Starship Orbital Test Flight

[river raven]

it's gorgeous despite being a blazing desert

[shell python]

good lord lmao

[vagrant moat]

I get the feeling, even though I live in a completely different environment

I love the prairie

[shell python]

REAL, i wanna go so bad but at the same time not go from gun problems to cartel problems

[vagrant moat]

People say it's boring and flat but it's so beautiful here

The bluebonnets right now are so pretty

[shell python]

yeah i’ve really learned to see the beauty in it due to the threat looming that i might have to go

[vagrant moat]

Even if the pollen sucks

[shell python]

this dirt and these roads are my home

[shell python]

REAL REAL REAL

[river raven]

Long live the desert

[shell python]

i love the american west/southwest it’s so vibey

[vagrant moat]

I think I'm gonna stay for quite a while honestly, both because I'm fortunate enough to be able to and because I'm too stubborn to let them run me out

I'll die if they kill me, until then I'm enjoying it

[river raven]

Big skies and even bigger fields

Blue Angels Winter Garrison is El Centro, my old hometown

[vagrant moat]

Pretty

[river raven]

I remember my dad would always take me to the Air Show in March when the Blue Angels would start their season

[vagrant moat]

I've been to a few air shows, they're very cool

[river raven]

and they would practice regularly weeks before you can see them flying all over

[vagrant moat]

I was gonna go to an air show last year but decided I didn't feel like it

Next day two of the planes crashed into each other mid-show

[river raven]

childhood memories

This is literally the most Imperial Valley picture I've ever seen, I love it

[vagrant moat]

Aesthetic

[river raven]

Big Fields and Big Sky

[keen plover]

I had a random thought; considering the damage we saw to the OLM and concrete, it is possible that aborting wouldnt really be an option once the stack got near T-0 because the pad would be in too poor a condition to try again? Because a T-0 scrub would likely have still caused a ton of damage to the OLM and raptors that would probably preclude any sort of recycle I would imagine. Just a random thought

[river raven]

https://www.milenio.com/politica/comunidad/observan-despegue-cohete-starship-spacex-playa-matamoros

It is possible to view Starbase launches from Mexico lmao, so it is a viable idea

[shell python]

i want to come back at some point in my life

it’s boringness is so pretty

plus texas sunsets

it’s so authentic

[vagrant moat]

Yeah

[shell python]

as the saying goes, you can take a girl out of texas but never the texas out a girl

[shell python]

yeah i was thinking that too

knowing what i know they had to get that thing off the ground because it was a ticking time bomb if it aborted

[whole hawk]

A friend went to see it and there is almost a better view than from Starbase.

https://twitter.com/fronteraspacial/status/1648184483131060226?

Frontera Espacial (@FronteraSpacial)

Hoy no se logró, pero nos veremos nuevamente el 20 de abril. La #Starship volverá a intentarlo el jueves 🚀🤩

DESPEGUE — 13:28 UTC 🗺️
15:28 🇪🇸
14:28 🇮🇨
10:28 🇦🇷🇺🇾
09:28 🇧🇴🇨🇱🇨🇺🇩🇴🇵🇷🇵🇾🇻🇪🇺🇸ᴇᴛ
08:28 🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇦🇵🇪🇺🇸ᴄᴛ
07:28 🇨🇷🇬🇹🇭🇳🇲🇽🇳🇮🇸🇻🇺🇸ᴍᴛ
06:28 🇺🇸ᴘᴛ

Likes

311

Twitter · Apr 18, 2023, 4:39 AM

5 Km to the launch pad

[sharp flower]

Crazy

[past robin]

Safe distance

[whole hawk]

Yeah

And Mexican Territory

[past robin]

How does this work

[past robin]

Wait huh

Where WB-57 photos

[past robin]

Wacky doo

[proven field]

Can't find anyone else making these so far so...

(Blue is telemetry from B7; Red is telemetry from S24)

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1649280821352890368

Cosmic Penguin (@Cosmic_Penguin)

I haven't found anyone else who did it so here's the velocity & altitude graphs from #StarshipLaunch, compare w/ @flightclubio's sim it's obviously under-speed & altitude but flight seems straight for 2+ mins.

Graph by probably the most unlikely Earthling to do it - @clearusui.

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 5:16 AM

[river raven]

that spot is right next to the runway

[past robin]

Ohh

[river raven]

A huevo 🇲🇽

Mexico should also design launch vehicles and launch them on that same coast in Veracruz. Would make so proud to be Mexican.

[rich blade]

quite impressive that they managed to launch it on their second try

[past robin]

what am I missing

[modest heron]

Sanity

[past robin]

@remote onyx

[remote onyx]

Ty

[remote onyx]

Also half of the launch site concrete

[undone gull]

Not anymore

[compact tinsel]

https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1649183660615016449

Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut)

Isn’t it fun when @Storyful puts a copyright claim on your livestream that we’ve worked for years to prepare for and produce? 😪 How unbelievably unfair that they’re claiming 56 seconds of our show is their content (it’s not) and now we are un-monetized 🤦‍♂️

Likes

7203

Retweets

621

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 10:49 PM

Sent wrong tweet. Anyway, this sucks.

[modest heron]

Youtube claiming system has been broken for years now

[woven moat]

Traces of a giant

[compact tinsel]

Yup

They did it to these guys too.
https://twitter.com/stuartrodgers/status/1649197625151741953

Stuart Rodgers (@stuartrodgers)

@NASASpaceflight @Erdayastronaut @Storyful They've done the same with @LabPadre's content too:

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 11:45 PM

[woven moat]

Bruh

[compact tinsel]

Never forget
https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1649201135041880064

RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos)

This is the location for the remote camera setup, you can see multiple railings blown over. I'd be amazed if those cameras survived

Likes

1800

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 11:59 PM

[pulsar pollen]

F

I badly need that precious slo-mo engineering footage

[whole moat]

Not sure where this comes from

[sharp flower]

Engine #26 disintegrates? Dang

[white oyster]

what engines are they? yeah in that they are numbered 1-33 but theres also another number that is thier manufactured no

[whole moat]

I don’t think we know the serial numbers of the engines attached

[whole hawk]

I just had a conversation with one of the SpaceX engineers...

Key takeaways:

1.) No, the booster did not lose hydraulic power as far as he knew. Everything was fine except for the engine anomalies.

2...(This is wild)...The initial "loss of control / tumble" that we observed was not a loss of control...it was supposed to be the stage separation maneuver, but the stages did not separate properly. The separation failure lead to a true loss of control due to the inability of the vehicle to understand or respond to its condition. The person I spoke with clarified that the maneuver was to be much more dramatic than what people were generally anticipating; a very substantial change in attitude that would look really odd to us. The ship was then supposed to use TVC to straighten itself out and continue.

The person I spoke with is uncertain as to why the stage separation failure occurred.

3.) The person I spoke with was definitely pleased with the test and did not express any sort of disappointment or concern for the program.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=58671.msg2478345#msg2478345

Although some things don't add up for me

[vagrant moat]

It's still fucking me up hard that the thing finally flew

IT FLEW!

[sharp flower]

And it’s gone

[vagrant moat]

Yeah

[sharp flower]

😦

[umbral karma]

I cant wait for the next attempt

[whole moat]

like for example why the booster didn’t shut down

[brittle spire]

Boostback burn

I think the sequence was:
Flip, stage, continue flip to full near 180, start boostback burn

But all the parameters followed by a desperate attempt at overcorrection
Also relatively speaking the ship was really heavy

[whole hawk]

Exactly

[whole moat]

But it never shut down, boostback burn would be restarting it

[brittle spire]

I think, and this is just theories

It's decoupling and then still using some engine thrust starting the spin, but the parameters of the spin it was targeting where completely wrong because the ship didn't want to let go

Also Burgers sources mirro the optimism

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1649381415442698242?t=4bi-QlZTobvI-AQnQ1rBsw&s=19

Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace)

I've spoken with half a dozen employees at SpaceX since the launch. If their reaction is anything to go by, the Starship test flight was a spectacular success. Of course there's a ton to learn, to fix, and to improve. It's all super hard work. But what's new? Progress is hard.

Likes

2829

Retweets

221

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 11:55 AM

[whole hawk]

I think a more appropriate sequence would be:

Shutdown of all 20 engines leaving the engines with TVC to start turning, then stage separation, then shutdown of the remaining booster engines while Ship starts its engines and with the center engines adjust their orientation after separation.

[brittle spire]

Also I'm pretty sure there was cheering for the FTS trigger

[brittle spire]

Yeah and because the ship didn't seperate it kept the TVC engines running trying to correct course while it was just losing its processors over what was happening

[whole hawk]

Yeah

[brittle spire]

https://twitter.com/DJSnM/status/1649280812926504960?t=M6kPQPUWQ90rokRNrPk9Mg&s=19

Scott Manley (@DJSnM)

My authentic reaction to the launch:

Likes

2664

Retweets

114

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 5:16 AM

I never knew I needed Tom Scott / Scott Manley content

But now I do

[whole hawk]

Yes, to execute the separation, a speed and altitude were needed, which were not achieved in time.

[loud spire]

So the launch was ruled out to be a failure

[whole hawk]

Yes and no

Failure because there was a flight plan in which it lasted 90 minutes with Ship's splashdown.

But a success because it was a test flight and it went farther than estimated.

And most importantly, a lot of information was gathered.

[umbral karma]

Do you think the damage to the concrete had anything to do with the raptor failures? Some of them seemed to be working great

The ones which did fail seemed to do so very early on

[loud spire]

Probably debris

[whole hawk]

The concrete damage was caused by not having a flame deflector or sound suppression system.

[umbral karma]

Yeah for sure, I mean do you think debris from the concrete damage was to blame for the failures?

[whole hawk]

After the static fires, it was clear that there was also damage to the flight, the question was how much?

Now we saw what happens when the engines ignite at 90% and that was not all of them.

Although I also believe that the clearing of the pad took longer than expected.

[whole hawk]

maybe

[loud spire]

It did look slow at liftoffb

[whole hawk]

Yeah

[brittle spire]

I think that in any case it did not help

[brittle spire]

BTW should change your status to "flame diverters are difficult"

[umbral karma]

I thought it was gonna do an astra for a moment

https://tenor.com/view/astra-rocket-sideways-wsb-wsbn-gif-22898588

[hollow plaza]

Holy shit I didn't even see him

[brittle spire]

there also was one of the other guys that looked like that guy from Numberphile

[hollow plaza]

I also like how no one is acknowledging unfiltered Scott Manley

It's so in character and out of character at the same time lmao

[whole moat]

Not all of them - some lasted a minute or so before shutting down

[whole hawk]

Now

[shell python]

id that went boom they would def get hurt no?

[brittle spire]

holy shit balls of fire

[river raven]

probably not, unless it was high enough to where the debris could spread out farther. But the most damage would probably be the sound of the explosion from that close

[shell python]

they lost an HPU on the ground?

how the

[whole moat]

Unlikely, I don’t think this chart has anything to do with reality

[shell python]

i have a hard time believing that the GSE engineers are taking that as a spectacular success, that shit is fucked

[brittle spire]

well maybe they wanted better GSE equipment, and now have a perfect excuse!

HPU?

[shell python]

the low twr meant it was under thrust for a lot longer than intended i think

[shell python]

been to known to happen on the statics before so

[whole moat]

Hydraulic Power Unit - device that creates pressure and transmits it through some liquid - I believe methane in this case - for actuating hydraulic devices like gimbals

[shell python]

i guess it’s prob taken with a telephoto, but honestly that closeness to the worlds largest non nuclear explosion would not be good for you

[brittle spire]

wait they lost a HPU and where fine enough, cool

[shell python]

i have a hard time believing good HPUs wasn’t part of the LCC so i agree

i’m honestly gonna be kinda surprised if the FAA is happy with how they did the flight

[shell python]

but their system also absolutely failed lmao

a very very expensive (money & time) mistake

[shell python]

wait wait wait they use methane for hydraulics???

wth lmao

i mean if it works it works i guess

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/unrocket/status/1649425500526329863

Paul Breed (@unrocket)

Had not seen this image before... Found it on the beechtalk forum...

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 2:50 PM

YOOOOO

[rich blade]

WOAH

[whole moat]

wow

[rich blade]

LOOOK AT THAT DAMAGE MY GOD

[brittle spire]

GET THE ELON TWEET

[fluid bobcat]

One thing would have prevented all of that

[umbral karma]

It seems so silly that they tried to go without a flame trench

[shell python]

she gone

[river raven]

fuck it, to see the biggest rocket fly I'd like to have first row seats

[timber relic]

Would be more funny if it actually needed to be rowed

Got it?

Front row seat

leaves

[remote onyx]

Hahh

[rich blade]

ba dum tss

[paper heron]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/316188085211627520/1098989002754887760/image.png

[river raven]

I wonder what would happen if a caravan of migrants started going through the river and into Starbase during a launch attempt

sounds dangerous

[umbral karma]

I dont think its that close

nvm, its much closer than I thought

That would be a weird place to cross though

[remote onyx]

It's possibly a really good time to go, everyone will be distracted and you're safe until it goes extremely wrong

[river raven]

the sound could probably injure you if you are close enough

[river raven]

3 miles

[river raven]

the river is shallow right on the beach

[pulsar pollen]

nah I'd definitely risk it

[oak sable]

SpaceX exports a lot of copium

[pulsar pollen]

Like that camper dude in the 2012 movie

[pulsar pollen]

Corporate copium, average SpaceX L

[thick sphinx]

SpaceX with the innovative strategy of a fully reusable launch vehicle and a fully expendable launchpad

[loud spire]

Saw a video labeled as starship launched viewed from airplane

But I can't tell if it's actually starship

All the news posts about starship are so

[shell python]

that concrete can be reused infinitely tho

[raven scroll]

wasn't there an under booster camera

wonder how that held up

[loud spire]

Probably on south Padre or something

Probably not where it was

[raven scroll]

more likely now in the atmosphere

[loud spire]

Oh yeah

Maybe dust

It's air now

[shell python]

https://twitter.com/Jack_Frodo/status/1649458232987975680?s=20

Jack J (@Jack_Frodo)

Starship OLM after the first launch 😳

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 5:01 PM

[shell python]

erffli will find it in a forest in 5 months

[loud spire]

When I visit

Will go on a hike. And find

Computers

So residents of port isabel are complaining about shaking from the launch

But likw

[pulsar pollen]

as expected

it was only for like
three minutes tho, they're fine

and they would've been notified, and so on

so as long as they don't report property damage and stuff among those lines, SpaceX is not obligated to give a shit

[pulsar pollen]

https://twitter.com/jdeshetler/status/1649197130731630593

Jay L. DeShetler (@jdeshetler)

Remote shot of Starship's maiden flight. A large piece of concrete slab can be seen next to rocket as it rise out of the cloud. Audio by @nextspaceflight @NASASpaceflight @SpaceX

Likes

1508

Retweets

182

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 11:43 PM

[rich blade]

ok hold on this video reminds me of old Saturn V launch coverage

[timber relic]

That video really shows you the concrete was doing well until they ramped up the engines to the max thrust for liftoff

First 7 seconds of engine ignition were good, then concrete raining, rocket starts moving and more concrete keeps being pumped out

[pulsar pollen]

Saaame

I'm planning on making an edit once I have some more footage to work with

[rich blade]

thats gonna be sick

[pulsar pollen]

https://twitter.com/CamBamJamFam/status/1649143290657140775

POV: you're a SpaceX engineer

Cam 🌹 (@CamBamJamFam)

POV: You and a few thousand friends spent many more thousands of hours making the most powerful rocket in human history and today it flew for the first time.

Likes

4525

Retweets

514

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 8:09 PM

[loud spire]

Exactly

"I was terrified" or whatever they said or fearing for life it was something dramatic. Well it was in a news article so they probably over dramaticsied it

News only talks about the dust cloud and the explosion

[indigo frigate]

So the consensus is that the debris caused nearly every problem right

[whole moat]

no, we don’t have enough information to determine the causes of every problem

[next sierra]

The debris likely caused the engine outs. The HPUs may not have failed at all, or at least not completely. The AFTS failing to immediately detonate as it probably should have as well as other software issues were, well, software issues

[indigo frigate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJdrlWR-yFM

[pulsar pollen]

ah yes

Top Gear being beautiful as always, casually proving itself to be one of the best shows on British television with three of the most iconic hosts of all time

[sharp flower]

Grand Tour

[indigo frigate]

grand tour was americanised

[vagrant moat]

I think that got renamed to "Voyager" after some budget cuts

[white oyster]

wonder why the closure is extended even more, maybe somethings wrong wirth the olm with it still venting?

[rich blade]

cars to pad

[quasi crest]

Which stream is this?

[rich blade]

starbase live

[quasi crest]

Thanks

[white oyster]

also nasaspaceflight too

also olm started puffing/venting about 5 hours ago, about 9:15 AM

[sharp flower]

The Detroit episode is my favorite

[paper heron]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/316188085211627520/1099068165360730242/image-21.png

[vagrant moat]

https://tenor.com/view/hecu-half-life-half-life2-get-real-patrick-casey-gif-23973196

[rich blade]

https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1649515491621216258

Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut)

This is not a render. This is not a simulation. This is @SpaceX’s first integrated test flight of #Starship with the Super Heavy booster, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. This #slomo is from our 8k tracker shot by @considercosmos.

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 8:48 PM

WOOOOAH

[umbral karma]

That footage is amazing

Can see the engines failing in high definition

I still love this pic

[loud spire]

During fts ?

[umbral karma]

Just before

Structure failure caused by second max-q

[loud spire]

Well the booster looks like stuff coming out

Oh yeah

Well that's already well into it doing the spin

[umbral karma]

yep

Right after that image I believe FTS was activated

Then boom

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1649521329765330945?s=20

Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace)

The damage in Boca Chica at the Starbase launch site looks pretty serious, but a former senior SpaceXer from there says he believes the pad can be repaired; and a (water-cooled?) flame diverter installed in 4 to 6 months. Just passing on what I was told.

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:11 PM

[umbral karma]

[rich blade]

dont ask me why, i really dont know, but i have a feeling that repairs will go quickly and yes i have seen the damage

[brittle spire]

Still a false news picture, interstage isn't designed to handle the rocket doing acrobatics manoeuvres and spins

[rich blade]

just have this odd feeling that they will repair everything quickly

[brittle spire]

😴 time for let's say a 6 month wait next then tho

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1649521809279025153

Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace)

"The lead mechanical guy responsible for the launch mount/flame diverter is one of the smartest people I know. I bet his team designed the launch mount that exists now for some sort of flame diverter to be installed in the future knowing that this was going to happen."

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:13 PM

[brittle spire]

I wonder what boosters they're flying for the next flight

[umbral karma]

omfg this is getting even better

[rich blade]

9 i think

first one with electric TVC

and structural improvements

[umbral karma]

If he was so smart then why is there a huge hole

[brittle spire]

I wonder if they'll go with another one, or retrofit it possibly, with everything they learned from this flights

4 months still is a long time

[umbral karma]

I cant

[rich blade]

used booster to start off works on flame diverter

[umbral karma]

[rich blade]

possibly, but B7 and S24 sat around for a long time whilst the GSE was prepped for SFT

[brittle spire]

They gambled it wouldn't be to bad

Arguing that in the same time they can get the flame diverter finished they can fly, repair damage and then install the diverter

I don't necessarily even think this still is wrong

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649523985837686784

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

@SciGuySpace 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.

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:22 PM

[rich blade]

one month

[brittle spire]

Considering they where still planning to do 2-3 flights more before installing a proper delige system

[rich blade]

i will eat a concrete slab if they launch in one month

[brittle spire]

Idk I wouldn't be surprised
Sometimes Starship stuff can go incredibly fast, sometimes it just stalls it seems

[rich blade]

yeah i guess but still, 1 month for repairing all of this plus testing the new vehicles

[umbral karma]

I hope thats a thick ass plate with a lot of water because the amount of thermal energy coming out those engines is going to overwhelm the thermal mass of something like that in seconds

[indigo frigate]

Hear me out.

[rich blade]

imo early autumn at the very very earliest

[brittle spire]

I wonder how much of the hole needs filing, or if they can just repair the foundation, throw a bunch of concrete down there, put some metal over it to help and kinda just keep the hole there

[rich blade]

what if they just put water under the pad

[brittle spire]

"It's a feature"

[rich blade]

fill the crater with water, "water deluge system"

[brittle spire]

Would vaporize in under a second

[rich blade]

yeah tru

[brittle spire]

Might cause issues with the hot moisture in the air

[umbral karma]

They should drive metal piles down under the pad and then weld the steel plate to that. Kinda like a heat sink which transfers into the ground

[brittle spire]

Like there enough energy there to blast reinforced concrete away and dig a giant hole in 6-8 seconds

In flight the plume is around 200 meter long

[rich blade]

yeah

[brittle spire]

The power there is insane

[rich blade]

its mental

tbh the thing is over twice the thrust of the Saturn V

what else did we expect

[brittle spire]

Like I think people are extremely overreacting to how bad this is

It seems very sizeable

[rich blade]

its cuz something like that is not something u see every day

[hollow knot]

What I think he means is the OLM will be finished and respired in a month or two

[raven scroll]

is the OLM like

stable atm

[raven scroll]

alternatively tonka trucks might suffice

[rich blade]

starship creates craters, SLS changes the colour of grass

[vagrant moat]

TBH I get that vibe too but it's based on absolutely nothing whatsoever so don't take my word on it

[rich blade]

yeah same

[vagrant moat]

My guess is December

[rich blade]

like yeah, theres like stuff damaged but idk knowing spacex it will all get fixed by may

[rich blade]

my complete guess is november

will be interesting to see if any upgrades will be made to B9

or if they entirely just move onto another pair

[brittle spire]

I think it's going to be faster unironically

Maybe 3 months

[rich blade]

late summer at the earliest for me

[vagrant moat]

It could be faster but 3 months is very optimistic

4 months at minimum IMO

[hollow plaza]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649523985837686784

Soooo 1-2 years. Got it

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

@SciGuySpace 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.

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:22 PM

[rich blade]

not only do they need to repair, but also test two vehicles, including B9 cryos, SFs, S26 SFs and possibly a WDR

doing that in 3 months will be astronomically impressive

half a year more reasonable

[brittle spire]

I don't think we can properly gauge what needs to be done

[rich blade]

eh i have no idea what they need to do lol

all i know is that the OLM needs repairs, tank farm needs repairs (i wonder if they will make new insulation tanks for the tank farm) and cleanup of the area

[brittle spire]

Like the vehicles are all but done

They can probably use the suborbital stands for Initial testing

[raven scroll]

1-2 months, every month

[rich blade]

yeah thats good but also u cant test vehicles and repair the launch site at the same time

and priority is probably to repair the pad

[brittle spire]

You can work around eachother
Each has bottlenecks to work with

[raven scroll]

you can't run them in parallel sure but like

you test vehicles a fraction of the time

you can definitely test and rebuild at the same time

[rich blade]

alternatively they could test at night and repair during the day or vice versa

[raven scroll]

how much testing do you think they do

[brittle spire]

In the end I think it also depends on if SpaceX wants to/can launch again without beefed up flame diverter whatever

[thick sphinx]

My concern is much lesser knowing they have a solution ready

the steel of the launch mount was fine for a reason, add water cooling and that can take all of the heat of Starship

[brittle spire]

They already where basically going to do this

They knew they would damage the pads

[rich blade]

idk how much they have for B9 and S26, if any but:
S26:

• Cryo
• SP
• 1-3 engine SF
• 6 engine SF

B9:

• Cryo
• SP (maybe 33, idk)
• some sort of SF

then WDR

most likely missed something

[thick sphinx]

Yea they can't do the fueling stuff till the launch area is fixed up

[raven scroll]

sounds a lot but they're not doing that all day every day

[rich blade]

for ship they can

[brittle spire]

But the flame diverter was still months away, so they just launched hoping the damage wouldn't be to Extreme

[rich blade]

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1649527628494151680

Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight)

For any cameras at the pad that managed to survive, the chef's kiss is on the way!

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:36 PM

[raven scroll]

starship induced global warming

[brittle spire]

Also just realized one thing that was another giant success

The tiles did really well

[rich blade]

yeah

quite impressive how almost all stayed on even during the flips

[brittle spire]

But now just all hope they can fix it fast

[rich blade]

raptor reliability needs improvement tho

otherwise starship will become the new N1

[hollow plaza]

Wellllll

https://twitter.com/SpoxSpace/status/1649101046596223008?t=mQVYZAEA_i_Lv07k7IS0TQ&s=19

SpoxSpace (@SpoxSpace)

You cannot tell me this thing was gonna survive re-entry with this many tiles missing
That’s just one side of the heat shield…

Likes

1078

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 5:21 PM

[brittle spire]

I think it's better then expected

[raven scroll]

4 tiles

starship dead

[hollow plaza]

Uh

Yeah?

[rich blade]

4 tiles out of thousands whilst flipping is quite impressive

[brittle spire]

I would hazard a guess that at least 2 engines died die to concrete

[rich blade]

yes ik it would die

but still

[hollow plaza]

Imagine if those raptors hasn't been coroding in salty air for a year before flight

[brittle spire]

Did you see how shoddily they where attached, and almost forgotten?

The fear was that like almost all of them would come flying off, just a handful coming off is a huge win

[rich blade]

yeah imo spacex saw 31/33 were up and going so they let it fly

[rich blade]

speaking of, does B9 have its engines?

[hollow plaza]

I doubt it

[brittle spire]

Idk when they failed

[rich blade]

ignition

[brittle spire]

We only got graffic at t+8 tho

Or even later

[rich blade]

or some of the concrete flew up and damaged two engines

[hollow plaza]

2 failed right before T-0, one failed right after T-0

And 3 failed on ascent

[brittle spire]

And unless one of the under pad cameras survived

[hollow plaza]

According to that chart posted earlier

[thick sphinx]

We are assuming it was the raptors that were the problem and not the chunks of concrete being thrown around the vehicle

[rich blade]

when u think about it, firing over 30 raptors at concrete for 8 seconds, not surprised the launch mount looks like that lol

[brittle spire]

Especially those 2 engines together on the outer ring look a suspicious lot like a acute case of unexpected concrete intake

[hollow plaza]

Engine 26's story I'd a tragedy written better than Shakespeare

Fails before launch

Triumphantly attempts to reignite

Fucking disintegrates

[rich blade]

yes, i am, there is ofc a possibility that the concrete didnt instantly cause a shutdown and only in flight

[brittle spire]

Source of this?

[hollow plaza]

No idea

I found this here

Iirc Ryan sent it

[thick sphinx]

Like I'm not saying the raptors are perfect cos they're not but on the test stands those things have been having few to no issues at all

[hollow plaza]

so

[hollow plaza]

@whole moat where this come from

[rich blade]

yeah i was surprised that quite a few kept shutting down but the thing launched within a cloud of flying concrete so

[brittle spire]

Just need to mature
Merlin shows they can get up a needed reliability

[rich blade]

although im glad B9 has electric TVC cuz, im no rocket expert, but it seems like the loss of HPU mightve impacted the stability of the rocket 😅

[thick sphinx]

🤏 a little bit

[shell python]

1 to 2 months my ass

[rich blade]

also how did the stage not separate? did the clamps get stuck or something? or did the crumple prevent that

[pulsar pollen]

press x to doubt

[shell python]

yeah idk how they could structurally support a stack with that thing. they’ll be lucky if they can reuse the mount at all

[pulsar pollen]

I dont think engineers and Elon are on the same wavelength lol

at least not rn

[rich blade]

fully reusable rocket at the cost of an expendable pad

[shell python]

i’ll be surprised if they fly before 2023

2024*

[keen plover]

💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀

[shell python]

i doubt regulators will be fine with that tbh

[pulsar pollen]

Engineers be like "that's gonna take a good six months to fix.. and we got all those issues with the booster to sort out-"
Elon: "a month you say? perfect!"

[shell python]

would be very not good for a hotfire abort

[brittle spire]

That's why the can

[keen plover]

we probably should remember this is the same guy who told us orbit 2021 if it werent for the FAA

[rich blade]

orbit 2019

[keen plover]

MK1 to orbit guys

[pulsar pollen]

orbit 2019!

[keen plover]

cant even cryoproof

[whole moat]

I have no idea but I think it’s wrong; the engine failure pattern doesn’t line up with my counts on what engines are where, and they said an outer ring engine tried to restart which should be impossible.

[shell python]

i don’t think they ever are

[rich blade]

now imagine if it was ITS launching in place of B7 and S24, which was more powerful than the current starship design

[whole moat]

I got it from someone on the KSP-RO server who got it from ????

[shell python]

i wish they didn’t scrap it so they could throw it on a super heavy for shit n giggles

[whole moat]

but it’s almost certainly fan fiction

[shell python]

could the thing even support a raptor??

[rich blade]

equally horribly made Superheavy

[rich blade]

nope lol

[keen plover]

structure crumples upon force of B7 raptor ignition

[shell python]

nah just use 9 Falcons

[rich blade]

sn4 was the first starship prototype to be equipped with a raptor iirc

[shell python]

lmao

and we know how that went

[rich blade]

heh

[shell python]

was 4 supposed to hop

[rich blade]

i

good question

i dont think

so

but maybe

but we know what happened

[shell python]

hopefully the SH would just keep going

[keen plover]

maybe the leaking methane would give us a F-111 style dump and burn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpPEdOMSIgQ

[brittle spire]

They should throw one of the rocket garden starships to Orbit

[keen plover]

hoppy to orbit

[rich blade]

420 to orbit

[keen plover]

SMH clearly B7 should have launched B4/S20 on a hop test

[rich blade]

this some serious nostalgia, look how empty it all looks

[shell python]

why does it burn?

[shell python]

THE MASS SIM

[rich blade]

the hat

u mean

worn by SN4, 5, 6, and i think 8 for a bit

nvm sn8 didnt wear it

god those were the days of tank watching

grain silos sitting about all day

[whole moat]

im so glad they could afford real mass this time

[keen plover]

the fuel dump is right behind the engines

so the dumped fuel lights

[rich blade]

and the excitement of a triple engine SF

[shell python]

i wish they did a 150m hop with a full compliment

[rich blade]

like when SN9 did 3 SFs in one day

[shell python]

interesting

[rich blade]

what ship with nosecone and flaps?

[shell python]

yeah

[rich blade]

well

[shell python]

not like it would’ve helped but it would’ve looked cool

[rich blade]

we got something better

[shell python]

LITERALLY

i remember watching like 4 cryoproof at midnight

[rich blade]

ahh remember when everyone thought that we would get a 150m booster hop

[shell python]

YEAH

remember how B1 was stacked right after the SLS CS hotfire

[rich blade]

i rember the SN7, 7.1 and 7.2 tanks and always waking up before school whilst NSF was still live lol

[rich blade]

with a crane and they cut a hole in the high bay

[shell python]

yeah lmao

[hollow plaza]

The engine did actually attempt to relight. You can see it on the ship and in the engine graphic on the stream.

[shell python]

i remember watching 8

that was so cool

[hollow plaza]

I remember watching hoppers 20 meter hop!

[rich blade]

8 was the first starship prototype i watched the whole campaign

[shell python]

had it in the background all day as they hit countdown milestones

[hollow plaza]

I remember Raptor SN1!

[shell python]

and our only way of knowing T-0 was a spreadsheet

[hollow plaza]

Those were the days

[rich blade]

SN5 and 6 i only watched the hops

[rich blade]

yeah haha

[whole hawk]

Where did you get this? Seems very accurate and interesting information

[hollow plaza]

Anyone else remember that time hopper "exploded"

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649537668177354754?s=46&t=SMbYM7wvp4yImXva6dTuCg

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

@RGVaerialphotos All that’s left of the concrete lateral support beam is the rebar! Hopefully, this didn’t gronk the launch mount.

Likes

136

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 10:16 PM

[hollow plaza]

Ryan sent it first.

idk where he got it

[rich blade]

wish i did but i dont, havent followed starship for that long

[hollow plaza]

This was late July 2019, hopper was doing SF and there was a methane leak

[shell python]

no?? (i was not following then, but i do remember in 5th grade reading about the “SpaceX South Texas Launch Site” on wikipedia and thinking it was so cool they’d fly Falcons from Texas )

[brittle spire]

Remember SN9 trying to commit suicide in the highbay after SN8

SN9 really was the cursed one

[rich blade]

yes lmao

[shell python]

lmao

[whole hawk]

@whole moat

[rich blade]

died on its side

[shell python]

i don’t even think i saw a hopper sf

[hollow plaza]

It was engulfed in a massive fireball, but not an explosion

[keen plover]

I started tank watching like right before SN8 launch

[shell python]

died how she lived

[keen plover]

after the funny SF's though

[hollow plaza]

Man this event is probably buried in an old Tim Dodd stream

[rich blade]

anyone remember the BN3 SF?

[shell python]

SN11 was worse

[hollow plaza]

Of course

I was on site for BN1 stacking

[rich blade]

idk why i feel like its quite neglected

first ever booster sf

[shell python]

you saw SN8 or something right

[hollow plaza]

I saw SN11

[brittle spire]

SN11 was forgotten
Still the basically faulty SN8-10 design and SN15 was super on the way

[rich blade]

[shell python]

oh 😭😭

[hollow plaza]

Yea

[shell python]

i saw B4 S20

[hollow plaza]

Not the launch

[rich blade]

no u didnt, at least not in flight

jk

[hollow plaza]

Just saw it on the pad

[keen plover]

SN11 was kinda the expendable one TBH

[hollow plaza]

I mean yea lol

[shell python]

yeah, rip 12, 13, 15, and 16

[hollow plaza]

Do yall remember SN11's attempted SF where no one could figure out if ignition happened or not?

[shell python]

hey wait guys do you remember the SN16 hop and the SN15 reflight

[rich blade]

ohhh yea i rember

[hollow plaza]

I was at Isla Blanca Park for that

[shell python]

i think i was in the shower

[rich blade]

SN16 hypersonic test wdym

[shell python]

fr!!

[keen plover]

Was about to say that lol

[hollow plaza]

I remember hearing a rumble, but definitely not ignition

[shell python]

SN10 rapid reusability

remember when we got elon test confirmation tweets

[hollow plaza]

SN10 flew twice in 10 minutes

[brittle spire]

I really wish they tested SN16

[hollow plaza]

Clancy is still owed 500 dollars

[rich blade]

been almost 2 years since sn15

[shell python]

what lmao

[hollow plaza]

Clancy mad a bet on whatever the high stakes space bets subretddit is that SLS would fly before SN16 or something

[brittle spire]

[hollow plaza]

(This was with insider info that confirmed SN16's demise)

Before the public knew

[rich blade]

wait i remember that

also remember the guy who bet $50 that dearmoon would fly before A1

[brittle spire]

We do a little bit of trolling

[loud spire]

Nsf saying the how value of all the equipment in the van

[hollow plaza]

Gotta claim it on insurance now lol

[brittle spire]

Got hit by a rock

[rich blade]

im curious how loud starship was at the launch mount

[modest heron]

Probably loud enough to kill you

[rich blade]

nsf inspecting other equipment

[shell python]

lmao

[rich blade]

camera gone

https://twitter.com/SpaceXMR/status/1649535694648270855

r/SpaceXMasterrace (@SpaceXMR)

"Booster 7 be like" by vlex26 via https://t.co/LzdJYQGsqw

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 10:08 PM

stg the OLM has been venting all day

[pulsar pollen]

Take the roar of the Shuttle's RS-25 in the second or two after ignition, and make that sound constant

Also multiply the sound's volume by roughly 3

[west umbra]

yeah, it was

[loud spire]

has there been any more leaked footage

[rich blade]

starship flight test number 1 on youtube trending, what we like to see

[pulsar pollen]

is it??

[rich blade]

for me it is

[pulsar pollen]

daaaaaaaaayum

#2 on trending for me

[hollow knot]

Yes

Looks like ULA sniper was the cause of fialure

[rich blade]

https://youtu.be/5Gu5kIuR8uA

this is a gem

[pulsar pollen]

gold

[loud spire]

Was it seagull

[sharp flower]

How is that so perfect

[whole moat]

yeah?

[whole hawk]

Source

#1092654510951890994 message

[whole moat]

I can see it on the graphic but the graphic was inaccurate in other places and I couldn’t find it on the stream.

[whole moat]

I got it from Katniss on the KSP-RO server. I don’t think it’s accurate.

[whole moat]

Like I said here

[whole hawk]

Ok, no problem, just that there is interesting information.

[whole moat]

most it it’s wrong from what I can tell fyi

[whole hawk]

Ok

[timber relic]

Huh

Yeah it's wrong

First item is already wrong

[hollow knot]

rate meme

[hollow knot]

not resued

Refurbishable

[past robin]

Yeah but what the fuck

[hollow plaza]

Suboptimal

Like

All of it

[shell python]

https://twitter.com/SebMendonca/status/1649475304371503105?s=20

Hakko 🧊🚢 (@SebMendonca)

This has to be the most kerbal staging manuevre I've ever seen

Likes

512

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 6:08 PM

wait wait wait WHAT

i thought it was supposed to roll?????

how tf are you gonna launch sensitive DOD payloads like that

or people lmao

[hollow plaza]

This works better when it's at 80+km like it's supposed to be

[past robin]

Surely they are gonna figure that this is bad at some point right

Starship is so fucked lol

[hollow plaza]

Honestly this is the least of their problems

I actually see this as a good thing, it keeps prop at the bottom of the tank

[past robin]

Ullage

[hollow plaza]

As well as providing the rotation for the boostback burn

I really don't see any problems

[past robin]

It looks suboptimal but it's actually genius

Until it doesn't work

[hollow plaza]

Only reason it didn't work was because <insert 300 page engineering report on every failure during this launch>

Also, I believe that graphic is misleading

I highly doubt the engines would be firing in retrograde during the "flip"

[proven field]

Where does this come from

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1649567729203183616?s=46&t=SMbYM7wvp4yImXva6dTuCg

SpaceX (@SpaceX)

Starship clearing the tower

Likes

189

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 12:16 AM

[hollow plaza]

I have no idea, someone else posted it here

And they got it from somewhere else

[whole hawk]

clearing the ground*

[hollow plaza]

Looks like superheavy blew up on its own

or it started coming apart which activated the FTS

[proven field]

Could be legit based on Everyday Astronauts’s tracking camera
The 2nd tracking shot has up to 8 engines flaming out and my memory says the locations seems to fit

[whole hawk]

Two explosions are seen, one in the engine area and one in the TFS area.

I assume that the AFTS was activated after it detected that the vehicle was being lost.

[whole moat]

where'd it go

[proven field]

OK @hollow plaza @whole moat , the timeline you posted seems legit if 2 of the engines that shutdown were nos. 18 & 19 instead of 17 & 18
I can fit in the locations of engines lost with actual tracking shots

[whole moat]

So the counting i tried to do earlier wasn't correct?

[proven field]

6 engines down here I think

6+2 stuttering here

[whole moat]

no but i mean the assignments

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1076774554514501664/1098977834661335153/7HuNbo.png this is what i got

if the middle one that went out there was engine 3

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/437303418688634881/1098964166284427294/Starship_Flight_Test_37-44_screenshot.png

using these numbers

am i just totally wrong

you can probably extrapolate where all the rest are, that's why i didnt label them

[keen plover]

did it get deleted?

[proven field]

Yes, but Elon himself just reposted it
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649579313061154817

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Starship liftoff in slow motion

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 1:02 AM

[whole hawk]

Original version

[vagrant moat]

Holy fuck that's so sexy

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/russianspaceweb/status/1649483086470455300

Anatoly Zak (@RussianSpaceWeb)

Speaking of flame trenches for rockets, here is my (previously unpublished) view of the Energia test and launch stand at Site 250 in Baikonur. There are some humans for scale.
Context: https://t.co/FVxYMzk8AO

Likes

706

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 6:39 PM

https://twitter.com/russianspaceweb/status/1649522728527966210

Anatoly Zak (@RussianSpaceWeb)

...and here is the best angle I could get on the flame trench for the Soviet N1 Moon rocket at Site 110, later used for the first and only launch of the Energia-Buran system.
Context: https://t.co/KJnnDyd2S3

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 9:17 PM

https://twitter.com/russianspaceweb/status/1649539109671653376

Anatoly Zak (@RussianSpaceWeb)

...and here is the rarely seen "underbelly" of the Zenit rocket pad in Baikonur at Site 45, also by yours truly.
Context: https://t.co/VXphSLaQjt

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 10:22 PM

https://twitter.com/landru79/status/1649536828683300868?s=46&t=SMbYM7wvp4yImXva6dTuCg

landru79 (@landru79)

Alineando algunos frames del vuelo de la #Starship de #Elon

Merci @juanjogom por el video

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 10:13 PM

https://twitter.com/tomandspace/status/1649287950910492672?s=46&t=SMbYM7wvp4yImXva6dTuCg

Tom and Space (@TomandSpace)

😅 Stage 0 at liftoff
(Credit to extracterflux on Reddit)

Likes

1865

Retweets

254

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 21, 2023, 5:44 AM

[proven flame]

does anyone have the video of the NSF van being struck

[west umbra]

https://twitter.com/SemrauDylan/status/1649050806577164293?s=20

Dylan Dylan (@SemrauDylan)

I wonder if insurance will cover this

Likes

10150

Retweets

1436

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 20, 2023, 2:02 PM

[proven flame]

thanks

[past robin]

this thing is a fucking tank

[next sierra]

yep, same with 26

[next sierra]

SN3 was supposed to, then RUD, then SN4, then RUD

[true aspen]

It's raining concrete
From out of the sky
Concrete
No need to ask why
Just open your mouth and close your eyes
It's raining concrete

It's raining concrete
Out in the street
Concrete
All you can eat
Steel rebar and sand
Rocks and birds
It's raining Concrete

Yum yum yum yum yumity yum
It's like a dream!
Yum yum yum yum yumity yum

https://tenor.com/view/its-raining-tacos-tacos-gif-16119801

[sharp flower]

Taco

[whole hawk]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/715551468509462619/1099200753287057458/image.png

authentic clear pad

[rich blade]

WOAH

[brittle spire]

Worst video ever

Like seriously couldn't you give is 4 seconds more the engine plumes
I hate you SpaceX

[woeful kernel]

My recreation of Starship Test Flight (or ITF) in a game, not completely according to exact data of flight but similar to it, shows the tilt during liftoff, delayed and slow liftoff, engine compensating for the lost thrust and correction by gimbling, flip during stage sep and how nearby engines are affected by explosion, the nozzle loss as seen in the actual launch

[modest heron]

That's Conestoga

[woeful kernel]

Cannot make the 3d arrangement in 2d, just made 5 engines to depict the ring arrangement

And for 5 engines to make fuel supply to look good enough, made fuel tanks like it

[umbral karma]

I was thinking about it last night and i'm actually very impressed by raptor 2

Given all that damage and debris caused by the launch, the fact that most of them still worked is INCREDIBLE

[brittle spire]

Also these engines are 1 year old

Or more

[umbral karma]

Yeah for real

I honestly think that the test would have been a huge success had the pad not exploded

Starship would probably have made it to orbit

Back down... probably not

[thick sphinx]

Nah i agree

The vehicle test was a really good success and gave a ton of valuable data, and I'm happy we got to see the thing fly

The pad on the other hand

[umbral karma]

I think if they fix the pad properly with the water cooled plate (and it actually works which i'm somewhat doubtful of), the next test will go smooth

[rich blade]

vehicle performed not bad if you took away the problems due to concrete flying everywhere

[umbral karma]

Given the stresses it was under and the fact it kept going despite so many engine failures, I think it performed above and beyond

It proved incredible resilience

And it also proved just how structurally sound it was. It was flipping around at Mach 2 while still firing its engines and nothing came apart

Most rockets can't take a fraction of that stress

[fast terrace]

tbf, no rocket has ever tested that lol

[umbral karma]

True

I am really excited to see a successful test. If they get it working properly, I can see it being just as bulletproof as F9

[rich blade]

for sure

shame that the concrete didn't hold up but what did we expect

[umbral karma]

Yeah it was kinda obvious tbh

If static fires at low power were damaging it...

[hollow knot]

Speaking of SFS starship models

Rate mine

[sharp flower]

That just isn’t it

[hollow knot]

Don't mind the TWR

[raven scroll]

Anyone else get the feeling that nsf are milking the launch a bit

[pulsar pollen]

I mean
They did get their van toltalled

I for one think the merch is justified

[undone gull]

Yeah I agree

[raven scroll]

Uploaded Pre-Recorded Content:

SpaceX Starship Launch Imminent | Starbase Update
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Launch Ends in Explosion (Launch footage video)
SpaceX Finally Launches Starship! (More camera views)
Starship Fully Sent It! | This Week in Spaceflight (new series starting like literally today)

Live Content:

The eve of SpaceX's First Integrated Starship Flight Test
SpaceX Attempt One - Starship Flight Text
Starship Status Update Ahead of First Full Stack Flight! (Apr 18th)
Starship Status Update Ahead of First Full Stack Flight! (Apr 19th)
Starship Launches Starship Flight Test (Actual launch)
Starship Update: Post-Flight Reaction```
+ almost certainly NSF live

[undone gull]

All the flight updates before launch though

Kinda got annoying

[pulsar pollen]

Fair; the pre-flights videos were a bit much

But I think NASASpaceflight is geared towards the die-hards who want updates every three seconds

[raven scroll]

I guess

kinda a shitty position considering that the launch didn't go the first time

but hot damn that's a lot of content

heaven knows they made bank on this

@next sierra curious of your opinion

[pulsar pollen]

True
That T-Shirt of the messed up van was shameless lol

[raven scroll]

I mean they lost their van and it's kinda funny so idrm

did they even lose the van

I'm not 100% filled in

I know it lost a few windows

[rich blade]

i appreciate the extra content its nice listenin to NSF

[raven scroll]

Wonder how much insurance SpX had to pay for

[pulsar pollen]

I don’t wanna think about it

[raven scroll]

technically NSF can get all damage back from SpaceX, right?

Like they can't legally have a "you park here at your own risk"

can they?

probably grey

[undone gull]

They let people know anyone who put equipment in the remote cam sites are responsible for their own equipment

They let the media know of the risk

NSF knew the risk and took it

[raven scroll]

that's cool but how does that work legally

[umbral karma]

Legally anyone putting expensive equipment close to a rocket is dumb

[whole hawk]

TWD

[umbral karma]

jeez lol

[raven scroll]

yeah but law generally doesn't have much of a "you're stupid" clause lol

[umbral karma]

Yeah its a flaw

[rich blade]

reminds me of the SN11 rud and how there were hundreds of pieces of steel everywhere

[umbral karma]

But on this I completely agree with SpaceX, anyone putting stuff around it knows the risk

Like leaving your stuff out in a hurricane

Its not even on SpaceX's land

If you leave your stuff anywhere for long enough out in the open it will be damaged

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1649789224957116421

LabPadre (@LabPadre)

WTH? A tethered parasailor! Watch Live: https://t.co/DdOW1ntIGs #SpaceX #Starbase #Starship #SuperHeavy

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 2:56 PM

Range Range Range Range

https://fxtwitter.com/nik_lovell/status/1649760298394329088

Another Range violation

[timber relic]

Starbase Update, released weekly. Two launch recaps, one of just launch and the other more edited as we got more footage back. This Week In Spaceflight, we've been doing this for two months in podcast format, debuting it now in youtube format.

NSF Live show, first launch attempt, post-scrub updates covering the work ahead of launch and talking about all the chaos with TFRs in and out, second launch attempt, this one was going to be a livestream of our folks going up to the van and showing the damage but it didn't happen that way cause the road stayed closed.

[timber relic]

No

Just like anyone putting remotes for any other launch at the Cape, Vandenberg, or wherever

If your camera is toast, that's your fault not the company's

They let you put it there and they're not responsible for any losses

[rich blade]

i like This Week in Spaceflight, been listening to the podcast but i prefer the video format

[timber relic]

If that were the case, NASA would be liable probably millions of dollars in cameras lost during Artemis I attempts lol

Just the time between the first and the second attempt with the storm going through the cape that week... a lot of cameras were lost 😬

[raven scroll]

I suppose cameras were on spx land then

[timber relic]

Yep

[raven scroll]

ah right

[timber relic]

This is danger lot, SpaceX property

[raven scroll]

are they liable for any that potentially aren't?

[timber relic]

They are not

It's another remote camera location where NSF put their van and also Tim and CP had likely about a $100k in high tech camera and sound equipment all thrown around

It's where lab's rover cam was moved as well, it's not a coincidence that everything is in the same location

But people think we all just put things there just because lol

[raven scroll]

...because people think it was put there because it was a good shot?

I don't see how you make it out that it was 100% obvious that you were told to put it there

[timber relic]

It was absolutely not, it's a crap shot

Towards the beach, that's a better location for viewing

Which is where both lab and NSF had their cameras

Until they were moved to this site on SpaceX territory

In any case, it's publicly known this is SpaceX's land. It's on the PEA and it's been theirs for two years.

Remember that this is where Lab used to have his own pad camera before the "rover" cameras

SpaceX bought the lot and removed the camera themselves

[rich blade]

speaking of cameras, will the road reopen today?

[timber relic]

Hopefully

[proven field]

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1649798462500659200?s=46&t=9j2-lzDcIbRK6McrWkEb9g

Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight)

SpaceX says we get to go get our cameras today!!!

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 3:32 PM

[timber relic]

And this is why https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1649798866210893825

Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport)

Yeah the remote cameras left out by the Starship pad are likely toast.

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 3:34 PM

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649800747834392580

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

@SciGuySpace Still early in analysis, but the force of the engines when they throttled up may have shattered the concrete, rather than simply eroding it. The engines were only at half thrust for the static fire test.

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 3:42 PM

https://twitter.com/flightclubio/status/1649767604309860353

Flight Club (@flightclubio)

First pass at modelling Starship launch (busy few days, only getting around to it now)

The beauty of FC v3 is that I have rigidbody physics and controllers. I can just turn the controllers off at T+120 and the whole vehicle just starts to tumble - just like IRL!

Video @ 10x 👇

Likes

293

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 1:30 PM

[rich blade]

was the pitch over shortly after liftoff intended?

or was it due to asymmetrical thrust

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/drphiltill/status/1649639372478611456

Dr. Phil Metzger (@DrPhiltill)

We used steel plates for some of the Morpheus launch locations so we weren’t tied down to places with concrete. I analyzed the heating of the sheet and showed that the heat would redistribute fast enough that it would not locally melt on the surface, and… /1

Likes

1547

Retweets

206

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 5:00 AM

Good thread

[rich blade]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ln4cr8EpwQ

[umbral karma]

Doubt it was a thrust issue

Most of the engines were still firing on liftoff

I think only 2 were out which is relatively inconsequential

[rich blade]

yeah fair

[umbral karma]

I think Scott Manly was correct

They purposely pitched it away from the tower

[true aspen]

i think at liftoff it would be pretty noticeable

[keen plover]

*3

[umbral karma]

oh yea my bad

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1649843591160684546

Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight)

https://t.co/7hKnhxtJ0a

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 6:32 PM

Nooooo

[umbral karma]

Eeh, its just a Nikon

[whole hawk]

LabPadre and Tim 😊

[rich blade]

wait road opened?

[umbral karma]

whoops

[timber relic]

The source https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1649846072687067136

Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer)

Starship first flight remote camera pickup part 1: utter carnage. @NASASpaceflight

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 6:42 PM

[timber relic]

Media were allowed to pick up their stuff

Road remains closed

[rich blade]

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1649847778858930177

Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight)

Launch of Starship! @NASASpaceflight

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 6:48 PM

woah

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1649848598904045568

John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos)

Starship takes flight

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 6:52 PM

[umbral karma]

These photos are hot wow

[timber relic]

And now it is open

Road open

[whole hawk]

There were a lot of people watching the launch from Mexico

[timber relic]

The debris thrown made their own craters

https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1649856515807879170

Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer)

Orbital launch mount after Starship’s first flight: toasty.

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:23 PM

[umbral karma]

Looks like a meteor lol

But with rebar

[modest heron]

Looks like they'll have to wait a long time for another launch licence

[umbral karma]

Yeah...

Environmentalists have all the ammo they need now

[rich blade]

cringe

[umbral karma]

They are gonna tear SpaceX a new one

Honestly, I don't think it will prevent a launch in a few months though

SpaceX will just have to prove they have mitigated that issue

Probably by doing a 90% throttle static fire on the new steel plate thing

[modest heron]

Rebuilding the launch pad will prevent that anyway

[umbral karma]

Depends how they rebuild it

Its gonna need a fair bit of concrete work

But that realistically wont take long

Fixing all the other stuff, that will take longer

[modest heron]

Depends if the structure itself is compromised

[umbral karma]

Yep

The OLM might have even shifted

It was only designed to take the full force of a launch with the concrete intact

The rocket started digging it up while still clamped down

[manic frigate]

Maybe they will switch out the shielding but I highly doubt that they will tear apart the OLM and make a new one

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/rgvaerialphotos/status/1649862799349121025

RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos)

Additional images taken now of the Launch Site... more photos coming soon.

Likes

121

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:48 PM

https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1649861498196357120

RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos)

Chopsticks are looking good

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:43 PM

https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1649864776409837570

RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos)

Check out this crater, cap for scale

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:56 PM

LOOOL

https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1649857835067473922/photo/1

RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos)

zoomed in

Likes

237

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:28 PM

Hoppy

https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1649865095357374465

Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer)

https://t.co/PPGkAVfqXS

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:57 PM

https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1649858355085602819/photo/2

Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer)

Post launch damage shots:

Likes

215

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:30 PM

[umbral karma]

fucking lol

hoppy got its insides demolished by full stack

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/DavidJDPhotos/status/1649869628896604160?s=20

David D. (@DavidJDPhotos)

A window into the mouth of hell.

📸: Me for @WeAreSpaceScout

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 8:15 PM

[whole moat]

That was before

[umbral karma]

o

[whole hawk]

YOOOO

Now to the mechanic to give an explanation of how the car was damaged.

https://twitter.com/StarshipGazer/status/1649871924170825732?s=20

Starship Gazer (@StarshipGazer)

https://t.co/LsFOzf07W3

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 8:24 PM

[hollow knot]

what if i run through the entire launch site?

itll be a modern version of temple run

launch pad run

[next sierra]

it is texas

good luck

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/t_minus_app/status/1649883941657104385

T-Minus App 🚀📱 (@t_minus_app)

Of course it had to be 420.69

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 9:12 PM

[surreal scaffold]

19 THOUSAND?

[vagrant moat]

Who the fuck

[proven flame]

I could go to Boca for far cheaper and get my own Starship blasted dust

[loud spire]

Same

Literally like 5 hours away

[rich blade]

NSF van showcase on stream

[manic frigate]

i have a feeling somebody grabbed a piece of dirt near the launch tower and stuffed it inside of a tube

who knows they could've just put salt and pepper inside too

[umbral karma]

There is definitely a lot of salt inside

Elons tears

[white oyster]

Tbf i bet if you asked spacex nicely they would say "sure, jump into the pit and grab a sample of the soil"

[indigo frigate]

I reckon starship could lose A LOT of tiles and make reentry

This isnt space shuttle aluminium were talking about

Its stainless steel, with cryogenic fuel behind it

[rich blade]

yeah it does have a higher chance of living

[indigo frigate]

Im tryna research how i would even go about calculating if it could make it

How hard is it to find the absorbed heat radiation from reentry of a shiny stainless steel plate

Its shiny too. thats a big deal

Yeah never mind looking into this more youd need to be a real serious scientist

Colombia was destroyed by allowing hot gas to enter the structure, many shuttles made it through with a lot of missing tiles

[hollow knot]

So then why do people think starship with 1 or 2 starbricks missing will not make it through entry?

[hollow knot]

Nobody gonna talk about the $10 shipping?

[indigo frigate]

Emissivity of Stainless steel is 0.07. Meaning 93% of radiation is reflected

Thats a serious advantage right there already

Did a little calculation there, the stainless steel area under one tile would have to absorb 5KW to melt.

Thats 5KW of constant heating, for that small area. With the convective cooling of the cryogenic methane behind it

Plus, any heat transfer to surrounding skin.

Boundary layer of plasma is at around 1500 degrees generally.

There is NO WAY IN HELL that starship losing one tile would cause it to fail.

So upon next launch, I will put £100 on it making it through reentry.

(Only if it makes it to space)

[whole moat]

a quarter of the engines failed renze

[whole moat]

I’ll take that bet - with the makes it to space condition, otherwise we call it off - but I think you shouldn’t have made it

[indigo frigate]

I like a quick £100 profit so youre on

[whole moat]

Well, two problems

1. it won’t be quick, we’re a couple months at least away from the next launch
2. the next launch, as currently planned, will not feature a heat shield at all.

[indigo frigate]

Itll make the next launch like a football game. You will be glued to the screen like never before

[whole moat]

This could backfire on me if they choose to skip s26 and 27 but otherwise I’m pretty confident they do not survive

[umbral karma]

Probably due to the concrete shrapnel, I am honestly surprised more didn't fail

If they fix the concrete problem, I bet all the engines will be fine on next attempt

[whole moat]

They were consistently failing throughout the flight, you’d have expected most hit to go down early on if it was really due to direct impacts

[umbral karma]

Not necessarily

Shrapnel can cause damage which slowly leads to more damage as the engine operates

Also its possible for one engine to fail and break an engine next to it

[whole moat]

I suppose - only taking out a couple cooling channels, for example. But given they also had two engines fail on their static fire I think it’s very likely that there were significant reliability issues with raptor that would have shown even if the concrete were fine

[umbral karma]

Yeah, I think reliability is definitely something to keep an eye on

But look how many kept operating perfectly fine all the way until destruction after blowing a 5ft hole in concrete

Thats seriously impressive

[whole moat]

Also with the amount of failures that happened spaced out I think it’s reasonable to say the risk of one engine exploding and taking out a couple others was overblown

[umbral karma]

Yeah, one of them violently exploded

The extra shielding they added between the engines seems to work great

[whole moat]

was that actually an engine

Oh wait yeah of course it was

I was thinking of something else

[indigo frigate]

Static fire also had a massive amount of acoustics going on

I reckon the acoustics will have done as much damage as shrapnel

[whole moat]

you know, like would have happened in a launch attempt

[indigo frigate]

im saying that its still stage zero thats the problem

The Raptors are solid

[placid nova]

I still don’t get why people call the GSE stuff stage zero lol

[whole moat]

It is very cringe

[umbral karma]

funni

[vagrant moat]

So, probably not right now but... when is this thread going to be closed?

[next sierra]

Because it's so much more complex (and high risk) compared to most other vehicles' GSE and it plays such a massive role in getting the vehicle off the ground that it deserves to be named as such?

[placid nova]

girl.

[next sierra]

slug.

[remote onyx]

Does elon

[keen plover]

wasnt he the one who started the whole stage zero thing?

[whole moat]

eh not that much more, it’s got a big crane on it yeah but other GSE setups also do things like provide purges and pressure, propellant, electric power, and sometimes going as far as igniting engines or providing gases to spin them up.

It’s by no means unique or even special in the “how much it’s involved in getting the vehicle off the ground” part

[west umbra]

https://twitter.com/_mgde_/status/1649949648029724673

Max Evans (@_mgde_)

They used to ride these babies for MILES!

Seeing such large chunks of concrete and other debris scattered so far and around the pad today really put into perspective the raw power that’s contained within 33 Raptor engines.

Hat for scale.

Likes

590

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 1:33 AM

jeez

[whole hawk]

Looool

[next sierra]

Hear hear
https://twitter.com/TJ_Cooney/status/1649964673112965125

TJ Cooney 🚀 (@TJ_Cooney)

I really encourage you all to purchase a print or two from photographers who placed remotes at the pad for Starship's test flight. Nearly all of them had total losses of their cameras/equipment or severe damage. They took a risk to bring us coverage, we should do our part.

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 2:33 AM

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649979086310088704

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

https://t.co/PubSW9oJ5E

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 3:30 AM

[next sierra]

Many different engines

[oak sable]

wen orbit

[modest heron]

October 18th 2024

[oak sable]

[zealous crystal]

ORBIT 2019

[raven scroll]

"almost orbit 2023" doesn't have the same ring to it

[indigo frigate]

Yeah the ground equipment for Starship is as complex as some rockets, its an engineering feat in itself

[vagrant moat]

Methalox flames are admittedly very pretty. My dad, who barely follows spaceflight news but watched the launch at work, even commented on how noticeably unique the plumes were.

[fast terrace]

tbf methane flames are just like UDMH ones, just a bit brighter due to external post-combustion of methane residues

[vagrant moat]

I mean yes but I don't think my dad who works in the American military-industrial complex is going to be casually watching Proton or CZ-2 launches in his spare time

[modest heron]

Why not

[vagrant moat]

Because he doesn't particularly watch spaceflight except for the big events

And because he doesn't really care that much about overseas aerospace except when it affects the stuff that his work is doing to counter it

[pulsar pollen]

sounds about right

NSF Van

F in the chat for mah boi

https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1649856515807879170

Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer)

Orbital launch mount after Starship’s first flight: toasty.

Likes

3836

Retweets

471

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 22, 2023, 7:23 PM

[rich blade]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1650165156729569280?t=gTHNi0DEngQJoKuIuazhQg&s=33

SpaceX (@SpaceX)

More photos from the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket

Likes

18705

Retweets

2014

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 3:50 PM

mmmm

[umbral karma]

The plume didn't look how I thought it would

[undone gull]

The plume will look slightly different as that included some dying engines in it

Should be more purple

Slightly

[whole hawk]

https://vxtwitter.com/harry__stranger/status/1649963672696152064

[shell python]

oh lord

that’s a lot of concrete dust

[whole hawk]

https://twitter.com/elfamosisimojon/status/1650200059009433601

Jona (@elfamosisimoJON)

Hehe

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 6:08 PM

Genius

[sharp flower]

That’s awesome

[hollow plaza]

Pretty sure that's cryogenic clouds

[shell python]

ah

[west umbra]

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1650209297534418947

Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight)

Major storm now at Starbase. Tornado warnings.

https://t.co/e3xbqPnwZ5

▶ Play video

Twitter · Apr 23, 2023, 6:45 PM

OLM is gonna be completely full of water

[modest heron]

They got themselves a water deluge system

[blissful raptor]

Stack the next one and let it rip no need to do any rebuilding work!!

[true aspen]

Should've waited till today to launch SMH

[hollow plaza]

Holy shit that's a lot of lightning

[blissful raptor]

Chances of a tornado hitting the launch site?

[west umbra]

The tornado warning has expired, so pretty low at this point

[hollow plaza]

Zero.

All rotation was west of the site anyway.

[blissful raptor]

Good good

[whole hawk]

https://youtu.be/-qAvgbK9wVU

[next sierra]

Ocean Cam

Let him be forgotten

[umbral karma]

The amount of force it takes to cause that much damage is just mind boggling

[whole hawk]

I know, but what matters to me are the images, no matter who they are from.

[whole hawk]

And yet not all engines were started and 90% of the thrust was only for one or two seconds.

[umbral karma]

yep...

uhh

I'm not imaging this right?

Tower is leaning?

[rich blade]

i dont think it is

[umbral karma]

Maybe just the camera angle

[rich blade]

probably

[umbral karma]

That camera survived lol

[next sierra]

It became ungovernable

[shell python]

lens warps aren’t uncommon at wide angles, plus it’s assuming this camera is perfectly horizontal

[thick sphinx]

^^^

What is more likely:

1. This superstructure built by engineering professionals to be completely straight up, with a giant concrete foundation to keep it that way, is actually tilted, or

2. The camera this random person set up and leveled by hand is a fraction of a degree off of being level

[ebon stratus]

Considering same engineering professionals grossly miscalculated the effect that Super Heavy would have on concrete, I give it a 50/50

[thick sphinx]

[loud spire]

Waste land

[vagrant moat]

Out of the loop on this one sorry

[next sierra]

TL;DR head case who occasionally goes down to starbase to photograph/record, he has a uhhhh spotty history, this was like September 2021 so not super good with the details but he tried organizing a bikini contest and also was discussing the legality of hiring 13-14 year old interns (I'm sure those two things are very unrelated) and also thinks he's the CEO of some multibillion dollar company that will find water on other planets and sell it (???)

There's a bunch more, pretty much the entire space community trolled the shit out of him

[vagrant moat]

Yeesh

[next sierra]

Incidentally, that mess is how I met @undone gull

[loud spire]

He was denying Columbia I j think