Starship Flight Test 3

[potent rapids]

hey maddie check dm

[wild frost]

anyway

[deep parrot]

rotisserie starship

[olive kiln]

The Jebidiah Kerbin was a trooper. He was with us till the end

[rancid mural]

I think a lack of control at some point?

[wild frost]

this launch has been unreal

cya

[hexed galleon]

here or snap

[rancid mural]

Or maybe a passive thermal demo

[hexed galleon]

insta*

[scenic swallow]

My guess was LOC at SECO

[hexed galleon]

real

[hexed galleon]

yeah💀

[onyx swallow]

official call now is loss of vehicle

[hexed galleon]

personally i don’t think the spinning was supposed to occur during reentry

[mighty kite]

confirmed

[violet cloud]

RIP S28

[hexed galleon]

well uh

[potent rapids]

insta

[rancid mural]

Seems suboptimal

[hexed galleon]

i don’t think it helped cool it down like expected

[rancid mural]

😭

[nimble coyote]

over

[onyx swallow]

ye my leading theory

[potent rapids]

wdym it was obviously intended!!

cooking the ship like kebab

[hexed galleon]

hmmm space baked stainless steel

[olive kiln]

Right nerds bets on when Flight 4 will be

[hexed galleon]

yesterday

[twilit spoke]

May-July

[coarse geyser]

In 3 hours

[mighty kite]

tommorow

[dusty hedge]

Assuming pad is ok? April

[wild frost]

my birthday :)

[lunar citrus]

The confetti gif 😭

[olive kiln]

I’m was going to say June so that works

[hexed galleon]

please please pretty please do it while max is here

[wild frost]

tomorrow at 9

[olive kiln]

No chance

[coarse geyser]

So we calling this one a success?

[olive kiln]

Yes

[rancid mural]

100% sticking with late April / early May

[coarse geyser]

MARACAS ELON

[wild frost]

oh fuck it is pie day

[olive kiln]

I cannot see it being next month

[dusty hedge]

Why

[sterile pilot]

SpaceX logo on Dan's pie lol

[rancid mural]

S29 and B11 are gonna be tested over the next three weeks and the hardware will be ready for a 4/20 WDR

[wild frost]

THEY ALL HAVE PIE LOL

[olive kiln]

Too soon. SpaceX might be ready but the FAA won’t

[deep parrot]

i mean the backup times are there for tomorrow so

[lunar citrus]

They had pies that whole time???

[dawn gyro]

Didn't FAA give them permission for more flights after this

[wild frost]

man whats with these dates they are launching on

[scenic swallow]

This will trigger a new mishap investigation

[wraith igloo]

It made it a lot further than I thought it would

[wild frost]

Faa moment

[deep parrot]

next launch May 4th, or April 1st

[dawn gyro]

Can we talk bout that reentry footage

[dusty hedge]

I dunno

[sharp apex]

Partial failure

[scenic swallow]

Yes FAA doing their jobs is a big FAA moment

[wild frost]

thats shit was crazy

[deep parrot]

big 50 million $ paycheck to the program#

[wild frost]

may 4th seems possible

[leaden kestrel]

So we can expect another failure investigation right? Because not all mission requirements were met right?

[sterile pilot]

idk man that seems very reasonable

[dawn gyro]

https://tenor.com/view/hungry-starving-feedme-gif-8391839290707720765

[wild frost]

just let boeing do it already smh

[dawn gyro]

Feed me spacex

[scenic swallow]

Yes the FAA will have launched a new mishap investigation by the end of the day

[sharp apex]

Yeah, the license covered launch + reentry

[sterile pilot]

FAA needs to ensure safety, part of that is investigating failed launches

[unique mortar]

So is it dead?

[dawn gyro]

Very dead

[sharp apex]

Yep

[unique mortar]

Cool

[potent rapids]

NO

[wild frost]

its joined ift-1 and 2

[potent rapids]

it landed at my house

[leaden kestrel]

Ye I mean re-entry part

[deep parrot]

well all parts of the launch were within safety parameters so

[dawn gyro]

Do you reckon they'll get any data physically recovered? Do they have a black box

[potent rapids]

i get to keep it now

[scenic swallow]

Lol no

[leaden kestrel]

Hopefully less time for license this time since it seems less to fix

[mighty kite]

i was hoping

[leaden kestrel]

Good to see all engines fired as expected with none shutting down unexpectedly

[hexed galleon]

well if they did it’s in the black (ocean floor)

[dawn gyro]

It would be amazing if we got recorded reentry footage

[hexed galleon]

bruhhh

[hexed galleon]

except the ones that didn’t

space

[wild frost]

they should have thrown a pie onboard for good luck

[leaden kestrel]

Congrats SeX

[deep parrot]

well, i meant that there were no rock tornadoes or chunks landing around the caribbean

[dawn gyro]

I really woke up at 5am to listen to jazz for an hour

[potent rapids]

IS THAT THE STARLINK DOOR

[sharp apex]

It was all on stream, RUD likely happened when they lost camera + data

[hexed galleon]

i love how they launched an SHLV but couldn’t have the door not be stuck

like bruh😭😭

[potent lark]

Yoooo

[potent rapids]

lmfao

[dawn gyro]

Yeah that door looked so flimsy

[wild frost]

I had to wake up at 4am to watch the most powerful rocket succeed

[hexed galleon]

low bar lmao

[hexed galleon]

is the landing marked as a failure

[deep parrot]

still, should mean less things to fix

[dawn gyro]

You think it rudded? Reentry break up seems to be a slow process if you look at Colombia

[snow axle]

launch site open

[wild frost]

its a SUD

[deep parrot]

i mean, the plasma mightve gotten in through the broken door

[boreal dagger]

holy shit r process s process

[deep parrot]

and begun a fire inside

[unique mortar]

They confirmed the door shut?

[mighty kite]

it was ocillating during plasma

[deep parrot]

thought it fell off?

[unique mortar]

Yup

[dawn gyro]

What's wack is that the plasma started the instant it hit the Karmen line

[leaden kestrel]

Wait did they do the in space raptor demo?

[unique mortar]

No

[coarse geyser]

I mean it made it all the way through ascent which for NXF means a success

[leaden kestrel]

Damn

[neat parrot]

SpaceX themselves will of course have to do that, and I am sure FAA will still look into them anyway given the booster still crashed, the ship still burnt up and supposingly the ship would probably stay in orbit given they cancelled the Raptor relight
All very reasonable

[unique mortar]

They did prop transfer, payload bay door open/close but not relight

[sharp apex]

Do we know if the propellant transfer demo succeeded ?

[deep parrot]

think so yeah

[hexed galleon]

whaddya wanna bet what caused the failure tirst

[wild frost]

Full stop light

[hexed galleon]

tiles or bbq

[sick relic]

the computer reported it succeeded but they'll have to pick over the data to confirm

[deep parrot]

if succeeded then that means a big payday for the program

[scenic swallow]

No. The flight computer sent telemetry confirming it had completed the actions but there is no confirmation the prop transfer was successful.

[sharp apex]

Ok

[scenic swallow]

My biggest concern here is the apparent loss of attitude control and how early into the coast it began

[boreal dagger]

agree yeah

[scenic swallow]

Booster they'll figure out but nothing can happen in orbit until you get attitude control sorted on ship

[surreal siren]

I think so too yeah

[scenic swallow]

The fact that the nose was oscillating randomly in large amplitudes and not locked to a particular attitude or following the flight path angle is a dead giveaway of LOC

[snow axle]

always design your spacecraft with the assumption that it will lose attitude control immediately on deployment

[deep parrot]

that coast and reentry was very kerbal

[sick relic]

https://tenor.com/view/starship-its-uncanny-how-easy-it-is-gif-1930532251748134250

[deep parrot]

any idea where the reentry was, i wodner if anyone got video of it

[boreal dagger]

this is an interesting spherical trig problem wait

[lunar citrus]

Me holding A and D trying to get the reaction wheels to orient me for reentry

[unique mortar]

Literally

That shit was doomed before plasma started

[bold reef]

https://x.com/BellikOzan/status/1768287568402219256?s=20

Ozan Bellik (@BellikOzan) on X

Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Confirmed, thank you.

I missed the first few minutes of the return of the commentators around T+40m.

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:46 PM

[bold reef]

https://x.com/BellikOzan/status/1768287568402219256?s=20

Ozan Bellik (@BellikOzan) on X

Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Confirmed, thank you.

I missed the first few minutes of the return of the commentators around T+40m.

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:46 PM

[hexed galleon]

https://x.com/DJSnM/status/1768284571244830901?s=20

Scott Manley (@DJSnM) on X

While there were lots of questions over whether heat shield would work, I think this was more an attitude control issue.

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:34 PM

[unique mortar]

Yeah

Definitely

[unique mortar]

It gave out before plasma which sealed its fate

[quasi canyon]

Sbin

I thought it was odd that it was still doing a bbq roll at 100km

[deep parrot]

any word on what the pieces were that were falling off? i dont think they were heatshields but im nt sure what else if that colour on it

[sick relic]

tiles and ice

[nimble stratus]

https://x.com/SenBillNelson/status/1768288689694642398?s=20

Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) on X

Congrats to @SpaceX on a successful test flight! Starship has soared into the heavens. Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon—then look onward to Mars.

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:50 PM

[sharp apex]

Mostly ice

[elfin path]

where were you when S28 is kill?

[boreal dagger]

watching in class 🥴

[sick relic]

take a guess when the launch was (it spiked way higher than this at liftoff, like 143bpm lol)

[nimble stratus]

here

[sick relic]

i was eating dorito wen phone ring

[unique mortar]

Lmao

[sick relic]

oh I've been one-upped

[boreal dagger]

seemed to be inactive 🥴

[hexed galleon]

definitely not optimal

[hexed galleon]

not a bbq apparently

[bold reef]

https://x.com/space_colonist/status/1768289764044837129?s=20

Martian (@space_colonist) on X

seems you can actually just power through the plasma even without a large wake if you want

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:55 PM

[hexed galleon]

lmaooo

now thats what i’d call mach fuck

[boreal dagger]

sprint my beloved

[quasi canyon]

Oops

[rancid mural]

Tiles defo came off so I think that the ship would’ve burned even if the attitude control wasn’t busted

Less tiles came off during ascent than last time but I still saw three or four visibly fly off
Also the bits that came off prior to reentry

[twilit spoke]

https://fixupx.com/joebarnard/status/1768273454531584053

[ember ivy]

right I missed re entry and I've just scrolled thru the chat what the actual hell happened

was it spinning during re entry?

[twilit spoke]

Watch this Timelapse, you’ll see

[ember ivy]

literally a ksp starship

[rancid mural]

Disabled SAS

[twilit spoke]

https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status/1768288689694642398

Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) on X

Congrats to @SpaceX on a successful test flight! Starship has soared into the heavens. Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon—then look onward to Mars.

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:50 PM

https://fixupx.com/Gwynne_Shotwell/status/1768291595160605109

[coarse geyser]

BILLBILLBILLBILLBILLBILL

[surreal siren]

https://tenor.com/view/bill-nye-gif-24404275

[twilit spoke]

Are there any good pics from the launch yet?

[quaint cargo]

https://tenor.com/view/cheers-drink-gif-4398063319711094106

[rancid mural]

There should be a few from NSF

[glacial saddle]

pixel watch user!?!?!?!?

[twilit spoke]

Looking for wallpaper material lol

[deep parrot]

some of the reentry shots would be good wallpaper material

[twilit spoke]

Using these two for wallpaper currently

[ember ivy]

what a picture that first one

[twilit spoke]

It really is

Ok wow these are 🔥

[wild frost]

Any videos of the booster hitting the water?

[hexed galleon]

probably not

i doubt they wanted anyone near that thing

[rancid mural]

Fair

[surreal siren]

crunchy

[rancid mural]

Kinda sucks but it is what it is

I doubt there’ll be much footage of the Starship re-entry either

Maybe from South Africa/Mauritius?

[quasi canyon]

There must be something, people got separation and that was further away

[hexed galleon]

https://x.com/lorengrush/status/1768284494044242420?s=20

Loren Grush (@lorengrush) on X

"I don't know about you, but we're feeling 22" -- @kate_tice getting in a Taylor Swift reference on a SpaceX livestream makes my day complete

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:34 PM

[unique mortar]

Uhhh high res?

[hexed galleon]

😊😊

[twilit spoke]

I don’t have them sorry

[unique mortar]

Sucks

[floral cloud]

Spin stabilization, maintains a given pitch angle with higher efficiency. It didn't exceed critical angles during dangerous phases of reentry, so it should have been ok rolling like that

[scenic swallow]

Classic example of a stable pitch angle

[hexed galleon]

https://x.com/SpmtTracker/status/1768284158915125752?s=20

CSI Starbase SPMT Tracker (@SpmtTracker) on X

Starship Aerial Imagery. Magadascar's coast from flapcam, Lake Anony clearly visible :)

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 2:32 PM

maybe there will be video

[scenic swallow]

https://fxtwitter.com/Lezzyl_/status/1768283258133856597?t=Zjr8EvPCIzLeNMRgMaC_3Q&s=19

[quasi canyon]

Maldives must have been close

is it daytime there tho

[deep parrot]

in the last frame it looks like theres plasma inside the door

[scenic swallow]

Confirmation of mishap investigation

[deep parrot]

how long do you reckon this time?

[twilit spoke]

Barely even a mishap

[deep parrot]

im thinking a bit shorter again now its caught the DoD's interest

[scenic swallow]

The booster experienced a failure and the ship broke up, possibly after experiencing an extended period of loss of control. The mishap will probably be 3 months minimum, perhaps 5

[twilit spoke]

[leaden kestrel]

"Help step booster, I'm stuck and I can't get out-"

[violet cloud]

nah man its game over 24 month investigation, starship cancelled, bill nelson in tears

[hexed galleon]

idk if i can agree there 😭😭

[deep parrot]

0-60mph in 8 seconds

[storm mango]

i think mishap is about the right word tbh

mishap but not failiure by any means

[potent lark]

https://x.com/NStewWX/status/1768294459739922494?s=20

Nick Stewart (@NStewWX) on X

The #GOES16/#GOESEast weather satellite caught quite the view of today's SpaceX Starship launch on the water vapor bands. #IFT3

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 3:13 PM

[deep parrot]

whereas the first flight woildve been closer to "misadventure"

[halcyon cypress]

I’d really love to see the booster ram into the water

[glacial saddle]

first flight wouldve been closer to “weeeeeeeeee”

[storm mango]

yeah lmao, i'd say flight 1 and 3 were fairly successful, 2 was borderline tbh

[deep parrot]

are we certain it was completely disintegrated

the booster

[halcyon cypress]

1 was questionably successful at best

At least it cleared the pad lol

[deep parrot]

"rock tornado"

[sick relic]

smh I can easily do 3.5 here on earth

[rancid mural]

I mean
It slapped the ocean at Mach 0.9
Not a lot will be left from that

[deep parrot]

"crater in pad"

[storm mango]

my expectations were so low for 1 i think

[boreal dagger]

mfw launchpad conditions are literally compared to an erupting volcano in a published paper:

[rancid mural]

Maybe some wreckage will wash up on shore but only bits and pieces of metal

[rancid mural]

That reminds me
Gonna make a tier list for media coverage of this flight as they come up

Reuters’ own is already like an A-Tier so far

[halcyon cypress]

For a first it was nice yes, loved the impromptu trench that thing made

[boreal dagger]

wait yeah it is

[glacial saddle]

who needs to dig a trench manually when you can just launch a starship that is definitely going to die

[boreal dagger]

but you just know that this is going to be spun the wrong way as it makes it down the funnel of general media

[boreal dagger]

project plowshare:

[rancid mural]

Which is why the first articles are usually the best ones

[boreal dagger]

indeed

[twilit spoke]

https://fixupx.com/francescospace_/status/1768303295716630773?s=46

[rancid mural]

Reuters, AP, and (surprisingly) CNN usually make good Starship articles so I won’t be surprised about them

[boreal dagger]

ngl i feel like part of the reason why science communication is hard is that the set of ideas communicable to the public in a headline is just not large enough to resolve nuance while preserving accuracy

there is a reason that technical language exists and that is to concisely express highly specific ideas about extremely complex things -- taking that away just removes our ability to do that

[rancid mural]

Very true
I’ve realized that most articles that people berate for being “misleading” or “anti-SpaceX” just have shitty headlines

[boreal dagger]

yeah

[rancid mural]

The content itself is usually decent

Kinda why journalists (especially ones speaking on live tv) need to have sizable technical knowledge on spaceflight before they report on it
Using simplistic language just won’t work without being misinterpreted

[normal oxide]

One of these are not like the others

[scenic swallow]

Spaceflight "journalists" don't have a sizable technical knowledge of what they report on.

Not even all the engineers working on a project have a good understanding of the entire system.

[leaden kestrel]

?

[normal oxide]

Spot the only person to not be cheerful 😂

[leaden kestrel]

?

[rancid mural]

True, but I was more referring to reporters who don’t usually make big reports involving spaceflight making basic errors when reporting on spaceflight

[keen tree]

A certain Michael Baylor?

[normal oxide]

https://tenor.com/view/bringo-dr-steve-brule-happy-gif-16881787

Mykull

[ember ivy]

Mikhail

[scenic swallow]

I think the biggest issue that the "community" has with mainstream reporting is that they don't spin things the same as places like Ars Technica

[potent rapids]

who is this "michael" guy

[scenic swallow]

As someone who works on a large program that gets a decent amount of public reporting, no matter who is writing the article something is always wrong. Different places put different spins on it, that's just how news works.

[rancid mural]

I think that’s it, yeah

Not every MSM article spins it in a negative light, but none spin it in an extremely positive light like a more niche-ish article would
If that makes sense

Yeah, changed it

[scenic swallow]

Eric Berger is happy to put a positive spin on starship breaking up because his audience is made up primarily of enthusiasts who want to read a positive article

NBC doesn't give a shit. The rocket blew up so they'll say the rocket blew up and the average reader will say "oh another one blew up" and move on with their day

The mainstream media isn't trying to discredit SpaceX or whatever, they're just not putting the same "community" polish on it

[hexed galleon]

mach fuck into the water isn’t kind so

[surreal siren]

I think I see a girl in there somewhere

[swift prism]

Yo does anyone have a vid of the landing

??

[potent lark]

https://youtu.be/G2LM6zt9Mmw

[surreal siren]

there was no landing so no

[swift prism]

Womp womp

[neat parrot]

Also I'm amazed that once getting to flight operations, there were so few scrubs so far
Flight 1 had a scrub due to frozen pressurization valve on booster, then just some T-40 s hold before launching April 20
Flight 2 had a short T-40 s hold
Flight 3 had no holds

[swift prism]

Well yes

Wait no

Just delays

Because of boats

[sick relic]

died 1969
born 2023
welcome back N1-L3 No. 05

[hexed galleon]

yeah it’s crazy

[hexed galleon]

lmaoooooo

[coarse geyser]

Where digitized mission patch

[potent rapids]

LAHFSUJDGH

[violet cloud]

did we even get the SFT-2 one?

[hexed galleon]

remember decembros

[keen tree]

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1768311554586362173

Blue Origin (@blueorigin) on X

@SpaceX Congrats to the SpaceX team!

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 4:21 PM

You love to see it

[onyx swallow]

It's spinning so much

[surreal siren]

good post

[scenic swallow]

It certainly appeared to be in an uncontrolled tumble

[deep parrot]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68546912 where does this go would you say?

[glacial saddle]

it’s true i guess?

[deep parrot]

i think that the updates were clearly made by someone who wanted to see the launch, rather than someone who was just given the basics of what happened and asked to write about it.

[ember ivy]

seeing starship in space is so surreal, ive only ever seen it in KSP or renders

just feels like KSP

but its not

its real

also the live views are genuinely insane

[unique mortar]

The BBC is so ass when it comes to stuff like this

The SpaceX team said it will take some time for them to understand exactly what happened.

Couldn't write something worse

It's almost like they want to fuel conspiracy theorists

[hexed galleon]

well

at least they got the capitalization right

big milestone for them

[unique mortar]

https://news.sky.com/story/giant-spacex-rocket-goes-further-than-ever-before-after-successful-launch-13094488

Sky News are actually really decent

LOL true

[hexed galleon]

that’s a funny ass headline lmao

[violet cloud]

better than SPAC X VULCAN or w/e the FAA called it

[unique mortar]

Which?

[hexed galleon]

Giant SpaceX rocket blasts off in most successful test launch yet

[unique mortar]

At least it's positive and true

[hexed galleon]

i know

it’s very correct

[unique mortar]

I'd rather dumbed down words than straight up nonsense or misleading stuff

[hexed galleon]

just makes me chuckle lmao

[unique mortar]

Yeah

[deep parrot]

from the BBC article

[unique mortar]

Sky News have got to be A too

[lunar citrus]

CNBC was deeming it a full failure on its broadcast and called it the “heavy booster”

[surreal siren]

also not wrong

[unique mortar]

Trust Elon to post the lowest res photo possible to Twitter

[hexed galleon]

was 29 rolled back?

[sick relic]

yes

[hexed galleon]

🙏🙏

[rancid mural]

Fair

[scenic swallow]

Confirmation that the onboard computer did not initiate raptor relight due to high roll rates. That confirms LoC without saying LoC

[surreal siren]

ALL RIGHT YEAH WOO

thank

[scenic swallow]

Booster also broke up before it hit the water at 460m altitude.

[violet cloud]

huh thats interesting

imagine if it actually SN11'd

or really thats just flight 2 boostback again

[surreal siren]

the plume did look very unsteady, but I wonder if it could also be aero forces? 1100 km/hr on the deck is not kind

[scenic swallow]

With no information on the booster failure I'd have to imagine it's propulsion system related

[modest jay]

UH

[surreal siren]

yeah, that’s more likely

[scenic swallow]

Similar to IFT-2? We'll see if they even publicly say

Also "initiated a propellant transfer demonstration" but careful to not say that it was successful

[hexed galleon]

nooooo

[scenic swallow]

That all throws a much different lens over this test than the initial takeaways I had this morning

[violet cloud]

"successfully lit several engines" 💀

[neat parrot]

https://fixupx.com/SpaceX/status/1768341226187850116?s=20

[neat parrot]

Probably fuel sloshing again - that booster was swinging WILD under that stratosphere upper level winds on the way down and there was little fuel left.

AFTS may have fired?

[olive kiln]

That is beautiful

[scenic swallow]

I saw elsewhere that AFTS is typically safed during descent on F9, may be implemented similar here

[neat parrot]

"Results from these demonstrations will come after postflight data review is complete."
I think they are just careful evaluating since I imagine measuring cryogenic fuel transfer in microgravity is...an art

Don't think it was ever tried before like this (storable propellant, yes, not cryogenic ones)

[olive kiln]

Shouldn’t be difficult It’s not like it’s rocket science or anything

[sick relic]

yeah lol. Only had it for like two weeks, it was $100 so why not

I never really saw the appeal of having a smartwatch but now that I'm running around and frequently using contactless payments it's somewhat useful

[neat parrot]

Space Shuttle ECO sensors:
(see the scrubs of STS-122 in late 2007 to know why)

[scenic swallow]

Measuring the amount of propellant in a tank is very difficult on orbit. Measuring flow rates in a line is pretty trivial. I agree that it's not confirmation either way but I'd expect them to know the outcome of that test by the end of the day.

Knowing how telemetry is monitored on other programs I'd be surprised if that number wasn't displayed on console in real-time

[hexed galleon]

yeah that makes sense because if it does nothing it won’t hit anything but if it detonated it would rain debris everywhere

remember when IFT-3 was supposed to be a tower catch

[violet cloud]

"On your screen we see the booster heading back to the launch pa-"

booster slams into OLM at mach 1

[hexed galleon]

💥

[hexed galleon]

wonder how big the hole would be

[violet cloud]

ngl I would pay someone to do that just for fun

the footage 🔥 🔥 🔥

[spring juniper]

I don’t

[modest jay]

What a launch

[hexed galleon]

https://x.com/slvulture/status/1768297318984679681?s=20

Space Vulture (@slvulture) on X

It looks like starship flipped far enough during re-entry that it almost locked on retrograde entirely! (if the data here is correct) Perhaps the main cause of the failure?

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 3:25 PM

need engine bay cam

[stray swallow]

Me when I don't pay attention in my additude dynamics class

[hexed galleon]

wdym

[stray swallow]

Failure due to loss of attitude control

And I'm currently taking a class on attitude lol

[hexed galleon]

ahh gotcha

[quasi canyon]

Real

[stray swallow]

I have a bad habit of making jokes using engineering language since like 2/3 of my friends are engineering students or engineers, lol. mb

You will understand our pain soon enough

[quasi canyon]

I think it will just show a white hot hell

[hexed galleon]

https://x.com/DallasTexasTV/status/1768352497188384795?s=20

Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) on X

SpaceX had all of South Padre shaking today

(🎥 IG/ lianna.gaudier)

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 7:04 PM

[hexed galleon]

no lmao i just wasn’t sure if you meant that it wasn’t actually retrograde or not

i know was attitude dynamics is

[storm mango]

@undone whale seems this is why there was no deorbit burn

well "deorbit"

[undone whale]

Yeah - I did mention the rates were a bit high

[storm mango]

yeah

were there any RCS bursts in the mid to late part of the coast ?

[quasi canyon]

How tf can you live thar close and have not even known anything was happening

[hexed galleon]

SPI is a big vacay spot

so prob spring breakers

[quasi canyon]

Ooohh maybe that

[snow axle]

https://fixupx.com/jtl_2326/status/1768355953357808012

[stray swallow]

Ok ok I figured you would I'm not crazy

Or rather, I am crazy but did not act like it in this one particular instance

[sick relic]

pieces already showing up in southern madagascar

was pretty much immediate lol

[hexed galleon]

oh?

[leaden kestrel]

Status on the pad yet?

[hexed galleon]

watching SN8 rn

kinda crazy it didn’t have any engine outs

the fact that spacex proposed tropics launch on this thing is so funny to me

[deep parrot]

looking at this, i doubt Earth-to-Earth is on the cards any more

[sharp apex]

It was never more than a fantasy

[deep parrot]

short of launching like 20-30km offshore

[storm mango]

it was never really on them lmoa, short of maybe some super specialised military shit

or obviously moving starship hardware

[stray swallow]

It'll be used for moving hardware I'm sure

Albeit maybe not bc I'm sure a barge is a helluva lot cheaper

[snow axle]

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esdmd/artemis-campaign-development-division/human-landing-system-program/nasa-artemis-mission-progresses-with-spacex-starship-test-flight/

[ember ivy]

picture updated, super heavy lift launch vehicle launches (not counting FH) as of recent

[spring juniper]

I love that timeline we're living in

[nimble coyote]

no energia tho

@spring juniper

fix that

[spring juniper]

I'm sending a message to Amaury

He'll fix that

[hexed galleon]

that’s gonna be crazy

get boosters from west coast to east coast under their own power

[ember ivy]

as of recent

i started this powerpoint file (yes, powerpoint u read it right) after A1

i think i might include FH actually

actually nah

[hexed galleon]

lmao

[dire fiber]

[hexed galleon]

was Rvac cutoff supposed to happen that early?

[frozen forge]

I fell asleep halfway through re-entry did it survive?

[snow axle]

lmao nope

[scenic swallow]

Yep, if your rotation rates are high enough you wouldn't be able to settle propellant and might not be able to feed at all

[ember ivy]

wait

i think those are the 6 FHs that have flown in SHLLV config

[scenic swallow]

It's very weird to me including falcon heavy on SHLV lists

[ember ivy]

i know

i dont like it

im debating whether or not to keep it

[scenic swallow]

Legitimately it's a MLV

[ember ivy]

realistically its an MLV

[scenic swallow]

Oh we twinning

[ember ivy]

screw it im getting rid of FH

[pseudo ruin]

Work at the launch site continues

[ Credit: NSF Starbase Live ]

[ember ivy]

better

[leaden kestrel]

Whats cool is you can see the ship fyling off into space as the booster does its boostback burn

[frozen forge]

Yeah this was awesome

[frozen forge]

I had to do a double take when I saw plasma starting to form lmao

I was nodding off

[swift prism]

yalls pics are so far away

i got this pic of the engine

[ember ivy]

i considered having this as my phone background

[storm mango]

surely it would be a HLV

not SHLV

but isn't HLV 20t and above normally

[ember ivy]

i meant HLV

my bad

[storm mango]

yeh falcon 9 being HLV is uh

i mean it is, just

but its a HLV in the same was FH is a SHVL

[boreal dagger]

HARD

[scenic swallow]

Falcon 9 is not a HLV

Falcon and Vulcan are both MLV

[storm mango]

technically it is, but i don't know of any launches where its launched over 20t

it is capable tho

[scenic swallow]

It hasn't.

And I currently have the most up-to-date performance curves of Falcon Heavy fully expendable in my possession. It's not a SHLV

[twilit spoke]

Falcon 9 is HLV when expended and Vulcan is an HLV in VC4 and up

[storm mango]

oh whats FH payload capacity ?

[scenic swallow]

I'd break my NDA if I publish numbers.

I have the mass capability that Falcon upper stage is qualified to down to the gram.

[storm mango]

ah interesting

so the spacex website is wrong ?

[scenic swallow]

Off by a significant margin

[storm mango]

i mean i'm not surprised

they've been off before

[scenic swallow]

The big thing is that the theoretically realizable mass capability is unachievable unless upper stage is fully resigned to qualify to a higher mass. And there are no payloads that have requested a new upper stage so it hasn't happened.

[twilit spoke]

So why does SpaceX provide incorrect data?

[scenic swallow]

Instead FH is used as a high energy variant of F9

[storm mango]

probably becuase they could redesign the upper stage

if it were needed

[scenic swallow]

The number on the SpaceX website is the theoretical capacity, not the actual capability of the vehicle

[twilit spoke]

Oh that makes sense

[storm mango]

its as capable as a rocket which can launch 63t, just with the issue that it can't hold something which is 63t

which is fine

as long as leo isn't what you're doing

[scenic swallow]

In its current form it is not a SHLV, which is my entire point. Until you do it, it's just conjecture

It has a lower payload capability than SLS and Starship by an order of magnitude

[storm mango]

i'm quite happy to agree with you

[scenic swallow]

It's a high energy F9. And F9 carries the same mass constraint

[storm mango]

i really don't want to call it a SHLV

and now i have a reason

[ember ivy]

does make sense

it is smaller

[storm mango]

yeah it feels like its a HLV

just fits right

[ember ivy]

personally i dont really count it as a SHLV

[storm mango]

doesn't seem like anyone here does tbh

[ember ivy]

not big enough

[storm mango]

which is fair until they do that redesign, which like likely never will

with starship on the horizon there's no reason to

[twilit spoke]

Credit to jof_reddy

[scenic swallow]

I also doubt they'd ever do the redesign. Payloads that are over the mass limit could just launch on Vulcan or even New Glenn if they're truly that heavy, and by doing so you'd avoid having to pay SpaceX to develop an entirely new stage

[storm mango]

^^

or starship in the future

[twilit spoke]

I have a feeling a lot of starship launches in the future will have a kick stage of some kind

Like Helios

[storm mango]

could well do, quite a lot won't simply because a lot will be for fuelling

or starlink

[scenic swallow]

Starship will run into volume constraints until an expendable second stage is developed

[twilit spoke]

Yeah but I feel it would be cheaper for someone contracting a starship to buy a separate kick stage than pay for multiple refueling

[ember ivy]

deep space missions could be flown on a starship with a fairly large kickstage

[storm mango]

most likely, depends how spacex price it tbh

[twilit spoke]

Refueling starship multiple times would only be good for sending it to Mars or the Moon

[storm mango]

depends how successful starship is from a cost perspective as well

[twilit spoke]

I don’t think it’ll ever get down to the $10 million that Mlon Eusk said it would once

https://fxtwitter.com/officeofcrsy/status/1768266646031097905?s=46

[scenic swallow]

If you guys are curious, the PPE and HALO portions of this 2022 GAO report state that the project is mass constrained by the Falcon Heavy mass limit

[modest jay]

the two together are like, 7.5t + 10t + adapter no?

I can see it

[scenic swallow]

An ars technica article from the fall estimated the mass north of 18t

[rancid mural]

Alright I'm back from my comfort nap
So from what we know
IFT-3 was perfect all the way up to the boostback burn
B10 had some issues shutting down the Raptors during the boostback, and later failed to relight all of them before smacking into the GoM at Mach 0.899. It also appeared to have grid fin issues.
S28 got into its orbital coast, but seemed to have issues with the pez dispenser. The fuel transfer is said to have been initiated but not confirmed to have been successful.
There appeared to be attitude control issues, which became more apparent as re-entry began. This is likely the reason that the Raptors weren't relit for the deorbit burn.
Telemetry was available up until ~65 km, and S28 broke up not long after that.
Since the ship was spinning at the time the tiles can't be immediately blamed for the loss.

[normal oxide]

Yeah mostly because it is not flying in fully expendable configuration and I don't think SpaceX would be happy losing all three boosters anyways

Sides are going for ASDS landings on that one as far as I understand

So FH can't do the full push that it would in fully expendable configuration

[scenic swallow]

Again, I have the performance capabilities for a fully expendable FH and it's not even in the same ballpark as the numbers on the website.

And the mass constraint is a physical limitation of falcon upper stage, not a function of whether or not you're expending boosters

[normal oxide]

Physical limitation?

[scenic swallow]

Yes, it's a limit inherent to the design of the stage.

[normal oxide]

So when they launch the 17.5 tonnes of Starlink satellites plus dispenser there's no mass limitation?

Because I don't think I understand what you mean

[scenic swallow]

17.5t is under the mass limit

[normal oxide]

So PPE and HALO are more massive than that is what you're saying?

Cause last time they mentioned mass numbers of those the two added up to about 14 tonnes

[scenic swallow]

According to the GAO report I uploaded, PPE and HALO are heavy enough to where the mass limit is a mission constraint

And again, according to Ars Technica last year PPE + HALO is north of 18t

The same article says PPE+HALO will be the heaviest payload SpaceX has ever launched

https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/nasas-falcon-heavy-era-begins-this-week-with-launch-of-asteroid-mission/2/

[normal oxide]

Mmmmm

That's weird then since SpaceX themselves want to fly more Starlinks on F9 which would mean an even higher mass

I'm guessing they just don't think they'll achieve that recertification in time for PPE/HALO otherwise I don't see how it all comes together

Like to me the whole physical limit sounds like a thing it could be solved by upgrading the second stage for this flight and making it able to do that

Rather than trying to thin down the stack of modules

[scenic swallow]

My understanding is that qualifying to a higher mass is not trivial and would likely require a redesign of major aspects of the stage. As I stated earlier.

[surreal siren]

can I have em

[scenic swallow]

For sure. I'll email you them from prison

[surreal siren]

Weird that it’s ok to talk about those figures but only in riddles

[lunar citrus]

idk if this was posted yet but i saw this in another server and just...
https://vxtwitter.com/INiallAnderson/status/1768333275511021863

💀

[sick relic]

fine

[twilit spoke]

Yeah it looks to be fine, less damage than after flight 2

[sick relic]

it's a SHLV if they expend and build a beefier payload adapter and don't follow the russian definition

[scenic swallow]

I already explained that it's not, the limit is on the upper stage, not the payload adapter, and it can't lift any more than Falcon 9 can in its current configuration

[scenic swallow]

It's all proprietary information. I can talk about stuff that has already been confirmed publicly elsewhere but beyond that I have to be pretty careful

[surreal siren]

It’s quite silly isn’t it

[scenic swallow]

100% agree

The data rights that SpaceX has been able to leverage should be illegal imo

[surreal siren]

Wish there was some way to make that happen but

<political ranting>

therefore we should kill them all

[sick relic]

[scenic swallow]

At least for my project, we will have to publish our launch mass eventually. And our insertion orbit has already been published, so you'll be able to confirm performance to a specific orbit (which is currently proprietary)

There's a lot about the data rights that I think is dumb. Knowing what the performance of falcon to a particular altitude is doesn't really help your competition. They either have a rocket that can beat that performance or they don't. Knowing where the goal posts are doesn't change that

[surreal siren]

gotta say though it’s wacky how one could afford a fully expended FH but not afford one customised to their requirements

either SpaceX charges way more for that, or falcon heavies are way cheaper than I thought

[scenic swallow]

The launch for Gateway isn't cheap (pretty price gouged imo), and Gateway is cost sharing the development of the long fairing with USSF, there's a lot of dev funding already built in

[surreal siren]

or maybe it’s fixed price based on a lower expected mass that might explain it

rip

[scenic swallow]

I'll also say that just because the mass limit is a factor doesn't mean that it's actually in play. PPE+HALO can be close to or at the mass limit without wanting to go above it

[surreal siren]

I would expect PPE+HALO to go for a trajectory that uses the most performance it can whatever its mass though

[scenic swallow]

That's entirely different than qualifying to a higher mass

The spacecraft team will use all the performance available, but that doesn't require SpaceX to change anything about upper stage

[lunar citrus]

ITAR be like that

[twilit spoke]

I think Doc is awesome, but he needs to stay in his place https://fxtwitter.com/docm77/status/1768274218175561854?s=46

Has he semi-obsessively followed this program since the hoppy days? Probably not. Does he not know the term development? Obviously not

[hexed galleon]

i feel like you would be the last person anyone would tell😭😭

[surreal siren]

Right, right, it just also means I think we should see the full capability on display even if it’s not mass

[twilit spoke]

https://vxtwitter.com/smmmmss2/status/1768346136337678500

[surreal siren]

That’s not ITAR

[surreal siren]

(and subsequently burning up)

[surreal siren]

someone’ll slip eventually

[twilit spoke]

Ok but it lasted a long time like that, so if there was one tile missing, and it maintained correct attitude the whole time, it would’ve absolutely made it

[hexed galleon]

falcon heavy can’t lift more than current falcon 9?????

[surreal siren]

that’s not a sound conclusion

[twilit spoke]

Guess we’ll have to wait to find out

[surreal siren]

All we know is that it did melt when there were a couple tiles missing and no attitude control, that doesn’t mean that if either of those factors were missing it would have made it for sure

[hexed galleon]

it also was not in the hard part of reentry

[lunar citrus]

i feel like the door breaking might have made it worse too

[surreal siren]

oh that too, I forgot about that lol

[hexed galleon]

when plasma gets inside bad things happen

hopefully they got a view

[surreal siren]

Yeah having a big hole in the side of your spaceship for plasma to recirculate inside might be slightly not great

[sick relic]

nocom

[lunar citrus]

oh

pls dont my skull is fragile <3

[scenic swallow]

Yeah that's correct

[scenic swallow]

Nope

[hexed galleon]

then what’s the fucking point lmao

even expendable heavy??

[scenic swallow]

It can deliver the same mass to a higher energy trajectory

[lunar citrus]

higher orbits?

yea

[scenic swallow]

Hence Psyche using Falcon Heavy for its interplanetary trajectory instead of Falcon 9 alone

Europa Clipper will also use FH for an interplanetary trajectory. PPE+HALO will use FH to get to an elliptic parking orbit

[violet cloud]

https://vxtwitter.com/ophello/status/1768481359209849070

[leaden kestrel]

i cant tell if this is a joke or actulyl real

casue that shit seemed to spin alot

[violet cloud]

?

[frozen forge]

It's sped up

[leaden kestrel]

wow ok

thats alot more roll then i thought

[violet cloud]

it had been spinning since not too long after SECO

[leaden kestrel]

true

[sharp apex]

Hence why it's a partial failure

[frozen forge]

I love how it rotated to aft inherently flawed design that will require a total redesign of starship

[spring juniper]

Most mentally sane spitter user

[floral cloud]

I picked this up, looked wild

[proven hill]

wtf that webcast music

did Elon push the elevator music to be used as a BG music? 💀

[normal oxide]

Definitely not Elon

[proven hill]

daymn

who's that one crazy?

[ember ivy]

my flight 3 prediction was quite accurate tbf

[unique mortar]

Same

[frozen forge]

Meanwhile aarons flight 3 prediction:

(it was spot on)

[lunar citrus]

https://youtu.be/iltYisFUzXE?si=UVv-rLA3rKzDSBqS

[neat parrot]

https://fixupx.com/spacex/status/1768642869525725253?s=61

[scenic swallow]

The fantasy roleplay aspect of the fandom is very strange to me

[tired reef]

it's how they sustain hype and the illusion of a long-term goal

notable that the public isn't nearly as invested, even compared to other exploration platforms

[scenic swallow]

Roll 2d10 for the payload delivered to LEO

[normal oxide]

For a lot of people it also seems like every bit of optimism is "fanboysm"

[tired reef]

which one is this then
https://x.com/BellikOzan/status/1768514028090085558

Ozan Bellik (@BellikOzan) on X

Sick and tired of "Starship isn't for going to Mars" takes.

Yeah, it's possible a better architecture replaces it before it ever performs in that capacity, but

a) That's what it was designed for
b) It's actually a very good architecture for that
c) There's nothing nearly as…

Twitter · Mar 15, 2024, 5:46 AM

I'm legit struggaling to remember a time SpaceX talked about their Mars plans beyond a mere mention as a long-term goal

if it was something that's legit planned and now that Starship has a succesfull ascent, you'd think they'd at least announce more of their plans and timeline and non-transport hardware they're developing for the mission (ISRU?)

[hexed galleon]

the elevator music went so hard

if he did that’s a rare musk w

[tired reef]

NASA is now doing annual architecture reviews and publicizing the results. At least from a PR angle, it appears they're doing far more to actually go to Mars than SpaceX is

(and if Orion gets to an operational status before it is outshown, then I doubt SpaceX gets their all-starship architecture to happen on the government's dime)

[modest jay]

Sexo

[ember ivy]

those images are beautiful

[potent lark]

https://ringwatchers.com/article/pez-door-flight-3

[potent lark]

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/03/thursdays-starship-flight-provided-a-glimpse-into-a-future-of-abundant-access-to-space/

But even with those caveats, Starship is already the most revolutionary rocket ever built. Because of a relentless focus on costs and cheap building materials, such as stainless steel, SpaceX can likely build and launch a fully expendable version of Starship for about $100 million. Most of that money is in the booster, with its 33 engines. So once Super Heavy becomes reusable, you can probably cut manufacturing costs down to about $30 million per launch.

[ember ivy]

100 mil for a rocket that big is, I think it's fair to say, fairly cheap

[nimble coyote]

source? eric borgars ass

[tired reef]

surely SpaceX doesn't need news sites trying to do their launch service advertising for them

[potent rapids]

Glad to see Eric Berger is still the most objective space reporter out there

[spring juniper]

Our beloved war criminal

Looking back on it

I still have a hard time realising how insane Starship briefly surviving reentry with its steel side facing the plasma was

[potent lark]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMhHYsCb/

[dawn gyro]

How much DV does starship have left in orbit? It wasn't carrying a payload this flight and it seemed to have little to no fuel left

Didn't they say they'd need to refuel in orbit like 12 times to be full

[ember ivy]

I thought it was 6-8

[modest jay]

"ten-ish" for HLS, so a minimum of "ten-ish"

[mighty kite]

Did it catch re-entry

[mighty kite]

Someone needs to calculate that

[swift prism]

Dude I swear

I genuinely can’t believe there’s ppl that don’t believe in rockets man

Only firmament is in your head that’s preventing any knowledge from getting in

Like

Please

[potent lark]

https://fixupx.com/spacex/status/1768745027231183184

https://fixupx.com/SpaceX/status/1768747417716101402

[twilit spoke]

Did anyone get footage from the ground of the booster?

[rancid mural]

They're keeping their cards surprisingly close to their chest but there is indeed a team within SpaceX working on Mars architecture

Only reason I know that is because someone on Twitter mentioned that they were part of said team
so the source is a "trust me bro"

[mighty kite]

Any ship debris images?

[stray swallow]

I know through a connection that they exist but that development is still super early and the team is super small.

It's also pretty standard for early development teams like that to exist in engineering, especially aerospace, over a decade or two before something is expected to be implemented.

[rancid mural]

I thought as much, yeah
Doubt anyone can ask much about it without forcing a breach of a couple NDAs

[rancid mural]

Not AFAWK, no
Best thing we have is a weather satellite image of the cloud pattern created by re-entry

[sick relic]

yes

not sure if I can share but a bit of ship washed up in Madagascar

like same day as flight

[twilit spoke]

Why not sure?

[sick relic]

because it was taken by a friend of a friend

[twilit spoke]

Oh gotcha

[modest jay]

Interesting

Thanks

[sick relic]

Do we have a rough idea of seconds yet for launch?

[normal oxide]

:00 from what I saw

First motion seemed to happen at about :02 and that's T+2s

[sick relic]

kk

[twilit spoke]

DAMN THAT HOT https://fxtwitter.com/SpaceX/status/1768807328021917716

[modest jay]

Yes

[leaden kestrel]

[twilit spoke]

That comment section is a mess (as usual)

[hexed galleon]

moonlink

[scenic swallow]

I say this with all seriousness, it must be nice to be that detached from reality. Imagine how happy you'd be if you could just believe in fairy tales

[twilit spoke]

True, but I still prefer believing in facts

[surreal siren]

I don’t know, in order to build this sort of worldview you need to make up a conspiracy, secret manipulators suppressing your ideas, and that’s not a very pleasant state of mind

[scenic swallow]

It's like DnD but real life

Sounds so fun!

[boreal dagger]

strong agree with this

a simpler world is a happier one, even if its stupid and incredibly unhealthy

[mighty kite]

Imagine if these were in flicker..

Their kinda compressed

Ok it's like so annoying though space has so much good photos and they have to compress it on x

[sick relic]

mmm

[leaden kestrel]

Idc if it's 1 bit photos these photos look spectacular no matter how much compression and no one can change my mind on that

[leaden kestrel]

Didn't think about that lol that's true, using fairy tails to shadow yourself from the real harsh reality must be a dream

[mighty kite]

That's true but they have the high resolution versions is the thing

It's like

Gate keeping feeling

Like at least give spacex x account low compression permissions or something

Also Using x in a Sentence is so weird

[surreal siren]

we all do this to some degree yknow

[frozen forge]

Scotts video is #2 on trending

[leaden kestrel]

wow

[leaden kestrel]

Best comment ive seen so far

[keen tree]

https://twitter.com/esherifftv/status/1768759104997138655?t=8HmkzfBigD4lzvbFCSVwBA

Ellie in Space 🚀💫 (@esherifftv) on X

Breaking: this viewer found a fully inact tile on SPI!
Over a day later!

Can you believe there are 18,000 of these on Starship?!

Twitter · Mar 15, 2024, 10:00 PM

[rancid mural]

"Damn. 18000 of these on our beaches. Starship pollution bad."

• A Twitter user that 100% exists and will actually say that unironically

[surreal siren]

I want one

[ember ivy]

if i find an intact one ill use it as a dinner plate

[violet cloud]

mmmmm microplastics in my dinner

[leaden kestrel]

This is such a dumbass title because yeah it made it to orbit but it failed on reentry, so they have to ground it because it didn't meet the entire mission

[modest jay]

it succesfuly made it to orbit (perigee below ground (uncontrolled))

[silver plank]

(Just my view of considering this launch a success)
The launch is considered only till starship's 6 enginge cutoff, after that anything performed is considered as missions done by a payload such as a sattelite but in this case the whole ship is the sattelite, for the booster, we consider landing as a separate factor in the app and moreover this is a suborbital launch which was meant to disintegrate on landing, which it anyways did just a bit above

[ember ivy]

I see it as:
Launch was successful
Landing wasnt successful

[modest jay]

loss of Attitude control after SECO, as well as Engine relights not happening can disqualify a lot of launches as success

as far as I see it, it's not yet qualified as an expendable launcher

[nimble coyote]

sooo no orbit

very simple

suborbital

one might call it

[modest jay]

They did suborbital propellant transfer

next step: suborbital refuelling

[nimble coyote]

[ember ivy]

https://tenor.com/view/inflight-refueling-boom-operator-here-comes-the-boom-100arw-squared-away-gif-17815236

[ember ivy]

https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1769157754457854291

Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) on X

Despite the overcast conditions, Ryan got one of the best shots of Starship I've ever seen!!! Another teaser at Max Q from our 8" tracking scope w/ our @RED_Cinema Komodo X. Our continual upgrades (thanks to all of your support) are paying off!!! MORE TO COME! - @considercosmos

Twitter · Mar 17, 2024, 12:24 AM

https://tenor.com/view/scaloni-argentina-world-cup-world-cup-final2022-lionel-scaloni-gif-27282303

[nimble coyote]

starship

[surreal siren]

oh god oh fuck the foam hit the leading edge

[unique mortar]

Don't joke about that shit Ryan

[sick relic]

some shit should just be off limits
sadly there are far too many dipshits who fail to comprehend this

[rancid mural]

If I had a nickel for each Columbia joke made in this thread, I’d have two nickels.
Which isn’t a lot, but it really shouldn’t have happened twice

[rancid mural]

Is that guy even real? He’s kinda in the same realm as that one SLS guy in the idiot provocateur department

[surreal siren]

I know it’s not actually foam but the resemblance is striking isn’t it?

Sorry I made that comment without the appropriate gravitas

[frozen forge]

Who is this

[nimble stratus]

SpongeBob

[unique mortar]

I think you're genuinely just completely clueless

[glacial saddle]

do you happen to need medical assistance?

[ember ivy]

tbf would a tps tile hitting one of the flaps even do anything?

[stray swallow]

I don't know the interior construction of the flaps so not sure, but I can guarantee the tiles were fired with an air cannon at the leading edge of the flap. That's a test no one is forgetting now...

So my guess is no it wouldn't do anything

[glacial saddle]

dents plausibly

[rancid mural]

No one of note don’t worry about it

[surreal siren]

I don’t think denting is something that really happens with this material

Ceramics aren’t know for plastic deformation

[glacial saddle]

i was thinking more about what would happen after a tile gets struck

bare metal getting struck again

[surreal siren]

oh, yeah. At that point it’s probably more academic than anything

[ember ivy]

https://youtu.be/VNK07WuH6GQ

this is just

beautiful

[wild frost]

Do you guys think during the recap videos spacex does for these launches they will show the booster explosion over the ocean

Because currently i cant find any footage of ot happening

[ember ivy]

hopefully

idk if they had cameras near the area tho

[wild frost]

They could have had a drone out there or smth

But we can hope

[mighty kite]

Or they waiting for how not to land video

[stray swallow]

real

[scenic swallow]

The booster apparently came down >100km outside of the target zone so it's likely there were no cameras in range

[leaden kestrel]

Source?

:Trust me bro

jkjk

[scenic swallow]

No gimme a minute to find the tweet

[leaden kestrel]

No but actully, FAA staetment or?

I was gonna say why they didnt light fts then but that whole range was cleared

[scenic swallow]

https://fxtwitter.com/mcrs987/status/1768383322235789758

https://twitter.com/mcrs987/status/1768388140509589947

TheSpaceEngineer (@mcrs987) on X

@tibininin Interestingly, inside the debris zone but not the keep-out zone. Hmm

Twitter · Mar 14, 2024, 9:26 PM

So more like 80km away from the target splashdown location

[leaden kestrel]

How was this like found?

Like just based on the clouds seen?

If ture tho thats very insane

[sick relic]

(I think TSE actually figured this one out by lawful means)
https://fxtwitter.com/mcrs987/status/1768382282727817560

[scenic swallow]

Is it insane? All it means is that boostback didn't achieve the desired maneuver.

[leaden kestrel]

LMFAOOOO

[leaden kestrel]

Insane that they didnt light FTS yeah

[sick relic]

it wasn't out of bounds as far as FTS is concerned

[leaden kestrel]

atleast i think they shouldve since it went well outsideo of the keep-out zone?

Or is that not how it workds?

[leaden kestrel]

Oh

[sick relic]

actually I'm stupid

it is they just safe it post-BBB

[scenic swallow]

I have seen comments stating FTS is safed during falcon 9 boostback, I wouldn't be surprised if the same is done here

[normal oxide]

How can they even get those coordinates from a blurry map?

[normal oxide]

Before entry burn

[sick relic]

🤷‍♀️ it's probably rough

[normal oxide]

I bet you can do it more precisely by looking at cloud maps and matching it to the onboard views than going by that thing

[sick relic]

bit outside my wheelhouse

[scenic swallow]

Take a crack at it!

[normal oxide]

I'm not that much of a nerd to do it myself

[scenic swallow]

Don't believe that for a moment

[sick relic]

I wasn't gonna say anything but uhhhh

yeah alex and "not that much of a nerd" are not things that go together

[leaden kestrel]

probably looking at the shore colors to get a roguth estiamtl relative to those obecjts

[mighty kite]

Imagine they went for tower catch

And it ended up mach 1 into mexico

[twilit spoke]

One of the songs they used during ship coast https://www.extrememusic.com/albums/3155?item=53226&ver=191014&sharedTrack=dHJ1ZQ==

[sick relic]

https://fxtwitter.com/culpable_mink/status/1769558254588162466

[proven hill]

LMFAO

[surreal siren]

hehe ok that’s funny

[neat parrot]

Good reasoning on why we still classify this as success

[upbeat garnet]

Say no more

Circled the same clouds in different views, shows that the booster splashed down at the yellow dot approximately

[normal oxide]

How far away would that be?

The quick analysis looks to be right from what I can see so that's probably even more accurate than eyeballing the position from a blurry pc screen 😅

[upbeat garnet]

That yellow dot is at approx. 25°56'N 96°4'W, which is 109km (68mi) from the launch pad.

[normal oxide]

Which would be well within the launch hazard area

[normal oxide]

Very very different from this

[upbeat garnet]

Their location would be here in the cloud pattern, I don't think that matches

[sick relic]

so TSE asked to ask if he can quote tweet his original one to correct it, and if he should credit your twitter or something else

[sick relic]

same goes

that okay with y'all?

[pseudo ruin]

Average Энергия enjoyer posted that as a reply

https://fixupx.com/EnergiaRocket/status/1769682922661884350

[normal oxide]

I think it was sent as a reply

[sick relic]

ah okay

[upbeat garnet]

Sure, seems like they already saw my reply, thx for asking anyway and sorry for the late answer

[stray swallow]

Successful expendable starship launch

[modest jay]

Succesful expendable starship ascent*

[mighty kite]

Close enough to orbit

[glacial saddle]

Successful assisted starship hop

[twilit spoke]

https://fixupx.com/jeff_foust/status/1769855034609615227

[leaden kestrel]

LMFAOOOOOOO

6-9 was defineltyy just a troll number givin

[potent rapids]

So do we have any info on when they'll think about attempting to catch the booster with the arms

[leaden kestrel]

~6-9 years time

/j

[mighty kite]

Curious how big of a hole the booster will make

[spring juniper]

Complete obliteration of the launch pad

[mighty kite]

https://twitter.com/Pockn_CG/status/1769057806022492396?t=hSz7QAa7xMdC2vsmJKMO7A&s=19

POCKN (@Pockn_CG) on X

Starship re-enter Earth's atmosphere, real & 3D views.
@elonmusk #SpaceX #Starship

Twitter · Mar 16, 2024, 5:47 PM

Literally ksp

[twilit spoke]

https://fxtwitter.com/tibininin/status/1769772508381610322

[dire fiber]

Awesomee

[twilit spoke]

https://youtu.be/99FZxaqFT7I?si=aZOXkC-A09bzSQPw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0oUejtpVmo

[mighty kite]

Do the flaps not have alot of control authority to correct the spin

[twilit spoke]

Not in the upper atmosphere where it’s not as dense

[scenic swallow]

Yep you're relying almost entirely on RCS until you're far deeper into the atmosphere

[twilit spoke]

The move the flaps because they have a little control, but not much

[lunar citrus]

https://nebula.tv/videos/realengineering-starship-reached-orbit-now-what/

[surreal siren]

it didn’t though?
I can’t watch so maybe that’s just a clickbaity title but man

[mighty kite]

Close enough ig

Like isn't it a tiny amount of difference of burn to get to orbit or not

[upbeat garnet]

The glow started at 100km but the velocity on the livestream didnt begin to decrease until it was at 85km. If the entire starship doesn't slow down at all then the flaps likely won't have much effect either, not above 90km at least.

[mighty kite]

Ohh

[lunar citrus]

looks like it was corrected in the description, maybe they can't edit titles on Nebula or smth?

[surreal siren]

hah, oof

[onyx swallow]

I don't think orbit no orbit matters

It reached 9 what % with a voluntary shut down
There's no point in just leaving an empty starship up there when you're unsure about the restart capabilities

[stray swallow]

Starship reached orbit in the same way that if I throw a ball it orbits the earth

[mighty kite]

I think the thinf is it's not worth arguing about because it was so close it doesn't matter

Throwing a ball isn't almost in real orbit

[deep parrot]

depends how fast you throw the ball, and where you throw it from

[upbeat garnet]

I prefer throwing manhole covers

[onyx swallow]

well there's about a 99% difference in orbital velocity between Starship and that ball

[mighty kite]

This argument has gone on for years

[frozen forge]

It reached orbital velocity did it not

[onyx swallow]

True there's that, plenty of sub orbital trajectories that would be orbital at like 200km circular

[boreal dagger]

i mean what if we look at characteristic energy

which is basically equivalent to looking at semimajor axis

[keen tree]

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1783874894918193472

Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) on X

He also noted that the inter-tank cryogenic propellant transfer test on the third Starship flight last month was successful by all accounts, although analysis of data from it is ongoing.

Twitter · Apr 26, 2024, 3:04 PM

[surreal siren]

yay!

[rancid mural]

oh hey that's neat

[potent lark]

SpaceX final Update:
https://www.spacex.com/updates/#flight-3-report

[mighty kite]

Clogged thrusters

[surreal siren]

Getting the feeling the filters aren’t addressing the root cause of the blockage here

[mighty kite]

Make hole bigger

Then won't clog

[twilit spoke]

It just came out that the HSR may have been jettisoned on this flight too

https://fixupx.com/mcrs987/status/1794486775777493248

[twilit spoke]

https://fixupx.com/RyanHansenSpace/status/1794539141595636060

[surreal siren]

Well, they certainly didn’t try to.

[coarse geyser]

It seems like something they would've mentioned if they intended to jettison it

[rancid mural]

so it partially peeled off, for some reason

that explains the intentional jettison for flight 4, maybe to avoid the control challenges that HSR peeling events would bring

[coarse geyser]

Could the ring being partially ripped off be one of the reasons the booster lost control?

And has seriously no one caught it on video during its descent?

I guess come to think of it I actually don't remember much tracking footage from NSF or anyone else after liftoff

[sick relic]

That's what happens when you're like close to 100km off course yeah

[normal oxide]

Tbf it was also kinda cloudy

No one could see anything past hot staging

[sick relic]

The absolutely weapons-grade autism that went into noticing this

at any rate SX is considering dropping the footage from it soon so that would be cool

"no point in keeping it hidden"

[surreal siren]

hah! That would be nice but it’s not like we have any way of knowing whether they’re considering it or not

[twilit spoke]

It’s TSE what do you expect

[modest jay]

damn they said that?

[proven hill]

the whole shit around Flight 3 HSR looks like this rn

man this is gonna be so funny if all the shit they came to is wrong

like the dozens of hours spent rendering, checking, re-checking, re-re-checking, tweeting are for nothing

[surreal siren]

“” nah ur just full of shit

[rancid mural]

wait, huh?

as in from a nearby ship?

[sick relic]

probably S28 cams? I'm not actually sure but supposedly they do have footage of t

[normal oxide]

If they have footage, the only camera I know that could see it would be the one on the top dome... if they still have it

[mighty kite]

Is there images of any debris washed up in the Indian ocean

From flight 3

[violet cloud]

I know there were reports at one point

Not sure about images

[rancid mural]

probably no images.

if there were images we'd hear about them

[rancid mural]

[boreal dagger]

kill this user

[muted gate]

god that was awesome, can't wait for flight 4