Hello Ashley, this is my first comment on this site and apologize if I am not following the correct protocol. I am a great admirer of Elon Musk and his endeavors but in my opinion there is a huge weakness in one aspect of his rocket starship development.
The manner with the way the protective reentry tiles are been applied to the starship is in my way archaic and cumbersome to the extent that it almost mirrors the shuttle predicament.
Surely there must a better method and automated way of doing this simply by spraying the protective layer with a number of coats all controlled by computer technology and various spraying components giving the correct type of element, curing methodology and necessary protective thickness.
After seeing what this company does with steel components, engines and computer controls surely there has to be a better, quicker and automated process involved?
Hi Adrian, you're definitely not alone in waiting for your Starlink kit :/ According to the site FAQ (https://www.starlink.com/faq), you'll receive an email for shipment once coverage is available in your area. Hopefully that happens in August!
Hello Ashley, this is my first comment on this site and apologize if I am not following the correct protocol. I am a great admirer of Elon Musk and his endeavors but in my opinion there is a huge weakness in one aspect of his rocket starship development.
The manner with the way the protective reentry tiles are been applied to the starship is in my way archaic and cumbersome to the extent that it almost mirrors the shuttle predicament.
Surely there must a better method and automated way of doing this simply by spraying the protective layer with a number of coats all controlled by computer technology and various spraying components giving the correct type of element, curing methodology and necessary protective thickness.
After seeing what this company does with steel components, engines and computer controls surely there has to be a better, quicker and automated process involved?
Roberto
Hi Robert, thanks so much for your comment and question! Admittedly, I don't know much about rocket design, so this question would be better left to an expert, possibly in a future Musk Reads+ issue. But here is an in-depth look at Starship's heat tiles, https://www.inverse.com/article/54131-spacex-elon-musk-s-starship-hex-tiles-take-on-the-heat
And in 2020, SpaceX installed the tiles with robot arms: https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-heat-shield-prototype-robots/
So it does seem like SpaceX is hoping to automate the process :) Hope that helps!
Nice to see some good news about Star Link, but most importantly, when can we expect to see a distribution of units to non-beta customers.
Hi Adrian, you're definitely not alone in waiting for your Starlink kit :/ According to the site FAQ (https://www.starlink.com/faq), you'll receive an email for shipment once coverage is available in your area. Hopefully that happens in August!