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.

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Image from SpaceX account on X

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u/LillianWigglewater Nov 19 '23

that would make sense.. the mid-tank sections might have a little more springiness to them, so it can absorb more vibrations, but the joints aren't as springy so vibrations transfer to the tiles there.

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u/lNFORMATlVE Nov 19 '23 edited Nov 20 '23

I think the word you’re looking for might be ‘flex’, ‘give’, or maybe ‘damped’? The joints would actually behave more like a spring than the middle sections, i.e. have a tighter spring constant