Starship baby

[uhhello]

Cleared the pad and then some before deconstructing.  She's a big ol' bitch

10 million pounds of propellant 

Video of entire launch 

https://fb.watch/k17C1M-B4e/

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by uhhello

[ClearedHot]

Then it went BOOM.  I think Elon predicted a 50% chance but they were happy it got off the pad.  Watched it live and early on it looked like several engines failed.  Flop maneuver was successful?  Something went wrong at separation and she kept flopping.  Overall it seems they hit several milestones and are well on their way.  If anyone can do it I think SpaceX is it.

 

[uhhello]

13 minutes ago, ClearedHot said:

Then it went BOOM.  I think Elon predicted a 50% chance but they were happy it got off the pad.  Watched it live and early on it looked like several engines failed.  Flop maneuver was successful?  Something went wrong at separation and she kept flopping.  Overall it seems they hit several milestones and are well on their way.  If anyone can do it I think SpaceX is it.

 

Yup, they had no intentions of it making it up.  Booster and ship were going to splashdown in pacific and Atlantic.  They have more starships but only one pad.   

[FLEA]

Was at some AF school and we had a consultant in tech come talk to us. It was about 3-4 years ago when "innovation" was the Air Force buzz sauce. Dude just laughed and said the DoD is one of the least innovative enterprises on the planet. He talked about how innovation cost money, and Elon Musk will blow up a $30B rocket just to figure out why rockets blow up. The DoD is too conservative and isn't willing to do that. He basically said if you're not the type of person that can burn a $100 bill without even blinking, you aren't ready to innovate, and that's why private sector software, tech and space are moving so far beyond DoD capability. Thought he made some really good points about that. 

[uhhello]

8 minutes ago, FLEA said:

Was at some AF school and we had a consultant in tech come talk to us. It was about 3-4 years ago when "innovation" was the Air Force buzz sauce. Dude just laughed and said the DoD is one of the least innovative enterprises on the planet. He talked about how innovation cost money, and Elon Musk will blow up a $30B rocket just to figure out why rockets blow up. The DoD is too conservative and isn't willing to do that. He basically said if you're not the type of person that can burn a $100 bill without even blinking, you aren't ready to innovate, and that's why private sector software, tech and space are moving so far beyond DoD capability. Thought he made some really good points about that. 

It sure sounds great though....Meanwhile, our day to day mission support comm systems are down on at least a weekly basis and are given lip service support.  So innovative.  

[HeloDude]

7 hours ago, FLEA said:

Was at some AF school and we had a consultant in tech come talk to us. It was about 3-4 years ago when "innovation" was the Air Force buzz sauce. Dude just laughed and said the DoD is one of the least innovative enterprises on the planet. He talked about how innovation cost money, and Elon Musk will blow up a $30B rocket just to figure out why rockets blow up. The DoD is too conservative and isn't willing to do that. He basically said if you're not the type of person that can burn a $100 bill without even blinking, you aren't ready to innovate, and that's why private sector software, tech and space are moving so far beyond DoD capability. Thought he made some really good points about that. 

Oh the DoD isn’t afraid to to burn a $100 bill without blinking…they just do it due to waste, bad management, etc.

[SocialD]

1 hour ago, HeloDude said:

Oh the DoD isn’t afraid to to burn a $100 bill without blinking…they just do it due to waste, bad management, etc.

 

 

But, you had better not even think about booking an AirBnB!  ...how will they know what to pay without an itemized receipt! 

[FourFans]

23 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Then it went BOOM.  I think Elon predicted a 50% chance but they were happy it got off the pad.  Watched it live and early on it looked like several engines failed.  Flop maneuver was successful?  Something went wrong at separation and she kept flopping.  Overall it seems they hit several milestones and are well on their way.  If anyone can do it I think SpaceX is it.

I had to do a little scientific self-education, but the fact they were HOPING to clear the tower, and then actually made it through max-q (the highest dynamic pressure point which will highlight any weakness in the design) with multiple failed motors is a great telltale.  I'm not an individual stock buyer, but it seems like SpaceX is here to stay for a while.

[uhhello]

6 hours ago, FourFans said:

I had to do a little scientific self-education, but the fact they were HOPING to clear the tower, and then actually made it through max-q (the highest dynamic pressure point which will highlight any weakness in the design) with multiple failed motors is a great telltale.  I'm not an individual stock buyer, but it seems like SpaceX is here to stay for a while.

1 tower and many rockets.  From the looks of follow on videos, they FUCKED up the pad big time.  NASA would have spent decades designing a over engineered pad that would have came in 100% over budget.  Space X took a risk from the looks of it and from the outside looking in, they'll need a redesign for the next launch.  

 

"3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch. Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months."

Edited April 21, 2023 by uhhello

[uhhello]

This angle is freaking wild.  They definitely lost engines from this.  

 

[SurelySerious]

1 tower and many rockets.  From the looks of follow on videos, they ED up the pad big time.  NASA would have spent decades designing a over engineered pad that would have came in 100% over budget.  Space X took a risk from the looks of it and from the outside looking in, they'll need a redesign for the next launch.  
 
"3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch. Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months."

If only there was decades of data on rocket launch pads for what works. Naaaaah

[uhhello]

32 minutes ago, SurelySerious said:

If only there was decades of data on rocket launch pads for what works. Naaaaah

Yeah, what were they thinking.  It's twice as powerful as the largest rocket fielded.  Did you read Elon's quote?  

[SurelySerious]

Yeah, what were they thinking.  It's twice as powerful as the largest rocket fielded.  Did you read Elon's quote?  

You mean the quote about the incomplete launch pad that doesn’t have any of the flame chutes or water spray for shock suppression that the other pads launching the previously largest rockets had? Yeah, I read that dumb rationale.

[uhhello]

8 minutes ago, SurelySerious said:

You mean the quote about the incomplete launch pad that doesn’t have any of the flame chutes or water spray for shock suppression that the other pads launching the previously largest rockets had? Yeah, I read that dumb rationale.

I took it more as they thought they could get one launch out of it and gambled.  They obviously lost.  

[SurelySerious]

I took it more as they thought they could get one launch out of it and gambled.  They obviously lost.  

Fair enough.

[uhhello]

11 hours ago, SurelySerious said:

Fair enough.

They definitely know now though 🙂 Maybe saved them some money on demo.

Edited April 22, 2023 by uhhello

[HeloDude]

[uhhello]

2 hours ago, HeloDude said:

It could have made it all the way to splashdown and they would call it a failure despite that being the intention all along.  Tribes man. Tribes.

[Clayton Bigsby]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:36 PM, uhhello said:

I took it more as they thought they could get one launch out of it and gambled.  They obviously lost.  

That minivan obviously lost!

[uhhello]

2 minutes ago, Clayton Bigsby said:

That minivan obviously lost!

Bit of a miscalculation 

[Biff_T]

On 4/21/2023 at 4:18 PM, uhhello said:

This angle is freaking wild.  They definitely lost engines from this.  

 

Come on babe, I've got my mom's minvan and a secret spot where no one will bother us.  Trust me....

[Lord Ratner]

What a cool time to be an American.

[Prosuper]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:27 PM, SurelySerious said:

You mean the quote about the incomplete launch pad that doesn’t have any of the flame chutes or water spray for shock suppression that the other pads launching the previously largest rockets had? Yeah, I read that dumb rationale.

The problem is not an incomplete launch pad, the problem is down the line when one these Starships refuel on the moon  and relaunch itself home or onto Mars. If it does this every time, landing it on the Mars will make a permanent fixture on the planet. Elon might have to build a ship like the Apollo Lunar landers carried by Starship. Each question answered brings ten more questions or problems that need to solve. Apollo was a tinker toy compared to this. Glad it's in the private sector, can't imagine a bunch GS 15's stabbing each other in the back and taking years to make simple changes. 

[Lord Ratner]

34 minutes ago, Prosuper said:

The problem is not an incomplete launch pad, the problem is down the line when one these Starships refuel on the moon  and relaunch itself home or onto Mars. If it does this every time, landing it on the Mars will make a permanent fixture on the planet. Elon might have to build a ship like the Apollo Lunar landers carried by Starship. Each question answered brings ten more questions or problems that need to solve. Apollo was a tinker toy compared to this. Glad it's in the private sector, can't imagine a bunch GS 15's stabbing each other in the back and taking years to make simple changes. 

I think the first and second stages are meant to stay in orbit once launched, or return to earth. Refuel from an orbiting tank and continue on. Only the actual starship lands on the moon or Mars, and that has considerably less destructive force.

 

On the moon that's easy, not much thrust required to get off the moon. I don't recall the gravity on Mars.

 

I heard spaceX has already made 1,000 changes to the next test rocket, before getting the data from this launch. I remember how quickly the space industry went from laughing at the failed dragon landing attempts to shitting their pants. ULA is already dead, they just have a warm corpse. And no one is even close to catching up. 

 

Starship should be able to launch 10-20x the number of starlink satellites per launch, so Elon will have a total monopoly on LEO Internet service. Who will be able to put up a competing constellation if SpaceX just refuses to launch anyone else's satellites? No one.

 

This was the first launch of the biggest rocket ever made, and it made it through Max-Q with 5 failed engines. Let's just hope Elon can avoid becoming the next Howard Hughes.

[ClearedHot]

8 minutes ago, Lord Ratner said:

On the moon that's easy, not much thrust required to get off the moon. I don't recall the gravity on Mars.

0.375 that of Earth - really helps when you run the fuel and return calculations.

SpaceX and Musk have a very iterative process that is paying dividends as they outpace the traditional "experts".  Amazing to watch their progress.