Starship Orbital Test Flight tomorrow morning! (17/4/23)

Red Squirrel · Apr 22, 2023

I noticed that too, lot of big chunks of debris, was not sure at the time if it was just dirt but it may very well be concrete.

Number1 · Apr 23, 2023

6 engines bells blown off during takeoff.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1650074530575183877

crashtech · Apr 23, 2023

It's amazing it got as far as it did!

MrSquished · Apr 23, 2023

Number1 said:
And after several iterations, he gets it right. As a matter of fact, he surpasses anything that was done before.
Like it or not.

Only when the people around him hold him back and manage him. Left to his own impulses, it would take a lot lot longer.

He is a bombastic salesman, full of himself narcissist if the worst kind, lies like it's second nature, and takes credit for others work.

How're those iterations of self driving going?

Brovane · Apr 23, 2023

MrSquished said:
Only when the people around him hold him back and manage him. Left to his own impulses, it would take a lot lot longer.

Without Musk pushing the envelop, we would still be waiting on Boeing.

MrSquished · Apr 23, 2023

Brovane said:
Without Musk pushing the envelop, we would still be waiting on Boeing.

I know. If it wasn't for Elon, we'd still be cooking over campfires and predicting the weather via looking at the smoke from the campfires.

He has turned out to be a giant turd on our society overall. Without a doubt his salesman tactics helped some, but his solo success stories are the things of fairy tales. He strong armed the actual founders of Tesla to take all the credit, he is a spotlight seeker that can't give credit where credit is due. It is known he has to be managed to avoid destroying the good things in his companies. Now that he went off on his own at Titter - we see exactly what kind of businessman he is and the total lack of character he has. Enjoy your emperor with no clothes on.

IronWing · Apr 23, 2023

Brovane said:
Without Musk pushing the envelop, we would still be waiting on Boeing.

Sort of but not really. Congress decided to put big money in human space ventures again for the first time in two generations. The billions flowing to SpaceX for innovation would have flowed to another company for innovation.

Brovane · Apr 24, 2023

IronWing said:
Sort of but not really. Congress decided to put big money in human space ventures again for the first time in two generations. The billions flowing to SpaceX for innovation would have flowed to another company for innovation.

Yes really. We are still waiting for Boeing and it's commercial crew capsule. Still waiting on New Glenn to demonstrate rocket reusability. Still waiting on ULA's Vulcan. I am really curious, which company do you think would have done the innovation without SpaceX?

skyking · Apr 25, 2023

Check out this vector, Victor!
(And don't call me Shirley!)

New POV Footage Shows Dodge Caravan’s Final Moments Before SpaceX Starship Explodes

NSF's Dodge Caravan was brutally beat up from SpaceX's launch of Starship. Here's how it fared in the aftermath.

www.thedrive.com

When there's an explosion, usually things just fly up in the air through a parabolic arc and come down predictibly.
This one did a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The windows look like they got hit by grape shot.
I think the engines excavated it and then sent it horizontally like a Randy Johnson fastball.

IronWing · Apr 25, 2023

Better than an unsightly flame trench and dampening system.

skyking · Apr 25, 2023

Tearing up the launch pad like that is part of the continuous improvement cycle. They get to build it better next time.

Red Squirrel · Apr 25, 2023

skyking said:
Check out this vector, Victor!
(And don't call me Shirley!)

New POV Footage Shows Dodge Caravan’s Final Moments Before SpaceX Starship Explodes

NSF's Dodge Caravan was brutally beat up from SpaceX's launch of Starship. Here's how it fared in the aftermath.

www.thedrive.com

When there's an explosion, usually things just fly up in the air through a parabolic arc and come down predictibly.
This one did a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The windows look like they got hit by grape shot.
I think the engines excavated it and then sent it horizontally like a Randy Johnson fastball.
View attachment 79937

Hopefully they buy that person a new car. Maybe even a Tesla. If I was Elon that's what I would do. Good publicity move and cheap in grand scheme of things.

skyking · Apr 25, 2023

that was nasa spaceflight's telemetry van. Do go watch the video it was full of camera gear and left out there in harm's way. Way harmed it.

Red Squirrel · Apr 25, 2023

Doh, probably lot of very expensive gear in there.

dainthomas · Apr 26, 2023

skyking said:
Tearing up the launch pad like that is part of the continuous improvement cycle. They get to build it better next time.

They're like the kids who don't understand why things are done a certain way, so have to hurt themselves to learn their lesson.

Brovane · May 1, 2023

Elon Musk Starship Update After Explosion: "We'll Reach Orbit in 2023"

The special concrete that SpaceX used on the pad they thought would hold-up. https://www.imerys.com/product-ranges/fondag

Highly resistant and robust, Fondag concrete is unshakeable. Nothing stands in its way; neither cold, extreme heat nor corrosion. Even under extreme conditions.

It looks like Superheavy is a bit to extreme for this concrete.

Environmental groups are suing the FAA over granting the launch license to SpaceX.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/...-over-spacex-launch-license-texas-2023-05-01/

crashtech · May 1, 2023

Brovane said:
Elon Musk Starship Update After Explosion: "We'll Reach Orbit in 2023"

The special concrete that SpaceX used on the pad they thought would hold-up. https://www.imerys.com/product-ranges/fondag

Highly resistant and robust, Fondag concrete is unshakeable. Nothing stands in its way; neither cold, extreme heat nor corrosion. Even under extreme conditions.

It looks like Superheavy is a bit to extreme for this concrete.

Environmental groups are suing the FAA over granting the launch license to SpaceX.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/...-over-spacex-launch-license-texas-2023-05-01/

Looks like the Fondag blurb might need a disclaimer now.

MrSquished · May 1, 2023

The less Elon is involved in the actual SpaceX program the more likely it will be to succeed. Still waiting on those automatic driving taxi's motherfucker and autonomous tesla's. His fucking Android humanoid was a fucking joke it was embarrassing. His management of Twitter is literally a clusterfuck after a cluster fuck. His claims are almost always nonsense these days, more than before but before not many called him out for it.

All the guy can do is bullshit. It's only competent people around him that corral him in who make things work.

Brovane · May 7, 2023

Good article from NASA spaceflight that discusses the Test flight and discusses the launch and next steps without sensationalizing it.

Elon Musk pushes for orbital goal following data gathering objectives during Starship debut

Brovane · Sep 8, 2023

SpaceX Statement on the mishap investigation into the first test flight. They don't mention what started the propellant leak but if I was guessing it could have been all that flying concrete during liftoff.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

UPGRADES AHEAD OF STARSHIP’S SECOND FLIGHT TEST

The first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy was a critical step in advancing the capabilities of the most powerful launch system ever developed. Starship’s first flight test provided numerous lessons learned that are directly contributing to several upgrades being made to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future Starship flights. This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. SpaceX has led the investigation efforts following the flight with oversight from the FAA and participation from NASA and the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Starship and Super Heavy successfully lifted off for the first time on April 20, 2023 at 8:33 a.m. CT (13:33:09 UTC) from the orbital launch pad at Starbase in Texas. Starship climbed to a maximum altitude of ~39 km (24 mi) over the Gulf of Mexico. During ascent, the vehicle sustained fires from leaking propellant in the aft end of the Super Heavy booster, which eventually severed connection with the vehicle’s primary flight computer. This led to a loss of communications to the majority of booster engines and, ultimately, control of the vehicle. SpaceX has since implemented leak mitigations and improved testing on both engine and booster hardware. As an additional corrective action, SpaceX has significantly expanded Super Heavy’s pre-existing fire suppression system in order to mitigate against future engine bay fires.

The Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) automatically issued a destruct command, which fired all detonators as expected, after the vehicle deviated from the expected trajectory, lost altitude and began to tumble. After an unexpected delay following AFSS activation, Starship ultimately broke up 237.474 seconds after engine ignition. SpaceX has enhanced and requalified the AFSS to improve system reliability.

SpaceX is also implementing a full suite of system performance upgrades unrelated to any issues observed during the first flight test. For example, SpaceX has built and tested a hot-stage separation system, in which Starship’s second stage engines will ignite to push the ship away from the booster. Additionally, SpaceX has engineered a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines. Using fully electric motors, the new system has fewer potential points of failure and is significantly more energy efficient than traditional hydraulic systems.

SpaceX also made significant upgrades to the orbital launch mount and pad system in order to prevent a recurrence of the pad foundation failure observed during the first flight test. These upgrades include significant reinforcements to the pad foundation and the addition of a flame deflector, which SpaceX has successfully tested multiple times.

Testing development flight hardware in a flight environment is what enables our teams to quickly learn and execute design changes and hardware upgrades to improve the probability of success in the future. We learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems during Starship’s first flight test. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable launch system capable of carrying satellites, payloads, crew, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, lunar, or Martian landing sites.

Brovane · Jun 6, 2024

A little over 14+ months later and we see a lot of improvements for the 4th flight. That was some amazing views as Starship came in for re-entry.

SpaceX Launches (and lands) Starship Flight 4

Racan · Jun 8, 2024

Amazing seeing this huge booster landing:

Starship Orbital Test Flight tomorrow morning! (17/4/23)

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