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this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
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There's a bunch of Deloreans out there still rustless. Meanwhile at Tesla...
Wow, up until today I thought the DeLorean body panels were aluminum. TIL DeLorean body panels are stainless steel. I've had the opportunity to view them up close several times (auto auctions, car shows, etc.), and never noticed any signs of rust or discoloration.
Delorean body panels are made out of 304 stainless steel.
It’s more expensive, but highly corrosion resistant.
Cyber truck uses 301 stainless, which is meant more for industrial and commercial environments where the steel is kept out of the elements or will be painted with a weather resistant coating.
Why does Tesla use 301? Probably because Starship uses 301 steel body panels for the skin on the booster and vehicle. Bulk purchasing material like that will drive down the cost for them and make a little more profit. 301 is also very strong, and one of the design points of Cyber truck was that it with be bulletproof, for some reason. I’ve yet to see anyone actually shoot their cyber truck, but I doubt those body panels are stopping anything more energetic than a .32 ACP.
Now why is a spacecraft covered in steel? I have no idea. Rockets should be as light as possible to maximize the amount of energy you get out of the fuel.
Well they've made it pretty clear why they're using this particular steel. The goal is to create a relatively cheap, reusable rocket. The strength of the steel helps make up for the increased density since you can use thinner panels. They also don't have to paint them. This leads to a small difference in total weight.
The compromise they're going for is giving up a slight amount of capacity to decrease cost of materials, increase production volume, and hopefully improve the reusability and lower the total maintenance.
They're not trying to build the highest performance rockets, they want the lowest cost for the level of performance they're targeting. That's not to say it will necessarily work out, but they've obviously done the math on the compromise and think it's beneficial in the long run.
Of the many issues Starship has had, it doesn't seem like the steel skin is one of them. It's just one of a million design choices you have to make for any rocket.