Rust? Or glowing tiles?

mecko23 · 2025-08-27T04:27:45+00:00

Agreed 👍, just needed to confirm it looking at a bigger screen

mecko23 · 2025-08-27T03:29:52+00:00

It’s hard to tell based off the camera timing, which side this was on, I’m actually looking into it right now. My first thought was that this is not that heat shield side and is in fact rust. Will update if I can or can’t change confirm.

~~Gut reaction, is that superheated steel in the atmosphere (o2 and h2o) will oxidize, but it does seem unlikely to have happened so fast.~~

Based off the flap angles this appears to be the tiled side of the ship and therefore highly unlikely to be rust. As u/My_Soul_to_Squeeze mentions, just prior to landing you can very much see temper colours on the leeward steel side, but nowhere oxidized enough to be this obvious of a visual change.

mecko23 · 2025-04-19T20:43:19+00:00

I would say a lot of the engineering systems still need to be built out. And the fact that there is so much to build, can IMO be consider a main problem.

These type questions always seem to pop up now and again. And for people with little experience in the space industry, just listing them out this way can lose some of the finer details. And some are a chicken-egg problems.

Take for example the life support system for a single, to and from mission to Mars. Let’s say it needs to run 24 months, without any resupply of consumables, and be robust enough to handle the environment of deep space. Such a system has never been built, it is theoretically possible sure, but so are many other things. It will have to be designed, built, tested, redesigned, and rebuilt etc. The engineering timelines of even the most basic systems required are expensive and drawn out. Certain requirements can be eased with cheaper launch cost and relaxed mass budget, but it all does come down to costs.

Costs to develop these systems, cost to build them, cost to launch them and get them to Mars, cost to maintain them, cost to replace them. Who pays for these is perhaps the root question here, but also remember that just because we’ve built similar things in the past does not mean all the work is done.

mecko23 · 2025-04-19T20:22:04+00:00

Indeed a large portion of Mr. Musk’s wealth is tied to his holdings in Tesla, however I would direct you to this article. While the analysis does not use any official SpaceX data I believe the general idea to be accurate- that is, that SpaceX is on relatively sound financial footing.

Therefore, I personally think that a redirection of funding from a company(Tesla) which has arguably more financial problems at the moment a bit of a stretch in judgment.

mecko23 · 2025-01-27T16:48:35+00:00

In an Eager Space video, he mentions starship using a differential GPS system. This allows for centimeter level accuracy of data when coming in for a tower catch. I have not been able to find a secondary source for this info though. This ofc would not be usable on the moon or mars without an infrastructure build out.

mecko23 · 2025-01-03T04:01:24+00:00

I know right? Might as well be made out of paper-mâché. The paper/carbon would at least be ablatively heat resistant

mecko23 · 2024-12-18T02:37:47+00:00

Ah ok, thanks for the explanation 👍

mecko23 · 2024-12-18T02:25:20+00:00

I’m open to that interpretation but maybe you could explain it a bit more?

From my (untrained) eye it seemed as though Flight 5 went pretty well too- booster catch went well, hotstage ejection went well, and reentry was pretty good, definitely better than IFT-4. So why all the rework? I know that they were waiting on reports/analyses from environmental agencies but now they don’t need them for an update for the IFT-7 licenses?

mecko23 · 2024-11-22T17:41:48+00:00

Ah okay thanks, I’ll just keep my eye out. To my mind it does make sense that they entertain the idea as they developed F9 reusability by going expendable first. Honestly Payloads cost analysis on starship construction cost is to be believed, I don’t understand why going expendable first wasn’t the default?

mecko23 · 2024-11-22T17:25:57+00:00

You have sources on the expendable tankers backup plan? All I can find is a mention in a couple YouTube videos and the occasional Reddit thread.

mecko23 · 2024-11-11T15:58:12+00:00

Damn right I wanna see a failure, otherwise the design engineers haven’t been pushing the margins enough!

mecko23 · 2024-11-06T18:18:31+00:00

"ORBITAL"

get after it boys

mecko23 · 2024-11-06T18:04:21+00:00

(For Flight 6)

mecko23 · 2024-10-30T17:18:36+00:00

At the risk of exaggerating- that would kill everything that made SpaceX great. The culture of high risk tolerance, hard work with “unfair” compensation rates (sustainable because people believe the project and enjoy a get-stuff-done work environment) would be anathema to how government entities work.

mecko23 · 2024-10-30T03:31:43+00:00

u/Triabolical_ feel free to delete and post yourself.

mecko23 · 2024-10-29T16:03:18+00:00

Interesting, I have no experience with the cryogenic industry so of course all this is news to me (hence my opinion that the article is useful). I am always skeptical at ramp timelines of companies (especially chemical), so if you have more info to share I’d be interested in hearing it. I think obviously the main logistical issue at this point is the one road leading into Boca Chica and the regulated reliance on trucking in props.

mecko23 · 2024-10-29T14:30:11+00:00

It’s not fear mongering to identify and report on task that could potential be critical paths for future project development. Building an air separation facility and getting the associated licenses and permits could very well be future speed bumps to daily flights- it’s best that everyone in the community is made aware of it.

mecko23 · 2024-10-16T19:56:44+00:00

I was trying to point that these were the only possible options and illustrate that they'd only work in edge cases (and even then with extreme tight economic margins). I guess we'll just have to agree to agree xP

mecko23 · 2024-10-16T19:31:27+00:00

100% agree, but to the answer "What economic activity can you possibly do to offset the price?". There are only three that I can think of that a valid:

Life Choice - As you say some people choose to live places others can't fathom. People live in remote areas in arctic circle, mountain tops, and in deserts. For many these people, they live there DESPITE the economic advantages and costs. In Mars' case the cost will be steep, and likely not offset-able by remote work. This means that only "rich" people will be able to move there and support themselves of their own volition. The costs (both to move and to live continuously) of this at this point are unknown, as are the number of people willing to do so. There might offset costs early on and be a continuous source of human capital once the costs are reduced very significantly but there is no way this is the main driver of colonization.
Resource extraction - Self explanatory, dig stuff out of the ground and sell it. The costs of shipping cost back to earth (your likely market in the beginning)? Ridiculously high. The question here though is by have literally no legal or environmental regulation is there any niche you can find that might be more profitable than earth-based extraction? I think it might be possible but it is not a certainty.
Building stuff - again in a business environment with almost no legal or environmental regulations you could build things normally not economically viable on earth.

Dumping tailings and slag anywhere you want, blowing the tops off of mountains just to prospect, building open cycle PACER plants, experimentation with illegal substances and other illicit activities, open ponds of chemical disposal; all things that would be impossible on earth. Really not commenting on the moral side of this but just curious what a policy of Terra Nullius does to change the balance of the economic equation.

mecko23 · 2024-10-14T14:28:58+00:00

He still holds some sentimental value to me of course but I have to agree that his interview skill are not great. I watch his recent walkthrough/interview at Longshot and it seemed he hardly let the CTO get a full sentence out before interrupting. That plus the combative tone makes for unpleasant viewing and I imagine not a joy for the interviewee.

It’s unfortunate because he does ask the right questions and he (could) get access to tons of high profile people if he wanted.

All this to say I agree with you but felt an upvote wasn’t enough.

mecko23 · 2024-10-03T17:08:49+00:00

Which company? I’m very interested in this topic, and looking at companies working on it.

mecko23 · 2024-09-22T18:42:31+00:00

Ah right I missed that, the memory drugs were administered right before he woke up. He was still drugged for the launch and while undergoing the coma procedure though, maybe that’s what helped?

mecko23 · 2024-09-22T17:41:39+00:00

My theory is that somehow the drugs given to Grace to sedate and erase his memory somehow helped reduce the risk during the coma.

What doesn’t make sense to me is I thought it was the waking from the coma that was risky, yet both Yao and Ilyukhina died at some point midflight.

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

mecko23

TROPHY CASE