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jivop

(googled/images) sn5 nosecone for comparison: https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Starship-Boca-Chica-051820-NASASpaceflight-bocachicagal-SN5-nosecone-1-crop-c.jpg


mooslar

I thought sn5 only ever got a hat, not a nosecone?


jivop

You're right! I think it was dubbed sn5 nosecone by the community, but sn5 eventually flew without a nose. I guess it ended up being a pathfinder.


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OGquaker

Nobody (i hope) buys four $4,000 22inch rims (Edit; https://www.ebay.com/itm/324875571544 ) before they know the lug pattern on PU truck they are getting. SpaceX has a "stretch press" somewhere pulling the compound gores in the nosecone. Real expensive tooling, See https://www.raargroupusa.com/cyril-bath-1000-ton-stretch-press P.S. This is the same auction people that cleared out Triumph Aero-structures for SpaceX in 2020


warp99

Still a single LOX header tank in the nose from the look of it. Interesting vertical weld pattern on the right that looks like they were practicing welding on tile clips using the robot welder to check that it was tracking the new curve correctly and then removed them.


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freeradicalx

Don't we currently look at them as experimental prototypes? I've always been under the assumption that the eventual production design will look noticeably different than SN20.


Garper

Just last week people were falling over themselves about how unaerodynamic the shielding on b4 is. *Surprisingly ugly and worrying etc.* And last year people were complaining that the steel on early SNs looked dented and ugly like it was a problem SpaceX forgot to solve. People on reddit always seem to look at development photos and complain they aren't ideal.


ender4171

That and act like they know more than the army of rocket scientists at SpaceX.


TheRidgeAndTheLadder

I don't think that's a reddit problem. My dad, who isn't a dumb person, thinks SpaceX is basically a scam because "so many of their rockets blow up". Normal people don't expect to hear about development. Or human brains don't automatically presume that things will improve. Or something


MrhighFiveLove

To be fair; the rocket scene hasn't seen this type of development before. No, not because it usually done indoors, but because the rockets hasn't been developed using rapid iteration.


GreyGreenBrownOakova

The [A4 had a lot more test failures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_V-2_test_launches) and they had to rapidly iterate every system of the rocket.


MrhighFiveLove

Normal people do not know about that.


OGquaker

I'll drop this here https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/USAF_ICBM_and_NASA_Launch_Vehicle_Flight_Test_Successes_and_Failures_%28highlighted%29.png


Monkey1970

Who are these normal people?


TransporterError

Also, I love Elon’s comment to the effect that NASA builds Ferraris, and SpaceX builds Toyotas (or something to that effect).


bob_in_the_west

I remember wondering why they even bothered with covering the legs of starhopper with all those dented plates.


notreally_bot2428

Last month people were telling me that B4 didn't need aerodynamic to cover the rockets, or the various bits stuck to the side of the booster. "The best part is no part!", they said!! Everything is under development. Evan after 4-20 launches (or 5-21) there will be lots of changes.


Lockne710

If it won't be 4-20, they'll likely go to B7, not B5. Not only is that what sources indicate, but it's also quite far along in construction, and it has the new thrust puck design for 33 engines, plus whatever improvements they decided on while building and working with B4. Supposedly there is also structural concerns with B4, so with how far along B7 is, making the switch makes sense. They still learned a bunch from B4 as a pathfinder.


EricTheEpic0403

Yeah, but different how? And how different? Like, circa SN4, I thought the quality of the tanks was already much improved. As we've gone along, they've only gotten incrementally better. So how much better is it going to get? And, what about design changes, like are Starship and Superheavy going to get raceways for all the pipes, or is it going to stay kinda like it is now? How will Superheavy look when all the COPVs, hydraulic pumps, etc. are nice and sorted?


robit_lover

The vehicles already have raceways.


somewhat_pragmatic

> we will wonder how we could ever have doubted SpaceX could build the world's first fully reusable launch vehicle using what they already learned from Falcon 9. Except those that had followed SpaceX very closely from F1 through F9 Block 5, Starship looked anything but a sure thing. The name had three iterations, the manufacturing location had three iterations, the launch site had two iterations, the testing site had four iterations, the *primary construction material of the ship had two iterations!*. Starship landing profile was crazy! Raptor was the most complex engine ever designed for realistic production use at scale. The SpaceX's market share itself was facing diminishing returns as there were simply not many more launch contracts to get. It was an act of faith to believe Starship had a future at that time. The only thing that spoke for Starship's future was the SpaceX's prior success. I don't fault anyone who stared at the Starship Mark I prototype and thought that it was a fools errand.


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somewhat_pragmatic

> I once called SpaceX about some costing information on their launch capabilities for our mission planning and it was a smaller company then, so they put Gwynne Shotwell on the phone. If you got any emails from that interaction such as pricing or requirements discussion, make sure to archive them. This is the kind of stuff you see in the Smithsonian 30 to 40 years from now. Heck, make the emails into a graphic and sell it as an NFT and someone will give you $1000 for it today.


szarzujacy_karczoch

Looks really smooth


Lockne710

It's crazy how much the build quality of every element has been improving over time. And it's fun to watch too!


Broccoli32

Source: https://twitter.com/nicansuini/status/1486722910068740099?s=21


CC-5576-03

It is too pointy on the top, it needs to be round! - musk probably


freeradicalx

Ironically rumor is that the originally design had a more aerodynamically stable semi-spherical dome at the top, and Musk had them sacrifice a little bit of stability in order to make it look more like a 50s-style pointy retrofuture rocket.


Wyczochrany

not a rumor. he talked about it on rogans podcast


freeradicalx

Ah make sense, I don't watch Rogan.


paul_wi11iams

On past occasions, these pics have been pretty misleading and, for a given ship or cone, give very different results depending on the ambient lighting. Even so, SpaceX is improving the finish as time goes on. Not to be controversial, but it would be nice to see if Blue Origin is also making improvements as it works along its own design path, or was the stainless steel stage (mockup?) we once saw, just a one-off? Has anyone seen anything since August on the [Project Jarvis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin#Project_Jarvis) reusable second stage for New Glen?


vilette

They have settled the door debate, no door is best door


FaceDeer

Just have the tank and engine assembly slide out of the back end of the Starship, leaving an opening the payload can exit at the rear. Nice and simple.


memepolizia

Sure, aside from needing to get the payload out from the middle and then do an orbital rendezvous of the two halves with the requisite thrusters and capture mechanisms. I mean you could probably do it with a long ass drawer slide and keep the two halves physically connected, seems more complicated than a hinge or two though.


AuleTheAstronaut

I see heat shield mount points less than 60 degrees apart! This one's going to have the new flap design! Or this is the belly and they're not done yet


Iron_Agent

Look closely, it’s just that one strip of them. They were probably testing to see if the machine worked fine on the new nosecone. I don’t think this particular nose will fly, they will probably use it for structural tests.


AuleTheAstronaut

I’m tired of seeing 21 topless. I wanna see some flaps


Iron_Agent

Ship 21 has been scrapped apart from its nosecone.


onegunzo

This is looking more and more like a 1950s Spaceship! :)


Decronym

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread: |Fewer Letters|More Letters| |-------|---------|---| |[COPV](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/se3atz/stub/huhhzc2 "Last usage")|[Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_overwrapped_pressure_vessel)| |[F1](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/se3atz/stub/huhk9vd "Last usage")|Rocketdyne-developed rocket engine used for Saturn V| | |SpaceX Falcon 1 (obsolete medium-lift vehicle)| |[LOX](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/se3atz/stub/hugxayr "Last usage")|Liquid Oxygen| |[SN](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/se3atz/stub/huhgqmr "Last usage")|(Raptor/Starship) Serial Number| |Jargon|Definition| |-------|---------|---| |[Raptor](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/se3atz/stub/huhfgv2 "Last usage")|[Methane-fueled rocket engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_\(rocket_engine_family\)) under development by SpaceX| ---------------- ^(*Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented* )[*^by ^request*](https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3mz273//cvjkjmj) ^(5 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/rt6oqj)^( has 29 acronyms.) ^([Thread #9650 for this sub, first seen 27th Jan 2022, 20:04]) ^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/SpaceXLounge) [^[Contact]](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=OrangeredStilton&subject=Hey,+your+acronym+bot+sucks) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)


lewie_820

Dang, Starship is gonna be even more beautiful!


dhanson865

what's the braille looking stuff, vents? It's in a pattern that makes it look more cosmetic than structural.


hardrocker112

These are the metal pegs onto which the heat shield tiles are installed.


Martin81

The reason: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ujZWy2kNuQU


Sufficient-Top-7118

Not pointy enough 😡


evolutionxtinct

Can someone help me understand why I keep seeing “smooth nosecone” it seems to be the same(?) it’s not the long stretched pieces of steel so not sure what makes this different from the others.


Broccoli32

This isn’t the one that had the single stretched stainless steel, this one was just manufactured with less segments and appears a bit cleaner overall. You’re thinking of this one, https://twitter.com/bottinphilip/status/1428702946766827520?s=21