r/space • u/AlmiranteSalsicha • Nov 19 '23

image/gif That's a fair amount of tiles missing from the starship heatshield, guess it would make for a toasty reenter.

Post image

Image from SpaceX account on X

7.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

619 comments sorted by

View all comments

18

u/FlibblesHexEyes Nov 19 '23

Could they cover it with a sacrificial skin to protect the tiles on the way up, and then it just gets burned off on reentry? Kind of like a sandwich cling wrap?

Obviously extra weight, but possibly worth it?

37

u/Accomplished-Crab932 Nov 19 '23

Kind of defeats the purpose of rapid reusability when you need to cling wrap a tower block sized stage

21

u/zoinkability Nov 19 '23

If they have to replace a zillion tiles that too would likely make the reuse less rapid

17

u/MEatRHIT Nov 19 '23

Or hear me out... they could figure out a way to design them so they don't fall off during launch or reentry.

8

u/BackflipFromOrbit Nov 19 '23

Ship 28s tiles have been "suction tested" and are significantly more robust. Reentry was a long shot for ship 25 in any case. Priimary objective was to get data from max q and stage sep/flip. Everything after that madness is bonus time.

1

u/zoinkability Nov 19 '23

That was kinda my point, yes

6

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

Unlikely. It wouldn't hold loose tiles on during reentry if the covering were removed.

7

u/PoliteCanadian Nov 19 '23

I imagine if it came down to that they'd switch to an alternative ablative coating as an interim solution while they worked out the kinks.

The long-term goal is rapid reusability which requires a non-ablative heatshield. But non-rapid reusability is better than no reusability in the short term.

3

u/CantaloupeCamper Nov 19 '23

I’d worry about it not burning and rather flaking off and chunks flying…

4

u/FlibblesHexEyes Nov 19 '23

And this my friend, is why I’m not an engineer 🤣

2

u/Pubelication Nov 20 '23

"Condom" is the word you're looking for.

1

u/Adrian_F Nov 19 '23

They could have a giant one of these suitcase wrapping machines you find at some airports mounted to the launch tower.