SpaceX’s Starship-In-Testing Had Its Tiles Fly Off During Trial
Image via SpaceX
During testing of its cold gas maneuvering thrusters on Monday, SpaceX’s latest orbital Starship had some of its heat shield tiles fly off from the spacecraft’s exterior.
These tiles are meant to protect the vehicle from extremely high temperatures when it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere during its return voyage.
Plus, the Starship’s design means that upon its descent, it does somewhat of a belly flop in order to slow it down, meaning that the tiles have to span the majority of its side to fully protect it.
The prototype, S20, shed around a dozen tiles before the last remaining workers had cleared the area, according to a report by Teslarati. Given the size of them, each measuring up to about the same as a dinner plate, and the speed at which they were thrown off, it’s definitely not part of health and safety protocol.
When a Twitter user shared a GIF of the situation unfolding online, founder and CEO Elon Musk responded with a confirmation.
Headed tank vent knocked off a few tiles
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2021
He has also said previously that each tile is secured onto the Starship’s exterior with steel studs for insulation. However, it’s unclear why the tiles launched themselves off during testing.
It’s suspected that pressure was the culprit as this occurred around the same time as the company started to pressurize the rocket.
Teslarati notes that it should’ve been “universally expected” that the S20 lost some of its tiles due to its size. The thermal contraction of steel at extremely low temperatures and the expansion as it warms up would’ve been enough to change the diameter of the rocket by around a full inch.
This, in turn, would’ve shifted the tiles and possibly caused them to rub against each other. The fact that they were made with a fragile material—ceramic—probably didn’t help either.
Back to the drawing board?
Don't want that kind of thing when it's flying.... pic.twitter.com/nPGbcCvkw5
— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) September 28, 2021
[via Futurism, image via SpaceX]
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