Showing posts with label SpaceX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SpaceX. Show all posts

Friday, September 6, 2019

Speculative internal structure of SpaceX Starship by William Falconer-Beach

William Falconer-Beach, a young graphic designer from New Zealand, has made several renders with possible internal structure of SpaceX's Starship. More of his Starship renders here.

Note this is only a speculation by artist. Hopefully we will see some information about Starship's internal layout in Elon Musk's presentation on September 28.

Internal structure of SpaceX Starship by William Falconer-Beach - full
Starship's crew section:
Internal structure of SpaceX Starship by William Falconer-Beach - crew section

Thursday, September 5, 2019

B&W SpaceX Starship renders by Brandon Bolleber

Three black & white SpaceX's Starship renders by American motion & 3D graphics designer Brandon Bolleber. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship render by Brandon Bolleber

SpaceX Starship render by Brandon Bolleber

SpaceX Starship render by Brandon Bolleber

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Candidate sites for SpaceX Starship Mars landings revealed

[on September 2 info & map updated with additional two possible landing sites]

Robert Zimmerman from BehindTheBlack.com has found several images labelled as "Candidate Landing Site for SpaceX Starship [..]" in the latest data release from University of Arizona's HiRISE camera (aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). It means that with help from NASA SpaceX is already quietly evaluating the best place where to land first Starships on Mars. Here are direct links to HiRISE image of: Site 1, Site 2, Site 3, Site 4, Site 5 (in Arcadia Planitia) & Site 6 (in Phlegra Montes).

For several years it hasn't been a secret SpaceX is considering four Martian regions for landings: Deuteronilus Mensae, Phlegra Montes, Utopia Planitia and southern Arcadia Planitia. But even in 2017 southern Arcadia Planitia looked "more promising", according to Paul Wooster, Principal Mars Development Engineer at SpaceX. So by now SpaceX may very well be down to evaluating more precise landing sites in that region.

All the candidate landing sites (except #6 in Phlegra Montes) are located on the border between Amazonis Planitia and Arcadia Planitia. According to latest data, Arcadia Planitia is one of the few regions where abundant shallow ice is present at relatively low latitudes. There is strong evidence that this location holds buried ice glaciers. So it has two critical elements looked by SpaceX for its Mars Base Alpha: solar energy and water. Those are critical not only for life support but also for refueling Starships. It's also in low altitude meaning a bit higher air pressure than in higher areas on Mars; that is beneficial for radiation protection and creates more atmospheric drag during the landing.

We made a map of all of the candidate sites:
Potential sites for SpaceX Starship Mars landings
Mars heightmap & potential site 6 for SpaceX Starship Mars landing in Phlegra Montes

Sunday, August 25, 2019

SpaceX Starship visiting Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway by Colin Doublier

Picture of the Day 25/8/2019 - Sketch of SpaceX's Starship visiting NASA's future Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway by French urban artist Colin Doublier. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship visiting Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway by Colin Doublier

Friday, August 23, 2019

Speculations on SpaceX's Starship new fin configuration

Seeing most recent hardware delivered at SpaceX's Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas, where the Starship Mk 1 prototype is being built, Reddit user u/ModeHopper has done some pretty impressive pixel-counting & calculations, speculating that the new hardware is Starship's rear fin or its part. And William Falconer-Beach has already made some renders with several possible configurations of the new fins. More of his Starship renders here.

Speculation on SpaceX Starship new fin configuration

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Speculative internal layout of SpaceX Starship by Michel Lamontagne

In the result of a discussion on NASASpaceFlight.com forum about possible internal layout of SpaceX's first crewed Starship bound for Mars Canadian design engineer Michel Lamontagne (on the forum known as lamontagne) has came up with graphics of his version for Starship's possible internal layout. More of his spaceship renderings here.

Speculative interior schematics of SpaceX Starship by Michel Lamontagne
Observation / galley deck:
Speculative interior graphics of SpaceX Starship observation deck by Michel Lamontagne

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Cutaway diagram of SpaceX Starship

SpaceX Starship cutaway diagram
Unofficial cutaway diagram (in German, look for text translation in English here) of SpaceX's Starship by German illustrator Julian Schindler. More of his art here. Starship & Super Heavy is a fully reusable two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle and spacecraft currently developed by leading NewSpace company SpaceX. On August 24 mid-September SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk will make a presentation of the current status of Starship development.

SpaceX Starship cutaway diagram by Julian Schindler

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

SpaceX stainless steel Starship prototype by Owen Egan

Concept render of SpaceX's stainless steel Starship prototype by British graphic designer Owen Egan (known on NASASpaceFlight.com forum as "tea monster"). More of his art here.

SpaceX has already built the first prototype Starship test vehicle (Starhopper) without any nose cone at its Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas, mated it with a single Raptor engine and conducted several hop test. Starhopper lifted up for about 20 meters in the last test. Simultaneously SpaceX is already building two next generation test vehicles – Starship Mk 1 in Boca Chica and Starship Mk 2 in Cocoa, Florida. Mk 1 will fly up to an altitude of 20 kilometers in a few months.

SpaceX stainless steel Starship prototype by Owen Egan

Friday, July 26, 2019

Next phase of SpaceX Starship test program - sketch by Colin Doublier

Last night SpaceX's Starship test vehicle - the Starhopper - performed its first untethered hop about 20m high. In 2 weeks Starhopper will perform a much higher hop of about 200m, but in a few months the Starship test program will move to the next phase - flights as high as 20 km. For it SpaceX is already simultaneously building two Starship prototypes in Boca Chica, Texas and Cocoa, Florida - Starship Mk 1 & Starship Mk 2 respectively. Those prototypes initially will have three Raptor engines (Starhopper has only one).

Here is a sketch of Starship Mk 1 lifting up by French urban artist Colin Doublier. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship Mk 1 lifting up - sketch by Colin Doublier

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Saturday, July 20, 2019

60 year challenge for humanity: 1969 - Moon, 2029 - Mars

Today 50 years ago first humans - 2 out of 3 Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin - landed on the Moon. But since then the advancement of human space exploration has been slow. It changed only in recent years with the rise of private space companies, especially SpaceX with its determined focus on rocket reusability and colonization of Mars. Now we have a real chance to land first humans on Mars as soon as 10 years from now, maybe even sooner.

60 year challenge for humanity: 1969 - Moon, 2029 - Mars

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

HD quality official renders of SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha and on the Moon

In April Elon Musk on his Twitter profile teased two new renders with SpaceX's Starship on the Moon and at Mars Base Alpha. Unfortunately those were low resolution images. Now we have a HD resolution versions (press Open link in new tab to view) of those renders from SpaceX's Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster's presentation at Humans to Mars summit 2019 organized by Explore Mars.

SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha HD

SpaceX Starship on the Moon HD

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Saturn V and SpaceX Starship at launch pad by Gravitation Innovation

Today 50 years ago the most powerful rocket ever built - Saturn V - launched first astronauts to set foot on the Moon. But right now the leading NewSpace company SpaceX is building even more powerful rocket for Mars - Starship & Super Heavy. SpaceX is hoping it to be operational in 2021.

Here is a poster by Gravitation Innovation with Saturn V and SpaceX Starship at launch pad. Note the Starship is at front so it appears a lot bigger than Saturn V at back. In reality the difference in height is minimal with Saturn V being 111 m high and Starship & Super Heavy at 118 m by current design which is subject to change.

Saturn V and SpaceX Starship at launch pad by Gravitation Innovation

Monday, June 3, 2019

SpaceX Starship at Moon Base Alpha by Sam Taylor

Picture of the Day 3/6/2019 - Poster of a dozen starmen (with white&black suits) & starwomen (with white&pink suits) working around SpaceX's Starship at Moon Base Alpha by digital artist Sam Taylor. More of his art here.

Poster of SpaceX Starship at Moon Base Alpha by Sam Taylor

Friday, May 31, 2019

New engine bay of SpaceX Starship by Kimi Talvitie

Finnish 3D artist Kimi Talvitie has made a model of possible new configuration of SpaceX's Starship engine bay with 3 vacuum optimized Raptors and 3 sea level optimized Raptors (news recently revealed by Elon Musk). More of Kimi's art on his Twitter account.

Possible new configuration of SpaceX Starship engine bay with 3 vacuum optimized Raptors and 3 sea level optimized Raptors by Kimi Talvitie

Sunday, May 19, 2019

SpaceX Super Heavy Starship with additional two side boosters

SpaceX's Super Heavy Starship version with additional two side boosters (a configuration like that of Falcon Heavy). This was put together by Reddit user LargeMonty from the Starship renders by Finnish 3D artist Kimi Talvitie.

SpaceX Super Heavy Starship version with additional two side boosters

Saturday, May 11, 2019

SpaceX Super Heavy cargo Starship by Mack Crawford

Picture of the Day 11/5/2019 - Launch of SpaceX's full stack cargo Starship & Super Heavy by digital artist Mack Crawford (brickmack). More of his space concept art here.

SpaceX Super Heavy cargo Starship by Mack Crawford (brickmack)

Monday, May 6, 2019

Shiny SpaceX Starship renders by Sam Taylor

Digital artist Sam Taylor has created a pair of shiny render images of SpaceX's stainless steel Starship in space. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship by Sam Taylor - front

SpaceX Starship by Sam Taylor - rear