Super Heavy Return
The Atomic Layers: S3E13 (00069)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
I know I should write something AM related, but let's be honest - today everyone who has anything to do with engineering, manufacturing technologies or industry follows the news about SpaceX. Although, we secretly know that what happened today would not have happened in this way if it were not for AM technology…
Elon Musk has surprised us once again. But this time, it's not with a new electric car model or division of autonomic robots, but with something far grander and more ambitious—the Starship rocket, which could revolutionize space exploration.
On Sunday, October 13, 2024, the rocket completed its fifth test flight, marking the first successful return of the Super Heavy booster to its launch site.
Unlike the Falcon 9 rockets which land on autonomous drone ships, Super Heavy returns directly to its launch pad and is caught mid-air by specialized arms. The entire process is both stunning and awe-inspiring.
Starship is a true giant. With the Super Heavy booster, it reaches a towering 120 meters in height, surpassing even the Statue of Liberty. The Starship itself stands at around 50 meters tall with a 9-meter diameter. At this scale, it can transport up to 100 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit (LEO).
The Super Heavy booster measures 71 meters in height and is powered by 33 Raptor engines, which run on methane and oxygen—a combination known as methalox. This innovative approach offers several advantages, including reduced environmental impact and greater efficiency compared to traditional rocket fuels.
In case you didn’t see it (which I don’t believe…) this is how it looked like:
Atomic Layer from the Past:
10-13-2015: Canon announced its entry into the 3D printing market with its own 3D printer.
Atomic News & Gossips:
On Tuesday (October 15, 2024), a Kickstarter campaign for the ultra-affordable Revopoint MetroX 3D scanner will launch with a starting price of $649.
I know it doesn't exactly work this way, but if you were to add up the market valuations of Nano Dimension ($514 million), Desktop Metal ($163 million), and Markforged ($94 million), the total would surpass Stratasys and be just $150 million short of the combined value of Stratasys and 3D Systems. We’re truly living in strange times...
And speaking of Stratasys — on their press release homepage, the header still features an image of the MakerBot Method. Sloppy marketing job... https://investors.stratasys.com/news-events/press-releases