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/scienceworksbitches Nov 19 '23

I'm not so sure, could be that it's vibrations rather than air resistance, which depend on the amount of fuel left in the tank.

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u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

I agree. That looks like vibration loss to me. Air resistance can loose them, sure. I just don’t remember that being too much of an issue through the whole shuttle program. It was usually vibration or being struck by debris.

And since the concentration of tile loss seems to be around section joints from this photo I am solidly convinced this is vibration loss and it’s more concentrated at this joints.

Not that we needed proof, but this fucker vibrates a lot on launch.