what will happen to Starship SN15 now

[DrC]

In the past, NASA would provide returning spacecraft to states or museums. For example, Apollo Park in Lancaster CA is also home to a replica Apollo Space Capsule on loan from the Smithsonian Institute. As SpaceX is a private company, what are the plans for SN15?

 

[Cehunt]

I think SpaceX should donate SN15 to the Smithsonian as the spacecraft is the first craft to have completed all the milestones of its mission.

 

[WebbHubbleWebble]

I think SpaceX should donate SN15 to the Smithsonian as the spacecraft is the first craft to have completed all the milestones of its mission.

Agreed!

 

[CCooper96]

Elon said SpaceX might refly it again, why not? Anyway, people will remember this prototype.

 

[Helio]

SN15, once out of service, would be a great addition to the airport in Brownsville or even downtown, maybe. It is 2x taller than any building in the lower Valley.

 

[DrC]

If SN15 is launched again, per Elon's statement, then the risk of the 3rd launch should not be taken. Remove the engines and donate it to a local town, and support online a local space museum to be built to support local SpaceX developments. Maybe even donate the Crew 1 capsule.

 

[Clovis]

Musk is now looking into the construction of building a reusable larger ship in orbit. Which is the way it should be done.

 

[Cehunt]

Not so fast, he has only had one successful test of SN15. He needs more test runs before moving on to another experimental version.

 

[CCooper96]

I would like SN15 to fly again, but the latest photo Elon published on Twitter was with SN16, so that I suppose the next flight we'll see will be the SN16 launch.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ship 16 &amp; Booster 2, Starbase Highbay <a href="https://t.co/IUuidOw9ym">pic.twitter.com/IUuidOw9ym</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398123830871150600

View: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1398123830871150600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
">May 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Clovis]

Build it in orbit, bigger and better , his Falcon 9 has proven to be very dependable. It could be built sectional, like the ISS was. ISS took awhile but we had the Shuttle back then.

 

[Clovis]

A ship like that could be used for a lot of things, like the moon and Mars.

 

[Clovis]

SciFi? How many times has SciFi predicted the future?

 

[Clovis]

Even the NASA engineers told Musk the SN series was a bad design. Really it is.

 

[Cehunt]

SciFi? How many times has SciFi predicted the future?

Ha, lots of examples just watch the Star Trek shows.
Clive

 

[Slarty1080]

Even the NASA engineers told Musk the SN series was a bad design. Really it is.

What makes it bad?

 

[Clovis]

They said it was underpowered. It's made out of stainless steel. Weight to power ratio. When we launched the Shuttle into space, it had booster rockets. And bigger engines.

 

[Cehunt]

So why would a smart guy like Musk invest a lot of money, time, materials and personal pride in a project that was doomed to fail right from the start? Does not sound like Elon Musk to me.
Clive

 

[Clovis]

Musk tried to make it look, and fly like a 1950s SciFi ship.

 

[Cehunt]

Name the 1950s SCIFI ship you are referring to.

Clive

 

[Clovis]

Well, his autonomous cars are crashing. But the drivers where asleep or drunk at the wheel.

 

[Clovis]

Name the 1950s SCIFI ship you are referring to.

Clive

There were a lot of them, big rocket ships landing on another planet.
Maybe I'm a lot older than you. It really didn't change a lot, untill 2001 a Space Odyssey.

 

[Cehunt]

I will repeat my question. Name the 1950's SCIFI ship(s) they were referring to.

Clive

 

[Cehunt]

There were a lot of them, big rocket ships landing on another planet.

 

[Cehunt]

Well there's a BIG difference between comic book spaceships and real spaceships.
And who are they that you are referring?

Clive

 

[Clovis]

Rocketship X-M - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

You can look it up yourself you know. And I only meant the chessy movies back then. Not comics but actual movies is what I meant.