4K Cam Live! 24/7 SpaceX Boca Chica Starship Construction and Launch Facility

LabPadre SpaceX Boca Chica Live Stream Camera ^ | 6 May 2020 | LabPadre

[amorphous]

There is a possibility of another Starship static fire test tonight. A successful static fire test was completed last night. It's expected a "flight hop" of 150 meters will take place very soon. Starship SN4 has a single Raptor engine installed. Road closures, and a warning to residents of Boca Chica Village of "potential risk to health and safety" has been issued.

[amorphous]

Link to Lab Padre's Boca Chica live streaming webcam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtpXx1luzUg

Image from last night's static fire test:

Video last night's static fire test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp2oaguCzN8

[BenLurkin]

Ping

[rktman]

Didn’t one just collapse on them recently?

[amorphous]

Yep, cyro testing SN3, they filled the top tank before filling the bottom tank. The weight in the top tank without a full lower tank helping to keep the rocket body in column cause it to buckle and collapse. Human error. I believe NASA has a similar incident once.

[rktman]

LOL! Yeah, interesting things.

[amorphous]

The single raptor engine is mounted off center. That should make for an interesting CG compensation maneuver when they finally do the hop.

First 150 Meter Starhopper Test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYb3bfA6_sQ

[norcal joe]

So what state is that in?

[amorphous]

Texas, near Brownsville, on the Gulf coast.

[Pollard]

It's expected a "flight hop" of 150 meters will take place very soon

Define soon

[amorphous]

Image of the single, off center, raptor engine. Musk claims up to 31 of these raptor engines will be mounted in this same space, for the deluxe "super heavy" models. Gimbal mount is capable of 15 degrees of movement. I don't know if that is total or 15 degrees in any direction. Also, note the numerous landing legs folded up inside the skirt. Rocket body and unitized constructed tanks are made from stainless steel. Lox and methane tanks share a common bulkhead. The raptor burns LNG and LOX pumped from unpressurized tanks by two full-flow turbo pumps into the main combustion chamber. Each engine is capable of 200 tons of thrust and they're shooting for an eventual thrust of 250 tons @ 300 bar of chamber pressure!

[amorphous]

They plan to do one before a 20 km demo flight. For that flight they’ve applied to the government for a permit to begin on 20 May and extends out for a number of days. So it will necessarily need to be before then, so I’m guessing within a week from today maybe.

[Pollard]

So I don’t need to sit here and watch this shakiness?

Think I’ll just hold off for May 27th launch.

Live feed is cool though

[amorphous]

Ya, you don't want to miss that luanch. It will be the falcon 9 rocket pushing a dragon crewed capsule to the ISS with the first American astronauts (Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley) to return to space flight from American soil, by an American rocket, since 2011. SpaceX beat Boeing by a full year.

[amorphous]

Ping!

[Pollard]

Yeah I spent most of the day watching SpaceX videos the other day. Didn’t realize just how much they’ve been doing. This May 27th launch is considered another test technically. The final test for certification. That last one with three successful boosters returning, two of them in sync, was amazing.

Not sure about the whole traveling to other planets and setting up colonies because - climate change.

I’m in Missouri and we were a candidate for the hyperloop but I guess we’re out.

I used to live in FL. Never made it to Cape Canaveral but we still got a decent view by just walking outside. Got woken up by plenty of sonic booms when the shuttle returned.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wow, what a letter. I don’t recall NASA ever sending such a letter to nearby residents.

Are they concerned the 180 meter “hop” may get a little out of control?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“engine is mounted off center”??

Really? What’s the design rationale for that?

[amorphous]

The part the engines mount to is called "the thrust dome". This particular SN4 was built to mount three raptors. For the initial static fire tests, and perhaps the first hop, talk is that they're just going to use one raptor engine.

They may mount the other two before the 20 km demonstration flight, but talk is the hop will be done with the single engine - but who really knows. I don't. :)

[amorphous]

My thought would be more from a likelihood of an explosion at the pad or nearby. With that much LOX and LNG in such close proximity, if the rocket exploded or crashed into the fuel farm tanks, it would make one heck of a bang. Enough of a blast to shatter windows for miles and miles, I’m guessing?

[Moonman62]

“engine is mounted off center”??

Really? What’s the design rationale for that?

...

They only need one engine to do the short flight test, and if the rocket crashes they only lose one engine. The engines are more valuable than the rocket bodies used for testing.