# Grain Silos Can Fly \[SpaceX Starship Prototype Makes Successful Hop\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296 "2020-08-05T02:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/1 "2020-08-05T02:51:32Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CFfkzivu0xQ/maxresdefault.jpg "WATCH SpaceX Starship SN5 150m hop (Successful)!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFfkzivu0xQ) This was the first successful flight test of a Starship prototype. Starship is SpaceX’s next-gen rocket system, with the intent being full reusability (their current Falcon 9 rocket only reuses the first stage, and takes more refurbishment than desired). Although it’s hard to distinguish the prototype from a beer can, it’s about 30 feet in diameter and 100 feet tall. This is the full diameter but only about 1/4 the final height. It is just the propellant section for the upper stage–the box on top is just a chunk of steel to simulate the mass of the rest of the stage. And the first stage–dubbed Super Heavy–is not there at all (still in development). SpaceX previously tested the “Starhopper” successfully (you can see it in the video–it’s the stubby, shiny, R2D2-looking thing just to the left of the Starship). However, that was basically just an engine test, since the vehicle itself didn’t resemble the final one at all. The test today, however, used very nearly the final production techniques that the real one will. It’s made from stacked rings of stainless steel. It’s cheap and effective construction but it had yet to be proven in flight. You may notice that the whole flight was a bit cockeyed, which is intentional–the final vehicle will have a cluster of three engines around the centerline (and three more farther out), but this one only has a single engine in one of these positions. Hence, it has an off-center thrust and the vehicle tilts a bit to correct for that. The flight was thus a good test of their flight control systems. There’s still lots more to do but this is an excellent step forward. If SpaceX succeeds here, it will lower the cost to space by a factor of 10x or even 100x. They need to achieve full and rapid reusability, and if they can pull it off, travel will cost only a few times that of the fuel, instead of the \>100x like today. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/2 "2020-08-05T02:53:56Z")
A couple more views: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TYAi2JJItgY/maxresdefault.jpg "SpaceX’s first Starship SN5 150m hop test flight and landing system visualization") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAi2JJItgY) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/3 "2020-08-05T03:35:08Z")
I love the comments from the first video. I mean, there was no Earth-shattering _KA-BOOM_, but geeze, there’s all that smoke…YES! It’s still there! It didn’t crash! _O say can you see, if our rocket’s still there…_ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/4 "2020-08-05T03:46:42Z")
A grain silo? Andy Griffith did it with a gasoline truck and a cement mixer over forty years ago 😄 [![](https://alchetron.com/cdn/salvage-1-d7ef82ad-4924-4974-898f-3169853501a-resize-750.jpeg) ](https://alchetron.com/cdn/salvage-1-d7ef82ad-4924-4974-898f-3169853501a-resize-750.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/5 "2020-08-05T03:48:16Z")
Although part of me is annoyed that the smoke blocked the landing, I have to admit it adds to the excitement. I held my breath until the faint outline of the upright vehicle came into view… whew! The landing legs are pretty stumpy right now, which made tipover a real possibility. Elon says that the v1.1 legs will be 60% longer, and the v2.0 legs will be _much_ longer, and auto-adjust to terrain. This thing has to land on unfinished sites, after all. SpaceX had a drone in the air for the flight, so I expect some good aerial footage by tomorrow. Might get a good view past the smoke then. The LabPadre live feed has been raising a good amount of money for a long-range infrared camera. That should help peer through the smoke as well, not to mention uncover some interesting facts like propellant levels. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/6 "2020-08-05T04:02:25Z")
SpaceX video is up: [https://twitter.com/i/status/1290854457136181248](https://twitter.com/i/status/1290854457136181248) Oh. My. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/7 "2020-08-05T04:03:41Z")
Dang, ninjad. The _single_ Raptor engine blasted the hell out of the launch platform as it passed over it. The Super Heavy will have _thirty one_ Raptors when complete. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grain-silos-can-fly-spacex-starship-prototype-makes-successful-hop/917296/8 "2020-08-05T04:58:37Z")
Better quality YouTube version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/s1HA9LlFNM0/maxresdefault.jpg "Starship | SN5 | 150m Flight Test") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1HA9LlFNM0)