While #Starship S34 was being restacked on top of #SuperHeavy B15 a piece near the clamps came loose and fell off. I thought I would take a second and explain a bit more about this hardware since there seems to be some confusion. This trapezoidal hardware is mostly a guide for aligning the ship/HSR with the HSR/booster during stacking. It allows the hardware to be lowered and if needed, the sloped edges naturally help center the hardware for proper clamp interface. The part circled in green appears to be some rigid like plastic or aluminum, that is bolted to the contacting edge of the guide. The red circle is showing where the same part would be installed, but it's missing due to being knocked off. It's likely that the ship was just a little bit too far down when small alignment translations were commanded and the bottom of the ship clipped the very top of the plastic guide while causing the plastic guide to break loose. It does not appear to be any additional damage to the underlying guide structure. For additional context, the actual clamping mechanism is circled in blue. This is a hook that rotates forward and backward from this perspective. During stacking this hook is rotated back within the guide structure which protects it and allows for alignment to occur. After setting down the ship, this hook is commanded to rotate forward and grabs into a plate welded inside the skirt of the ship. Long story short, this should not affect the clamping mechanism or increase risk of staging issues. This is just a plastic guide meant to be a wear item over time. It will either be replaced or left off (as it's not exactly needed) and stacking can continue.

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