[ad_1]
Drip Drip
SpaceX’s prototype SN8 spacecraft had a small hiccup during its third static fire test late Thursday evening at the company’s testing facilities in Boca Chica, Texas.
Eagle-eyed viewers who followed the event via live video streams noticed material dripping from the spaceship prototype, while Space.com reports – and CEO Elon Musk soon confirmed that something had indeed gone wrong, just hours before it revealed a positive COVID test.
“We have lost the vehicle’s pneumatics,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in a Thursday tweet. “Reason unknown at the moment. The pressure of the liquid oxygen tank is increasing. Hopefully it will prime the rupture disc to relieve pressure, otherwise it will cause the cork to burst. “
Disk analysis
Bursting discs are designed to adapt to pressure and make sure the tanks don’t explode in case something goes wrong. Fortunately, the records did their job.
“The burst disk worked, so the vehicle appears to be fine,” Musk added in a follow up tweet about an hour later. “We will have to replace at least one of the engines.”
Musk didn’t say what specifically he was dripping from the prototype, but Teslarati suggests that “live streams clearly showed that the ship literally drips molten metal for more than two minutes after the static fire.”
Fusion rockets
Moss suggested that the accident may have been caused by the melting of an “engine pre-burner or hot gas manifold”. “Whatever is caused by the pneumatic leak,” he added. “We have to design this problem.”
The SN8 prototype currently has three Raptor engines and a polished stainless steel nose piece installed. If all goes well, the massive 165-foot structure could take off to a planned height of nine miles or 50,000 feet as early as next weekend.
It is still unclear whether the latest issue will prevent such an ambitious test flight.
READ MORE: SpaceX Starship SN8 prototype fires engines for the third time, encounters a problem [Space.com]
More on Starship: Watch SpaceX ignite the powerful engines of the SN8 spaceship
.
[ad_2]
Source link
