Bob Jones

Retired Navy Commander. A-6 B/N, F-14 RIO. 300+ carrier landings. Retired Senior Manager for Combat Analysis with Lockheed Martin.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@cb_doge Probably not for much longer will the general public have this access. Once SpaceX goes public, the lawyers will have a lot of power. The liability issues of the access are huge!! I personally saw this happen before.
So enjoy it while you can.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@Mick_O_Keeffe I can’t help but think of history. “The Sea People”.

[U.S. Central Command @CENTCOM]

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is essentially a self-contained city at sea. Roughly three football fields long, with over 5,000 Sailors on board, it takes the whole team — both above and below deck — to keep operations running smoothly.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@CENTCOM I miss it.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

In My Humble Opinion, the biggest fault of current POTUS is he listens too much to his closest advisors. Many great leaders have had that fault (Admiral Nimitz of WW II fame lamented afterwards how many careers he ruined because he listened to his advisors instead of trusting his instincts ).
There are many enemies of Rook & Elon in the civil service branch of the USG. They can & will be harmful factors.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@NancyMace I want the court system fixed so we can have trials that end! Fix that first.

[StarbaseTracking @TrackingTheSB]

Starbase This Week (2026-05-31) | Written by @Bastiaan_2
Flight 12 didn't only give us the start signal of the Block 3 era, for SpaceX it was also the start signal for inspections ahead of Flight 13. Welcome to Starbase This Week

Launch Site

Starting this week off at the Launch Site, we saw this week that scaffolding has returned to the OLM. Therefore we can say again "work on the orbital launch mount continues." The booster quick disconnects have done a slow retraction test to see if they still function after the flight, regarding the OLM, nothing major has been done. This indicates that it held up pretty well during flight 12.

This is in stark contrast compared to the old OLM at Pad 1, showing that SpaceX has learned a lot about Starship during their block 1 and 2 era regarding pad refurbishment.

On the tower side of things, crews were inspecting the ship's quick disconnect arm as well. Giving it a good look over, compared to the two BQDs, the only protection that the SQD has is swinging away during lift off of Starship. But other than inspections, we have not seen any other work being performed on the arm, also indicating that it is in a good state.

The chopsticks came down as well this week. And just like the OLM and SQD arm, it too underwent inspection. However, both the left and right landing rails on the sticks have been removed. This could be because SpaceX saw some damage on the landing rails.

But something that is more likely is that SpaceX will replace the landing rails and introduce an improved version for future flights. We will have to wait and see when they reïnstall new or repaired landing rails.

Mishap Investigation

The FAA has officially opened a mishap investigation for flight 12. While Ship 39 did its job with a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. Booster 19 did experience an anomaly during the boostback burn and landing burn.
Seeing the FAA opening an investigation was not really a surprise. Either way, SpaceX has to look at the data and make changes to B20 for the upcoming flight. So we don't think that this investigation will hold up flight 13. Speaking of which, when do you think that will fly? Let us know in the comments.

Production Site

While B20 is still inside Megabay 1, B21 has received its methane transfer tube, only leaving the liquid oxygen landing tank and the AFT section to be rolled out of the Starfactory to complete the LOx tank of B21. After which SpaceX will start stacking the methane tank to combine the two into a fully stacked booster.
And on the ship side of things, S41 has been fully stacked and moved over to the middle stand inside of MB2 for further processing. Including installing the AFT flaps which one of them, being the right AFT flap, has already been installed.

Marmac 31 Arrival

With Marmac 31 having arrived at the port of Brownsville, we can expect to see a booster and or a ship transport stand being moved soon. While no booster or ship is ready to being transported over to the Cape, having both a booster and or ship transport stands ready at the Cape in the meantime will help a lot with the eventual arrival of vehicles.
Road delays have already been posted on the Starbase website "Description: Huddleston to Port" for "Date: May 31 11:59 PM to June 1 4:00 AM". So tune in for next weeks SBTW for an update.

Massey's

Massey's saw a few transports this week as the ship cryo stand has rolled to Massey's to the ship truss structure. With S41 just being fully stacked, we don't expect any ships there for cryo anytime soon.
But the ship cryo stand wasn't the only one to roll this week as the booster cryo stand rolled to the Production Site. Hopefully we see B20 rolling for its cryo test campaign ahead of flight 13.

And remember COPVs, more of them have been spotted going to Massey's again after a long hiatus. Good to see them being tested at Massey's, although that doesn't mean that they weren't tested at all. Don't need more S36 events.

And finishing off the week with B18.3. It was tested again this week. With B19s flight in the past, SpaceX can test changes being made to the boosters forward section with this test tank. So we can expect more testing of B18.3 as SpaceX learns more from flight 12.

With that out of the way, when do you think B20 will roll out for cryo? Let us know in the comments and we will see you next week for another Starship this Week.

For real-time updates, join us in the Discord: https://t.co/hgUICqZQoK

To explore our maps yourself and track every movement, check out our Figma, now at both Starbase and Cape Canaveral:

Starbase: https://t.co/Yuwq34mXNQ

Cape Canaveral: https://t.co/DW4ww1doVg

#SpaceX #Starbase #Starship

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@stats_feed @SpaceIntel101 You left out all the Soviet deaths.

[Restore Halifax @RestoreHalifax]

Gad Saad explains suicidal empathy and its destructive effects on society.
https://t.co/Pp2DEi9yRh

[RON .D. WATKINS @Ron_WatkinsQ]

BREAKING 🚨 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth just stunned America by announcing $5.1 Billion in WASTE discovered by D.O.G.E:

“We’re directing the termination of $5.1 Billion not million, in DoD Contracts. That’s with a B”

THIS IS HUGE 🔥

[Pete Carstens @CarstensPete]

Here’s my 6000mm shot of Atlas V during the LA-07 launch.
This and more in 4k on my YT channel here, @maxqproductions1
Subscribe for free for my latest vids.
@SpaceflightNow

[X Freeze @XFreeze]

The double standard is sickening. If the roles were reversed, this would be a national outrage and the officers would be in jail. They ignored reality and dismissed his dying words purely because he was white

To date, they're still trying to cover it up... they have yet to release the footage...even though the evidence is very clear

Stop the cover-up and RELEASE THE FOOTAGE NOW

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@XFreeze Let’s get them to release the body cam footage!

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 JUST NOW: The judge has RULED AGAINST Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson's legal efforts to seal off parts of the case to the public

GOOD, KEEP IT ALL PUBLIC

They took Charlie from us publicly. Release it all.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@EricLDaugh Clearly the strategy of Robinson’s defense team is to drag this trial out until all the students who witnessed the shooting have died of old age! And it seems the judge is going along with this!

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@EricLDaugh @Mia_Campbell514 Low quality LE personnel making up for the recruitment shortage.

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 BREAKING: Slain 18YO white male Henry Nowak's father just WENT OFF, saying the killer stabbed his son and police did NOTHING despite his imminent death

"Henry told officers he could not breathe **9 times**." 😢

He says the police FAILED and refused to believe him. The killer is now jailed.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?! BARBARIAN.

"Henry was pulled across the gravel his hands forced behind his back and he was placed in handcuffs. Instead of being treated as a dying victim the police formally arrested Henry for assault and read in his rights. That was the last thing he heard."

"Henry had been stabbed multiple times and as his chest filled with blood he tried to escape. He was chased, abused and filmed...when police arrived Henry was lying on the floor fairly able to sit up and plainly in severe medical distress. With his final words he told officers that he could not breathe. He told them he had been stabbed."

"The police have said they were misled by the murderers and that the scene when they arrived was complex."

"Unfortunately it seems to us the truth is much simpler. The police were told by our son himself and by a member of the public...but the police did not believe that."

"As a family we will not let this go. No other family should experience the heartbreak and horror of losing a child to knife crime."

"Finally, I want Henry to know. We are so proud of him and we love him." 🙏🏻

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@visionergeo 20 years away from an operational aircraft on the flight line.

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

@lewisknaggs42 @thunderf00t Good catch

[Bob Jones @4thGenFlyer]

I would send an automated landing site preparation “team” before anything else (excepting science related). Have an automated grader start a spiral pattern to smooth a giant circle. It then bounds the smooth area with a small wall. Next the material scraped up is made into a hot thick goo and the circle is filed in. Gravity causes it to settle out against the barrier and form a smooth surface.
Now land the modules!