On August 7, 2021, a well-known space communicator, Everyday Astronaut released the second video of his interview with Elon Musk. The interview included an extensive tour of the SpaceX Starbase. Current developments like Starship SN20 and Super Heavy Booster can be seen in the video.
Everyday Astronaut’s videos on elaborate rocket science and spaceflight history have caught the attention of many. Besides Elon Musk, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine also recognized his videos. After his interview in 2020, this year the space enthusiast interview Elon Musk again. The video shared by him includes an exclusive look at the SpaceX Starbase facility.
The part one of the interview was released on August 3, which got 1.8 million views in less than four days. Where Musk showed off his 230-feet Starship Super Heavy rocket in the first 50- minute video clip. Musk said in the video, “The fundamental thing we need to fix is the cost per ton to orbit,”
Take a tour of @SpaceX's Starbase factory with the ultimate tour guide, @elonmusk! It was INCREDIBLE to pick his brain for over 2 hours while walking around checking out Starship hardware! He even made some design decisions IN REAL TIME! Enjoy part 1 of 3! https://t.co/mMIeUjUd3P
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) August 3, 2021
Also, some issues the company is dealing with are explained in the video. Like grid fins, avionics and batteries are too heavy for the rocket. These are the grid fins that are used in Tesla cars. Musk said, “Everyone’s wrong. No matter who you are, everyone is wrong some of the time. All designs are wrong, it’s just a matter of how wrong.”
Part 2 of the tour
The second part involved talking about manufacturing, design, and Musk’s engineering philosophy. Musk’s well-known statement related to the importance of manufacturing is again stated in the video as, “manufacturing is underrated and design is overrated; developing a production system is 10-100 times harder than designing the product.”
PART II of my tour of Starbase with the ultimate tour guide, @elonmusk! We go inside the 3 tents, see the forest of Raptors, the nose cones, thrust pucks, heat shields, talk about the catching arms & orbital mission, the space shuttle & lots more! ENJOY! https://t.co/2seT94F2M5
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) August 7, 2021
While the design of the Starship was easy, reducing the cost-per-tonne of thrust below $1,000 was the difficult part. The other topic they talked about was the design of Super Heavy. The dry mass of the Super Heavy Booster is to be under 200 tonnes. Where the engines are less than 2 tonnes, liquid oxygen and fuel tank around 80 tonnes, and a 20 tonnes interstage. It is noted that the current design is mass inefficient and needs to cut each grid to half the current mass.
Furthermore, the video showed dozens of Raptor engines installed to Super Heavy. Musk mentioned that the Raptor engine which will be used later will be very different from the one they are currently seeing. Additionally, they also talk about improved spaceflight safety for NASA’s Space Shuttle.
SpaceX’s first Starship orbital flight may or may not recover, their main focus is to get the rocket to orbit without blowing up. Musk said, “To be totally frank if it takes off without blowing off the stand, Stage Zero, which is much harder to replace than the booster – that will be a victory. So, ‘please do not blow up on the stand,’
