SpaceX is to land the Super Heavy Booster on Droneship! Mechazilla catching is mind-blowing...

SpaceX is to land the Super Heavy Booster on Droneship! Mechazilla catching is mind-blowing...
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#alphatech
#spacex
#starship
#elonmusk
#booster
#mechazilla
#spacexstarship
#spacexlaunch
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Sources of image & video:
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SpaceX is to land the Super Heavy Booster on Droneship! Mechazilla catching is mind-blowing...
As the second orbital flight of Starship approaches, the interest of rocket enthusiasts is on the rise.
They are not only curious about Starship's immediate upgrades and developments, but also about what will happen after Starship reaches orbit.
Especially Super Heavy's ability to return for reuse.
According to SpaceX's long-standing plan, Super Heavy will be "caught" and returned to the launch pad.
However, until now, many still believe that the safer and more efficient method for SpaceX is the sea landing on the drone ship, a method that Falcon 9 is doing masterfully.
So, how will Super Heavy land on a drone ship offshore?
Why didn't SpaceX choose to take this approach?
Stay tuned as we dive and more in this episode of Alpha Tech!

[wrdennig]

I'm so excited about the progress of Starship . . . I can't wait for each advancement of the system.

[johnrday]

Watching Musk's commentary about what FWS has been up to in requesting Spacex prove that falling rocket parts would not harm sharks, and then FWS wanted advice about falling rocket parts causing possible harm to 'endangered whales'. But then, FWS requested Spacex to prove rocket launches at Vandenburg would not affect the seal population. And FWS had them strap a seal to a board and fitted the seal with headphones to listen to rocket launch to see if the seal was "stressed". And this was done twice (to 2 different seals). Just shows how extreme some of FWS demands, and slowing up their approvals! Remarkable!!!

[pierreb]

I am absolutely confident that starship precision to land on a dime is realistic and not very hard for a computer to pilot.

[SihAza]

I suspect the catch tower will work well if the Raptor engines have smooth control at low thrust. Being able to shut off multiple engines helps. They have landed on land a few times, though a hard touchdown several times. The arms will likely cushion the touchdown like a shock absorber. Being so large, erratic crosswinds will have less effect. Once the control system and landing sequence is dialed-in, it should be repeatable and robust, if the engines cooperate. One reason Falcon 9 lands smoothly is that its Merlin engine descended from TRW engine on the Apollo Lunar Lander. Besides the main engines, some of which gimbal, they use small side-thrusters, giving enough forces to align the vehicle in 3-D space (3 linear directions and 3 rolls).

[royeasto]

A second, smaller, cheaper tower, close to the launch site could be used for all returns of booster or ship, this would free the full tower for launches only helping with cadence of launches and reducing risk of returning ships damaging the far more expensive launch site.

[JerryLJackson]

The landing inlets on the side of the booster and starship are incredibly small targets that have to match perfectly for a successful landing. @spacex Why not make the target area a landing groove that extends the entire circumference of the ship? This would greatly increase chances for a successful landing, require less in air adjustments, and require less fuel

[lloydpeart]

I feel that until they are ready to catch the booster with 100% confidence, they should build two towers at star base. One for launch and another for catching. This way if there is any mistakes then only the catch tower will be affected. This is a cheaper mistake to fix.

[jamesharter]

The bottom of the rocket will crunch because the ground doesn't give. Falcon 9 works by sacrificing shock absorbers in the legs. and sometimes the legs themselves.

[michaelcoghlan]

Very interesting an insightful thank you, an best if luck
to the whole project

[ivangreen]

Why not wait until you have content that benefits the audience.

[jamesmcdevitt]

Current risk for chopstick landing is very high because there is ONLY the one launch tower!
In the future there will be multiple towers, so a mishap during a chopstick capture would reduce launch rate but not stop all launches. Also, by then the technique of capture should be quite well understood and managed.

I prefer an option of adding, to the back side of the existing Mechazilla tower, a mirror-image twin tower designed for ship captures only. In one process you would have your "seperated" capture tower, yet still just yards away from the launch tower. To paraphrase; Two Towers, One Stone!

This would provide the ability to quickly rotate the captured booster around front to the mane chopstick assembly, or alternatively, lowered for transport too the repair facility should that be required. Given installation of ground level blast shielding, this would isolate the launch pad base from damage if the capture fails and the booster drops to the ground. Additionally this opens up a potential "flight path" to steer the booster laterally away from the towers at the last second should booster position excessively deviate from planned.

[mrzoinky]

How about landing with legs, but then a half-height mobile tower, that waits off to the side of the landing pad, grabs them after they land and takes it to Mechazilla which might be a kilometer away. It would take more time for turnaround, but at least no launch complex is put in danger. And I guess you would need to buy more land.
Or just practice, over and over again, with a mini-Mechazilla catching Falcon 9's.

[Norseman_Viking-soul]

You are in the top beside a couple of others. nice 🤑

[richardfifer]

Had about the use of a polarized electromagnetic field activiivated based on the the objects’ distance ?

[richardcoo]

These Announcers keep referring to the first and this upcoming attempt as "Launches" leading viewers to believe that this rocket is a finalized ship indended to transport people into space. What should be made clear in my opinion is that these are "Launch Attempts" to learn what changes need to be done to finalize Starship. Launch Attempts, not "Starship Launches" That simple clarification would ease alot of public expectations.

[williamheher]

He envisions turning them around like airplanes, Booster already on OLP, Starship gets caught, if no anomolies on previous flight - a quick but detailed inspection, Replacement of 1 time use, or timed out LRU components while on the arms + some type of ground supprt mount. Laod cargo, and cabin stowage.
Stack, check out, load crew / passengers, refuel and Launch. Airlines do it on a thechnology stuck in the last century, imagine what Elon can pull off...

[stevenmitchell]

The 1st stage, Super Heavy, would be a better tanker. Without having a Starship and its mass to carry, and simply a nosecone for aerodynamics and refueling/defueling interface, a Super Heavy should be able to achieve LEO suitable for its purpose. Likely it will be necessary to change some of the engines to vacuum engines that ignite when appropriate along with shutdown of atmospheric engines. With its greater capacity, it would be capable of fueling more than one Starship at a time while also being refilled by a refueling drone Starship. Just a thought.

[WorkerDroid]

I enjoyed this video. Thanks, good work.

[darrelltaylor]

A ground structure like a bridge floating on a pool of water that absorbs the gravity effect of landing on earth like a shock absorber, the starship could then have legs for landing on the moon or mars that didn't weigh as much if it was built next to Mechazilla the chopsticks could then just pick it up.

[lawrenceallen]

SpaceX is launching not only 4 times more tonnage to orbit than any other country/company's orbital launchers, but 4 time ALL competitors COMBINED!