SpaceX rockets and launches

[elbows]

Maybe Trumps presence cursed it, like that final Virgin flight where Grant Shapps was boring me to death before mission failure.

 

[2hats]

 

[elbows]

View attachment 451756

Didnt get to see that in the live stream I was watching, they cut away before that moment. Any details?

 

[2hats]

That was immediately after first stage soft touchdown on the ocean surface. It toppled over and (almost inevitably) exploded.

 

[elbows]

That was immediately after first stage soft touchdown on the ocean surface. It toppled over and (almost inevitably) exploded.

Thanks, I found a video of it eventually, the official feed cut away just before it exploded. Thats the worst thing about watching space stuff, the information management, dodgy euphemisms and propaganda, although I suppose that does give me the chance to practice my 'reading between the lines' abilities. Mind you it would take some doing to beat the bullshit in the Virgin feed when their final mission failed, and graphics showed it plummeting for ages without anyone on commentary admitting what had happened.

 

[elbows]

Have I clued myself up properly that the remaining thing to be tested today is how well “new secondary thermal protection materials” perform on reentry of the 2nd stage craft?

 

[elbows]

Oh they did light a raptor engine in space just now so I guess thats another part of todays testing.

 

[StoneRoad]

View attachment 451756

That's a remarkably large bang !

Some discussion from the talking heads as to why SpaceX waved off going for another chopstix catch ...

 

[elbows]

Ah on commentary they are going on about how they have actually removed a load of shield tiles this time, to test how it does with a lot less tiles, using a previous gen heat shield rather than the newer one they used last time, testing some secondary forms of protection, pushing various limits and testing theoretical data about how they expect the steel to behave. Theyve already warned on commentary not to be surprised if it does 'a lot of wack-a-doodle stuff' as a result.

 

[Crispy]

That is one tough little (huge) ship

 

[elbows]

OK credit where credit is due, they had some pretty incredible onboard footage of the return this time, and it survived some extreme circumstances.

 

[elbows]

That is one tough little (huge) ship

They sounded surprised on commentary that it did so well despite the angle the return chose and the older gen shielding, tile removal etc.

 

[a_chap]

Musk's completely re-usable spaceships are amazing aren't they.

Maybe one day they'll even get Starship into orbit.

 

[teqniq]

Who would want to live near this?

SpaceX Starship’s Sonic Boom Creates Risk of Structural Damage, Test Finds