Why does spacex Starship look so bad?

Why does spacex Starship look so bad?

It’s a test article, built in a screaming hurry to get some engineering data, with very little attention paid to either looks or durability (except in so far as some of the data they need is about durability). So, it looks like a mess because looks did not matter. Production versions may well be a great deal prettier.

Can spacex Starship reach orbit without super heavy?

An interesting aspect of the Starship is that it will be able to fly without the Super Heavy. That will allow it to return from other planets and moons to the Earth. It will also be capable of single stage to orbit launch from the Earth without any useful payload.

What is the terminal velocity of starship?

15 km should be ample to get Starship into the belly flop position, check stability, and reach terminal velocity (about 66 metres/sec is expected), check the response to fin/flap changes, then initiate a rotation to vertical (using some combination of flaps and engine gimballing), in time to do a propulsive landing.

What is the weight of starship?

85 tons
The Starship has a dry mass of 85 tons and has a propellant capacity of 1200 tons. The ascent payload capacity is 150 t to low earth orbit and it has a return capacity of 50 t. The Starship is to reenter belly-first with two aft fins and two canards provide skydiver-like steering.

What was the terminal velocity of SN8?

SN8 probably impacted at about 30–50 m/s (2 of the engines fired but not at full thrust). Michael K, in comments below, estimates 22–30 m/s.

Why can’t you aerobrake on a spaceship?

And because you need to carry fuel for braking, your spaceship will be heavier than it would be when you aerobrake, so you need to shed even more energy, which means you need even more fuel … etc.

What is starship like in space?

Starship is more comparable to the Space Transportation System’s Orbiter Vehicle (aka “Space Shuttle”) or a re-entering Apollo, Dragon, or Soyuz capsule, all of which also enter blunt end first. (Or, more precisely, at an angle that is not the most aerodynamic shape but actually both bleeds off velocity and generates lift.)

How does Starship compare to Falcon 9’s first stage?

Falcon 9’s first stage does not return from orbital velocity, since it never goes to orbit. Starship is muuuuuuuuuuuuuch faster than Falcon 9’s first stage. Starship not only reenters from orbital velocity, but from interplanetary velocities as well.

What is the velocity of a starship?

Orbital velocity, however, is at least 25000 km/h, maybe higher, so the velocity of Starship will be between 2 and 4 times that of a Falcon 9 first stage. The temperature of the bow shock wave goes up with the cube of the velocity, so at 2–4 times the velocity, Starship will have to deal with 8–64 (!!!) times the temperature.