Starship's Orbital Launch Mount Gets Protection | SpaceX Boca Chica

Installation of new shielding on the Orbital Launch Mount began, a second new HPU was installed on Booster 7, and a Booster sump with an anti-vortex device was delivered.

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✂️ Edited by Thomas (@_thomashayden).

🔍 All content copyright to NSF. Not to be used elsewhere without explicit permission from NSF.

L2 Boca Chica (more clips and photos) from BC's very early days to today.

#Starship #StarbaseTexas #SpaceX #Stage0 #BocaChica

Timestamps:
0:00 - Dance floor Raised to the OLM
1:01 - NC31 Test Nosecone Lifted Onto Test Stand
1:20 - Second Replacement HPU Installed on Booster 7
1:46 - First Piece of OLM Shielding Installed
2:25 - NC31 Test Nosecone
3:06 - Work Around Booster 4
3:48 - The Launch Site
4:29 - Preparations for the Next Piece of OLM Shielding
5:30 - Next Shielding Piece Installed
6:03 - Booster Sump With an Anti-Vortex Device Delivered
6:23 - Ship 22 Scrapping Continues
8:23 - Scaffolding Installed for Booster 7’s LOX Hatch
8:43 - Ship 26 (left) and Ship 25 (right)
9:41 - Lots of Activity on the Orbital Launch Mount
10:01 - A Boatload of Buoys at the Production Site
10:40 - Ship 22 Scrap
11:20 - Crews Inside Ship 24’s Payload Section
12:16 - Ship 27’s Aft Section in the High Bay

[td]

Use buoys in the Gulf of Mexico to mark soft landing area for the booster. Recovery vessel may get to it quick enough to salvage it.

[GarryI]

Great job as usual. Those guys working in the payload section of S24 really shows the scale of those vehicles…

[KaytonsPlace]

I miss seeing these videos Mary was doing. I always looked at them in the morning before I went to work. Now I only see one here and one there. Made my day.

[dphuntsman]

Beautifully done, folks! Y’all get incrementally better with each and every one of these you do; great shots! You’ve got a great space heart!

[fabianaRRRosa]

Marvellous, magnificent, admirable, splendid, prodigious, astounding
👏

[LoanwordEggcorn]

I'm glad they're trying to protect it better.

[OCMike]

Could they be planning on placing the buoys at the determined water landing site to record the landing?

[badrinair]

Thank you Nick, Jack and the entire NSF team for sharing this amazing footage. At that specific angle it looked like there was a crew access arm going into the ship. 26.
Come to think of it someday. There will have to be a crew access arm leading to the ship from the tower. Imagine boarding a ship at 110 m high.

[Astromath]

10:09 I think the buoys will be positioned out in the sea to measure the impact a launch has on marine life (e.g. how loud it is at a certain distance etc.)

[BrianWestSeattle]

The Buoys will likely mark the landing area exclusion zone, and probably provide some instrumentation. They already seem equipped with wind/pressure/temp sensors (those round white things) though this cold also be some kind of marine radar system. Perhaps the black-bagged poles have strobes, or are intended for cameras?

[lordinquisr]

I was there yesterday. It all makes more sense to me now.

[johnathanmann]

My guess is the buoys will be for marking the landing zone of the booster

[captaindaedalus]

I believe the buoys are to help monitor boat traffic in the exclusion zone to give SpaceX an alert when there's an intrusion. There should be speakers installed to blast warnings to approaching boats.

[shuaige]

So looking forward the launch :)
Hope the FAA won’t cause problems.

[corrinastanley]

Thanks NSF team. It's going to look a lot darker at night once the shielding goes completely up.

[stevecoates]

Like many, I agree that the buoys would be used to control the area of ocean where super-heavy is expected to land

[Membwayne]

"Shields Up" gave me a good laugh. Thanks! Actual content also great, as usual.

[Pawsworth]

I believe the buoys will be placed in the ocean to create a virtual landing zone allowing them to simulate hovering above the chopsticks before future catch attempts.

[berty]

Jeez that shielding will become flying shrapnel at launch.
It will only take one launch accident and Boca will get shutdown forever.

[sunkid]

To think, there is another Launch Tower already standing an entire SS and SH production facility set up, a dedicated production line is already set up for Raptor Two, along with the Tile Hatchery, and all the other testing facilities, is what is mind blowing for me. SpaceX is preparing to be churning these things out and are not joking. They have faith in these.
Otherwise, considering the water deluge system, i would think it's most probably in May when we see a launch.