150 Meter Starhopper Test
Why Space Exploration Stack Exchange recommends it
Space Stack Exchange users link it as primary footage when asking or answering questions about what Starhopper's Raptor, landing legs, plume and roll actually did during the flight.
Recommended by 0 people across 0 different months, 2019 to 2020.
What it is
A 2m38s official SpaceX clip of the Starhopper prototype's 27 August 2019 test flight at Boca Chica, Texas. The stainless steel vehicle lifts off on a single Raptor engine, climbs to about 150 meters, moves sideways and lands on its three legs.
Cited in 1 Wikipedia article, including List of Starship upper stage flight tests.
What people said
Cites Camille Goudeseune · 2019-08 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Why did Starhopper's exhaust plume become brighter just before landing?”
In 2019 Aug 27's test flight, during the final 8 seconds before landing [this video] (T+00:45), Starhopper's plume was suddenly much brighter. Why? The Raptor's thrust can't have changed much then, because Starhopper's speed and trajectory hardly changed. A different fuel mix? (Again, why bother?) The glow starts about when the visible plume touches the landing pad, which had already started to glow. But how could that touch affect the appearance of the plume itself? Burning concrete dust (or whatever) can't propagate up towards the engine.
Cites Star Man · 2019-08 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Why doesn't Starship have four landing legs?”
A counterpart to the question Why doesn't the Falcon-9 first stage use three legs to land? [LINK] This excellent answer [LINK] states that the first stage of the Falcon-9 uses four legs because four legs are less likely to tip over. However Starhopper which is a prototype for Starship has three legs, as seen in this 150 m Starhopper test. Furthermore, four legs mean that its apothem is larger meaning it will be more stable than three legs. In order for three legs to have the same stability has 4 legs, the legs have to 1.4 x the distance from the center, so Starship might be lighter and cheaper with four legs as it can have smaller and lighter landing legs. The answer [LINK] to the question W
Cites user19132 · 2019-08 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Why did August 28th, 2019 Starhopper's test roll so much to the left?”
The last Starhopper test flight [this video] included a left roll of roughly 160°. It seems to have tried stopping the roll shortly after apogee using RCS thrusters, and once again shortly before touchdown. What caused this seemingly unexpected roll?
Cites BlueCoder · 2019-10 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Does SpaceX's Starship have aerodynamic problems due to its thin skin?”
@mothman Starhopper had only one and its job is finished with success: [this video] Now it's Starship Mk 1 time! I confirm Starship will have 6 Raptors in the end, see [LINK] It might be just 3 for the next test with Mk1 (suborbital, 20km altitude): [LINK]
Cites Machavity · 2020-01 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “As of January 2020, what is the single longest duration firing executed with a Raptor engine?”
On July 25, 2019 Starship Mark 1 mock-up test flight [LINK] ran for 22 seconds The silver test vehicle, made of stainless steel, took off around 10:45 p.m. CDT Thursday (11:45 p.m. EDT; 0345 GMT) at SpaceX’s launch and test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, a beachside community near Brownsville. The Starship prototype, known as the Starship Hopper or “Starhopper,” was supposed to fly to a height of about 65 feet (20 meters), move sideways a bit, and then settle back on the ground on its three-legged landing gear. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, declared the 22-second test flight a success. On Aug 27, 2019 Starhopper flew again [LINK] . There was no official time given, but the video puts