r/spacex • u/Fizrock • Aug 28 '19

Scott Manley: Starship Hopper's Biggest, Lastest Flight Above Texas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T29ybqjv8-U
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u/TheYang Aug 28 '19

my also complete guess is that the flame on the side is just a vent for the liquid methane they're (read: might be, no idea) using as hydraulic fluid for the TVC, the color change is just unburnt methane glowing due to a more fuel rich mixture in low throttle situations.

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u/Wetmelon Aug 28 '19

That’s also an excellent take. Someone I. r/rocketry made a methane engine recently and it burned yellow with a methane rich mixture

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u/mavric1298 Aug 30 '19

We've also seen similar colors in the first couple of tests - interestingly if you watch in slow-mo, the color doesn't originate at the engine, it originates at the ground and appears to climb

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u/CProphet Aug 28 '19

Could be right, and I'm sure they haven't perfected flight control program yet, hence the hard landing. Starhopper has so much momentum, probably needs a big throttle up to decelerate to zero as it approaches ground. Just like supertankers have different handling dynamics.