I was curious to know if they built rooms or had dummies inside, or what they put in it to simulate weight.
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1$\begingroup$ No red Tesla this time in a new rocket. $\endgroup$– The Rocket fanApr 20 at 15:54
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3$\begingroup$ Since it was launched on 4/20 I suppose it was filled with weed $\endgroup$– ThisIsNicolaApr 21 at 10:32
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1$\begingroup$ @ThisIsNicola We'll know when all the fast food places downwind of the explosion post a sudden spike in sales... $\endgroup$– Darrel HoffmanApr 21 at 13:30
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3$\begingroup$ It was not planned to have any payload, but just after launch, it decided to take several chunks of the concrete below the OLM aboard as souvenirs. $\endgroup$– QuadmasterXLIIApr 21 at 17:22
2 Answers
There was no indication of any payload aboard Ship 24. Definitely no rooms or dummies. I haven't seen any documentation of a mass simulator, either, and much of the construction has been observed in detail, see e.g. this fandom.com wiki entry on Notable Differences between S24 and prior Starships.
In the past SpaceX has publicly acknowledged mass simulators / boilerplate payloads on test launches, so unless they release some statement contradicting this, I think "no mass simulator was observed" is the best answer we'll have.
Supplementary quote from Musk's post-flight Twitter Space (25m16s)
Elon Musk:
The goal of these early missions is just information. Like we don't have any payload or anything. It's let's try to learn as much as possible.
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3$\begingroup$ The payload door was welded shut so the only thing that could potentially be in there is something that fits through the tiny service hatches. $\endgroup$ Apr 20 at 20:20
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1$\begingroup$ Given their (stated) main goal was to just get it off the launch pad, having any unnecessary weight is counter-productive. $\endgroup$– BobsonApr 21 at 17:01
They had originally planned on putting Starlink v2 satellites inside but decided not to so the rack that holds and releases them was inside but no satellites. There was nothing else inside.
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