Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico
by jiggawatts on Thursday June 06, 2024 @06:32PM
(#40603127)
Sapphire optical windows are cheaper than you think, but in this case the problem seemed to be that the lens was splashed by molten metal that then solidified.
Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico
by avmich on Thursday June 06, 2024 @07:09PM
(#40603495)
This could be solved by replacing the protection (I think solutions like that are rather common, mechanically move the flat transparent screen) or by just switching to another camera.
Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico
by DiggyJohnson on Friday June 07, 2024 @01:22PM
(#40610752)
Are you actually familiar with how reentry causes deposition from a melting fin onto the lens of a camera.
I'm genuinely shocked by how you are wording your comments, but that may just be your writing style. Anything of the form of "could be solved..." it kind of ridiculous because the circumstances just happened for the first time yesterday. This isn't like the motorsports cameras that spin the lens or transparent protection 360 degrees to wipe off buildup.
Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico
by avmich on Friday June 07, 2024 @02:16PM
(#40611342)
> but that may just be your writing style
No, that's more like an unfortunate choice of wording :( . Sorry.
Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico
by DiggyJohnson on Saturday June 08, 2024 @07:39PM
(#40620881)
Aha all good my friend. Sorry to jump on that.
Having said that, cameras today can be really small. Not a big box. Lenses or their protectors can be rather, well, protective (I'm thinking about moissanite here, but may be better solutions are possible). And I didn't see lots of cameras when Starship was going through atmosphere back - how many did you see? Yes, flap melted - but if, say, the ship had cameras all over (figuratively), you could switch to the one which works at the moment.
All of that and more should be, and I'm sure is, rather obvious to SpaceX guys, just like some reasons why some of this can't or shouldn't be done - they are the professionals here most intricately familiar with the hardware and the landing conditions. We'll see how they choose to move forward soon.