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81 | SpaceX Starship Updates – Prototype Schedule Update – NASA Orders Dragon XL - YouTube
Channel: What about it!?
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this episode is sponsored by brilliant
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spacex starship updates prototype
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schedule update and nasa orders dragon
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excel
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[Music]
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my name is Felix and I am your host for
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today's episode of what about it and as
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always there has been a lot going on in
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the space industry lately so let's dive
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right in
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starship updates well last Thursday's
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episode had a pretty gloomy ending with
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a possible closure due to a certain
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illness going around this week's episode
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has a much more positive tone to it it
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might contain the news we've all been
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waiting for SpaceX has been focusing a
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lot of work on the launch site recently
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and as I mentioned on my last few
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episodes this can only mean one thing
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SpaceX is getting closer to a flight
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again this time though SpaceX won't let
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star hopper do another field trip this
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time it's about a much bigger prototype
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starship what you can see in this video
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are three hydraulic presses being
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installed on the launch mount SpaceX
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uses these to apply pressure to the
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thrust structure to simulate actual
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flight conditions more accurately while
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conducting cryo tests and the actual
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launch conditions engines would apply a
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lot of pressure to the underside of the
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rocket and this is where the hydraulic
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presses come in they push against the
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tank section with incredible force to
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simulate what a rocket engine would
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otherwise do how much pressure three
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raptor engines are able to apply to the
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thrust section and how much therefore
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will have to be simulated can be seen if
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we do a closer examination of the
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mounting base for the three hydraulic
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presses
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it's a massive slab of steel built to
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withstand a lot of force it is resting
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on three strong metal beams that in
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return are mounted to the base of the
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launch mount itself each hydraulic press
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is as large as a standing welcome which
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makes them roughly the same size as a
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raptor engine last time we saw something
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similar spacex only used one hydraulic
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press so this is quite the increase of
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confidence being put into the starship
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serial number three thrust section as
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well this time it will have to endure
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pressure levels a lot closer to launch
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conditions SpaceX has also been very
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busy modifying the existing plumbing
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further to accommodate the different
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setup present on serial number three
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SpaceX will have to make that
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prototype fit onto the launch mount star
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hopper on the other hand is still a bit
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of a mystery last week saw lots of
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digging and trenching under and right
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next to it and the week before even saw
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speakers being attached to the underside
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the weekend has shown that there
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definitely won't be a flame diverter
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under it now and so star hoppers still
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keeps puzzling me if you have any idea
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how speakers wore concrete under it and
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a trench leading towards it fit together
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let me know in the comments I am eager
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to hear your thoughts looking at the
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construction site SpaceX has been
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equally busy since the last episode the
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starship serial number three tank
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sanction is fully stacked including an
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engine bay
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SpaceX did this the night before I
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release the episode which is another
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testimony of the pace they've been
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showing this year on Sunday then spacex
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used a road closure to move the serial
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number three tank stack to the launch
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site in preparation for future cryo
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testing we've seen this many times and
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many times this only led to a blown up
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test article in return this time it
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seems different though complex changes
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have been made to the first section
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involving a badly designed thrust Park
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and the approach of three hydraulic
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presses under the tests and is new as
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well if this upcoming test likely to be
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performed this week does work out we're
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in for the next big milestones until
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then we'll have a few things to happen
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though a tank section won't fly on its
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own in preparation for what's to come
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after the tank sanction cryo test SpaceX
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has been polishing the serial number
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three nose cone for a while now welds
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have been flattened and work has been
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going on on the inside as well besides
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the nose cone there's no sign yet of new
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canard and lower fins to be installed on
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the starship prototype raceways are
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still missing on the tank section and on
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the fairing section and as of recording
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the episode we've not seen any Raptors
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on site either musk has confirmed by now
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that the missing down comer has already
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been installed on the inside of the tank
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section no one was able to spot it so it
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might have been done indoors nonetheless
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this would largely finish the internal
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structure of the tank section musk has
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also stated on Twitter that the leg
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design
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we'll be changed again in this picture
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of serial number three on the tests and
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you can see the legs SpaceX is planning
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to use on the upcoming 150 meter hop the
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hinges you can see here will flip out
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and lock into place with these locks
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here and the leg itself which you can
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see up here will then be pointing down
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slightly on the outside of the Rockets
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outer hull it's most likely though that
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these are not anywhere near the final
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solution to be used on a possible mass
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landing in the future so what goes on in
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Boca Chica despite the Cameron County
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shutdown and SpaceX is able to keep the
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momentum going for now this goes out to
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all the workers on site stay safe and
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thank you so much for all the work
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you're doing for SpaceX and for the rest
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of the world even in these strange times
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you rock prototype schedule update but
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what will happen next and when exactly
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will it happen Elon Musk is known for
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his enthusiastic timelines and sometimes
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it feels like he's over exaggerating
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when stating the deadlines for his next
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milestones for example at the last
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starship presentation held in September
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of 2019 Elon Musk stated that Raptor
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production would be up to one per day in
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q1 of 2020 testing and McGregor is
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almost daily right now but it's hard to
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tell if all those tests are from Raptor
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engines the last confirmed engine number
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was 18 a few weeks ago so it's safe to
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say that SpaceX has not reached this
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goal as of now a lot of raptors will be
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needed this year if SpaceX wants to get
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super heavy on the way as it will need
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37 of these beasts musk also stated back
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then that the first super heavy booster
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would be built after Starship mark 3 & 4
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since SpaceX has changed the name
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schemes to serial numbers in theory
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Syrian number 3 should already be Mach 4
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in the old name scheme even if we keep
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the number serial number 4 is already on
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the horizon and there's still nothing
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new about a super heavy serial number 1
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so this milestone from last year's
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presentation is likely to not be on time
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as well in the latest virtual flyover
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done by Alex Rex you can see how far
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spacex has come since then the facility
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has basically turned from a backyard
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in situ a large and more and more
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well-organized production line for
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starship prototypes but what about the
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starship prototype timeline musk stated
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back then that it would only take SpaceX
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one to two months to perform the
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20-kilometer hop that was six months ago
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so when will it happen on February 2nd
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of this year SpaceX finally filed for an
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FCC permit to do a 20 kilometer test
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flight out of Boca Chica not earlier
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than March 16th these so-called ne T
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dates are normally a pretty reliable
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indicator for internal plants at a week
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or two and you get the actual launch
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dates most of the time now if we add two
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weeks to that date we end up today so
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when is it going to happen you might ask
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and the answer to that would be very
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soon on March 26th Cameron County
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announced new road closures for highway
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4 going past the construction and the
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launch site for those not familiar with
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the procedure this is what's needed for
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SpaceX to be able to either move test
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articles between the construction and
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the launch site or for actual tests one
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of those closures has already been used
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to move the starship serial number three
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tanks action to the launch site on
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Sunday so all is ready for a test what
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kind of tests though there have been
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exhibits attached to the latest road
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closure announcements clarifying on the
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purposes and here comes the big one on
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April 1st with bank updates on the 2nd
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and the 3rd SpaceX is planning to do
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static fires at the launch site
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static fires normally are the final
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tests before a planned launch you check
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the whole system you fuel the rocket
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light the engines and see if there are
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any surprises showing up while doing it
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before that those SpaceX will most
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likely conduct a cryogenic test of the
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tank section again as we already saw the
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hydraulic presses being installed on the
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launch mount and this is what the second
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set of road closures seems to be for a
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hundred and fifty meter hop tests with a
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starship can you believe it
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the exhibit states that SpaceX will be
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conducting a starship flight with a
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primary test date on April 6th between 9
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a.m. and
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11:59 p.m. with backup dates on April
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7th and 8th it's not the 20 kilometer
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test flight yet but it would mean that
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we might finally see a starship fly not
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a star hopper if it at all happens I'll
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of course be streaming the launch event
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here on my channel as it's something we
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definitely don't want to miss diehard
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fans including me have been waiting for
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this moment for years now and it would
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be a dream come true after all those
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failed pressure tests in the recent past
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it would be roughly the same height as
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what star hop achieved on its last test
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with the difference of a starship being
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much bigger with triple the thrust
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output from three Raptor engines if this
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tank section actually passes the cryo
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test we would finally see some Raptors
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return to the launch site this would be
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a huge milestone for spacex and the
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starship program and if that 150 meter
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hop goes as planned the next milestone
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would be the 20 kilometer flight with
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serial number four which is already
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being built and after that comes the
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orbital flight NASA orders dragon XL
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Artemis is progressing further and along
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the way NASA is getting partners ready
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to support the gigantic efforts needed
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to fulfill their plan and SpaceX got an
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invitation to the party at the end of
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last week NASA announced the GLS or
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Gateway logistics services even though
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the lunar gateway has recently been
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taken out of the plans for a 2024 lunar
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mission NASA still seems to be very much
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interested in building it since SpaceX
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has built a lot of trust as a cargo
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supplier to the ISS they were NASA's
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first pick when it comes to supporting
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the lunar space station or gateway the
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capsule itself is capable of delivering
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5 metric tons of cargo to lunar orbit
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riding on top of a Falcon Heavy in this
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artist's rendering done by Stan Lee
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creative and provided by him for today's
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show you can see one of the possible
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ways the capsule would be riding on top
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of the rocket once in space the capsule
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would separate from the Falcon Heavy
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upper stage flip around and continue
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towards the moon it will be capable of
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fully autonomous docking in the same way
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the Dragon 2 capsules are and after
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delivering its cargo if we
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then autonomously dispose itself the
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most likely variant here would be a
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graveyard orbit around the moon as
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burning it up is not an option because
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the moon has no atmosphere and a return
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back to earth just for disposal would
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minimize its payload capacity
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drastically the whole GLS contract is
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worth 7 billion dollars and it's very
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likely that NASA will invite more
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partners into the contract to have
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redundancy if one spacecraft is not able
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to fly for whatever reason dragon excel
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is based on dragon hardware which means
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that it will use a lot of the internal
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systems found on today's dragon to
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capsules systems like power generation
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docking and avionics from Dragon 2 will
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be implemented into the new form factor
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this gives SpaceX the advantage of
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already having developed a majority of
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systems reducing development cost and
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time significantly it's not known yet if
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when Gateway will be built but having
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SpaceX onboard as one of the cargo
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suppliers doesn't make the plan look
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worse
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it will provide SpaceX with extra money
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and NASA with a very reliable partner
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for the autumn s program it's a perfect
[747]
example for SpaceX as continuing efforts
[750]
to reach their goals step-by-step with
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milestones in between that lead up to
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the desired end result and it's
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basically the only solid way to reach a
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goal if you're struggling with your
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learning goals maybe you should adapt
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that approach and today's sponsor might
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be the perfect tool for it their
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step-by-step approach is very similar to
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what you'd see on a SpaceX development
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project you set yourself a goal that's
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so far seemed out of reach and then you
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follow a plan you accomplish milestones
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and you achieve your end goal brilliant
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takes you by the hand and leads you
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through the most complex topics such as
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neural networking or gravitational
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end and achieve your set goals improve
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description so this wraps up today's
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episode of what about it
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what will Star have a be used for and
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will serial number 3 finally pass the
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cryo test to be the first starship to
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take flight as always tell me in the
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comments episode 81 done and many more
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to come
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members to the Y army everyone please
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give a warm welcome to Carmen Napo and
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episode until then have a great time so
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work goes on in Boca Chica despite the
[915]
cameron county county cut down prototype
[920]
feels like he's over a generator egg
[924]
today of last week what and if that 150
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kilometer
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