Starship / Super Heavy?

[piece-itpete]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Eg...&start_radio=1

Remember how we used to feel that Earths' problems seemed small when looking down on our blue marble from space?

In the grand scheme of things it's true. The Starship is the biggest rocket ever built and carries our future dreams with it. Artemis (the next manned moon mission scheduled landing 2027 however unlikely) - then hopefully Mars.

But more 'down to Earth' (bam!) just having this huge reusable rocket will bring the cost to take stuff to orbit. By a lot.

Why should anyone care? Well let me tell you!

If we want to sustain our standard of living and
If we want to keep our current global population and
If we'd like to keep raising the standard of living for the other less fortunate places on Earth and
If we'd like to not trash the planet even more than we already have,

Then we NEED to move heavy industry to space. This is no pipe dream. Picture a new car in 1967. We went to the moon. Now, look at your current cell phone.

Even if we can't right now we need to work towards it.

'Musk is a big meanie!' - ok. Thanks Wernher von Braun for the US's moon shot :hmm:

So that's that. If you still think we're at corded rotary phone levels, and/or are curious about our current state of rocket tech, I rec Marcus House.

There's many UK people in the space reporting area for some reason but I like him best. I suggest this vid (first 15 min is all Starship)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKMIoE-5kM

A couple takeaways from that video. SpaceX is currently building EIGHT of the Starships (the top part of the superheavy rocket). They aren't just testing - they are building them en mass. Think about that (it's amazing). The plan is, these things will be going up all the time (overall SpaceX has already done over 100 launches this year).

It mentions that. since this is the last time this particular rocket will be used, they are going to increase the stress on it, test it in various ways. This basically means testing to possible destruction (or not if they're really lucky). So a big Earschplittenloudenboomer is likely. But this isn't (total) failure.

Also, it shows the official reasons of previous failures (NASA 'approved').

Please hope for its success. It's planned to launch again tonight at 7:30 EST.

Pete

[Oerets]

Long after Musk is gone exploration of the cosmos will go on.

You are correct in we as a species have bad tendency of using up our available resources and needing to move on.

So having a way to do it and be the ones with it will be in our best interests.

[Noogies]

Originally Posted by Oerets

You are correct in we as a species have bad tendency of using up our available resources and needing to move on.

Just another invasive species.

[Rajoo]

I can understand space exploration without which, we would not have use of satellites which are so critical for modern communications. But I do not understand the need for colonization of another planet like Mars. Its atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide, so can be broken down into oxygen and carbon, but is extremely energy intensive, but how is this practical if we are to build a colony there? Everyone wearing space suits?

[Chicks]

Muskmelon has also been promising FSD for years, has yet to deliver. Anyone who takes him on his word for anything is a fool.

[Rajoo]

As of August 2025, Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is no longer officially in "beta" mode. In late 2024, Tesla rebranded the software from "Full Self-Driving Beta" to "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)." This renaming reflects that while the system is much more advanced than before, it still requires the driver to remain attentive and supervise the vehicle at all times. Tesla continues to release significant improvements, with a major software update (FSD version 14) expected in September 2025, which aims to further reduce the need for driver intervention but still mandates driver supervision in complex conditions.

Tesla FSD still operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy, meaning it is partial automation requiring driver attention and responsibility. The "beta" label has been dropped to emphasize this supervised status rather than a testing phase.

As long as the driver supervises, sure it's FSD. That is classic Musk Speak.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tot...StOIcWSGvPQIUQ

[bobabode]

One for ten?

When is Leon going to put his shriveled South African/Dutchboy cojones on the line and strap in?

[piece-itpete]

Raj, right now, we're one random space object collision (or a million other things, some possible self inflicted) away from extinction.

We are on a ball of molten rock with a very thin mostly hard skin and a very, very fragile life support system with minor physical protection, hurtling through space at insane speeds filled with insane levels of danger. The more one understands this topic the more it seems like the universe is actually trying to kill us :/

There is also this thing, that if we aren't exploring, growing, we are actually withdrawing back into ourselves, becoming weaker. If you read history you'll see: there is no static spot.

All the defection in the world about Musks BS (and there is PLENTY of it)(both, deflection and BS ) doesn't change the fact that SpaceX has already advanced the space program by miles, and is continuing to do so.

And, as a long time SF and science fan, seeing Starship take off is almost magical. It's like seeing a very good SciFi movie. It doesn't seem real.

Congrats to the whole team there. I hope they celebrate with a Hippo Stomp

Bob, LOL! I'm not sure he even lives in reality anymore.

Pete

[donquixote99]

He won't terraform Mars, and no one will be able to live there without radiation shielding, as the planet lacks a magnetic field to shield from solar storms and what-not. But if he tries this stuff, he'll have to build factories in earth orbit, and I agree those will be neat things to have. Crazy fools sometimes really make stuff happen. Good and bad.

[piece-itpete]

Yeah Mars isn't very friendly. 'They' are talking underground habitats or maybe 3d printed above ground, very thick, using 'native materials' (likely Mars dust)

Of course there's also poison in that dirt

Boffins would say they're just engineering problems lol

Heavy industry of many types and off planet mining (lunar, asteroid, etc) would seriously help with pollution and may well change the very meaning of wealth here.

Imagine say a very large chunk of nickel in earth orbit. Gold? Cheap prices on these incredibly useful metals would advance civilization in ways we can't imagine. And one can do things impossible on Earth, like foam metals, in micro gravity.

Once air is figured out there's no scarcity of resources in space. It's literally practically infinite.



There's also the national security angle. It shows up in the Apollo numbers:

WARNING: AI generated info :

Saturn V rocket launch est $185 mil in 1969 dollars, $1.2 to 1.5 Billion today. Per launch.

Target for Starship is $10 mil per launch in todays dollars. I do take anything Musk with a ton of salt, but even still. That's less than the cost of 3-4 miles of 2 lane per side rural interstate.

That is a serious game changer.

I love the Saturn 5. I saw a discussion once over using their old engine design for a new superheavy lift rocket but there's no welders left who can do it. Apparently they adjusted their extremely difficult welds 'on the fly' so each engine was slightly different! Crazy skills.

That said Starship is a killer machine. A space shuttle that (hopefully) works.

If you can't tell I love talking about this stuff

Pic shows a few of them to scale (link).

Pete

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/c...494c6.png.webp