SpaceX’s Starship rocket system reached several milestones in its second test flight before the rocket booster and spacecraft exploded over the Gulf of Mexico.
So, actually kinda successful.
Actually kinda really successful 👍 All 33 engines were firing, the hot staging was successful. On both the first and second stages, it looks like the automatic FTS (flight termination system) was triggered. That would happen if it veered too far off of it’s approved flight path (don’t need it coming down over a populated region.) The only thing that didn’t happen that I was hopeful for was atmospheric re-entry - we really need to see how that heat shield works in practice.
If the stage exploded due to the hot staging change, perhaps it won’t count as a success. But it’s too early to tell either way
Looked to me like the hot staging plus flip maneuver sent the 1st stage into a slow spin it couldn’t recover from using the ullage gas thrusters.
Back to the drawing board. Yeah, I know they are with the sliderules.
I bet some of them own slide rules in homage to the people that went before them.
I really wish they’d stop putting Musk’s name on things like this. He didn’t design the engines, he didn’t plan the flight path, he did nothing but throw a bunch of money at a company because he’s obsessed with Mars.
Which is why I’m nervous for when they decide to start doing manned flights.
Falcon 9 is the most reliable rocket in the world and it used to explode like this too. It’ll be 5-10 years of successful unmanned flights before anyone rides on this rocket.
… throw a bunch of money at a company because he
’s obsessed with Mars.wanted to justify sending money to some Russian arm dealers friends.
This just false. Sure, he did not do everything alone but he has a huge hand in engineering concepts and design decisions. Lots of hate and complete misunderstanding how spaceship, spaceX and Musk work in this thread.
The dude prefers reviewing source code on paper.
Anyone who writes code knows that is not a practical way to review.
Maybe in his time he got book smart about some physics/rocket concepts. That’s the least I would expect anyway. But that doesn’t mean he really has any expertise to offer to the product.
You’re wrong. Watch some videos on starship development and the history on spacex in general.
Blame the poster. The CNN article itself doesn’t have Musk in the headline and barely mentions him at all (there is one quote near the end).
EDIT
Or maybe don’t blame the poster. From the URL and web archives, it appears CNN may have changed the title.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/18/world/elon-musk-spacex-starship-launch-scn/index.html
Perhaps it’s time for titles that match the article headlines as a matter of policy here?
Actually, I just realized the poster may have used the original CNN title.
lol: “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly”. That’s one way to describe it!
He certainly didn’t have to be all anti-Semitic to deflect attention from this failure. It’s telling.