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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3300 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 10, 2023

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It's kind of odd that this isn't bigger news, but iirc, the most powerful launch vehicle ever (if we go by engine power*) just had a static fire, and an orbital test is expected shortly.

I wonder what happened to the birds which were nearby.. Guys didn't drop out of the sky despite what must have been extremely punishing pressure event.

*it's reusable, so the payload to orbit isn't as large as with some others, but the efficiency ought to be unsurpassed, as burning extra fuel is far, far cheaper than throwing away highly complex and expensive machinery.

Once in-orbit fuel transfer works, and SpaceX has more launch vehicles, a Moon mission involving 100 ton payload could be as simple as 6-8 launches to refuel the upper stage in a high orbit. And having a moon lander. upper stage, which they're developing for NASA, but that should actually be somewhat simpler technically than the Earth version, having no need for Earth re-entry.

I wonder what happened to the birds which were nearby.. Guys didn't drop out of the sky despite what must have been extremely punishing pressure event.

That was crazy to watch.

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