Goodbye
Starbase activities (2024-07-14):
- Jul 13th cryo delivery tally.
- Pad B: Overnight, LTR 1220 crane lifts 2nd elevator section into tower.
- Pad A: Scaffolding is removed from launch mount. Movac trucks empty the retention pond and the detonation suppression system is tested. B12 static fire on Jul 15th seems possible.
- Build site: A Starship V2 nosecone rolls from Starfactory to the Highbay. Starship Gazer identifies it as S33.
- LabPadre comparison of Starship V1 vs V2.
Other:
- New Ringwatcher's article: What's New on Super Heavy Booster 12?
- Possible new design for launch mount hold-down arms is spotted at McGregor.
Starbase activities (2024-07-13):
- Overnight, final tower segment moves from Brownsville Port to Sanchez (LabPadre, ViX, Doherty, NickyX, Gomez 1, Gomez 2).
- Jul 12th cryo delivery tally.
- Nighttime tanker convoy.
- Action at Megabay 2 (LabPadre, Ringwatchers). Likely a ship v2 test tank.
- Ship v2 payload section enters the Highbay (Starship Gazer, Ringwatchers).
- S30 heat shield replacement continues.
- Pad B: Load spreader detaches from tower segment #1 and attaches to tower segment #2 (Vix, NSF 1, NSF 2).
- Pad A: Chopsticks move to either side of B12 and are lowered. SQD arm swings in. Chopsticks, their arms wide. Scaffolding is being removed from the launch mount.
- RGV Aerial posts recent photos of office construction, Pad A, Pad B, and Massey's.
A Lifestraw is a mechanical filter for particles as small as bacteria, but it won't filter out any dissolved compounds like salt, so it wouldn't keep you hydrated.
What is the oval ensign scribed in the northeast?
"Dowels" ;)
That is definitely not a norminal amount of ice.
Follow-up tweets:
SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1811804948675617115
The team made contact with 10 of the satellites and attempted to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters, but they are in an enormously high-drag environment with their perigee, or lowest point of their elliptical orbit, only 135 km above the Earth
Elon: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1811638892879020243
We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9.
Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot.
The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up.
SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1811805147833729260
Each pass through perigee removes 5+ km of altitude from the highest point in the satellite orbit. At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites.
SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1811805238699131093
As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety.
Sounds like they aren't able to save the satellites, but hopefully they got some useful data.
Starbase activities (2024-07-15):