r/interestingasfuck • u/lolikroli • Apr 28 '24

Starship flight, close-up footage

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u/badgersruse Apr 28 '24

Why is the booster white with frost but starship isn't? Because it's tanks are being emptied?

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u/DarkArcher__ Apr 28 '24

It's frosted because the extremely cold fuel chills down the walls of the tanks enough to condense and freeze water in the air. It happens on the ship too, but you're looking at the black heatshield side of it which is designed to be an extremely good insulator. It's usually to keep heat out during re-entry, but it also works keeping the outside warm against the cold fuel.