The third integration exercise of the starship system. Just before the first launch of NASA's officially designated lunar rocket SLS. The implication is obvious.
At 19:51 local time on March 15 (8:51 Beijing time on March 16), the prototype starship S20 was stacked and assembled again with the super heavy rocket B4 under the support of the launch tower capture arm.
This is the third time that the starship system integration has been practiced after the flash mob fusion on August 6 last year and the six days of the fusion in mid-February this year. At the same time, this is also the second time that chopsticks (capture arms) have been used to lift the starship to complete the stacking test.
▲ B4+S20 first flash fit: On August 6, 2021, the S20, clad in heavy armor, was slowly hoisted by The Liebherr super crane LR11350 for nearly 100 meters and assembled vertically with the super heavy rocket B4, which was the first stacking exercise of the starship system.
How exactly did the starship and super heavy ship fit in one and lock up? Why is the 119-meter-tall starship system standing on the launch pad not afraid of tipping?
▲ B4+S20 two-degree combination: On February 9, 2022, the day before the starship launch, the capture arm nicknamed "Chopsticks" clamped the starship S20 for the first time, lifted to the top of the B4, and the B4+S20 starship system combination was combined for the second time. Not only was it used as a super background for the starship release show, which won Musk unlimited scenery, but also the second stacking exercise fully tested the joining ability, which lasted for 6 days. Unloaded until February 14, the heap was separated.
▲B4+S20 three-degree combination: On March 15, 2022, chopsticks clamped up S20 for the second time and stacked with B4 for the third time. The lifting process took only half an hour, and the stacking process took only tens of minutes, far exceeding the speed of the previous two combinations.
▲Not only that, the next evening, that is, at 21:45 local time on March 16 (10:45 Beijing time on March 17), the starship test team launched the QD arm (rapid disconnect/propellant filling arm) and the orbital tower ground replenishment system, and began to inject ultra-low temperature liquid nitrogen or liquid nitrogen/liquid oxygen combination (as a substitute for the low-temperature propellant liquid oxygen/liquid methane) for the starship S20 and ultra-heavy B4 at the same time.
▲ As shown in the figure, the maximum capacity of the design of the satellite's liquid oxygen chamber is 1000 tons, the maximum capacity of the methane chamber is 250 tons, the maximum capacity of the super heavy liquid oxygen chamber is 3000 tons, and the maximum capacity of the methane chamber is 750 tons.
It is estimated that the test filled the starship S20 with about 25-50% and the B4 with about 10-20% cryogenic liquid. This is the first time that the Starship system has undergone simultaneous cryogenic pressurization tests. Until then, they were all tested individually. The S20 has undergone 6 cryogenic pressurization tests and the B4 has undergone 5 cryogenic pressurization tests.
We can easily find through the live webcast video that the entire test process, through the liquid oxygen chamber exhaust port, methane chamber exhaust port, liquid oxygen chamber safety valve, methane cabin safety valve these ports for a long time to discharge white gas, which is due to low temperature nitrogen oxygen encountering water vapor condensation in the air.
At this moment, as if entering the "fever state" of the countdown to the rocket launch, the entire starship was breathing deeply, as if it were the last moment before soaring into the sky.
This state of affairs lasts for several hours until dawn the next day.
Intriguingly, the time of the starship's rapid fit and cryogenic test coincided with the eve of the first launch of SLS+Orion.
▲ NASA's latest announcement: The Space Launch System (SLS) and orion Spacecraft (Orion Spacecraft) have been assembled in the Kennedy Space Center Assembly Building, scheduled to be unveiled at 17:00 Eastern Time on March 17, riding on a tracked rocket transport vehicle, and began to be transferred to the Space 39B launch pad, with the goal of wet rehearsal on April 3 (all tested according to the launch procedure except ignition). If all goes well, the first test flight, artemis 1, will begin as early as May this year, starting a 26-day unmanned circumlunar flight.
It is not difficult to see that the two largest launch systems in human history are already in front of them, one towering over the Texas Starship base and the other standing in Cape Florida. Although separated by 1600 kilometers, it is full of contrasts and even confrontations.
The starship was designated as a manned lunar lander, transporting astronauts to and from the Orion spacecraft to the lunar surface. At present, it is blocked by the FAA in the approval process, and the test flight cannot be delayed.
SLS/Orion has been designated as the main arrowship system for the re-entry mission, responsible for transporting astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit. The monster, which has already cost more than $40 billion, is finally about to make its debut.
Which one took the first flight? Which represents the future? Which laughs last?