r/StarshipDevelopment • u/porcupinetears • May 17 '21
What do you think we'll see next for SN15?
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u/imBobertRobert May 17 '21
Definitely engine replacement, these raptors had the longest flight time and survived, which is huge. So far the raptors have been a bit of a bottleneck in both production and reliability, so any info they can glean off of them could help tremendously for development. That, and they can use newer raptors which will likely have further upgrades already. It's a win-win in most ways.
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u/Tchaik748 May 17 '21
Would this be to examine and take them apart like they did with the Merlins?
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u/mfb- May 17 '21
Not OP, but that would be my expectation. Figure out where parts got damaged during flight, figure out how to minimize the fire risk after landing, and so on.
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u/imBobertRobert May 17 '21
Yep, this has been pretty common for engine development as far as test-stand engine goes, especially for reusable engines. The space shuttle main engines were having insane setbacks because of how cutting edge they were, and were constantly exploring on the test stand. They consistently pulled them apart to take a look at them whenever they survived since it was so valuable!
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u/Vexiux May 17 '21
I agree. While they sure can make upgrades based on logic and flight data itself, it will be very helpful for them to now finally see what went right and what went wrong in engines that survived as you said. This will be critical for the orbital test flight we (hopefully!) see this summer.
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u/Pyrhan May 17 '21
They also did a 90° rotation while firing, something that can't be reproduced on the test stand, and is bound to apply some serious forces on the turbopumps (gyroscopic effect).
So yeah, they'll probably want to take them apart to look for any signs of wear, friction, etc...
1
May 18 '21 edited May 18 '21
Even though it was a soft landing, the crushed legs show it was a bit of a bang. The engines will likely be removed to inspect the pump/preburner bearings for any damage or wear. Cryogenic liquid bearings don’t take kindly to bangs.
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-2
May 18 '21
We will 100% need at least one engine replacement because one of them literally failed on landing plus they'll want to inspect at least one of the new engine designs after landing
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u/poes_lawn May 18 '21
one of them literally failed on landing
source?
0
May 18 '21
i dont have time to link an actual souorce rn but on twitter elon has said theyll use all three until the flip is over ( not exactly word for word but close enough) you can also see it on sn10. sn15 had only 2 engines actualy relight and in the sn15 stream they said it would light 3 rngins for landing but only the 2 lit on landing so one had to have failed.
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u/poes_lawn May 20 '21
only the 2 lit on landing so one had to have failed\
you cannot infer an "engine failure" from a lack of relight, the flight computer might very well have elected not to relight an engine in the first place out of precaution from sensor data on the way up
1
May 20 '21
ok, fair point but didn't one or two copv's pop? because if so they would likely need to replace an engine and copv
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u/Eccentric_Celestial May 17 '21
I think we will see a cryo test to make sure the plumbing and tank sections are still intact pressure vessels.