pages tagged ‘rocket’

This auto-generated listing selected 28 pages tagged with ‘rocket’.

Starship SN9's 10km flight 11 items

I took these photos of Starship’s flight from Isla Blanca Park at South Padre Island, TX.

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SN9 aftermath

The remains of SN9 continue to smoke.

SN9 fireball 2
SN9 fireball 1
SN9 impacts the landing pad

With only a single engine running, SN9 had too much momentum to correct with a single engine, and tipped too far the other way. At the moment of impact, SN9 was rolling and yawing far beyond the control authority of the single running engine.

SN9 midway through the flip

Two engines should be running, and SN9 shouldn’t be quite this close to the ground.

SN9 skydive descent

Taken moments before engine ignition and (failed) flip maneuver.

SN9 apogee vent

SN9 vents liquid oxygen at apogee.

SN9 ascent (bird)

Flying creatures unite!

SN9 ascent (wide)

SN9 is visible in the center of frame.

SN9 ascent

SN9 has cleared the tower (aka SN10.)

SN9 liftoff

Taken moments after liftoff. SN9 is on the right, and slightly higher than SN10 at this point.

Starship SN8's 12.5km flight 15 items

I took these photos of Starship’s flight from Isla Blanca Park at South Padre Island, TX.

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SN8 aftermath

The remains of SN8 (still smoking on the landing pad), and the build site to the right.

SN8 fireball (2)

The fireball produced by the impact continues to burn itself out; this photo was taken about 7 seconds after impact.

SN8 fireball (1)

The fireball produced by the impact; this photo was taken about 3 seconds after impact.

SN8 impact

The moment of SN8’s impact against the landing pad. A lone RCS thruster (or LOX header tank tank vent) is visible at the nose.

SN8 engine-rich combustion

Unlike the Falcon 9’s Merlin engines, Raptor does not use TEA-TEB ignitor fluid. On Raptor, green is the color of burning copper.

SN8 start of landing flip

Two Raptor engines relight to flip the spacecraft from horizontal to vertical in preparation for landing.

SN8 landing burn startup

A single Raptor engine relights from the header tanks to flip the spacecraft from horizontal to vertical in preparation for landing.

SN8 Two birds, one shot

A pair of flying machines; one small and lightweight and covered in feathers, one not.

SN8 apogee reorientation

Starship descends while flipping forwards onto its belly, with residual liquid oxygen venting (or maybe Raptor venting?) still underway.

Starship SN8 apogee vent

Starship SN8 hovers on a single Raptor engine while dumping liquid oxygen.

SN8 engine shutdown #1

As SN8 ascends, engines are shut down to reduce acceleration and keep top speed manageable.

SN8 passes a bird

SN8 flies in the background as a bird casually glides by

SN8 launch

Taken about 15 seconds after launch, while the vehicle slowly ascends.

SN8 engine ignition

Note the interesting lighting effect on the ice-coated tanks.

SN8 the night before

SN8 stands tall after the first day of flight windows ended without a launch.