The above reminds me of the picture below.
The SpaceX rocket, though, will have almost three times as much thrust as Saturn V, 70 meganewtons compared to 25 meganewtons.
The two segments were connected at the Starbase R&D facility in Boca Chica, Texas, for about an hour Friday before workers took them apart again. The company used a large crane to put the two pieces together.
Pending Federal Aviation Administration approval, SpaceX plans to send the Starship into space aboard the Super Heavy for a single orbit around Earth in the coming months.
I'd say humanity has come a long ways since the atlatl.
Good thing you posted a link to the description of an atlatl. Many would be scratching their heads over that one.
ReplyDeleteHell I clearly remember spin-top explorer-I atop a Redstone missile that launched when I was in high school.
DeleteOne of my favorite ancient weapons.
DeleteFAA approval or not, he's going to launch that sucker. He'll take the fines, gladly 'pay' them or move the operation to another country.
ReplyDeleteToo bad B4 is a one time launch. That's a lot of money to be throwing away.
It's a lot of money, but a fraction of what an SLS costs and every SLS will be thrown away.
DeleteThe four main engines alone on an SLS are almost half a billion - $146 million each. The 29 Raptors on B4 are around a third of one of those engines.
I'd be really be not at all surprised to see them try to catch B4 with their "Mechazilla" instead of dumping it in the GOMEX.
"Whatsa matter, Elon? Landing boosters on a floating platform 300 miles from anything getting too easy for you?"
The look of that massive cluster of engines reminds me of the ill-fated Russian rocket, the N-1. They had issues getting all the engines to fire at the same time and if one did not fire it caused serious (and explosive) results.
ReplyDelete3 times as much thrust (allegedly) as the Saturn V but what's the bet it can't do half as much?
ReplyDeleteBad bet.
DeleteWhen I first saw that photo, it immediately reminded me of exactly the same 1920's skyscraper photo you referenced. And it was meant to. So full props to the photographer for invoking that memory. Very rightly making the comparison to a golden age. Technologically speaking, Musk has single-handedly created a new golden age for space exploration.
ReplyDeleteNow what else happened in the 1920's, hmmm?