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Rowan Forest (talk | contribs) →Second stage and spaceship: Starship: Added reference on transpiring steel |
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* [[Stainless steel]] structure and tank construction. Its [[strength-to-mass ratio]] is comparable to or better than the earlier design alternative of [[carbon fiber]] [[composite material|composites]] across the anticipated temperature ranges, from [[cryogenic]] to the high temperatures of [[atmospheric reentry]].<ref name=trati20181224/>
* some parts of the craft will be built with a stainless steel alloy that "has undergone [a type of] [[cryogenic]] treatment, in which metals are ... [[Cryogenic cold-forming|cold-formed]]/worked [to produce a] cryo-treated steel ... dramatically lighter and more wear-resistant than traditional hot-rolled steel."<ref name=trati20181224/>
* Instead of using a [[heatshield]] to protect from the heat and ablation of [[atmospheric reentry]], the spacecraft features a double stainless-steel skin with active coolant flowing in between the two layers. The windward side has several micro-pores that will allow for "transpiration cooling", essentially sweating water or methane fuel.<ref>[https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-elon-musk-bleed-water SpaceX Starship Will "Bleed Water" From Tiny Holes, Says Elon Musk]. Kristin Houser, ''Futurism''. 22 January 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-ceo-elon-musk-starship-transpiring-steel-heat-shield-interview/ SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains Starship's "transpiring" steel heat shield in Q&A]. Eric Ralph, ''Teslarati News''. 23 January 2019.</ref>
* As envisioned in the 2017 design unveiling, the ''Starship'' is to have a pressurized volume of approximately {{cvt|1000|m3|ft3}}, which could be configured for up to 40 cabins, large common areas, central storage, a galley, and a solar storm shelter for Mars missions plus 12 unpressurized aft cargo containers of {{cvt|88|m3|ft3}} total.<ref name=68IAC-trans/><!-- subsequent versions (e.g., the Sep 2018 release) showed some differences, while having less discussion of the details of the cargo-transporting and/or passenger-accomodation portions of the ship. Moreover, high-level design iteration on the overall Starship is still progressing as of Nov 2018 -->
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