[HN Gopher] Upcoming test: SpaceX Starship high-altitude flight
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       Upcoming test: SpaceX Starship high-altitude flight
        
       Author : modeless
       Score  : 58 points
       Date   : 2020-12-07 22:08 UTC (51 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.spacex.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.spacex.com)
        
       | ClosedPistachio wrote:
       | If you're looking for the date/time:
       | 
       | > As early as Tuesday, December 8 [...] the schedule is dynamic
       | and likely to change
       | 
       | YouTube live stream link:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf83yzzme2I
        
       | zaroth wrote:
       | I've been following testing progress on /r/spacex and it's a lot
       | of fun having such a detailed view into the whole operation as
       | these Starship prototypes are built and iterated upon out in the
       | open.
       | 
       | Elon has said chance of a soft landing is less than 50%, so I
       | would expect a very eventful livestream. Personally I'm hoping to
       | see re-light and some sort of flip, with limited damage to ground
       | support equipment. IMO a soft landing is too much to even hope
       | for.
       | 
       | The engine re-light is non-trivial because they will be fed from
       | a separate header tank at the tip of the nosecone at that point.
       | 
       | It would not be surprising if this didn't actually happen
       | tomorrow, there's a million things which could lead to further
       | delays. If it happens at all this month it would be thrilling.
        
         | beamatronic wrote:
         | Fail fast and often!
        
         | alangibson wrote:
         | I'm betting on a spectacular crash, but they did nail Falcon
         | Heavy on the first go.
        
       | mabbo wrote:
       | For those who aren't following this religiously like I am, here's
       | the Tl;Dw:
       | 
       | SpaceX's falcon 9 is pretty big, but Starship is massively
       | larger. It's also made cheaply out of steel in a huge garage in
       | rural Texas. The engines are the most advanced ever made
       | (arguably). Tomorrow, SpaceX is going to try to fly the prototype
       | 12.5km up, then have it freefall, falling sideways. At the last
       | moment, it will reorient itself and land on a landing pad.
       | 
       | Or, it will explode stupendously.
       | 
       | It's going to be awesome either way.
        
         | valuearb wrote:
         | It's a Heinlesque story.
        
         | alangibson wrote:
         | The world's most sophisticated engines on a vessel that started
         | out as a water tower. I can't get enough of Starship.
        
       | alangibson wrote:
       | Youtuber Everyday Astronaut is on South Padre this week getting
       | ready to live stream the festivities. I recommend all good space
       | nerds have it on on the background tomorrow.
        
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       (page generated 2020-12-07 23:00 UTC)