[HN Gopher] Starship Flight 7
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       Starship Flight 7
        
       Author : chinathrow
       Score  : 104 points
       Date   : 2025-01-16 21:25 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.spacex.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.spacex.com)
        
       | simonswords82 wrote:
       | This NASASpaceflight stream is up now:
       | https://www.youtube.com/live/3nM3vGdanpw
        
         | consumer451 wrote:
         | As is Tim Dodd's
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/live/6Px_b5eSzsA
         | 
         | Aside from coding, this is my favorite use of multiple screens.
        
         | sneak wrote:
         | ...which has nothing to do with NASA the US government
         | organization, or the NSF (FYI). It's just some independent
         | streamers who apparently know you can't get trademark claims
         | against you by the federal government.
        
       | mmaunder wrote:
       | Anyone care to give the non spacey folks like me the highlights
       | of this launch?
        
         | qup wrote:
         | You mean like later after it happens?
        
         | why_at wrote:
         | It's similar to last time if you saw that, the first stage will
         | come back towards the launch site and they will try to catch it
         | with the landing tower chopsticks, while the second stage does
         | a soft landing in the ocean after going halfway around the
         | earth.
         | 
         | As far as new stuff, they are trying to deploy some simulated
         | satellites from the second stage and will try to relight one of
         | the engines.
        
           | ericd wrote:
           | I also saw mention somewhere that this is V2 of Starship
           | upper stage? Somewhat longer, and I'm sure a bunch of other
           | changes to enable mass simulator deployment.
        
             | wongarsu wrote:
             | Yes, about 2m longer. Also some modifications to the heat
             | shield, including testing new types of heat shield tiles.
             | Also non-structural versions of new catch pins to see how
             | they perform on reentry
             | 
             | Edit: also, they are reflying one of the raptor engines
             | that was on the previous flight (Engine 314, because pi).
        
               | ericd wrote:
               | Thanks, they also mentioned that they moved the upper
               | flaps to reduce heating on them during reentry.
        
         | AnotherGoodName wrote:
         | Preparing to launch 4:37pm CT (~45mins after this comment)
         | 
         | First 10mins watching gets you to space with engine shutdown.
         | 
         | 38mins after launch engine turns back on. 10mins after that
         | reentry starts. 1:06 after launch is the landing.
         | 
         | I think that covers it.
        
       | chinathrow wrote:
       | Tim Dodd is live as well:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Px_b5eSzsA
        
       | paulpauper wrote:
       | of course, no space x event is complete without the scam fake
       | streams
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1VbZoYSyzA
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMG8BbUjwRk
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-uQNSxqQHY
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PYuUj777a0
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqsGPQnAP-M
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAC4JzHqRk4
        
         | sebzim4500 wrote:
         | It is incredibly to me that Google doesn't seem to give a shit
         | about this. It would be so easy to fix.
        
           | yreg wrote:
           | Actually similar to how Twitter used to be. (Of course now it
           | has other problems.)
        
             | bbbbbenji wrote:
             | What problems does it have now?
        
           | numba888 wrote:
           | look similar. the same person milking google for ads money?
           | must be another service providing fake 'watches' and
           | 'subscriptions'.
        
           | lysace wrote:
           | Youtube key stakeholders' KPIs improve as well the Youtube ad
           | revenue. I don't understand what you're on about. (/s)
        
           | notahacker wrote:
           | Feels like one SpaceX could and should deal with by DMCAing
           | the channels. Even if getting people watching their official
           | channel instead isn't that important to them, stopping people
           | rebroadcasting their content whilst faking their brand
           | identity to scam people feels like the most legitimate reason
           | for sending takedowns going...
        
             | ceejayoz wrote:
             | They make new ones each time. By the time the stream is
             | over, they've already promoted their shitcoins and don't
             | care what happens to the channel.
        
         | mmaunder wrote:
         | That's hilarious
        
         | ge96 wrote:
         | it's funny how good the algorithm is to recommend this to you
         | so you (I) can report it
        
         | barbazoo wrote:
         | Are these YT channels just mirroring the official one?
        
           | s1artibartfast wrote:
           | at least some do, but they are also inserting links to crypto
           | scams.
        
             | sebazzz wrote:
             | Yes they stop the stream at some point and the viewer must
             | pay crypto to continue the stream.
        
           | lysace wrote:
           | There is pretty much always at least one "live" "spacex"
           | stream on Youtube. Typically with lots of viewers. This has
           | been going on for years.
           | 
           | Google/Alphabet just sucks and should be dissected.
        
         | s1artibartfast wrote:
         | to be clear, it seems like the feed on some of these are
         | scraped from official ones, but include links to crypto
         | "giveaway" scams.
        
         | echoangle wrote:
         | Where do they get channels with half a million subs? Are those
         | hacked?
        
         | sneak wrote:
         | All of the downsides of a heavily censored and politically
         | editorialized platform, with none of the anti-fraud upsides.
        
       | yreg wrote:
       | When this comment gets 44 minutes old it's going to be T-0.
        
         | cube2222 wrote:
         | This comment was very helpful and exactly what I wanted to know
         | opening this discussion, and made me chuckle on top of that,
         | thank you!
        
         | dingaling wrote:
         | Thank you, I was trying to convert Central Time to something
         | understandable.
         | 
         | All their systems and logging are running in UTC, why can't
         | they just give launch times accordingly.
        
       | kristianp wrote:
       | This is version 2 of Starship, with some upgrades, such as longer
       | starship.
       | 
       | "Upgrades include a redesigned upper-stage propulsion system that
       | can carry 25 per cent more propellant, along with slimmer,
       | repositioned forward flaps to reduce exposure to heat during re-
       | entry.
       | 
       | For the first time, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators"
       | [1].
       | 
       | https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/heres-what-nasa-would-...
       | 
       | [1] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/musks-starship-
       | ready-...
        
       | lysace wrote:
       | Two years ago: I really didn't think they'd make all those
       | engines work at the same time. They did.
        
       | echoangle wrote:
       | Catch was successful again, very impressive.
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | They may have lost the second stage, though.
        
           | lysace wrote:
           | "we currently don't have comms on the ship"
        
             | ceejayoz wrote:
             | Telemetry showed them lose engines one at a time, which
             | isn't a great sign.
        
               | echoangle wrote:
               | I think that's the normal shutdown order to reduce shock,
               | the timing was exactly the expected second stage shutoff
               | time if I understood it correctly.
        
               | ceejayoz wrote:
               | One of the three sea level engines went out and stayed
               | out. It didn't look normal. The numbers stopped updating
               | with one engine still on.
        
           | echoangle wrote:
           | Yes, very much looks like it.
           | 
           | I wonder how much of the second stage flight is autonomous
           | and if they need to continually need to give it a go to
           | continue, or if it aborts automatically after some time of
           | lost telemetry. But maybe it already exploded anyways.
        
             | moeadham wrote:
             | Probably self destructs if anything goes wrong
        
           | baq wrote:
           | Space is hard.
        
       | uejfiweun wrote:
       | Unbelievable. Congrats to the SpaceX team, again. Thank you for
       | bringing the future into the present.
        
       | fernandotakai wrote:
       | i still can't believe they can actually catch that first stage.
       | it makes no sense, but works!
        
       | mjevans wrote:
       | I miss the time before X broke so many things, like official
       | streams being on Twitch where I've already paid for ad free
       | viewing.
        
         | Osyris wrote:
         | My big gripe is that X videos don't seem to support Chromecast
         | at all. I used to watch SpaceX launches on my TV :(
        
       | modeless wrote:
       | Oh no they lost the ship after the booster landed! Seems like
       | they lost an engine, then I saw fire around the rear flap hinges
       | in the last images before they cut out, and then the telemetry
       | showed more engines shutting down until it froze.
       | 
       | During ascent I also noticed a panel near the front fins that
       | seemed to be loose and flapping. Probably not related but who
       | knows.
        
       | hexad74 wrote:
       | That was so impressive. I was lucky enough to live in Florida and
       | see the rockets go up. Standing on the beach and watching the
       | first Falcon Heavy launch will be something that will always
       | stick with me. Great job SpaceX.
        
       | charles_f wrote:
       | That "landing" (is it still considered a landing if it's
       | chopsticked a few meters before it touches the ground?) is so
       | unnatural it almost looks fake. So big and unimaginable that it
       | feels like watching fx on a movie!
       | 
       | The close-up camera right after was interesting, I thought it
       | captured on the grid fins, but it looks like there are two small
       | purpose-built knobs for that.
       | 
       | The times we live in!
        
         | ortusdux wrote:
         | IIRC, the grid fins are not strong enough to support the
         | rocket, and reinforcing them would add too much weight to the
         | vehicle.
         | 
         | The plan is to catch the second stage the same way, and the
         | starship in flight now is the first to have mockup pins to test
         | the aerodynamics and see if they cause issues during reentry.
        
         | gazchop wrote:
         | I heard someone say it's like trying to land the Statue of
         | Liberty. Turns out the statue is actually shorter.
        
       | ekianjo wrote:
       | they did it!
        
       | iamronaldo wrote:
       | Wow that was incredible
        
       | artemonster wrote:
       | I like how chopsticks catch (a very impressive feat) completely
       | distracts everyone from totally fucked timeline and already spent
       | budget on mars mission. Its like any criticism is being drowned
       | in loud cheers. Only time will tell, but I hope I will be wrong
       | on this one
        
       | numba888 wrote:
       | 4M viewers. comparable to top politics events.
       | 
       | ship looks to be lost. this was the main part, so it's almost
       | complete failure.
        
       | victorbojica wrote:
       | What happens if the ship has exploded? Is there any kind of
       | danger?
        
       | sabareesh wrote:
       | Seems they lost the ship , it is supposed to be v2 and had
       | several changes
        
       | nomilk wrote:
       | Amazing. 2nd ever catch of the booster via the 'chopstick' arms.
       | Looks like the starship itself won't be splashing down west of
       | Perth, instead telemetry has been lost (assuming RUD - "Rapid
       | Unscheduled Disassembly").
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-16 23:00 UTC)