Analysis SpaceX Stage 0, Starship and Booster Aftermath...'DAMAGED'???

Analysis SpaceX Stage 0, Starship and Booster Aftermath..."DAMAGED"???
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#alphatech
#techalpha
#spacex
#elonmusk
#starship
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Analysis SpaceX Stage 0, Starship and Booster Aftermath..."DAMAGED"???
Sunday’s Starship launch was undoubtedly a triumph, shaking up the entire space industry and surprising government agencies and competitors worldwide. While much of the focus was on the mid-air catch of the Super Heavy booster and the soft landing of the Starship, another crucial element has captured the curiosity of many: Stage Zero. This includes the state of the launch pad and Mechazilla, both of which had to withstand the incredible force generated by 33 Raptor engines during liftoff and support the tremendous weight of the rocket during its mid-air catch.
In today’s episode of Alpha Tech, we’ll take a closer look at Stage Zero following the Starship Flight 5 test. The condition of this vital infrastructure is sure to amaze you!
Analysis SpaceX Stage 0, Starship and Booster Aftermath..."DAMAGED"???
If, during the initial launches, there were concerns about the area beneath the launch pad withstanding the power of dozens of Raptor engines—generating up to 16 million pounds of thrust at liftoff—those concerns have now been put to rest. Thanks to SpaceX's upgrades and the water deluge system, the crater-like damage seen in the past is no longer an issue. In fact, the highlight of Starship Flight 5 wasn’t the launch pad, but the mid-air catch of the Super Heavy booster, which can be considered one of SpaceX’s boldest achievements. What seemed nearly impossible on paper, SpaceX pulled off with remarkable smoothness, though it likely didn’t come without some wear and tear.
Now, let's move past the buzz and get to the facts.
Analysis SpaceX Stage 0, Starship and Booster Aftermath..."DAMAGED"???
During the hover maneuver, the Super Heavy experienced a fire in the engine bay. Flames engulfed the lower portion of the rocket, and combined with the full-power operation of three Raptor engines steering the booster to its precise location, some scorching occurred along the rocket’s surface. However, the launch pad and tower seem to have sustained only minor, superficial damage, with some outer paint scorched.
The Booster Quick Disconnect (QD), although charred and rusted, functioned well during its first connection with B12 just hours after the flight. The booster was smoothly lowered onto the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) by the Chopstick arms without any stability issues, showing that multiple flights per day for each booster might soon be achievable.
The Ship Quick Disconnect (QD) also showed signs of scorching from the three Raptor 2 engines, yet surprisingly, it looked remarkably clean as if nothing had happened.
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[plebtile]

Only thing slowing SpaceX down now is the government

[D-GAF-Space-]

The Chopsticks Didn't Bend, They're Designed To Flex, It's Simple Physics You Need Some Sort Of Flex, That's How Rebar Works In Re-enforced Concrete.

[haydenwatson]

As an engineer, I must correct one erroneous statement. At 2:45 you said "The weight of the super heavy BENT the chopsticks by about 15cm." In engineering and physics vocab, "bending" is understood to be plastic or permeant deformation. What happened as the weight of the booster was placed on the chopsticks was most likely elastic deformation which is completely normal and will come back out when the weight is removed. We saw this in action this week when they did the load testing with the water scrotums. You can clearly see the arms deflect as the water load is increase and then rebound to normal as the water is removed.

[KamalaChameleon]

I love how they have it on the launch mount with the main goal being "investigate how many things do we have to address here before this rocket can relaunch"

[wjmcnjn]

That was unbelievable, great job to Space X and to Elon Musk... that was Beautiful...

[CupCake]

Dude, you really do a great job of analysing this content way before any of the other more popular YouTubers. You get out these video way before them as well. You are great. I just don't like when there is nothing really going on at spacex and you are making videos of kinda nothing, but I suppose that is not really your fault. When the action is on, you are on fire!

[ratherbeflying]

The development of those raptor engines have been incredible they really have evolved

[garymyambo]

The flames came from access fuel venting. Remember venting is the release of fuel pressure.

This is normal.

[dc-ever]

I don't think they can continue to use concrete around the immediate launch areas, they are gonna have to install thick steel plates wherever possible, steel doesn't break into millions of bits like concrete and is easier to keep cool during launch it also absorbs vibrations better.

[tastyfrzz]

Bent or displaced? They are cantilevered arms so do have a spring rate.

[JOERANSTRAIGHT]

He’ll figure it out. I’m not worried about that. it was a test on the technology to get the booster back and it worked total success. There will always be a few bumps in the road and you only have to look at the history of NASA and epic quest to land on the moon. To advance in every field, you have to take risk.

[yanlucas]

More than half of the video was all about useless informations, just talking shit to enhance the video lenght...

[bobbyquack]

It will be interesting to see how Mechazilla holds up after the next tests . The Tears at Boeing are still flowing. 🤕🤕 😮‍💨😮‍💨

[duncancairncross]

The main structure did not move when it caught the booster
There is a part of the structure that smoothly went down when the weight went on it
Did NOT look like it was "bending" - looked like it was on springs

[AmonRa]

No real info on the state of stage 0 and booster here. Just same loop videos and general considerations

[ScienceChap]

The booster on landing is actually pretty light weight. It's 3000 tons on launch and less than 300 on return.

There is always deflection in the chopstick arms. Otherwise they'd snap off.

[youbeetwobee]

Another useless video. I tried to skip forward to find if the launch pad was damaged but there wasn't anything about it in this video.

[mtach]

Elon Mask is real engineer - a genius engineer.- BIG BIG BIG BRAVO, DO NOT AFRAID PROM CIRTICISM THERE WILL BE MORE FAILURE AND EVEN EXPLOSIONS BUT IT IS THE NATURE OF SPACE INDUSTRY SO, THERE WILL BE MUCH MUCH MORE SUCCESS

[sylviaelse]

The returning booster would have a much lower mass then when it was launched. That the chopstick arms would flex is not surprising, especially given their size.

[antibrevity]

Perhaps the tank watchers know more than I as they study every detail, but in the video it doesn't seem like the tower arms were "bent" by 15cm, but rather that they were deflected by that much. These are very different things and I'd be curious to know which term is applicable. Bending a metal structure typically means a permanent change, whereas deflection can be temporary.