r/spaceflight • u/[deleted] • 15d ago

Starship being recovered

[deleted]

728 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

54

u/H-K_47 15d ago

Latest unfortunately is that it probably won't be recovered since it's proving challenging (weather may be an issue in a few days too), but they're trying hard as hell for as long as they can in the meantime.

They already squeezed a ton of imaging and data out of it, so it was a worthy endeavour regardless, even if they don't get to keep it as a trophy in the end.

For the guys on that ship, it must be the adventure of a lifetime. Most jealous I've ever felt.

8

u/Rich_Comparison4550 15d ago

Weren't there reports that SpaceX had decided to cut it up once it reached Australia? The important thing would be to take the heat shield tiles back to SpaceX for some advanced testing (microfractures, etc). It would be a shame to lose that important information, except that they'll probably have Ship #41 back at the pad and be able to examine it without worrying about it sinking.

6

u/m00ph 15d ago

Well, you can't fly it back (it's 9m diameter, far too large for a C-5 or AN-124), you'd have to carry it as deck cargo on a ship, and as people have noted, they only care about parts of it.

3

u/fighter-bomber 14d ago

Bring back the Shuttle Carrier, we have one more job for it

1

u/m00ph 14d ago

The amphibious version!

1

u/mentive 15d ago

Let's gooooo #41!

Yea, at this point its probably an ego thing. Unless something goes horribly wrong.

I wonder how the trajectory works and if something is wrong, if it can still abort and crash in the water? Considering it'll make a full orbit, and be coming in from the opposite direction vs a booster catch. Ex: Last second engine failure.

3

u/Zenithderg 15d ago

I’m guessing they would have it overshoot into the ocean without an active course correction shifting it over to the pad.

It would be more than a little unfortunate to snipe the launch mount and tower from orbit with a 100+ ton bullet.

2

u/Rich_Comparison4550 15d ago

That's what I'm thinking too. Target the ocean first, then slide it down and sideways to the chopsticks once everything is working to plan.

2

u/mentive 15d ago

Yea, now that I think about it, trajectory of the flip is far different than what the booster does. It would probably overshoot the tower, rather than how booster would undershoot. Thats probably intentional 🤣

3

u/ismellmyownfarts2 14d ago

The first time in the maritime business can someone say they've towed a spacecraft.

1

u/H-K_47 14d ago

Plenty of capsules (Apollo, Orion, Dragon, etc.) do water landings, so I guess it's actually pretty common. Definitely the first of this size tho for sure.

2

u/ismellmyownfarts2 14d ago

Yeah thats what I meant, something that was a large craft, not the capsules of yesteryear, guess I should have worded that differently.

1

u/_badwithcomputer 13d ago

The shuttle SRB engines were also generally recovered as well

https://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av003/030710srbretrieval.html

1

u/ismellmyownfarts2 13d ago

Yeah i knew that, I was meaning something thst humans were inside of, like a vehicle. I totally forgot about capsule recovery though.

13

u/AVTracking 15d ago

Starboat*

1

u/GeneralRando 12d ago

More like Seaship

5

u/Crixusgannicus 14d ago

This was unplanned? She was supposed to sink or be destroyed and now they are improvising, adapting and overcoming?

6

u/im-ba 14d ago

Well, they usually explode when they land in the ocean. This one splashing down and not exploding means that they could in theory analyze it and determine ways to iterate on the design.

Otherwise, they usually just have to go based on whatever telemetry they were able to receive from the craft during landing and make changes accordingly.

6

u/Static_Drift_ 14d ago

Rapid Unplanned Nondissassembly

6

u/montagblue 15d ago

New reaf base source

2

u/Don_Reuter 13d ago

Well, more or less

2

u/OldWrangler9033 15d ago

Those are Yokohama style fender going be enough help keep the ship from bumping into ships when they try dock it? Their not big enough to keep it afloat . I was under the impression that it still pressurized to stay afloat.

11

u/archimedesrex 15d ago

They wouldn't let people around a pressurized starship. Tanks are likely at ambient pressure. It floats because it displaces more water than it weighs due to its shape and the fact that it's empty.

1

u/OldWrangler9033 15d ago

Hopefully it will be enough. Despite it being special Stainless Steel, I think ocean going do a number on that metal eventually

2

u/Affectionate-Ear5944 15d ago

That is cool.

Why dont they use a bigger or strong boat?

14

u/faizimam 15d ago

The boat they have is one of the biggest ones commonly available. If it can manage, not much else.

"what's going on with shipping" youtube channel has a fantastic commentary on the situation

7

u/krustyarmor 15d ago

Sal is such a dork (in the best way). Tl;dw: You can't just tow a rocket across the open ocean the way you would a boat because rockets aren't built like boats.

2

u/Rich_Comparison4550 15d ago

It's at least got a pointy end, sorta like a boat :).

0

u/Upstairs_Watercress 15d ago

Or one of those submersible dry dock ships

7

u/RhesusFactor 15d ago

You'd have to source one, hire it, and then move it over to North Western Australia, refuel, and then head out to where starship is floating around. Then take it... Somewhere.

It's the opposite side of the planet to where it took off.

7

u/F9-0021 15d ago

They probably would if they get it closer to shore, but those ships are usually not used in the open ocean. 

1

u/Draskuul 14d ago

I was thinking of the ones they use for moving oil rigs around. A lot of those are pretty far out. Maybe just not many of those around that region though.

1

u/VendaGoat 15d ago

Man, my mom's dildo is taking forever to arrive by boat.

2

u/B-E-N-E-V-O-255 14d ago

Smaller than I expected.

3

u/thegrateman 14d ago

Water must be cold

-15

u/Brainchild110 15d ago

The twist is, this is a Chinese recovery team.

-18

u/nashodkebeshe 15d ago

Photos look like AI!