Author Topic: “You must exit your home”: SpaceX launch is bad news for locals  (Read 605 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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Quartz By Daniel Wolfe 8/25/2019

Ahead of SpaceX’s experimental rocket launch Monday (Aug. 26), police warned nearby residents to leave their homes around launch time because the windows could shatter, according to the Brownsville Herald.

Those residents live in tiny Boca Chica Village, Texas, which sits less than 2 miles (3 km) from a SpaceX-operated launch site near the US-Mexico border along the Gulf Coast. SpaceX’s test of the so-called “Starhopper”—a prototype of a reusable shuttle meant for human transit—may well create an “overpressure event” capable of breaking glass in buildings nearby. The police-delivered warnings advise residents to, at a minimum, exit their homes when they hear police sirens around the 4pm launch window.

More: https://qz.com/1694822/spacex-starhopper-launch-prompts-blast-warnings-from-local-police/

Offline thackney

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As of 2008, only six people were permanent residents of the village,[6] and that number was down to four people in two homes by 2017, with an average of approximately 12 seasonal residents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boca_Chica_Village,_Texas
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Offline Elderberry

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As of 2008, only six people were permanent residents of the village,[6] and that number was down to four people in two homes by 2017, with an average of approximately 12 seasonal residents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boca_Chica_Village,_Texas


Offline Elderberry

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https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/spacex-may-try-to-hop-its-starship-prototype-higher-on-monday/

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7:45pm ET Monday Update: Shortly after 7pm ET (23:00 UTC) SpaceX began counting down to the 100-meter hop test for its Starhopper vehicle. And while there were some definitely rocket-like noises at T-0, the Raptor engine did not ignite. There may have been a problem with the igniters, as Musk noted on Twitter shortly after the test, "Raptor uses dual redundant torch igniters. Better long-term, but more finicky in development." The next launch attempt will occur no earlier than Tuesday.

Although SpaceX does not anticipate losing the Starhopper vehicle, which measures 20 meters tall, this will be the vehicle's last flight. This fall, the company hopes to begin flying suborbital tests of larger Starship prototypes that have similar dimensions to the actual vehicle that will launch into space.

After the 150-meter Starhopper test, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said he will provide an update on the development of Starship during a presentation in Boca Chica. He has not set a firm date for the presentation but has said it probably will occur in mid-September.

In recent months, separate teams of SpaceX engineers in Boca Chica, as well as Cocoa, Florida, have been working on their full-sized prototypes—Starship Mk 1 and Mk 2 respectively. These vehicles will fly, initially at least, with a complement of three Raptor engines. The full-scale Starship, which will launch into space on a rocket called "Super Heavy," is planned to have six engines; it will be capable of landing on and taking off of distant worlds, including the Moon and Mars.

More at link.

Offline Elderberry

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SpaceX's Mars rocket prototype rattles nearby residents in Texas flight test

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/spacexs-mars-rocket-prototype-rattles-nearby-residents-in-texas-flight-test-530295

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SpaceX test-launched an early prototype of the company's Mars rocket on Tuesday, unnerving residents near the Texas site and clearing another key hurdle in billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's interplanetary ambitions.

About a dozen residents in the adjacent village of Boca Chica, just over a mile from the test site, had been urged three days in advance by local authorities to vacate their homes in case of a possible "overpressure event" that could shatter windows and endanger anyone indoors in the event of an explosive malfunction.

"If it wasn't right in my backyard I'd probably be fine with it," said Cheryl Stevens, who plans to retire in Boca Chica, in an interview. "It almost looked like a cartoon or something. ... After all the buildup, it was kind of nice to actually see it happen."

Maria Pointer, another resident, set up cameras and invited photographers to her home. She said excitement surrounding the launch reminded her of "feeling like you're going on a Ferris wheel."


Offline thackney

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One report refered to a "possible unscheduled overpressure event'.

I take that to mean "it might blow up".
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Offline Elderberry

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One report refered to a "possible unscheduled overpressure event'.

I take that to mean "it might blow up".

More likely it was a warning for a larger than expected IOP (Ignition over pressure):

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Liquid and solid rocket motor propulsion systems create an overpressure wave during ignition, caused by the accelerating gas particles pushing against or displacing the air contained in the launch pad or launch facility and by the afterburning of the fuel-rich gases. This wave behaves as a blast or shock wave characterized by a positive triangular-shaped first pulse and a negative half-sine wave second pulse.

Though rockets do blow up occasionally. Years ago we had a new hire that had worked in Range Safety on the early days of the Atlas/Centaur. They were blowing up launch after launch and they couldn't find a cause. Until they mounted lots of cameras inside the vehicle. On the next launch the videos showed several loose objects bouncing around. Dropped and lost tools?, nuts?, coke cans?, lunch wrappers?, who knows what was left by those rocket builders. After that the Atlas/Centaur became the most reliable rocket we've ever had.