Artemis launch

[BravoXray]

Did you know that some of the SRB segments were made in the '80s for the shuttle program, and the main engines were all used on shuttles at one time or another.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep. I read that over the years.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[riptides]

News is coming out that the launch pad is badly damaged from the lift off. Badly damaged.

NASA Launch Pad Sustained Significant Damage During Artemis Takeoff

It appears that NASA's Artemis 1 rocket launchpad caught way more damage than expected when it finally took off from Kennedy Space Center last week.

futurism.com

 

[ruffdog]

The photographers that were picking up their equipment were being told "no pictures of the launch tower".

 

[BravoXray]

News is coming out that the launch pad is badly damaged from the lift off. Badly damaged.

NASA Launch Pad Sustained Significant Damage During Artemis Takeoff

It appears that NASA's Artemis 1 rocket launchpad caught way more damage than expected when it finally took off from Kennedy Space Center last week.

futurism.com

I guess when 8.8 million pounds of thrust lift 5.5 million pounds of rocket, it gets pretty windy on the launch pad.

 

[ArlyA]

Gee, I didn't know there was a thread about this mission. Makes me proud to be an American, and we are still exploring.

 

[sd455dan]

I guess when 8.8 million pounds of thrust lift 5.5 million pounds of rocket, it gets pretty windy on the launch pad.

It is really going to be something when Starship is launched with ~ 16.7 million lbf of thrust

 

[BravoXray]

It is really going to be something when Starship is launched with ~ 16.7 million lbf of thrust

They are already having problems at the launch pad for the Starship. When they did a test fire of 14 engines a week or so ago, there were clearly pieces of concrete being blown about. I think there was a statement issued about some damage to the pad, but they didn't elaborate. I can't imagine what will happen when all 33 engines on the booster are ignited.
At the Cape, they had preoblems with concrete erosion in the flame trenches during the shuttle lauunches, and they, not sure who, developed a special concrete formulation to stand up to the intense heat and pressures of the launches. It will erode instead of spalling off in bug chunks. I think SpaceX had the same problem with the initial Starship launches, and at least one of the Starships was damaged by flying debris from the launch pad.

 

[BravoXray]

Pictures of damage to the mobile launcher from the Artemis launch.

 

[MossRoad]

Pictures of damage to the mobile launcher from the Artemis launch.

Makes you wonder if that was expected or not.

Watching rockets take off, you wonder how anything underneath them could stand up to the temps and pressures.

 

[ruffdog]

Makes you wonder if that was expected or not.

Watching rockets take off, you wonder how anything underneath them could stand up to the temps and pressures.

They flood that entire area with a huge amount of water during take-off to help protect it.

 

[MossRoad]

They flood that entire area with a huge amount of water during take-off to help protect it.

Yep. And it still got damaged. So I still wonder if they expected that kind of damage or not?

 

[BravoXray]

This picture is the support that the SRB rests on before launch. I would think that being exposed to the intense exhaust blast and heat, that they would be considered a consumable item. The circled items are cameras which seem to have survived intact.

 

[MossRoad]

Fascinating....