He says that’s only done if you are installing engines on the Starship. You don’t do that if you are only doing pressure testing. He notes though that it could be putting engines either on S26 or S25. Probably we’ll know by the end of today which ship is having engines installed.
Conceivably, it could only be doing static fire testing. Still, 6 engines are sufficient for it to take off fully fueled. Note, the expendable version is much lighter than the reusable version, having no top or bottom flaps, heat shield, legs, or ballast tanks. Any reasonable estimate of the dry mass of the expendable version allows for it to reach orbit with significant payload in a single stage.
The key clue is it’s moved to the suborbital launch pad. This means it can launch without the SuperHeavy booster. With 6 engines it can launch fully fueled unlike the previous Starship test flights meant just to test landing.
The key question: what is the dry mass of this expendable version without flaps, legs, heat shield, or ballast tanks? If you know that you can calculate how much payload it can lift to orbit in a single stage.
Elon said the expendable version with only 3 engines might mass only 40 tons:
Add another 5 tons for 3 more engines and this version might mass 45 tons. However, the increased thrust may require strengthening of the tanks which would increase the dry mass. On the other hand, this version would have to support far less payload atop it then the max 250 tons of the full two-stage so would need reduced tank strengthening.
It is notable the greatest increase happened after the introduction of the vaccine. Also the greatest increase was in the younger age groups, also known to be the case with the vaccine. (Yes, it is admitted by the CDC the vaxx causes heart issues. The only dispute is if the vaxx or COVID causes more.)
To confirm the link to the vaccine further the researchers should look at even younger age groups, such as under 25. If this also shows the worse heart effects, that strongly implies the vaccine is the cause.
Also, note the researchers did not record vaccine status. So they can not determine whether there is a vaccine link. Clearly, they should review the health records to include this data to make that determination.
RGregoryClark OP t1_j8n6931 wrote
Reply to comment by RusticMachine in SpaceX rolls naked Starship prototype to test site by RGregoryClark
The “Angry Astronaut” did a video from Boca Chica showing the Raptor work station being moved towards Ship 26:
https://www.youtube.com/live/MmUwHVji9b4
He says that’s only done if you are installing engines on the Starship. You don’t do that if you are only doing pressure testing. He notes though that it could be putting engines either on S26 or S25. Probably we’ll know by the end of today which ship is having engines installed.
Conceivably, it could only be doing static fire testing. Still, 6 engines are sufficient for it to take off fully fueled. Note, the expendable version is much lighter than the reusable version, having no top or bottom flaps, heat shield, legs, or ballast tanks. Any reasonable estimate of the dry mass of the expendable version allows for it to reach orbit with significant payload in a single stage.