The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Hello, I want to have SpaceX Starship to be peer reviewed, because I am not sure how the article can be further improved. I have nominated the article to good article successfully and featured article unsuccessfully. The article has drastically changed, so these comments are irrelevant to the current version. Please, if you know how the article can be improved, tell me right now, and I will reply as soon as possible. If the peer review is comprehensive, I might nominate SpaceX Starship for featured article again.
First sentence: change 'comprising a' → 'comprised of'
Second sentence: add oxford comma after 'heaviest'
History section:
Needs photos.
I wonder if a third "Present day" section should be created and some of the content moved there.
Description section:
Second sentence of first parargraph: 'Whilst' is british-speak, change to 'while'.
Starship subsection:
Third sentence of first paragraph: The first two commas are unnecessary. Change 'which' → 'that'.
Last sentence of first paragraph: add a comma after 'pressure' and before 'and' .
Second sentence of second paragraph: Reverse structure in order to avoid passive voice.
Fifth sentence of second paragraph: change to present tense. 'tiles that made up' → 'titles that make up'
Final sentence of second paragraph: the semicolon should be a comma.
Planned variants subsection:
The second sentence should be split into two sentences at the first comma.
I think the word 'most' in the third sentence is redundant.
Paragraph two: 'which SpaceX terms "Earth‑to‑Earth"' should be in parenthesis rather than em dashes.
Super Heavy subsection:
First sentence: 'Super Heavy' does not need em dashes or any punctuation surrounding it.
"Above sits the liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant tank" is not a complete sentence, add that it is above the booster stage or combine with previous sentence.
Combine sentence four and five into one sentence: 'used to attach the upper-stage / and is equipped with'.
Most uses of "Boca Chica" should replaced with "South Texas launch site" for consistency with the rest of the article, or vice versa.
Anything in the FAA report relevant to Starship should be summarized.
Operation
Prototype testing is undersourced. The space.com source mentions, but does not detail, just the static fire test. If the rest is not mentioned in RS, it likely doesn't need to be included.
"The Starship crewed Mars variant is ..." sentence could use some qualification. "is planned as..."? "is envisioned as..."?
"The inside of the skirt mounted composite overwrapped pressure vessels, which store gas to spin the engines' turbopumps." This sentence needs a copy edit but I lack a technical understanding of what it's trying to describe.
The composite overwrapped pressure vessels store gas to spin turbopumps. I had copyedited the sentence. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
From taking a quick look at the references section, the citation style used is a little inconsistent.
FN1 & 2, despite being from the same news source, use cite web and cite news. Cite news is usually used for this, so change that wherever appropriate in the article. CNBC is also listed as a publisher in FN2, which usually isn't used; either the website or the work parameters will be fine for where the publisher parameter is inappropriate.
FN6 & 9 are also from the same source, but Space.com is linked in FN6 and not linked in FN9. To remain consistent, either the website/publisher is linked or isn't linked. This also occurs with many other sources in the article.
FN30 isn't a dead link.
FN38 seems to be the only place where TechCrunch isn't capitalized in the article. It also doesn't use the "last name, first name" style for authors unlike the rest of the article.
FN49 & 50 doesn't use the "last name, first name" style for authors; the "April 2021" at the beginning of the references is unnecessary.
FN71 doesn't use the "last name, first name" style for authors.
FN72 is the only place where "NASASpaceFlight.com" doesn't have ".com" at the end.
FN95 isn't a dead link.
FN115 doesn't use the "last name, first name" style for authors.
FN120 doesn't need the "CNN" and the "CNN Business Photographs by Tamir Kalifa for." at the beginning; those can be seen later in the ref and in the news article itself. "Jackie Wattles" should also use the "last name, first name" format.
The captions in the gallery also have some minor issues.
"Top section of Mk1 Starship" should be changed to "Top section of Starship Mk1" since that's the naming convention used in the article and in sources.
"Starship SN7 repurposed as a test tank" should be changed to "Test tank SN7" since I remember SN7 only being reserved for test tanks and never being intended to be a full Starship. Elon Musk also doesn't mention SN7 being repurposed. "Prototype SN7 was never completed, but its tank was used for various tests." is mentioned earlier in the article, but the source did not mention SN7 being originally intended as a full Starship or its tank being repurposed.
"Starship SN5 is lifting" should be changed to "Starship SN5 being lifted"
"A steel dome belongs to a Starship prototype" should be changed to "A steel dome belonging to a Starship prototype"
The article has been in dmy format since it first became an article (from a redirect) in March 2019. Per MOS:DATEFORMAT, it should stay in that format unless some strong reason to change it, and that consensus should be reached on the Talk page. I just checked the Talk page, and Talk archives, and no discussion where this should be changed has ever been proposed. N2e (talk) 15:20, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
"test on February 28" which year is this referring to?
SpaceX considered them as obsolete and go straight to SN15. Added. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"it would never fly" → "it never flew"
I rephrased to This booster prototype though had never flew or hopped, and it was retired on August 2021. since BN3 had already been retired CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
I would replace all instances of "would" with "is expected to" or a similar phrase in the paragraph starting with "On July 20..." if those things haven't happened yet
"Many residents of Boca Chica Village, Brownsville" I think this paragraph was previously its own section and you've merged it? It sticks out because it's not like the other paragraphs in the Development section and isn't really about development. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
I want to integrate it to the article. I moved it to a brand-new Starship development sub-section under Operation section. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"SpaceX is said to have harmed" — attribute, i.e. make it clear who said what
Done, changed to Residents and activists said SpaceX have harmed local wildlife ...CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
The reception paragraph could use expansion in general — what is the validity of the critics' claims? What were SpaceX's responses?
Thanks for pointing out this! I will expand it asap.@DanCherek: DoneI have strong opinions about this section, and may introduce bias. I want someone else to do this section instead. I have added some info with diligent care. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
In general be careful with how you are describing capabilities of a system that is still in development and hasn't undergone certain tests of whether it can actually do those things. I'd say this is one of my major issues with the article.
I agree. I don't really have an article to based on, and this is my first time aiming for , so I might get things wrong sometimes. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"Workers inspection of Starship" → "Workers inspecting Starship"
In general, check your usage of "would" throughout the article, many instances of these are better replaced with another word. There are many more that I'm not pointing out here
"These offshore platforms were named" — this sentence makes it sound like the moons of Mars, not the launch sites, were previously Valaris drilling rigs
Paraphrasing. This is a bit tricky. paraphrased to These offshore platforms were former oil drilling rigs owned by Valaris, and named Phobos and Deimos after the moons of Mars.CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"rendezvous it in Earth orbit" — this verb is not in the correct tense
All fixed now, except a few which is in progress. About the dmy thing, I would use mdy in text and dmy in source. Also, thanks once again for your extremely helpful comments, I would review your article tomorrow if I have time. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
Thanks for the ping. I've added a comment inline where the reviewer's personal preference was initially expressed. N2e (talk) 15:22, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
That was just an off-the-cuff comment from me without having checked the talk page or anything else I will defer to those more familiar with the topic area. DanCherek (talk) 15:24, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks CactiStaccingCrane, and DanCherek for invite and comments on date format. I think we've got that in okay shape now.
But I have a meta-question. I just stumbled into this peer review and recent WP:GA push on the article, when I fixed the dmy thing on the article this morning. Did not even know peer review / GA push was underway. Is this still a live review? This page is titled "archive". N2e (talk) 16:00, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@N2e: Yep, still live; the "archive" title is standard and is just for organizational purposes (closed peer reviews will be marked with ((Closed peer review page))). The purpose of this is just to seek comments from other editors to improve the article further after this version was promoted as a GA on 14 September. DanCherek (talk) 16:13, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks everyone, appreciate it. I now see that the article already has been promoted to GA, and this page is about potential WP:Featured article status. I have concerns about that... at least with some seemingly major thing.
I will try to get back here (or whereever I should do it, if not here) and articulate that sometime this weekend. N2e (talk) 01:10, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks a lot for coming here! I remember that you are a main contributor of the article as well. I really want to have comments of any kind on the article, so I don't really mind if it is a bit harsh. CactiStaccingCrane (talk) 03:13, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I will be reviewing this version for prose and other miscellaneous issues. Please let me know if you think any of my suggestions are incorrect. Thanks!
Lead
"consisting of a first-stage named Super Heavy and a second-stage named Starship" --> I don't think there is a hyphen in first stage and second stage. Also, perhaps add "rocket" or "booster" or whatever applies after "first stage" and "second stage".
Removed hyphen, but don't switch it to rocket and booster. It must be precise. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"The launch vehicle can produce 72 meganewtons (MN) or 17,000,000 pound-force (lbf) at lift-off, which would make it the world's most powerful rocket once operational." Instead of "at lift-off" you should probably say "during lift-off". Also I think the hyphen should go away from here too. Also, while "would" is not wrong, I don't really enjoy its usage throughout the article. Try to find synonyms which allow the sentences to flow better.
Changed to during lift off. Lift-off is wrong. I have tried to remove "would", but it is much harder than I expected. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"Starship is designed to launch 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) to low Earth orbit. If tanker Starships transferred propellant to the main spacecraft, the same amount of payload would be able to go to higher Earth orbits, the Moon, or Mars." I would like it if these 2 sentences were joined, as they talk about the same thing. Here is a suggestion on how they can be join (this is just an example, the best way to join them is up to you):
"Starship is designed to be able to launch 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) to low Earth orbit, and if it is refueled with propellant via tanker Starships, it will be capable of launching that payload to higher Earth orbits, the Moon, and even Mars."
Referring to that sentence and to the article, I have this suggestion. Low Earth orbit is often referred to as LEO (from my basic space knowledge), so perhaps in the sentence discussed in the previous bullet, replace "low Earth orbit" with "low Earth orbit (LEO)" and then replace all instances of "low Earth orbit" with "LEO".
I tried to avoid using acronyms whenever I can, since not everyone is a space nerd. "LEO" and "low Earth orbit" meant the same thing, so the second term is more preferable. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"Starship might launch from a non-traditional launch pad". If this is a confirmed detail, replace it with "will" or something. If it is not confirmed but especially likely, use something like "will probably launch". If this is not confirmed or especially unlikely, the usage of might is fine.
"test article" This word is used throughout the article. While it is not wrong, I believe it would sound better if you used "test rocket" or "test booster" or "test spacecraft" rather than this work.
"Test article" is a defacto term in spaceflight. "Test ___" sounds a lot weirder. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"After changes to the vehicle's design" It would be nice if the changes were specified, i.e. After changes to the material and fuel of the vehicle". Something like that.
"performed the first successful hop". I think "hop" should be surrounded with quotations, as that would.... I don't really know how to explain it, but I think that will look better.
In progress Need more concensus. This is one of the highly debated topic, whether hop is an official term or not. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"SN15 on 5 May 2021 became the first test article". Shouldn't the date come first? "On 5 May 2021, SN15 became the first test article".
While we are on the topic of dates, I have a suggestion. Since this article should be written in American English, would it not be better to give dates with the month before the date, like is popularly done in the U.S.? An example would be January 1, 2021. The dd mm yy format (5 May 2021) might confuse American readers, or at the very least obscure clarity and ease of reading. Therefore, I suggest that date formats be changed to mm dd yy format.
Has been bought up in this peer review. The concensus is keep the DD mmm YYYY format. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
"...SN20 and booster BN4 are planned for Starship's first orbital flight." I think that "to be used" or "will be used" should be added after the word "planned".
Reviewing this version, reviewing for prose, and reviewing the Super Heavy and Starship subsection.
Super Heavy and Starship subsection
"Starship's body are made from welded 9 m (30 ft) diameter rings." This is a pretty obvious grammar mistake, Starship's body is made from rings, not are made from rings.
"The Starship launch system consists of two stages: Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft." I think this should be a Super Heavy booster and the (or a) Starship spacecraft.
"Both stages are equipped with complex full-flow staged combustion cycle Raptors engines" Raptors engines? This is a double plural and incorrect. Either make "engines" singular or remove the word "engines" entirely.
"Four grid fins, installed above the booster, are designed to control its descent and be caught by the launch tower's pair of mechanical arms." And be caught? This makes it sound like the grid fins are going to be caught which doesn't sound normal to me. Can you explain and/or rephrase?
" are designed to control its descent" This would be a good time to remind everyone that you are talking about the Super Heavy booster (or the spacecraft). Replace "its" with whatever applies.
"propellant capacity of 1,200 metric tons (1,200 long tons)". What are long tons? Is it necessary to state that here since it is equal to the amount of metric tons?
"For Starship cargo, a large clamshell door replaces conventional payload fairings, which can capture, store, and return payload to Earth." Can you wikilink "clamshell door", I'm not sure what it means.
"The door will close during launch, open to release payload once in orbit, then close during reentry." I think you should insert "again" after "then close".
"Starship actuates two pairs of flaps install perpendicular to its body." What does actuate mean in this context? Try to replace it with a simpler word.
" A pair of larger aft flaps sit at the bottom of Starship and a smaller pair of forward flaps is placed on the nose cone." Either replace "sit" with "sits" or replace "is" with "are".
"Simulations from SpaceX showed that 99.9% of Starship's kinetic energy can dissipate on reentry to Earth, but the thinner Mars atmosphere can dissipate 99% of its kinetic energy." Replacing "dissipate on reentry to Earth" with "dissipate upon reentry to Earth" is a good idea. Also, consider adding "only" before "dissipate 99% of kinetic energy".
That's it for today. I found more mistakes here than a few days ago, what happened? Also, somebody added a couple of sections to the page. Review those since you're the expert on this. Thanks and bye. RealKnockout (talk) 18:01, 8 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at the gallery, I'm not sure if it's justified existing in a separate section. I would consider moving the two rows to existing sections, and be prepared to justify why they meet WP:GALLERY. ((u|Sdkb))talk07:43, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Also, I wonder why the development section is placed above the description section. Wouldn't it help the development section read more smoothly if you first explained what the thing is that's being developed? ((u|Sdkb))talk07:56, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Since I leaned oppose on sourcing my comments are mostly going to be focused on that. Version reviewed
As of October 2021, SN20 and BN4[a] are expected to become the first test article to reach near orbital speed -- article says SN20 will be close to orbital speed but not that it is the first; BN4 is not mentioned as being near this speed
Done Switched to SN20 and BN4 are expected to become the first test article to go to orbit.CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
The Raptor engine works, firstly, liquid methane and oxygen flow into turbopumps... --> The Raptor engine operates by flowing liquid methane and oxygen into its turbopumps, which are then pressurize, mixed, and heated in two preburners, with one receiving more methane and the other more oxygen. Then, [next steps]
Done Thanks a lot for the paraphrasing! It's pretty hard to explain what full-flow staged combustion cycle is for me. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
hence the adjective "full-flow staged" and the noun "cycle" -- unnecessary elaboration; the reader can probably connect the dots here
This causes the resultant gas to move fast... --> The resultant gas quickly moves, and the engine nozzle redirects it to produce thrust (some unnecessary words).
I won't comment more on prose, since I'm not very good at it and I'm sure others will have more useful explanations for why something may need corrected. But I will say that it would be helpful as an exercise to take a look through the article and ask: Is this information providing any extra information, or can it be tightened? As a quick example, is there any information or words here that are not necessary in context?: The booster is topped by a stage adapter for attaching the Starship spacecraft. Click "edit" (not visual edit) of this page to see what I have in mind in the following hidden comment:
In progress I am looking into redundant phrasing, thanks a lot for pointing it out! CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
The Huzel and Huang reference is malformed (the link at the end can be in the template I imagine), but either way, the link is not operational. It also does not, based on the date (1974), actually deal with Starship, but presumably with the general mechanisms of spacecraft design for launch. Which is useful, but the prose indicates that there is a specific method for Starship - and we are then citing things that don't concern themselves with Starship, so it does not feel appropriate.
In progress Changed The Raptor engine operates by flowing ... to Generally, a kind of full-flow staged combustion cycle engine operates .... Finding alternative, reliable sources. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
The "Reuters" reference is malformed - Reuters is the agency for ((cite news)), not an author. Also, you should cite Reuters themselves rather than the NY Post, which according to RSP is questionable in most circumstances.
The Ross Andersen reference is inconsistent; instead of |author you use |last and |first elsewhere (so it should be |last=Andersen |first=Ross). Also the title is truncated ... but I'm not sure if the title is correct; the archive seems to suggest "Exodus" is the title.
Done, the title is seemingly wrong though. Have to take a look. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
The above point makes me wonder... do we ever say when Starship as a name was first devised? If the Andersen article is from 2014 and the name was not devised, can it support the previous sentence?
Done BFR has the same capability to low Earth orbit, not derived. Fixed. CactiStaccingCrane (talk)
Foust reference (92) is from 2005 - but that can't support the claim that the idea was similar to Starship, because that is a novel conclusion not represented in the source
Usual disclaimer that I did not read everything or attempt verification for most things; just what popped out to me in the references section, and some care will be needed to do some source-text integrity verification
File:We bring you Mars (9848295393).jpg contains an image of a two-dimensional creative work, which the photographer did not create. They took the photograph, but they (probably?) don't have the rights to reproduce or license the underlying art. I don't think this is usable, then. Urve (talk) 09:03, 9 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.