Late February to early March is looking good for orbital attempt. 

 

Its as very impressive sight. But imagine what the explosion and shock wave will be like if it goes badly wrong. Hence, why the previous "build em fast, test, em, dont worry if they blow up" philosophy has now been put to one side in favor of slower and with caution. .

Edited January 14, 20233 yr by martin-w

It will (hopefully) be an impressive sight when those 33 Raptor engines are ignited!

19 hours ago, martin-w said:

Its as very impressive sight. But imagine what the explosion and shock wave will be like if it goes badly wrong. Hence, why the previous "build em fast, test, em, dont worry if they blow up" philosophy has now been put to one side in favor of slower and with caution. .

There are good and bad aspects to both approaches, but ask yourself.....How many people who didnt volunteer enthusiastically  have been killed by accidents involving space missions and their development?

Also should those people who did volunteer enthusiastically (in fact going through much hardship for the mere chance) have been more protected from their own aspirations?

Risk free is never attainable, there is a balance of course but I fear we've a generation of snowflakes who have now 'grown up' and tipped the balance too far one way.

 

 

2 hours ago, Pathfinder633 said:

There are good and bad aspects to both approaches, but ask yourself.....How many people who didnt volunteer enthusiastically  have been killed by accidents involving space missions and their development?

 

Not very many at all I should think. Trouble is though, the fully stacked rocket you see in the image above, will be the biggest rocket ever launched. Immensely powerful. And its close to a residential area. 

In 1969 the Russian N1 rocket exploded on the pad. It was an apocalyptical explosion. The launchpad was leveled and debris was hurled 10 kilometers away and windows shattered 40 kilometers distant. It released nearly as much energy as a nuclear bomb. 

With all 33 Raptors Starship can generate 7600 tons of thrust at liftoff, beating the Soviet N1 rocket – by nearly 60%.

So yes, in some respects we have become snowflakes but caution in regard to Starship is certainly warranted. 

Edited January 15, 20233 yr by martin-w

I was surprised to discover that the launch thrust of the N1 was significantly higher than that of the Saturn V. Since the latter was for a long time the most powerful successful rocket ever built, it is worth pointing out the thrust comparison between this and Starship. For the record, Starship has 2.28 times the launch thrust of Saturn V, and almost twice the thrust of the recently launched SLS!

Edited January 15, 20233 yr by Christopher Low

Wet dress rehearsal went well. looking very frosty.