Be careful which AI you befriend.I am always worried that in a WDR.. the computer goes rogue, and keeps going and the thing launches..
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SpaceX Starship - IFT-3 - Starbase TX - Pre-Launch Preparations Thread
- Thread starter VIKING26
- Start date
Road closed. Village evacuated. Tank farm active. Wet dress rehearsal underway.
Stream with NSF commentary. They just noted it has been 3 years since the SN10 suborbital hop. Had forgotten how long it’s been! Everything takes longer than desired when developing new rockets.
Booster prop loading in both tanks seems to be going faster than normal. NSF guys are commenting about it. WDR looks like it is going well so far.
And just saw a view of the ship, its tanks appeared filled to about the same levels relatively.
So prop loading appears to be progressing nicely on both vehicles and they are well past what we say during the other WDRs recently.
And just saw a view of the ship, its tanks appeared filled to about the same levels relatively.
So prop loading appears to be progressing nicely on both vehicles and they are well past what we say during the other WDRs recently.
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It looks like prop loading is nearly complete, venting seen from both booster tanks, but LOX tank not quite full. Hard to see the ship tanks because the NSF camera view from the other side is obscured by gas clouds.
EDIT; they just got a clear view of the ship tanks and they looked fully loaded.
EDIT; they just got a clear view of the ship tanks and they looked fully loaded.
There was a fire suppression test awhile ago but no water deluge system activation, which may be because according to the NSF commentators there is a limitation as to how many times a year SpaceX can use it due to the industrially reclaimed water partially spilling off into the preserve area.
Detanking has started, so as near as we can tell this WDR was a success.
Detanking has started, so as near as we can tell this WDR was a success.
I would tend to doubt they'd do that before receiving the launch license. At a guess, it's just better across the board to have the Starship on the ground. I'm sure OSHA would prefer it.
Or maybe SpaceX has received info that the license is imminent and they are just getting ready for FTS installation.
DAHTcom
Member
An account I follow on X just "retweeted" this post from SpaceX that was allegedly made yesterday morning. I still don't currently see it when I go directly to SpaceX's X account, so I think many missed it as well. Hard to "miss" something that isn't viewable currently, but maybe I'm having a boomer moment at 40 right now. Or I'll blame X's poor execution of anything audio and video related for the time being.
Thursday, March 14th, at (after doing some math for those of you who pretend you can change time itself, twice a year) 2:30am the live feed starts, my guess with a 3:14am target launch time. Cause... well... Elon logic.
This could also just be a placeholder as there is no official post on the SpaceX account yet. But it looks like I will have to start my planning to make my trip to see my first ever launch. Would be epic to make the first be a Starship launch, that's for sure.
Thursday, March 14th, at (after doing some math for those of you who pretend you can change time itself, twice a year) 2:30am the live feed starts, my guess with a 3:14am target launch time. Cause... well... Elon logic.
This could also just be a placeholder as there is no official post on the SpaceX account yet. But it looks like I will have to start my planning to make my trip to see my first ever launch. Would be epic to make the first be a Starship launch, that's for sure.
I’m skeptical the launch will be at night. SpaceX will want good visibility to monitor the vehicle. And that’s an NET date anyway.
Yeah, X shows local time for the viewer. The link shows 7:30 am Eastern for me which is 6:30 am Central (Starbase time). Sunrise at Starbase will be 7:39 am (with clock change).
This lines up with the inital 7:00 am Central launch time from IFT-2.
Timeline from IFT-2
03 November SpaceX IFT-2 Announcement
06 November NOTAM Mexico
07 November NOTAM Mexico
08 November NOTMAR Update
09 November FTS Installation
10 November NOTAM US, SpaceX Target Date announcement
13 November Marine Safety Information Bulletin, ATCSCC Advisory
14 November Temporary Flight Restriction
15 November Launch license, Village closure notification, Announcement of November 17 launch.
16 November Launch postponed for grid fin actuator replacement
17 November Updates to official filings for November 18 launch
18 November Launch
At the NOTAM US site, search for "BRO" for Brownsville, Texas.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no active NOTAMs, NOTMARs, MSIBs, or TFRs.
Working backwards from March 14, they would install the FTS charges today, but we should have already seen some public record notifications. They may have a better handle on the paperwork, and will get the notifications out closer to the launch date.
03 November SpaceX IFT-2 Announcement
06 November NOTAM Mexico
07 November NOTAM Mexico
08 November NOTMAR Update
09 November FTS Installation
10 November NOTAM US, SpaceX Target Date announcement
13 November Marine Safety Information Bulletin, ATCSCC Advisory
14 November Temporary Flight Restriction
15 November Launch license, Village closure notification, Announcement of November 17 launch.
16 November Launch postponed for grid fin actuator replacement
17 November Updates to official filings for November 18 launch
18 November Launch
At the NOTAM US site, search for "BRO" for Brownsville, Texas.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no active NOTAMs, NOTMARs, MSIBs, or TFRs.
Working backwards from March 14, they would install the FTS charges today, but we should have already seen some public record notifications. They may have a better handle on the paperwork, and will get the notifications out closer to the launch date.
Eric Berger: The next Starship mission has a tentative launch date: March 14
Will the booster attempt a soft water landing? Assuming it makes it that far, I would expect it to.
Will the ship attempt the final flip maneuver? Other sources are saying it will not. But since that was successfully demonstrated in the test hop flights (albeit at a tiny fraction of actual orbital reentry velocity) I still hope SpaceX goes for it.
I would like to know details about what “controlled descent” and “controlled splashdown” mean but I suppose we won’t know that in advance.
Will the booster attempt a soft water landing? Assuming it makes it that far, I would expect it to.
Will the ship attempt the final flip maneuver? Other sources are saying it will not. But since that was successfully demonstrated in the test hop flights (albeit at a tiny fraction of actual orbital reentry velocity) I still hope SpaceX goes for it.
Right, but I would like to know why SpaceX is not attempting a soft landing with the ship when they are with the booster? If the plan is to put the ship in the belly flop orientation during reentry then it will be in position for the flip maneuver.
I don’t expect anyone here to be able to give me a definitive answer. I’m just grousing.
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