FAA gives SpaceX a Go for Launch

Startrek (Martin) · #1 15-04-2023, 09:06 AM

I just heard on NSF that the FAA have approved the licence for SpaceX to launch Starship as of Monday
Hopefully we will be witnessing the launch of the worlds most powerful rocket within 2 weeks.
Musk gives the launch and mission a 50/50 chance of success
I remember back in 2018 he gave Falcon Heavy a 50/50 chance of success as well , but it ended up a success ( with the exception of the centre core landing )

Can’t wait to this behemoth get off the launch pad with just over 17 million pounds of thrust , more than twice the power of Saturn 5 and Artemis

Constant (David) · #2 15-04-2023, 11:59 AM

Truly this is a great moment, as glorious and inspiring Apollo's missions were, we all knew the program was financially crippling even for the USA at the hight of its economic dominance.
Starship has been designed for ongoing profitable exploration and exploitation of space.
Unfortunately we all know the nightsky we see today will be the best we'll see, Starship with lead to unprecedented cluttering of objects in LEO and beyond. Maybe Starship will prove too be so cheap that Citizen Scientists will fund their own meter array telescopes in space, imagine the views! Lets live in hope.
If Starship delivers and lives up too the hype then we may bear witness to the "democratisation" of space, now that's truly exciting.
God speed Starship and all those involved in it's development, with higest praise reserved for Elon.

astronobob (Bob) · #3 16-04-2023, 10:44 AM

Definately one to watch live, 'for me anyway ! If it gets to Max Q that would be pretty awesome for Space-X !!
Hoping it gets off the Pad, think it be happenning with in a week actually, The oridginal Flight Plan has changed somewhat, Booster to do a soft land over the water in the Gulf, and StarShip heads to Hawaii but Not doing a landing burn, just a full speed Belly Flop apparently, and no recovery attempt..

Best of Luck Star-Ship..

glend (Glen) · #4 16-04-2023, 11:10 AM

Yeah, I will be happy if it gets off the pad and survives MaxQ. Stage Separation and ignition of Starship if achieved pretty much ticks all the boxes.

glend (Glen) · #5 17-04-2023, 12:35 PM

Countdown timer is now active, T-10:30. Several Utube channels are streaming already, including NASASpaceflight.com
SpaceX is targeting 8am CT for the launch.

It will be reasonable to expects delays, holds, etc.

Startrek (Martin) · #6 17-04-2023, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glend

Countdown timer is now active, T-10:30. Several Utube channels are streaming already, including NASASpaceflight.com
SpaceX is targeting 8am CT for the launch.

It will be reasonable to expects delays, holds, etc.

Or a complete scrub !!
Let hope not
Extremely complex controlled methane mega bomb ( I mean launch vehicle)

glend (Glen) · #7 17-04-2023, 11:27 PM

SCRUB. Launch is scrubbed for tonight, due to a Booster issue. They treated this as a Wet Dress Rehersal.. Program will be recycled, which means ac48 hour delay before next attempt to launch.

astronobob (Bob) · #8 18-04-2023, 11:58 AM

Primarily, a frozen pressurant valve appears to have been the main deciding factor. After the problem was determined, work began to see if it could be fixed during the countdown.
Despite never lighting an engine, a bunch of valuable information was gained that will be applied to the next attempt in 48 hours or more.

Hans Tucker (Hans) · #9 18-04-2023, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astronobob

Primarily, a frozen pressurant valve appears to have been the main deciding factor. After the problem was determined, work began to see if it could be fixed during the countdown.
Despite never lighting an engine, a bunch of valuable information was gained that will be applied to the next attempt in 48 hours or more.

What ... a bit of hot water couldn't fix the problem.

glend (Glen) · #10 18-04-2023, 01:53 PM

Ironic, that a valve in the booster was the same show stopper on the SLS.

glend (Glen) · #11 18-04-2023, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

What ... a bit of hot water couldn't fix the problem.

Who was going to volunteer to go out to the pad with the kettle?

Maybe put an astro heater strap around it.

Deepfieldastro (Ajd) · #12 18-04-2023, 02:39 PM

blueballed launch makes me sad

astronobob (Bob) · #13 18-04-2023, 09:45 PM

Maybe put an astro heater strap around it.

" Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20 for the first flight" announced in an updated description of the highly anticipated test mission.
SpaceX will have a Thursday launch window that opens at 8:28 a.m. CT and closes at 9:30 a.m. CT. The company will also live stream the launch attempt on its website, starting about 45 minutes before liftoff.

Startrek (Martin) · #14 18-04-2023, 10:10 PM

Thanks Bob,
Can’t wait to see a bit of history on Thursday
Unless the weather turns bad , I reckon they will get this huge monster of a rocket off the launch pad. Whether it reaches suborbital altitude, who knows , as long as it doesn’t blow up.

Startrek (Martin) · #15 20-04-2023, 08:45 AM

A second launch attempt of Starship is scheduled today ( tonight from 10.00pm EST )
This time hopefully no issues and we get to see a spectacular lift off , the biggest and most powerful the world has ever seen.

Let’s hope the weather holds out and the rest is up to Space X

glend (Glen) · #16 20-04-2023, 01:05 PM

Yep, T- 10:25 at this point. Fingers crossed that the "issues" are resolved. They certsinly spent a lot of hours, through the night working around the booster quick disconnect assembly.

glend (Glen) · #17 20-04-2023, 02:44 PM

Looking at the planned flight path, it maybe visible from Australia as it begins to descend towards Hawaii. At the very least we should be able to see the big bright object in the northern sky, transiting from west to east. Not sure what time as it will depend on launch time.

astronobob (Bob) · #18 20-04-2023, 09:33 PM

Its been mentioned that this 2nd attempt is being 'pushed-back' ?
I can't confirm but ?

Guess we'll see before too long,,

EDIT- The 'Every Day Astronaught - Tim Dodd is streaming currently as if all is Go Ahead ,, approx 1:20 mins till attempt lift-off,,

Live Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAl3gVvMNNM

AdamJL · #19 21-04-2023, 12:09 AM

That was excellent. So great to see it launch

astronobob (Bob) · #20 21-04-2023, 12:16 AM

That was the coolest thing seen, Starship took flight, well, Lifted off, cleared the lauch Pad and powered away, 3 or 4 engines did not fire but Stage Seperation at 40km Altitude failed, Booster trying to flip and head back but with star ship still attached causing the whole shebang to doing CartWheels and then Flight Termination was activated causing a RUD,,,
Quite the Excitment Elon mentioned,,
That was pretty Awesome,,,
Maybe another Flight Test in a couple/few months, obviousely depending on Ground Zero conditions/damage if any and FAA Licence etc ?