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Booster stacked! Story at Techcrunch, and everywhere else.
SpaceX has achieved another major milestone in its Starship fully reusable launch system: It stacked the Starship spacecraft itself on top of a prototype of its Super Heavy booster, which itself is loaded up with a full complement of 29 Raptor rocket engines, and the Starship on top has six itself. The stacked spacecraft now represents the tallest assembled rocket ever developed in history.
This stacking, which happened at SpaceX's development site in south Texas, is a significant development because it's the first time the two elements of the full Starship system have been united as one. This is the configuration that will be used for launching the next Starship prototype on its test mission that will hopefully achieve orbit.
Taken together, the massive combined launch system reaches nearly 400 feet [122 meters] tall (around 390 feet [118 meters], to be more precise), and combined with the orbital launch stand on which it rests, the whole thing is about 475 feet [147 meters] high, which is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza[*].
The stacking itself is impressive, but don't expect it to last: The likely next step is for the two halves of the launch system to be separated again, with both undergoing more work, analysis and testing ahead of a reassembly in preparation for the actual eventual orbital launch test.
[*] Great Pyramid of Giza on Wikipedia.
Enjoy it while it lasts!
[Ed. note: too late, but all is not lost. Here is a 10m28s YouTube video of the stacking and unstacking of "Ship 20" onto "Booster 4" as well as its return trip over Highway 4 from the launch site to the High Bay on the build site! NB: You'll probably want to fast-forward through the first minute or so.]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @03:08PM (15 children)
WTF height reference is that? Who the hell knows how tall Giza is?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @03:22PM
I heard that Giza is somewhere between 118 and 147 meters high.
(Score: 4, Funny) by sgleysti on Sunday August 08 2021, @03:33PM (4 children)
It's relevant because of the recent very rigorous peer reviewed finding vetted by interdisciplinary teams from leading universities and scientific institutions across the world that the Great Pyramid of Giza is actually an ancient alien spaceship. So, basically, we just one-upped the aliens. Take that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @03:52PM
You forgot about the other part of Giza, the rest of the alien spaceship is buried in the desert--hard landings and all that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @03:53PM
You're thinking of the Great Pyramid of Geezers.
(Score: 4, Touché) by looorg on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:00PM
Only about 4000 years later (+- a few hundred (or thousand) years or so and also depending on how old the alien craft was when they crashed it into our planet). So it's not exactly a snappy burn we delivered then and there.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday August 09 2021, @03:59PM
It's not a spacecraft, it's a landing structure for the Ha'tak motherships. https://www.gateworld.net/wiki/Ha%27tak [gateworld.net]
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @04:02PM (1 child)
How else will our low level of intelligence ever begin to understand units of measurement, if they are not expressed by the number of Olympic-size swimming pools, Football Fields, Microfortnights, or Giza Pyramids?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement [wikipedia.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @07:18PM
Indeed, why compare it to something like a football pitch what most of the world knows and can relate to? Clearly it is more "intellectual" to compare it to some structure that 0.01% of the world has seen in person, and even then standing from a distance?
You are a special kind of dumbfuck.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @04:18PM
> WTF height reference is that? Who the hell knows how tall Giza is?
Calm down. 147 meters is the length of 1.3 football fields for our American readers, as tall as a stack of 4787 hockey pucks in Canadian units, and 0.147 kilometers for the more sane remainder of the world.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Opportunist on Sunday August 08 2021, @05:00PM (2 children)
The better question, and I mean for the whole article, is "who the fuck cares?".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @09:20PM (1 child)
Elon and his skanky girlfriend.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @10:22PM
Seems a bit harsh for a body pillow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @07:22PM
Would you rather have it in "Library Of Congress"es?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday August 08 2021, @08:00PM
2/3 as tall as the St. Louis Arch.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 0, Redundant) by aristarchus on Monday August 09 2021, @12:36AM
Thales the Milesian [utm.edu] figured out how tall the pyramids of Giza were, using his own body as a gnomon, and comparing the lengths of his and the pyramid's shadows. I am sure you could do the same. On a computer, using the internet.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Opportunist on Sunday August 08 2021, @05:03PM (9 children)
Why the hell is this relevant? Launch the damn thing and report the result, do we now get to hear a story about every screw that gets attached to the toy?
Even for the moon shot they didn't announce every time they put two stages on top of each other like it's a national event. And that at least was a national event.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Sunday August 08 2021, @05:17PM (6 children)
I have a hard time believing that the first roll-out of a fully assembled Saturn wasn't newsworthy at the time.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @05:59PM (5 children)
Everything about the Saturn V was newsworthy as it was being constructed. The world never saw anything like it before, and it still remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket built, and the most powerful machine ever made. 60 years later, after 13 Saturn V launches, over a hundred Space Shuttle launches, thousands of commercial and military rocket lauches, and Space X rockets landing vertically on land and at sea, watching another rocket being assembled is a bit bland. Interesting, but bland.
I'm sure the first Saturn V rollout didn't include 8 minutes of what looks like men painting the Starship as it's held in place and suspended by a Fagioli crane.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:05PM
**oops....meant to say Saturn V is still the tallest rocket launched.
Space X HL is taller than Saturn V by a quite a few smidgens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:24PM (2 children)
A Saturn V hasn't launched in over 48 years. Most people on the internet haven't even been alive that long. I'm no youngster, but I'm not old enough to have seen a live Saturn V launch. I haven't even seen a real life Saturn V on display to marvel at the size.
As of now, the Saturn V isn't the "tallest, heaviest andmost powerful rocket ever built". Well, maybe Saturn V is still the heaviest, I don't know the specs there.
So as far as the world is concerned, this IS the biggest rocket event of our lifetime. Period. It deserves a full two hour long special on everything that goes into it. There should be a national holiday just to watch it launch for the first time. Or explode as the case may be.
Yes, it's a big deal. Stop pretending this is just another Sunday in the park. You can do that when it passes 13 launches.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Sunday August 08 2021, @09:44PM (1 child)
I have seen a Saturn V on display at KSC, and it's well worth it. I never got to witness a launch, but I got to witness the landing of a Space Shuttle that day and it was unforgettable even though the final touchdown was blocked by trees. If you're ever in Florida, definitely set aside some time for the visitor's center even if nothing is happening.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 09 2021, @03:35AM
Ha, NFW I'm heading to that cesspool until there is some sign of competence down there, and that probably won't be for a long time.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Sunday August 08 2021, @07:07PM
Never going to get men to live in colonies on Mars or outer space, mind you, but still history.
See - that's how you curmudgeon properly.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 5, Informative) by richtopia on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:23PM
This is not a national event. It is reported on Techcrunch and here on SoylentNews. I am bad at researching old industry journals but I suspect the assembly of the Saturn V was reported in the industry magazines.
The difference today is we can process & distribute video content much easier than during the 60's. However, NASA did film and archive the stacking of the Saturn V, now available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96A4lHTdZCo [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by mcgrew on Sunday August 08 2021, @08:03PM
If you don't like what's submitted, submit something better instead of whining about what's posted.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 3, Interesting) by istartedi on Sunday August 08 2021, @05:15PM (5 children)
Since few Americans have visited Egypt, much less developed a sense of scale for the pyramids, a comparison with the Washington Monument [quora.com] (scroll down a bit) is more helpful. As an added bonus, the monument is much more rocket-shaped than the pyramid. Although the image in the link doesn't show the SpaceX vehicle, it's got a 400 foot line so you should get some idea.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:20PM (1 child)
It's as long as a football field with an extra end zone! There, a length everyone can visualize in their mind.
Or if you are Canadian, it's the length of two NHL hockey rinks, or a bit longer than the length of two and a half curling sheets. :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @06:27PM
Two NHL hockey rinks eh? Whew! That's big eh?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @07:19PM (2 children)
Who the hell cares about American sense of scale?
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Sunday August 08 2021, @09:38PM (1 child)
I'm willing to wager more than half of the users here are from the USA.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @10:24PM
Yeah, we drove off the others, murrican colonialism and all that. Messy business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 08 2021, @07:39PM (2 children)
What crane is it and who else even needs a crane like that to justify making them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 09 2021, @11:59AM
not the tallest by any measure:
https://www.lectura-specs.com/en/pages/world-top10-tallest-land-based-cranes [lectura-specs.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 09 2021, @11:26PM
The SpaceX Frankencrane is a Liebherr 11350 [liebherr.com]. It is rated to lift 1350 metric tonnes up to 220m high and isn't the largest crawler crane Liebherr makes. Their largest (LR13000) is rated at up to 3000 tonnes.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 09 2021, @12:22AM
How SpaceX Designed A Heat Shield For The Largest Spacecraft Ever Built [youtube.com] (17m59s)
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 09 2021, @12:53AM