Episode 117 after a loooong sick leave is out for Patreons and YouTube members!

That goes a long way toward “environmentally friendly,” but I suspect a lot of testing will be required.

Dori Ownbey

Great Episode and awesome animation by Nick 🚀

Hey Rick! Safety zones are always the same radius. No matter how many launches. Musk said innitial launches. That can also mean tests with less Raptors. The full version will have incredible amounts of thrust.

You're very welcome!!! Thank you for your support! :)

I think Elon has made it clear that he will initially launch Starship Superheavy out of Boca Chica. San Padre Island is only 6 miles (10km) away. The 30 km distance was for launching frequently. It will be interesting to see if SpaceX launches the Starship Launch System from 39A.

I love getting an "ah-ha" ! The animation gave me such a moment. Even though Spacex will probably do their own thing, it gave me a visualization for Starship's utilization. You guys rock!

Thank you very much, Chris! In part it's all thanks to your support! So, thank you very much for being such a loyal Patron, Chris! :)

Hello Nikolay, I have thought about this many times. The biggest problem is my schedule. Twice a week means I am constantly producing. This makes it really hard to split the content up and make more "in depth" episodes. I need a second me... :D

Great questions! Saturn V for example created sounds as loud as 220db. That is actually enouhg to kill you. Not, because your ears can't cope with it anymore, but because the sound waves create pressure differences. They would be so extensive, they could shatter bones, ccause internal bleeding and shake your head so violently, you would likely die.. My source here was "common nerd knowledge". ^^ I don't know, when exactly I learned of it for the first time. Here's the link to a Seeker video though, explaining the phenomenon and talking about ways to reduce the impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_z2-9rRpU4 Wildlife would be a problem, yes. I was actually thinking of putting it into the episode and didn't in the end, as the video would have been too long. Especially animals that can hear very well like Whales would definitely have problems with it.

They're on my heels! :D

Glad to see you better. I like the animation and discussion about sea launches, makes sense given the challenges you have identified. Keep up the good work all.

Chris - DJ Dapper Dan - Brown

Felix , the animation about the sea launch was awesome. I hope it works that way. I would encourage you to consider splitting the news segments into its own show. That way episodes with the original non news content will have a much longer life span and people can go back to watch them even years later. Other channels may also refer to them more.

Felix, Great episode as usual. A couple of questions: What was your source for the comment that people could "even be killed by the sound of the launch" Coincident with your discussion of an 18 mile exclusion zone, that sounded a little extreme; testing credibility. I doubt the noise would kill me if i was standing a mile away... A corollary question has to do with environmental sensibility. If you launch at sea because of the health dangers, what is the impact upon sea life? Similar for the impact of blasting off and all that heat/residue being pumped into the ocean. Inquiring minds want to know...

Nice to see you back! What, the ladies didn't yet feel up to the task of filling your shoes completely?

Dragi Raos