Mechazilla Chopsticks Upgraded | SpaceX Boca Chica
A new actuator was installed on the launch tower's chopsticks, Ship 29's TPS tiles were worked on, and work on the flame trench for the ship static fire stand at Massey's continued.
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🎥 Video from Mary (@BocaChicaGal), Sean (@SeanKD_Photos), and Starbase Live.
✂️ Edited by Thomas (@_thomashayden).
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Timestamps:
0:00 BQD Cover Removed
0:14 Starfactory Construction
1:02 Missing Tiles From Ship 29
1:19 Nosecone Tiles Installed on Ship 29
4:44 Ship 30 in the New High Bay
5:01 SPMT on the Move
5:18 BQD Closed
5:30 Chopsticks Restrained
5:44 Flame Trench Component Lifted
5:57 Massey’s Test Site
6:33 The Orbital Launch Site
6:44 The OLM and Chopsticks
9:49 The Booster Quick Disconnect
10:14 Work Continues on the OLM
10:42 Linkage Removed From the OLM
11:22 The Ship QD Arm
11:53 Concrete Forms
12:20 New Piping Installed
13:45 Ship 29 in the High Bay
14:11 Booster 14 in the Mega Bay
14:25 Ship 30 in the New High Bay
14:40 The New Office Building
15:35 Chopstick Actuator Retracted
15:50 Actuator Pin Removed
16:02 Chopstick Actuator Removed
16:43 The Ground Fabrication Building
16:55 Tower Sections
17:05 The Rocket Garden
17:53 Rebar Work for the Parking Garage
18:21 Work Continues on Starfactory
18:36 Ship 29’s Nosecone
18:48 Development Dome Section
19:08 Development Payload Barrel
19:22 The Production Site
19:34 Upgraded Actuator Installed
21:13 The Orbital Launch Mount
21:40 Concrete Wall at End of the Berm
22:22 Starhopper
22:35 New BQD Front Cover Installed
I’m happy to state that the guy with the hat at 19:25 is… me!!! Thanks Sean Doherty to involuntarily capture this brief but unforgettable moment of my life.
I can't properly express how much I appreciate these non vocal postings... Thank you...
I'm happy and not suprised to see SpaceX upgrading the chopstick hydraulic actuators. Apparently these should allow the chopsticks to close/open faster. This is very good news as I've always been skeptical whether the chopsticks are fast enough for a booster catch. However the booster will not only need to come in too the exact location/position of the chopsticks but also turn its self so it's in the correct orientation for the two lift arms to line up and land in the long c-channels/rails on the chopsticks. I really hope SpaceX pulls it off. However I think they should probably have 2 successful simulated tower catches over water first.
These guys will get to tell their grandchildren about the time they built the first ever fully reusable rocket. "Yeah, sonny, I was up on a crane carefully placing each tile by hand! Robots weren't able to do work like that back then."
Yeah, everyone really who are getting to work on the early prototypes and infrastructure leading to humanity landing on Mars, but the tile work is really cool and as you say something to brag to their children and grandchildren about.
the men on the cranes are doing an incredible job
A fixed platform would be great!
Wow! it looks so big with people working there !
That’s why I feel like most images of starship don’t do a good job at showing its sheer size
Moving the world's largest rocketship down a old Texas Beach road where my buddies and I would go surfing in the 60's. Remember imagining a spaceport like Cape Canaveral in that area being batted around at NASA way back then.
Dude putting the tiles on had a Buc-ee's sticker on his hardhat.
Absolutely love Mary's perspective!
I agree!
Great video work Mary, Sean, and all at NSF, Thank you!!
Wow! That is one massive ant hill!
Lookin like SpaceX is really on track to catch B12!
TeeeHeee
That looks back breaking laying those tiles!!! Hard on the knees and lower back!!
Thanks NSF team great update.
So just watched egv stream and the new system for pressurizing the deluge system is stupid smart and I'm so impressed. Using the heat mass of the deluge water itself to drive the heating and expansion of liquid nitrogen pumped at the high pressures in liquid form similar to the expansion reasons used on the rocket. Absolutely brilliant as maintaining pressure through the entire volume displaced will be easy.
What's egv stream?
Always something amazing and new to see. The pace of change and development is simply orders of magnitude greater than any other company. Go SpaceX.
Quote when this all started: “… we’re going to need a bigger crane..” 😊
Must be satisfying when they put in that last tile 😀
Great video #TeamNSF and AWESOME quality telephoto shots Mary!
Ship 30s heat shield looks nice
They always look nice until they get covered in dust and dirt.
Thank you Mary, Sean and Jack for sharing such amazing footage. Everyone is incredible to see the progress of all the development work at the launch site. I really hope that IFT 4 happens In the month of May.
watching the endless work going on
Well I'm here early Edit: I got here before KZhead gave me the notification. Talk about timing. "Posted 2 seconds ago" definitely wasn't what I was expecting to see this morning.
yeah
Love the heat shield work
The guy untying the Caines off the concrete forms that was the work I did for 34 years.
Cool! Thanks guys 🙏🙏🙏
Interesting that a guy used a caliper to measure spacing on the tile installation that he did. Using calipers to measure something, seems like the SpaceX folks are qetting quite detailed about the thermal tile installation.
Tightly edited excellent content. Well done.
1:38 The look on this guys face is pride and awe.
Huh? Neither of those. Looks like a guy who just wants to get his job done and does it right. I’d hope so. After all it’s a rocket he is assembling. His face has literally zero expression of awe nor pride.
Wow a Lot Of Major changes it seems Great Views awesome Vlog Thanks
Starship and Starbase have a lot of vato power going on!
Just think of how many cameras SpaceX has on all the elements of Stage one to provide areas that need modifications. Seeing how they modify after each launch is the result of many hours reviewing video and discussing solutions. Hard work, great results.
Thanks.
22:23 Starhopper with Gary
The "chopsticks " have no redundancy. That cable snaps....
sick!
Am I wrong, but surly if they are going to catch the boster or Starship they must have stick out catching mounts of some sort, as there is no way you can catch just, on what looks like a ball joint off a trailor lifting points? Sorry for the disjointed question.
Geez, get that guy working on nosecone tiles a stable platform will ya :)
Yes!
I would have thought by now that they would have had a plateform made inside the high bays that could be used while placing the heat tiles instead of having to use lifts and leaning over the edge to place the tiles.
Duly noted…Mexican American efforts and contributions to Star Base has been quite significant over the past few years.
lol I used duct tape on my mini bikes to hold the throttle together on the handlebars and here its being used on a Starship...uncanny
Starship duct tape $2.49 per roll, NASA duct tape $87.00 per roll
@@stevenmckamey Starship is expected to fail (the prototypes). NASA is expected to never fail.
@@knowledgeisgood9645Y’all are mixing things up. Remember, it was a very deliberate NASA set of programs- COTS/CRS et al- that very intentionally jump-started SpaceX (and others) as we know it today in the first place; with the very intention of doing things differently. And as far as Starship, NASA, again very intentionally, picked the most radical of the three lunar lander concepts presented for HLS-1- the Starship based one- to proceed, fund, and support. It’s not either/or, ok? - Dave Huntsman
@@dphuntsman It is neither a criticism of either or praising one ahead of the other - it simply notes the fact they don't follow the same constraints.
How come they don't put heat shield on the platform to provide a better solution and experience a better understanding
I love how they utilize duct tape to make the Starship. Ha Ha Ha 1:37 😀But I am also grateful for all the steps they are taking to make us a multi-planetary species.
What's up with the white heat shield tiles that look like styrofoam? Are they used for fitting or do they lack some coating that gives them the final color?
White on the ship side, black on the outside. 🤷🏻♂️
Still can’t wait until we see the first Starships get caught by those massive arms - I don’t think there’s gonna be anything like it
And, the part I still can't fathom, is that within a few years it will all seem normal! Just like with Falcon 9. Retrievable boosters? REALLY??? What will they think of next?!
10:43 *Valve theme*
Bocachicagal, what is that high-power lens, and how much did it cost?
Will these actuator tubes and wires withstand the pressure from the raptors and be ready for capture immediately?
Never be under any part of the load.
Will there be a IFT-4 patch? Any idea how many IFT patches will be done?
Will be Raptor 4 scaled up 3-4 times be 3-4 times more powerful ?
Anyone else wondering what jeans thes guys are wearing? Seem tough as leather.
No, just you.
3:22 How much weight is added as glue to total mass?
I'm betting on IFT-6 or 7 to be booster recover, so they will have 4 and 5 to test landing before doing the real thing and having time to began construction of OLM 2.
04:05 Pretty "healthy" stuff those tiles; if being worked at breathing protection is needed. Nice, as if that dust does not fall down on everybody inside the building or doesn't collect itself on the floor. I think working there isn't as healthy as we think. On the other hand, all dust is unhealthy, it doesn't need to be extra poisonous for that.
There seems to be no corner where construction is not going on...
Can anyone tell me about the status of the little plot of land behind the factory and in front of the office building under construction? Is Spacex buying that? Thank you.
21:55 looks like an OSHA violation to me.
Or tounge and gruve or twist lock tiles
Wasn't the other actuator more important because it has a longer stroke?
Elmer's glue ?
It wont be good when the booster landing flames hit the top of the arms ,pully , cables
Ship 29 less pointy?
I was just wondering how big a stripping/painting crew they have. Sure must be a bunch.
Upgrades?
Brand new shiny actuator. Don’t know the difference though.
Maybe they need to use more duct tape on the tiles.
So this is what “rapidly reusable” means in SpaceX world 😂
i wish they installed actual platforms on the megabays ala VAB in vandenberg instead of still using the cherry-pickers.
They do have platforms but some places like the top of the nose not suitable for platforms. The picker only looked so wobbly due to the timelapse.
@@shaung949 Oh I see. Glad to hear that. Yeah, that was my main concern. Thanks!
Several drawings show the chopsticks covered…
i cannot understand why SpaceX has never attempted to catch a Falcon 9 booster, to see if it could be done on a smaller scale before the real deal
IIRC, the Merlin engine can't go to low enough throttle to pull it off. It's really only possible with the Raptor and it's deep throttle range.
@@sdub999 thank you, now i know why, i thought if they could land, they could be caught, but i guess being able to hover for a catch is more important
There building so much in this area. Soon later there are going to have expanded operation somewhere else. Like in Florida l! 😆 🤣 😂
White heat shield tiles ?thats new.
I believe those are dummy tiles that they can sand down and test fit to get the exact size and shape needed. Then they take them to be used to cut the actual tiles to the same shape
See ya later, actuator!
Why the heck are they using glue for the tiles? Glue and duck tape.
The tiles on large flat areas can use the pins, but curved tiles or those on certain areas need to just be glued on. Clearly they cause a bit more trouble than the pins though 😅
You can see dimples in the back of the tiles for the pins. They glue all of them on and use duct tape to hold them in place until the glue drys.
Q, I see it really takes a lot preparation on earth from Mars to earth how will the preparation will it take on Mars.
👍👍👍🇮🇳
It seems they are using white tiles on nose cone !!!!!
Surely you noticed that the backside of the tiles are what is white?!
@@michaeldeierhoi4096 Yes, of course. But seems some tiles are white on both sides. Probably these tiles are only for montage reference
I'm pretty sure the white tiles are templates that they sand down to the correct shape, then get used to cut the actual tile to the same shape
5:45 A flametrench for Massey's, huh? Sure would've come in handy at the actual OLM...hmmm.
The deluge plate is more efficient than a flame trench
That whole OLM design looks like a maintenance nightmare to me. They will never be able to quickly catch & relaunch a Booster & Ship without having to constantly putting up & taking down scaffolding to repair after every launch.
That's because the current version is a prototype. Future version will be water-cooled as well
That’s why it will be interesting to see what changes/updates are made to the tower 2 et al system reflecting lessons learned from tower one. And then when they start trying to catch things, what THOSE lessons learned end up being reflected in the two (or more) that will be in Florida.
99% of what is shown here has got nothing to do with 'chopsticks upgrade!
How did two people view this 23minute video, and its only been 1 minute?
Views probably count for anyone that just clicks on the video?
Possibly be that other NSF team, mods, or highest tier members get early access to catch mistakes before the video is released.
After viewing for 30 seconds, it is counted as a view ...
Chopstick are to slow to catch a rocket Elon Musk got to have a better idea
Seeing duck tape used on that tiles doesn’t give me real confidence in them. I know SpaceX loves first principles engineering, that seems too basic!?
Assuming it’s actually duct tape and not a purpose-made tape (like airplane speed tape), why is it a problem? What should the use instead that’s actually better?
The tape is temporary, it'll be used to keep the tiles in place while the glue cures.
Tape to hold tiles in place while adhesive sets.
Just like attaching a screen protector to your phone. Normally you would use some little pieces of tape to place it correctly first, and then attach it.
Gorilla glue
Duct tape, really ?
Works just fine to keep things in place temporarily.
Well actually can a person - Speak In correct english, TALK ABOUT what is happening please, because my children wish to know - Or could not SPACEX give a crap....
Hey David... we release weekly "Starbase Updates" where we verbally explain what's going on at Starbase... and we also release weekly "This Week In Spaceflight" videos which discuss worldwide space news. You can find both here on our channel. - Das
chopsticks are slow, timelapsed footage show apparent capability for chopsticks to hold booster or ship... but... it takes'em 10 minutes or more ... mmmmm