2000's with New Shepard" - not quite, since New Shepard first flew in 2015. You're probably thinking of the Goddard tech demonstrator which made a number of test flights around 2007. And that *was* pretty cool at the time - rocket-powered vertical launch, hover and controlled descent - but it was hardly setting altitude records at just 100m or so.

[@danielroy7273]

Are they keep ship 26 for a future ship catching tests campain? With all the added stringers.

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

3 mins in- and genuinely the most funnest episode so far. From Darmok to Felix getting caught by Mechazilla Ladies and Gentlemen- we have entered the world of the surreal

[@FSK1138]

2:43 MechaZilla his arms open wide 🤓🖖

[@Whataboutit]

🖖😁

[@helifanodobezanozi7689]

Great job WAI!

[@danbrees3117]

Are there really only 2 catch fins? Why not make it 6 evenly spaced around the booster so that the whole thing doesn't fail if it happens to rotate a small amount as it descends? I know they have thrusters to adjust the rotation, but extra catch pins seem like a small investment for extra assurance.

[@Mentaculus42]

How about 12 pins or even better, a catch ring?

[@Silva0101]

They are heavy duty as they need to hold the entire booster, adding more would be adding alot more weight to the overall build.

[@Mentaculus42]

@@Silva0101 But would it? The forces have to be distributed to the complete structure INTERNALLY. That is actually where most of the structural weight is, not just in the “pin component”. To say one way or the other requires a lot of information that is only known to spacex. The natural progression of a design using the musk methodology is to start at the minimum and iterate from there. If the initial concept was to look at it in a more distributed perspective then a clearer answer could be provided. It is not necessary to provide a complete ring but rather two ledges that span 30 degrees each. As it stands now with two pins, the “indexing accuracy” is critical. It may work on the average but will it always work every time?

[@davidliefrink9818]

@@Mentaculus42 same thought I had just a ring so the orientation on that axes doesnt matter (or at least hardly does)

[@bergendeklerk3376]

Let's make it 3 million

[@civwar64bob77]

The Hulk clap clip gave me a huge laugh today! Thanks!!

[@Whataboutit]

😁❤️

[@davidgermain]

mechazilla, his arms wide. very cool. one of the best episodes in TNG

[@chronus4421]

I agree! Section Seven-of-Nine certainly is stacked!

[@mr.zyplexer6983]

I really hope that Vulcan salute was a joke 😂.

[@WorkerDroid]

I’m surprised the New Glenn canards are set in line with the large strakes. At hypersonic speeds on return, the airflow trailing those large strakes will have an effect on the canards for certain. I would have thought offset canards would be an obvious design element. Let’s see how effective the control surfaces are when it flies, and returns….

[@whistling.citrus]

Would it be practical to put several catch pins on the side of the booster? I feel like even four at 90º or 6 at 60º would allow for reduced maneuver needs/greater redundancy immediately before catching. Seems like a lot of precision for it to not slip through on the first attempt!

[@corvuscorax5775]

will certainly be raptor 3s!

[@winstondrivein]

Are they using air cushions? I was thinking kind of like the tower drop at Six Flags how they use air to slow down the descend of the rider platform. It would seem beneficial for the chopsticks to have that.

[@TheJeffcurran]

Sierra Space and ULA has a lot of synergy. It's a great match. While Sierra Space may be small, the parent company Sierra Nevada has the potential to raise enough capital. It's worth watching because it's a good match. Investors may take the bait. Ship 26 as a V3 static fire test article makes a lot of sense.

[@jaykaknes1133]

My question is about the lunar lander. We hear very little about it. What do you know about it?