When (first) orbital flight?First integrated flight test occurred April 20, 2023. "The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship."
What's happening next? SpaceX has assessed damage to Stage 0 and is implementing fixes and changes including a water deluge/pad protection/"shower head" system. No major repairs to key structures appear to be necessary.
Why no flame diverter/flame trench below the OLM?Musk tweeted on April 21: "3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch." Regarding a trench, note that the Starship on the OLM sits 2.5x higher off the ground than the Saturn V sat above the base of its flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.
SpaceX made a prototype like this, with lots of vertical slits, and then scrapped it. It was suggested at the time that it might have been for hot staging. Well, that's looking more likely. The current article has the outlines of the vertical slits but they haven't been snipped out.
Potentially basic question: does anyone know if this section is structural and needs to hold all the weight (plus various forces during flight) of the second stage? As in, there's no hidden scaffolding in the center of the engines?
Have we seen any sign that B9 has been/is being modified with the additional hot-stage ring and the new FTS ? Right now, to me this seems to be the long pole, more than the OLM.
There's a new (lord I hate the new name) thread from The Ringwatchers @Ringwatchers about the Hot Stage Load Head et al. Someone did an unroll and it's here. I haven't time at the moment to go over it in detail. It looks like two ring sections will be above and below, and they will be reinforced because they are irrelevant to the hot stage sieve. The Hot Stage Load Head has been reinforced in several ways; there are pictures. The assembly will go into the can crusher.
If I remember correctly, they can launch with up to three engines missing. I guess the early shutdown of the fourth engine after ~2.74s triggered an abort of the static fire, which was supposed to last for 5 seconds?
Edit 3: DRAT! I hang out in this thread, not the main group, and didn't see that @llamacoffee had posted "[Chris Bergin - NSF] WOW! OLM Water Deluge System conducts its first full test! That was super impressive. No more rock tornados, I’d say!" here.
The purpose of the water system is purely to keep the steel plates from melting.
Without the water, the plates would be disintegrated, but the actual foundation would still survive as long as the booster cleared the pad fast enough.
The upgraded foundation is the key to success here. Had the original foundation been constructed the way it is now, the pad would not have failed during the first launch attempt while using Fondag on the blast surface
IMHO it's impossible for that type of failure to occur again.
He clarified in a later reply, "As I said, the water is not preventing mechanical forces from being transmitted through the plates and into the foundation. That’s not it’s job. It’s purely for thermal protection."
I think this test was done without the plates that close the top of the connection to the center section. If I'm correct the next test will look quite different.
7:51 PM - Jul 9, 2023: "3 more engines for the meaning of life." Meaning 42 Raptor engines total for Super Heavy and Starship together. It's with an upskirt photo of a Starship, though with 6 engines. I can't quickly find an authoritative statement of the configuration, but since 2021, it seems that people have been stating 3 sea-level gimballing engines in the center, and 6 Rvacs (vacuum Raptors) inside the circumference (so one added between each existing pair of RVacs for a hex array). Everyday Astronaut tweeted a reply at 8:57 PM - Jul 9, 2023, "So 33 on booster, 9 on ship. Which will be the first 6 X Vac ship?", so he seems to be thinking 6 RVacs.
The Ringwatchers @Ringwatchers have a 10-tweet thread (via threadreaderapp) analyzing it. They see a Hydraulic Power Unit: they say that, since S26 on and B9 on have the electric Thrust Vector Control system, this has to be a picture of S25. The engine shielding has been removed -- for inspections? for redesign? The COPVs have been removed too. There are other details, like the interior camera, the static firing stiffeners on the RVac (vacuum Raptor) engine bells to prevent damage from sea-level flow separation, et cetera.
Two Elon tweets in sequence:
12:35 AM - Jul 10, 2023 "Looks like we can increase Raptor thrust by ~20% to reach 9000 tons (20 million lbs) of force at sea level"
12:43 AM - Jul 10, 2023 "And deliver over 200 tons of payload to a useful orbit with full & rapid reusability. 50 rockets flying every 3 days on average enables over a megaton of payload to orbit per year – enough to build a self-sustaining city on Mars."
Edit for the record: Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase tweet on Jul 9 this picture. It showed Starship's config as mentioned above. But the 3 center gimballing sea-level engines are lined up with 3 of the 6 RVacs on the rim, which I think would slightly reduce their range of motion.
Say hello to S24.2 at Starbase. You're interesting!
Photo by Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) for NSF.
I think the naming convention of Snumber.number or Bnumber.number is for a test tank or other test subassembly.
One suggestion is that it's a test of the lunar Human Landing System. S normally means it's on Starship, and maybe the reinforced holes at the top of the tank are the landing thrusters, or the openings for the thrusters.
There's also the suggestion that it's a hot staging ring, but it was objected elsewhere that that would be on top of a booster, not in a Starship.
Another suggestion is that it's a "Frankenbarrel", combining two tests.
TheSpaceEngineer @mcrs987 provided a tweetXpulsion:
Quick rendition of this new ring, it evidently has less material but has more space that could be used to incorporate stringers with the forward section of the booster
they could also do internal stringers and ribs inside the ring, similar to the ship aft skirt
Someone asked, "why are they different from the stringers above? did they put stringers on stringers?". TheSpaceEngineer replied, "yes", with a zoom in on the middle, where they really did put larger stringers on top of existing stringers.
So that looks like a successful cryo test. Think they still have closures for the next few days. They just finished pouring the last big plate so they might have to wait a few days before doing a static fire, but a spin prime test could be soon.
This whole campaign is going really quickly. Outstanding items are the hot staging ring and FAA approval though, who knows how long that takes.
Didn’t expect to see them ready this quickly; without the hot staging change they could have been ready end of the month.
I wonder what that means for the next launch. Booster readiness seems like one of the top remaining items now, with the booster needing the hot stage ring for the ship to fit now. Will they do fit tests / static fires first? Or maybe prepare a different booster with the extra ring?
One other approach could be that the extra ring “clips on” the existing staging hardware. Would mean that no changes to the booster are necessary, and if they later decide not to risk hot staging they could possibly do a traditional staging approach, leaving the ring attached to the ship instead? Sounds pretty crazy but you never know.
11:50pm- Lift that had been up at the chopsticks goes down
11:56pm- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
12:00am- Lift goes back down
1:48am- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
4:11am- Lift goes back down
6:29am- Basket up top of OLM
6:45am- 2nd segment of the 4th level of the new high bay lifted
7:01am- Basket down
7:30am- Basket up to the door at the top of the new stairs
7:31am- Large L shaped metal object (I think it’s a small diameter pipe) lowered into the pit
7:40am- Basket down
7:50am- Basket up top of OLM
8:19am- 2 lifts go up to the side of S25
8:33am- Basket down
8:53am- Basket up to the door
9:26am- Basket goes down
11:03am- Large L shape pipe that was lowered earlier is repositioned
11:55am- Lift goes back up to the chopsticks
12:21pm- Zoom in on the crew working on the chopsticks. Seem to be working on the hydraulics for the stabilizer arm
12:34pm- Looks like they removed the hydraulic ram
12:44pm- Lift moves over to the other side of the stabilizer arm
1:05pm- Lifts go down at S25. Access hatch is open and vent tube installed
2:25pm- Lift back up at S25
3:38pm- Square piece of metal lifted to the top of the OLM
4:35pm- Concrete pump truck seen in background. Checked Nerdle cam and it looks like it was pouring around the high pressure tanks for the deluge earlier and now it’s over by the old landing pad.
4:40pm- Another piece of metal lifted to the top of the OLM
5:33pm- Pumper truck folds up to leave
6:12pm- Lift goes up to top of chopsticks
6:33pm- 2nd lift goes up to the stabilizer arm
6:46pm- First lift goes down
7:03pm- 1 of the lifts at S25 goes down
7:07pm- Lift at the stabilizer arm goes down. No sign of a new hydraulic piston
7:16pm- Both lifts go back up
7:25pm- Top lift goes back down. Looks like they are just inspecting
7:51pm- Lift at the stabilizer arm goes down. Was working in the piston area but SBL zoomed out and went on a tour
9:18pm- Lift goes up to the side of the drawworks shed. Whoever was hoping that they would replace the shielding soon might be in luck.
10:03pm- Lift at the drawworks goes down. There was definitely sparks flying like they were starting to cut something.
10:46pm- Lift was back at the drawworks shed. Looks like they tried a different method of cutting and then went back down
11:00pm- Concrete pump truck arrives at the right side of the cryo pipe pit. Time to finally pour it’s lid?
11:05pm- Pump unfolds
12:07pm- First concrete truck is at the pump and the arm folds out towards the far side of the cryo pipe trench. The lid it is.
10:35am- Sub coolers are off. Working a problem in the OTF?
10:39am- Workers head to pad/ Roadblock still in place
10:42am- Ship puck shucker headed back to Masseys
11:00am- Workers at the generator by the Lox sub coolers
11:04am- Pope stack firing back up
11:32am- Workers starting to leave pad
11:35am- All 3 vehicles leave. Pad clear again
11:44am- Lox subcoolers going again
12:15pm- OLM vent
12:53pm- Frost forming on the methane sub coolers
1:01pm- Waterfall mode on the OLM vent. We’re getting close to fueling
1:03pm- OLM vent stopped. Prop load should be underway. Around 90 minutes to test possibly
1:06pm- Engine chill underway
1:08pm- New engine cavity purge vents going
1:09pm- Frost forming quickly
1:10pm- Lox chill pit active
1:18pm- Methane frost line forming
2:02pm- Drone
2:05pm- OLM vent. Loading complete
2:08pm- FireX / Deluge / Fire (Lots of steam)
2:10:30- Deluge stops
2:12pm- Depress vent
2:41pm- Pad looks good but they are going to need some new fencing
3:17pm- Engine compartment and Deluge plate purge
3:47pm- Another purge from the new engine compartment vents
3:53pm- Big depress vent (That should be it)
4:55pm- OLM vent
5:00pm- Road open
6:16pm- OLM vent finally ends
7:59pm- 3 SPMT’s headed to launch site with counterweights and connectors. B9 coming back?
8:04:32pm- SPMT down! Looked like a hydraulic failure? Front went up, back all the way down and to the left where the weight was. They got it leveled back out and going pretty quick though.
9:22pm- Workers return to pad
9:28pm- 3 workers kneel down to look at one spot on the plate
9:48pm- After checking the rest of the pad, they came back for a second look at the one spot
10:15pm- Workers headed up the stairs to check the inside of the OLM
The Booster Bidet got its first test. Looks like a lot of pressurized gas spewed out for about 40 seconds. The video can be seen on Twitter even without being logged in (currently) here. The video is from LabPadre, shown in a tweet by Zack Golden @CSI_Starbase 7:40 PM - Jul 12, 2023:
Much better angle of the purge test. This is a pretty intense amount of force that will be pushing out the water through steel blast surface!
Audio has been synced with @LabPadre Rover 2.0 camera.
Later,
This was no accident. Its a purging of the high pressure gas system
And they’re clearing the launch area quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if static fire prop loading starts at beginning of the window (~7 hours from now?)
2:51am- Little crane lifts what appears to be a stand out of the pit
2:57am- What looks like a short piece of pipe is lifted into the pit
3:51am- Stand lowered into the pit
4:00am- LR11000 swings over and lowers it’s hook into the pit
4:39am- Grover lifts more rebar over for the cryo pit lid
4:50am- Another load of rebar is moved over
4:58am- 3rd load of rebar moved. That’s going to be one beefy lid
9:42am- Grover lifts what may be one of the extra deluge plate extensions over to the gap by the new stairs
9:59am- Swung back over to the side and sat down
10:07am- Grover lowers
11:14am- Concrete being cut
11:15am- Grover shows off and swings the extension plate back over to the OLM while lowered.
11:38am- Plate lowered. Lines go slack.
11:40am- Raised back up
11:47am- Lowered back down
11:57am- Picked back up and swung off to the side again
12:53pm- Generator removed from the pit
1:24pm- Basket goes up
1:31pm- LR11000 unhooks from whatever it was attached to (Most likely the Y pipe)
1:33pm- Basket goes down
2:07pm- Grover starts to remove it’s counter weights to move (Maybe to Masseys to lift B10?)
2:13pm- Grover removes more weights
2:18pm- More weights moved over to an SPMT
2:23pm- There goes another
2:24pm- LR11000 takes tension on its lifting straps
2:38pm- LR11000 lifts another deluge pipe. Grover removed 4 more weights
2:41pm- Pipe is raised higher and swung over OLM
2:48pm- Pipe starts lowering
2:58pm- Pipe is sat on the ground and the LR11000 is unhooked
2:59pm- Small crane hooks to the pipe
3:05pm- Pipe is swung over towards the left most manifold. So looks like it’s the left side of the Y. If the piece lifted early this morning was the right side, this should be the last piece to go around the OLM. Now we need the 2 feed pipes from the concrete bunker over.
3:05pm- At the same time, Grover lowers.
3:38pm- Grover drives away
4:43pm- The LR11000 drives away from the OLM
5:35pm- Small crane moves into the area that the LR11000 was sitting
7:34pm- Chopsticks lowered. Indicating all of the big lifts on the right side and behind the OLM are finished
8:04pm- Extension piece (?) lifted back over towards the OLM.
11:00pm- Pretty quiet evening from what we can see. I’m sure the welders are hard at work. I’ll be watching for more rebar to go in the pit to signify that they are done and the pipes are ready to be buried.
A tweet from Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer with a close-in picture (from the state park?) of the Orbital launch mount.
4:13 PM - Jul 14, 2023 'Just got shooed out of the dunes by a drone with a speaker on it because im “in the blast danger area for today’s test”. That’s a first. [emojus] @NASASpaceflight'
Edit: video here, visible to me even in incognito mode.
Checking The Other Place: chatter there about the massive cryogenic release yesterday.
"the PA mentioned a valve issue"
It’s LOX according to the guys who were sent in to try and close the valve and just happened to stop in front of Rover 2 to make their plan....
They were talking about whether to go in from the front (Hwy 4) or go around through the back.
It was Lox tank 1820. The big boy and they’d have to Spin That Valve
Then at the end it was, we’re going to punch thru, stay together, and if the monitor goes off, get out....
with someone's long explanation:
Short periods of around an hour in highly elevated oxygen levels at atmospheric pressure is not particularly toxic. You may feel slightly dizzy, and feel dryness in your throat making you cough. You don't want to stay too many sustained hours in it, as basically the natural antioxidants in your body will deplete and the oxygen will oxidise you, possibly leading to long term tissue damage. Especially the eyes, namely lens and retina.
What you don't want to be anywhere near whilst working in this environment is an ignition source. If something sparks up or becomes hot, such as an insecure light connection, or grease in a valve spindle, Everything instantly ignites. Living tissue, Everything, including most metals will burn intensely once the heat gets going.
The Apollo 1 deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, who perished during a flash fire caused by an electrical spark in pure oxygen levels inside the crew capsule during a launch rehearsal made NASA redesign the whole system.
So several gather that there was only one big valve whose failure caused a complete dump, and they find a bit surprising to have a single point of failure.
1:26am- Lift back up at the draw works shed. Sparks flying
2:02am- Lift go up to S25
2:43am- Lift at S25 goes down
3:47am- Lift at the draw works goes down. About half done.
5:20am- Pump truck folds up. Pour done
6:54am- Lift back up at the draw works shed
8:08am- Lift goes back down. About 3/4 done.
8:11am- New medium lift crane arrives at the right side of OLM
8:18am- Lift back up at S25 and right back down after a few minutes
8:53am- Piece of equipment lifted to the top of the OLM. (Blue, boxed shape, not quite sure what it was)
9:06am- Lift goes back up to the draw works
9:13am- Another piece of equipment is lifted to the bottom of the Cryo pipe leg.
9:47am- 2 lifts go up to S25
9:55am- Small rectangular piece of metal lifted to the top of the OLM
10:14am- Piece of metal that was just lifted is removed
10:21am- Lift at the draw works goes down
10:31am- Lift goes back up
10:32am- Piece of metal goes back up. Needed some fine tuning?
10:41am- Similar shaped piece gets lifted up
10:55am- 3rd piece of metal goes up
11:15am- Piece of pipe lifted up to the new door
11:34am- Another piece of pipe goes up
11:42am- Lifts go down at S25
11:58am- Lift at the draw works goes down
12:16pm- Lift goes back up at S25
1:16pm- Lift goes back up to the draw works shed
3:30pm- Short piece of metal beam lifted to the top of the OLM.
3:57pm- Basket goes up to the new door
4:05pm- Basket goes down
4:41pm- Lift at the draw works shed goes down. Looks like all of the damaged siding is now removed. (Took a total of 9 hours and 44 minutes to remove it)
5:26pm- Forklift lowers sheet of metal into the deluge feed pipe pit
7:24pm- Purge of the deluge pressure system
8:03pm- Lifts at S25 have gone down
8:04pm- Next mega bay section and booster stand are on the move
8:19pm- Cop at the roadblock? Stopped traffic long enough for the booster stand to move down Hwy 4 and turn on Eichorn
8:37pm- Booster stand went over for storage by the raptor install stand
The Ringwatchers @Ringwatchers had a long thread today analyzing the situation. threadreaderapp unroll here.. Their TL;DR: "Ship 24.2 will be a 7-ring tall article composed of 3 main sections: a top ring with a dome and 24 external attachment points, a Ship Payload Bay that features a PEZ dispenser rack, and a bottom ring with a hatch in the side.", designed nicely to fit into the nosecone cage / can crusher, and the nosecone cage structure has been modified to fit it.
8:50am- Crane lifts a bunch of boards out from beside the OLM
9:15am- Basket goes up. Center
9:33am- Crane lifts something with a lot of cables hanging off of it
5:25pm- Lots of people working on top of the OLM but the cranes and lifts have been silent today
6:00pm- Intermittent closure starts. NSF in SBL chat says that Jack is reporting sheriffs at the launch site. So maybe more testing instead of something moving?
6:20pm- Pope stack is venting (Going back and looking, I’m pretty sure it was just the pope stack and not the OLM like people were saying)
7:00pm- Seems like a full test/purge of the cryo lines
7:08pm- Can’t tell if that’s the new purge line or if there is just a massive leak
7:20pm- Launch site cloaking device engaged
7:29:10- People were reporting a bang. I can hear a slight pop but NSF’s mic is so far away that I don’t know if I’d put much faith in it being anything.
7:30pm- Venting seems to be letting up some
7:34pm- Pope stack is going again
8:00pm- Still venting. Seems to die off some and then pick back up
8:30:42- Sounds like a cell phone ringing. So I think you have to discount all of the bangs and pops
9:28:53- Drone comes out of lox cloud
10:36pm- Really starting to die off. Tank finally getting empty?
10:53pm- Down to a trickle at the beach but still a significant cloud by the actual tanks
11:16pm- Vent still going but small enough for people to return to the pad and people to leave the beach
Rover 2-
20:43:40- Something is definitely wrong. 4 person red team shows up in 2 carts and makes their plans on how they are going to punch thru and get to the big lox tank and spin the shutoff valve. Stick together and get out if the monitor goes off. The banging and popping sounds like a warning klaxon on here.
21:08- One guy walks out and a pick up shows up
21:10- Pick up leaves the pad
21:12- 2 more guys walk out on their cell phones
21:32- 47 minutes later, I’m going to guess they couldn’t get the valve to shut.
21:51- Lots of honking. It seems people are trapped on the beach.
21:54- Lab switches R2’s feed to R3 and we lose the microphone
My take is that the ring may not survive. Stage separation may damage it beyond reuse. Having it be detachable means they can swap it out. It would be a shame to scrap a complete booster just because the top end got a little bent.
Marcus House @MarcusHouse 7:02 PM - Jul 28, 2023 (tweet) noted about the SpaceX image, "If you look closely, you can see that much of the water is shooting out in the exact pattern needed for the 33 engines. It is a real thing of beauty."
9:45am- Work continues on the OLM and B9. The squid was disconnected from S25 and reinstalled again overnight. Workers are working on one of the tracking dishes. No signs of anything ready to roll 45 minutes into the current closure.
2:06pm- 26.1 aft skirt being lifted onto the hot stage test article at Massey’s.
3:47pm- Top of can crusher lifted on to the hot stage test article
4:28pm- Vent hose removed from B9
5:16pm- Lox hatch being reinstalled on B9
10:00pm- Work continues on the OLM, Chopsticks, and the SQD. 2 more inspection plates were reinstalled on the cryo leg while the cameras were focused on Massey’s. That leaves 3 to go but the top 2 look like the scaffolding will have to be removed before they can go back on.
8:08am- 2 SPMT’s with counterweights headed to Massey’s. It was a slow night at the OLM as far as lifts going up.
11:59am- Dance floor lowered on to its carrier
12:28pm- Rolling out from under the OLM
2:23pm- 3rd section of the 5th floor of the new mega bay is lifted
3:09pm- Clear pad announcement
4:56pm- Pope stack venting
5:30pm- Venting can be heard and lifts are up at S25
5:54pm- S28 getting frosty at Masseys
6:02:32pm- Something went bang on both SBL and Rover 2. (18:02:28 on Rover 2. Not quite as loud as on SBL)(One of the mods on SBL said it was just a dumpster lid. Which Jack was out there according to his Instagram. On Rover 2 though, 2 people look up towards the OLM and back away.)
Hey @[email protected], just wondering if it's deliberate that the old thread is pinned instead of this one? Might just be the app I'm using, but it's starting to get hard to find this thread.
Hmm, on desktop, the threads that I see pinned are Starship Dev #47 (this thread), and August discussion. I also just checked on Connect, Sync, Jerboa, Thunder, and Liftoff, and they all match the desktop version. What app are you using? Perhaps the sort has malfunctioned?
4:31am- Crane picks up a light tower from in front of the OLM and swings it over to the pit on the left side
5:08am- They are using the long reach excavators bucket to move concrete from a delivery truck to the gaps between the legs and the manifolds
5:12am- Crane swings a load of long straight rebar over to the pit
5:32am- Crane swings another load of rebar over to the pit
6:49am- Final segment of the 4th level of the new mega bay is lifted
7:45am- More rebar lifted over to the pit
8:08am- Another load of rebar, looks like one more load sitting there waiting.
8:23am- Workers carrying sticks of rebar over to the area between the cryo pit lid and the OLM. Other workers appear to be getting more of the gaps between the legs and manifolds ready for concrete
9:23am- Load of rebar lifted to the pit
9:38am- Pump truck goes up by the new cryo pit
9:40am- Crane lifts a big ball of what looks like twisted metal out of the pit. Ghost of SN11?
10:24am- Workers up at the SQD
10:58am- More rebar lifted over
11:04am- Yep you guessed it, more rebar
11:31am- Even more rebar. (When we saw the wire mesh mats lifted over yesterday, I thought they were close to done. I was wrong)
1:34pm- Rebar magically continues to appear out of no where. (Okay it was probably just a new delivery )
1:36pm- Worker on top of the chopsticks looking at the rail
2:23pm- Crane lifts black object over to the pit
4:04pm- Pump truck folds up
4:22pm- Crane lifts a load of supplies off of the top of the OLM
4:35pm- Crane lifts another load off the top
4:38pm- More rebar lifted over to the pit
4:56pm- 3rd load off the top of the OLM. (Maybe the scaffolding out of the center? There are people climbing around on the scaffolding on the top but it doesn’t look like they are actually taking anything apart)
6:10pm- Lift up looking at the cameras at the end of the stabilizer arms
7:19pm- Second crane comes in and lifts what looks to be a new dog house and sits it off to the side. Looks longer like the one for the cryo leg.
7:44pm- Second crane leaves. Doesn’t look like it’s going to install the new doghouse
8:55pm- 2 people back up working on the SQD
9:00pm- Gravel being dumped over by the pit on the left side. Just outside of the form work.
9:10pm- Long reach excavator returns. Looks like it’s dumping concrete between the legs and manifolds again.
9:25pm- Definitely doesn’t look like they are preparing for any testing tonight.
9:45pm- I may have spoke to soon. Pad starting to clear out some. There are still people welding, grinding, and people over in the pit though
12:26am- Pump truck goes up behind OLM. Swings over to the pit
2:16am- First concrete truck arrives on Rover 2
2:28am- Boom starts moving around
7:00am- We’re at 40 trucks so far.
7:21am- Pump truck folds up
7:28am- Another pump truck is arriving
7:53am- 2nd pump truck going up
8:14am- 2nd pump truck folds up(?). Concrete trucks going straight to the back side of the pit
9:48am- Crane lifts an acetylene torch from over by the pit to the front side of the OLM
10:06am- Crane lifts a load of rebar away from the pit
10:26am- Crane lifts an air compressor over to the pit
10:50am- 45 trucks so far and it looks like that may be it. Of interest, it seemed like the pump truck last night never got the area over by the crane. Fully expected that the 2nd pump truck would set up to reach that area but it didn’t.
(That puts my rough count at 560 concrete truck loads so far)
11:08am- 2nd pump truck goes back up
11:30am- Pump truck goes back down
11:35am- Pump truck leaves the OLM.
1:21pm- PA announcement- Attention on the orbital pad, due to B9 check outs on the launch mount, expect loud venting. Hearing protection is recommended
1:24:50pm- Venting
2:48pm- Visitors under the OLM
3:03pm- Times to get those legs looking spiffy. The paint crew is back
7:39pm- Forklift brings in a piece of metal sheeting and lifts it up towards the draw works shed
9:15pm- Next section of the new mega bay being rolled over for lift
9:46pm- Dance floor is lowering
10:06pm- Crane swings in another light tower to the OLM
10:25pm- Swings another light tower over towards the pit
8:45am- Lifts went up, lifts went down. Work on B9’s lox tank continued. Aerial work platform back up at B9’s methane tank area.
11:15am- Hot staging test article lifted onto the crusher at Massey’s
12:22pm- Starlink dispenser rolled back into the payload building
4:07pm- Hot staging ring removed from test article. (Okay going back and looking at the pictures from yesterday, I didn’t even notice that it was just being held by chains)
5:00pm- Crews have been working on B9, OLM, and the SQD. Paint crews have been up at the OTF. New black and red scissor lift arrived along with 3 new black tool boxes. (New sub contractor?)
7:47am- Workers shoveling dirt out of the dog house
8:37am- Straps attached to the dog house
8:40am- Forklift with more rebar on the right side of the OLM
9:15am- Lift up at S15
9:30am- Aerial work platform arrives between OLM and OLT
9:54am- More formwork is going up between the OLM and the retention pond
10:30am- Crane lifts doghouse and flips it over
10:54am- Doghouse re rigged and lifted
11:03am- Crane carried it over and lowered it back in place at the bottom of the cryo pipe lid
11:42am- Pump truck is up over at the old landing pad area
12:56pm- 3rd piece of shielding goes up in the left side of the stairs
1:10pm- Pump truck folds up
1:36pm- Excavators digging to the left of the pad that was just poured. Looks like they are making a dirt ramp beside the edge of the concrete so it’s not a 3ft drop off.
1:44pm- Pump truck goes back up by the retention pond. End of boom goes behind the OLT
1:52pm- Paint crew is back at it
2:13pm- Pump truck folds up again
3:54pm- Lift up at the lower left side skid of the chopsticks
4:04pm- Forklift lifts metal plate over towards the data cable leg
4:15pm- Crew back up at B9’s methane tank
7:27pm- RIP SN15. You proved to the world it was possible and paved the way for all that is to come. Your legend will live on when the story of starship is told.
9:07pm- Forklift brings over another inspection hole cover plate to the data cable leg
9:18pm- 3rd inspection plate brought over
9:32pm- 4th plate
9:43pm- 5th plate
10:05pm- Crane lifts a piece of plastic pipe up on to the OLM from the dirt off to the side. One worker then picks it up and drags it off to the side
10:21pm- Crane lifts a remote controlled trench roller up onto the OLM from same area as pipe
10:56pm- There’s just something about a shower of sparks flying off the top of the OLM at night that makes me smile.
1:55am- 3rd piece of shielding goes up to the draw works shed
3:06am- Pump truck folds up and leaves
6:39am- Vent hose being installed in the new door on the OLM
7:29am- Pump truck going up to the left of the OLM. Extends over to the new engine chill dump pit
7:51am- Second vent hose being installed
8:51am- Tower cladding piece lifted
9:15am- Second cladding piece lifted (They look like old pieces that they may have fixed)
10:06am- Crane is back in its position in front of the OLM
10:14am- 3rd cladding piece lifted
10:20am- Grover is leaving the launch site
10:37am- Basket goes into the middle of the OLM
10:47am- Pump truck folds up
10:58am- Lifts back up at the methane tank on S25 (I wonder what they are doing in there)
11:11am- An overflowing basket is removed
11:14am- Rebar brought in by a forklift on the left side of the OLM
11:32am- Crane leaves again
11:33am- Pick up backs in and removed the trailer holding the plastic tank
11:55am- WATER!!!! (Low pressure test of the deluge)
1:16pm- Bunch of water over the side
1:22pm- Thar she blows
1:35pm- How hot is it in Boca Chica? Concrete is already dry again.
1:50pm- Workers start returning
2:12pm- Large group returns. They spread out and start inspecting. No one seems concerned.
(Thank you kind redditor for the gold)
2:18pm- Yellow tape strung around the outside of the OLM. People still walking around on the plate
2:43pm- Forklift brings in a caterpillar air compressor
2:51pm- A lot more people on top of the OLM than normal
3:20pm- Workers back up at the stabilizer arm on the right chopstick
3:31pm- Wood forms coming in for the pad over the deluge pipes
3:35pm- Workers on the tower at the chopsticks
3:41pm- Forklift brings in what looks like a metal strip to the center of the OLM
3:47pm- Group of VIPs arrive at the OLM
3:56pm- VIP’s leave after standing and looking up at the OLM
4:19pm- Forklift brings in another piece of metal to the left side of the OLM
4:27pm- Using a good old shop vac to clean up some of the water under the area where the forklift is waiting to put down the new piece of metal. Which begs the question, Was the missing top strip of that manifold not completely welded shut and that’s why it threw water so much further than the other parts of the plate? Or was that because it has its own dedicated water supply line and the other 2 share?
5:36pm- Forklift takes another piece of metal under the right side of the OLM
6:48pm- Forklift brings another piece of metal to under the left side of OLM
8:05pm- Crane lifts piece of pipe off of the top of the OLM. (The crane came in, extended, lifted that piece off, went down, and left again)
9:45pm- We’ve gone from watching hundreds of loads of rebar being lifted into the pit, to hundreds of loads of concrete, to 4 guys with a shop vac and a welder.
The FAA, which is overseeing an investigation into the April 20 launch, said Wednesday it was still awaiting the report it needs to identify corrective actions SpaceX must take to get the OK to launch again from Boca Chica.
An FAA spokesperson declined to speculate when the agency’s investigation might be completed, saying that “public safety and actions yet to be taken by SpaceX will dictate the timeline.”
“The FAA will not allow a return to flight operations until it determines that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety or any other aspect of the operator’s license,” the spokesperson said. “The mishap investigation is ongoing.”
Speculation in The Other Place is that the FAA is not worried about the rock tornado, but likely most worried about the Flight Termination System (specifically the long time lag between firing and actual destruction), and the steering failing.
The article also mentioned about the environmental lawsuit, but it has no new information on that.
1:05am- Pump truck goes up over towards the back side of the pad. Still working on the spillway over to the retention pond?
1:53am- Forklift clearing out some of the equipment and clutter around the OLM
5:28am- Pump truck folds up
7:06am- Dance floor is being lowered
7:37am- First segment of level 5 of the new mega bay is lifted
8:00am- Work on the booster and OLM continued overnight as well as the dirt work along with the edge of the new pad. Forklifts cleared out a significant amount of equipment. It’s almost like they are getting ready for some kind of test.
8:20am- It looks like some of the engine shielding being carried off the dance floor
9:18am- Aerial work platform that had been used for the methane tank inspection leaves
9:24am- Forklift brings over a skid of supplies to the dance floor
11:05am- Dance floor goes back up
11:26am- Work on the silt barrier around the back left side of the OLM
11:47am- Forklift removing scraps from around the left side of the OLM
12:58pm- I wonder if there is something special about the blue jumpsuits the workers wear into the lox tank of B9
2:25pm- Forklift brings in more plastic barricades to line the drop off at the edge of the pad
2:39pm- They appear to be using a fork lift to rip out some of the silt fence
2:53pm- Crane is lifting the lid for the deluge pipe bunker
3:27pm- Forklift removes one of the lighting towers from the OLM. (If we see the generator and air moving unit being moved, I think we can pretty much guarantee a test is coming)
5:25pm- Lifts back up at S25
5:55pm- 3 pick up trucks with water tanks arrive at the OLM
6:30pm- 4th pick up shows up
6:39pm- Forklift picks up a triangular piece of metal and moves it behind the cryo pipe leg
6:43pm- Guys in the pick ups are power washing the pad
6:44pm- Water tanker shows up
7:22pm- 2nd water tanker
7:33pm- S26 is picked up and swung over by the remnants of SN15
8:55pm- Workers inside of the cryo leg
9:11pm- Workers tuck the doghouse in for the night and cover it with a tarp
9:13pm- Pressure washers leaving
9:51pm- Pulling the tarp over the doghouse up farther over the leg. Looks like it’s for welding
10:29pm- Workers remove some of the plastic barriers that were along the edge of the pad
2:34am- Yep more rebar. (Pretty quiet night except for work in the pit)
3:08am- More rebar into the pit. Long reach excavator appears done with the concrete
4:17am- Forklift brings a generator over to the pit area
4:19- B9 rolls down Remidos to Hwy 4
4:55am- Rebar work continues around the deluge pipe pit in the cryo leg area
6:14am- Forklift brings in a new light tower and blinds view under the OLM
6:29am- B9 starts rolling
7:29am- B9 turns into the launch site
7:42am- A giant rocket rolling in isn’t going to stop the rebar work
7:45am- B9 arrives at the pad
7:54am- Chopsticks start rising
7:59am- Chopsticks open
8:12am- Booster moves closer to lift area
8:24am- Chopsticks lower into lift position
8:31am- More rebar lifted over
8:50am- B9 moves in between chopsticks
9:06am- Basket lifted up to the top of the OLM
9:30am- Basket lowered
9:36am- Square Piece of equipment lifted off the top
9:41am- Piece of equipment lifted out of the pit
9:45am- More rebar lifted over
10:18am- More rebar. They’re really pushing on it today
10:29am- Yep another batch of rebar. The next concrete pour has to be coming soon
10:56am- Crane moves to right side of the OLM and lifts a rebar cage structure. Moves it over by the new stairs. I’d assume just staging for later. Then crane moves back to left side.
11:21am- Rebar
11:23am- PA announcement- Overhead drone work
12:05pm- Workers up at the base of B9
12:15pm- Pad clearing
12:23pm- Chopsticks closing around B9
12:28pm- Closing in tighter to latch on
12:33pm- Starting to raise up to the pins
12:54pm- Sounds like the drone that warned Jack the other day is out warning people again today
1:03pm- Ship 28 moves to the entrance of the high bay
1:37pm- Clamps on the stand retracting from booster
2:02pm- LR11000 lowering at the build site. Most likely being reconfigured to finish building the new mega bay
2:06pm- One of the tall aerial work platforms arrives at the launch site
2:10pm- Workers climbing on to the stand
2:18pm- (14:18) Rover 2- Sounds like somebody’s radio by the camera. Lift will be attempted again in 2 hours.
2:20pm- Looks like some of the clamps are stuck?
2:23pm- Aerial work platform goes up to the top of the booster
2:30pm- Workers climbing on top of B9
2:46pm- When you got some unexpected free time, you grab a broom and try to get rid of some of that dust
3:00pm- Aerial work platform comes down
3:27pm- Workers back on top of the OLM
3:58pm- Workers climbing off B9’s stand. Finally unstuck?
4:02pm- Ship 28 lifted in the high bay
4:08pm- Pad clearing again. Looks like 5 people still working on the booster
5:30pm- Stabilizer arms going in
5:48pm- One guy still walking around on the stand
6:31pm- People are back on top of the OLM. Not looking good for the lift. The stand appears to be afraid to let B9 go after seeing what happened to B7.
8:10pm- It moved!!!
8:11pm- S28 unhooked from the bridge crane
8:17pm- Clamps releasing
8:27pm- Clears the stand
8:34pm- Stabilizer arms going in once again
8:37pm- Drone up
8:54pm- Guide pins retract back into the stand
8:55pm- Up we go at a good pace and then it paused
9:00pm- That SpaceX drone has quite the spotlight
9:04pm- Booster is rotating
9:06pm- Going up again
9:09pm- Clears the OLM. Pauses. Drone checking underside of the booster
9:11pm- Starts rotating over the pad
9:18pm- Starting to lower
9:27pm- Engines starts going below the lip of the OLM
9:32pm- Drone checking out one of the skates on the right side of the chopsticks
9:45pm- Engines below the lip of the OLM. Making final adjustments
Rover 1-
16:47- New puck shucker is rolled in under Ship 28
But they don't provide evidence that the bidet's output is a regulated chemical, whether "industrial process water" or "stormwater".
In an email to CNBC, a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state's environmental regulator, confirmed that as of July 28, SpaceX had not applied for what is called a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit at its Starbase facility. The regulator said the SpaceX site has previously attained three stormwater permit authorizations....
The representative for TCEQ told CNBC that the regulator "recommends applications be submitted at least 330 days before the proposed construction of a wastewater treatment facility." Stormwater permits take far less time to process.
The people quoted are that spokesperson, but also ESGHound, who is notorious for anti-SpaceX hit pieces, and the lead counsel for the recent environmental lawsuit against the FAA.
Jack Beyer @thejackbeyer with NASA SpaceFlight on The Bad Place posted an image with << Looks like we have a hot staging test article on our hands! Label reads "B-11 FWD RETAIN / HOT STAGE LOAD HEAD". @NASASpaceflight >>
7:35am- Nothing to big to report from last night. Workers have been welding the shielding installed on the new staircase leg most of the night. Shielding was also reinstalled on the leg to the right of the staircase. People could be seen up on the dance floor and top of the OLM as well.
11:45am- (SpongeBob 4 hours later meme) Either they are just taking it easy today or they really are done with most of the big stuff.
4:30pm- One inspection plate was added back to the cryo leg. That leaves 4 more to go. Work on the OLM and dance floor has continued.
7:35pm- A couple lifts went up and down. A forklift drove around with nothing on the forks. First shift workers on top of the OLM and at B9 seemed to call it early. (Let’s see if second shift is any more exciting)
12:59am- Lifts go back up. Looks like it was just a quick test during the time that is normally dinner break.
8:04am- Concrete pump truck goes up over by the deluge tank farm
10:35am- Inspection plates going back on the cryo leg
11:45am- Lifts have been up at the OLM and S25. Looks like they are starting to remove the scaffolding around B9’s lox hatch.
12:05pm- Pump truck went down
4:25pm- Lifts have been up all around the OLM, at the top of the raceway on S25, and around the hot stage test article at Massey’s. No cables have been connected on the can crusher that we can see yet.
11:22pm- Lots of work on the hot stage ring test article still. Haven’t seen any welding flashes but it seems they are trying to secure it somehow. Lifts still going up all around the OLM and to the dance floor. All the scaffolding has been removed from the top though and the final cryo leg inspection plates reinstalled
3:10am- Vent hose to the OLM reinstalled. Air handling unit was brought back in during B9’s move
7:12am- Generator for the air handling unit brought back in
9:00am- Lifts go up, lifts go down. Not a lot of activity at the pad. So I think that’s a good sign that the pad fared well during the static fire.
10:59am- Semi delivers the load spreader used to lift the deluge tanks. The 3rd tank must be getting close. Work at the OLM seems to be centered around the BQD this morning. There’s also been 4 water trucks.
11:08am- Here comes the scaffolding on top of the OLM
1:10pm- Looks like another Lox pump is getting installed
2:00pm- Only 3 sections of scaffolding with guard rails going up to the right of the BQD. Another water truck arrived. It looks like they may be pumping out the deluge pond.
2:26pm- Worker climbs up into the BQD housing
2:40pm- More scaffolding pieces being unloaded from a lift. Ugh. The top of the OLM was looking so clean.
3:00pm- LR11000 has moved over to the old Landing Pad area. Another indication that the deluge tank should be arriving soon
1:05am- Pump truck goes up over towards the back side of the pad. Still working on the spillway over to the retention pond?
1:53am- Forklift clearing out some of the equipment and clutter around the OLM
5:28am- Pump truck folds up
7:06am- Dance floor is being lowered
7:37am- First segment of level 5 of the new mega bay is lifted
8:00am- Work on the booster and OLM continued overnight as well as the dirt work along with the edge of the new pad. Forklifts cleared out a significant amount of equipment. It’s almost like they are getting ready for some kind of test.
1:15am- Scaffolding on the cryo pipe leg starting to get disassembled
1:27am- Forklift brings rebar over to the left side pit
1:30am- long reach excavator arrives right side of the OLM
1:59am- Excavator starts digging on the back side of the OLM
2:58am- Crane lifts rebar to the back side of the OLM
4:17am- Forklift brings more rebar to the left side pit
4:35am- B9 goes on a walk to the rocket garden
4:43am- Crane lifts more rebar to the backside of the OLM
7:37am- Long reach excavator leaves
8:16am- fixing the silt fence around the left side of the OLM
10:58am- Group of engineers/bosses surveying things
11:32am- Forklift lifted 2 loads out of left side pit. Lift was blocking what they were though
11:36am- Crane lifts load of straight rebar over to the left side pit
11:50am- Lots of lifts going up and down to the top of the OLM all morning. Welders still working under the OLM. Excavators still digging over by the left side pit. Lift up at the LOX tank of S25.
12:38pm- Lift goes up to the top left skate on the chopsticks. Hopefully with some really good grease
1:04pm- Box lifted off the top of the OLM by the crane
1:51pm- BQD hood is getting painted
2:13pm- Scaffolding being removed that went to the door on the right side of the OLM
3:29pm- Wire mesh mats lifted over to the pit on the left
4:05pm- They made pretty quick work of the scaffolding on the right side
4:16pm- Lift goes up to the left chopsticks stabilizer arm
4:42pm- Forklift brings in a load of rebar and drops it off at the dirt berm leading up to the front edge of the pad.
4:52pm- More rebar brought over
7:57pm- Pad clear announcement (Can be heard better on Rover 2)
8:05pm- They don’t appear to be removing all the equipment like yesterday
8:12pm- B10 getting frosty at Massey’s. (Raptor Roost caught it one minute earlier at 8:11. Both tanks already had frost)
8:32pm- Frost receding
8:48pm- Something is rolling towards Starbase from Masseys
8:50pm- Sheriff at the launch site entrance
8:58pm- Big vent at the OTF. (Are we redoing the test from the other night but with a full closure just in case?)
9:05pm- It’s the new puck shucker being moved from Masseys
9:39pm- OLM and OLT venting
9:43pm- FireX
9:49pm- New water nozzles around the underside of the OLM?
10:21pm- Depress vent from the OLT and OLM
10:39pm- Workers to the pad. Road still closed
11:03pm- Workers leaving the pad
11:15pm- Venting picking up again
11:20pm- Venting starts dying off
11:50pm- Picking up again
11:55pm- Dies off again (Just testing the valve over and over?)
12:04am- Cars back to the pad
12:09am- The cars aren’t keeping the venting from increasing again
We are linearizing the Merlin production line in the high bay of HT01. Should be operational in September. Gonna be super bad ass.
There was a bit of discussion about what "linearizing" might mean. Mass production? Maybe not mass production, just setting up a formal assembly line, and removing extra capacity for long-pole items? So people get to specialize in specific parts?
Someone mentioned another tweet by the Mother of the Dark Lord, Last edited 8:34 PM - Jul 15, 2023: they claimed that someone was working inside an octoweb in the third picture. I don't see it.
12:48am- Concrete pump truck goes up to right of OLM. Looks like they may be finally pouring that little pad off to the side
4:14am- Basket comes down
4:37am- Crane lowers and leaves from in front of OLM
4:45am- Forklift brings in some kind of united rentals equipment
4:55am- Pick up backs in a giant generator in front of OLM
5:06am- Forklift brings in another united rentals piece of equipment
5:15am- Crane comes back. Looks it just left to make room for the deliveries
7:50am- SPMT headed to the launch site
7:58am- 3rd segment of the 4th floor of the new mega bay lifted
8:20am- Pump truck folding up, concrete truck is backed up to the OLM though so pour continues, Grover removing it’s counterweights (so that’s what the SPMT was for)
8:56am- New crossbeam test fitted at the draw works shed
8:58am- Concrete truck is gone, looks like the pour is over
9:03am- Crossbeam installed
9:11am- Pump truck goes up around the deluge tank farm (can be seen much clearer on Rover 2)
9:24am- More concrete trucks arriving, go to the pump truck
10:13am- Equipment lifted off of the OLM
10:19am- New upper crossbeam installed on the draw works shed
10:27am- Another pump truck goes up between the OLM and OLT
11:00am- Lifts are up at the oxygen and methane tank access hatches of S25
11:51am- Pump truck between OLM and OLT folds up
1:46pm- Crane lifts triangular object to top of OLM
1:54pm- Crane lifts section of pipe to top of OLM
2:04pm- Pump truck at the backside of the OLT goes down
2:30pm- Pad seems to be clearing
2:41pm- BQD hood opens (We are 40 minutes into the intermittent closure)
2:48pm- BQD hood closes
2:54pm- BQD hood opens again
3:01pm- BQD hood closes (Did they clear the OLM area just for hood tests?)
3:37pm- Quick check of Rover 1 shows test tank 24.2 sitting quietly with no SPMT’s in sight. Doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere during this closure
4:13pm- Tweet from Jack- Just got shooed out of the dunes by a drone with a speaker on it because im “in the blast danger area for today’s test”. That’s a first. 🤔 @NASASpaceflight
4:18pm- Still 2 lifts up at S25’s methane tank. Waiting on them to get done?
4:51pm- Drone
5:03pm- Last lift at S25 is going down
5:21pm- Purge of the new water line at the OTF?
6:20pm- Venting sounds but lifts are back up at S25
8:01pm- People back at the OLM and lift at the stabilizer arm on the right chopstick
6:46am- Crane swings over to the OLM in the first sign of life today.
7:01am- Basket removed after spending all day yesterday on the OLM
7:27am- Basket goes back into the center of the OLM
7:36am- Earthwork gets back underway on the left side of the OLM
8:01am- Piece of metal pipe with a triangular brace removed from the top of the OLM
8:34am- Another piece of pipe removed
9:30am- Basket removed
9:49am- Another piece of pipe lowered from the OLM
10:00am- Small silver tank being rolled out to the launch site. Looks like a vertically mounted tank
10:39am- Basket goes back into the center of the OLM
10:48am- 4th piece of pipe lifted out
11:16am- 5th piece of pipe
11:29am- 6th piece of pipe
2:15om- Load spreader has been attached to new tank and Grover has it under tension
2:25pm- Second crane hooked to tank to help turn it vertical
2:27pm- Tank lifted and flipped vertical
2:29pm- 2nd crane disconnected
2:32pm- Tank swung over and lowered
3:03pm- Crews back up working on the draw works shed
4:00pm- Grover disconnected
4:45pm- Long straight rebar lifted towards back of OLM
5:19pm- Clamp leveling rig lifted off of the OLM
6:49pm- Something is lifted off of the OLM. Can only see on wide shot so can’t tell what
7:04pm- Piece of metal shielding lifted up to the OLM
7:15pm- Another piece lifted up
7:19pm- 3rd piece lifted
7:58pm- New draw works shielding going up
9:21pm- Crane in front of OLM leaves
10:11pm- 2nd piece of the new draw works shielding goes up
10:23pm- Concrete pump truck goes up between the OLM and OLT. Maybe filling in that gap by the smaller manifold you see on RGV’s photos? We did see rebar lifted back that way earlier.
10:29pm- Forklift removes big United rentals piece of equipment
10:37pm- United rentals generator is towed away. (The crane had to move when it was delivered so will it come back now?)
Rover 1-
18:15pm- Sheriff arrives at production site
19:53- Sheriff left, came back, and left again
Rover 2-
20:44:16- Announcement- Attention at the orbital pad. Manual bleeding of the flame deflector plate is beginning, Manual bleeding of the flame deflector plate is beginning. This will take approximately one hour.
2:17am- Semi Tanker truck arrives at the pad. Backs up to right of the camera
2:50am- 2nd tanker truck arrives. Backs up to left side of pad. Red and white. I’m 90% sure they are water
3:53am- Ventilation hose gets removed from B9
3:57am- Tanker on the left side leaves
4:30am- B9’s ventilation hose is removed from the leg
4:46am- Dance floors hose is removed
5:00am- OLM’s hose is removed
5:34am- Crane lifts more high pressure tanks over at the deluge tank farm
6:11am- Forklift clearing right side of pad
7:00am- Generator is towed away
7:05am- Air conditioning unit is hauled off
8:08am- Light trailer towed away
8:27am- Starlink trailer hauled away. Pad is pretty much clear now. Just some cones around
8:31am- Crews sweeping where the equipment was parked
8:43am- Crane shows up at the pad
8:48am- Another water tanker shows up. Goes to the left of the pad. Backs up by the deluge pipe bunker. Priming the pipes?
8:50am- Lifts up at the orbital tank farm
8:59am- Crane lifts the big (argon?) tank next to the tower and moves it further back towards the old landing pad area
9:11am- Tanker truck leaves
9:24am- Lifts at the OTF are painting
9:53am- 3 pick ups still at the pad. Employees walking around the area and 1 guy with a backpack leaf blower blowing the area off.
9:56am- Crews still working between the pad and retention pond areas
10:13am- PA announcement- Overhead drone operations for the next hour
10:53am- 2 pick ups leave. At least one worker still walking around
11:00am- Pad appears clear. There are still 2 lifts on the highway 4 side of the tank farm. Will they wait for them to go down?
11:21am- People appearing out of nowhere at the pad.
11:26am- Meeting of I’d guess engineers under the pad
11:50am- People leaving pad again. Paint crew is down at the OTF. There are still a few stragglers on top of the OLM.
12:00pm- At least 3 people still on top and 1 under the OLM.
12:08pm- PA announcement- Clear the pad for deflector testing
12:33pm- Another announcement to clear the pad and alarm sounding
12:36pm- Chopsticks raising
12:52pm- Drone
1:00pm- Drone telling someone to leave
1:09:58- Deluge test
1:11pm- The tarp survived!!!!!!!!
1:23pm- Raptor install stand headed towards the build site
1:26pm- Chopsticks being lowered
2:03pm- People back at the pad
3:09pm- Forklift brings the air conditioning unit back to the base of the OLM
3:19pm- Lift goes back up to S25
3:39pm- Generator is brought back over
3:56pm- Dance floor is being lowered
4:08pm- Vent hose for the OLM Is being reinstalled
4:18pm- Another row of high pressure tanks is being lifted over at the deluge farm
4:22pm- Tarp was removed from the cryo leg
5:06pm- An air compressor comes magically flying through the air from behind the tower. (Okay, It maybe getting a little help from a crane)
5:37pm- After a quick inspection the dance floor is being lifted back up
5:46pm- Another small generator gets brought over
6:09pm- And since this is SpaceX, let’s cryo proof S28.
6:36pm- Frost on S28’s methane tank
7:00pm- S28’s lox tank looks full frosty
7:39pm- Forklift brings a light tower back (Thankfully because it was getting hard to make things out)
10:26pm- Workers are on top of the OLM and the dance floor. Some engineer types have been walking around the plate but aren’t really getting down to look at things. Forklifts have been bringing equipment back over to the right side. S28 still has some frost.