By my reckoning Raptor engine now has more flight time than the F-1 engine. Another not entirely meaningful statistic.

— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) November 18, 2023

will25u said:

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That engine cutoff tho...

I LOVE this view of the Raptors shutting down in segments!! 🔥 #SpaceX #Starship@DJSnM @Erdayastronaut pic.twitter.com/UaNdMMUfAx

— Debapratim (@debapratim_) November 18, 2023

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Awesome Hot Staging Video!

From Pensacola we saw a good amount of a gaseous burst right at the end of powered flight. We couldn't find it until then. I'm guessing it blew right then.

YellowPot_97 said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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@SpaceX @austinbarnard45 @WholeMarsBlog @SawyerMerritt @elonmusk

Starship Entry in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/L6H1YZbW3E

— Elias J. Sobrino Najul (@eliassob) November 18, 2023

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Not sure what that is, but it's not starship

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Optimus Prime.

SpaceX is just incredible. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the first flight. That looks like nothing even happened. Absolutely remarkable engineering achievement.

Here is an amazing video discussing how an astronomer from the Florida Keys (wish they would say which of the Keys) captured S25 going by and was able to show that it had broken in half.





btw, they also mentioned by the end of the video, the telescope was pointing to 220 degrees, 48 degrees azimuth.

OKCAg2002 said:

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Wow. They are close. Mexican government doesn't care.

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Odds that one of y'all on the thread head over the border for the next launch to get to that beach?

TexAgs91 said:

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Here is an amazing video discussing how an astronomer from the Florida Keys (wish they would say which of the Keys) captured S25 going by and was able to show that it had broken in half.





btw, they also mentioned by the end of the video, the telescope was pointing to 220 degrees, 48 degrees azimuth.

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Now we know what was rocketing into the ocean off Puerto Rico.

The real question is about this secret Chinese drone that was also tracking the flight. Found it at the 51:39 mark.




But seriously, what was demonstrated by Elon and the SpaceX folks yesterday was absolutely impressive. We are lucky he loves America because he could be helping to make one of our adversaries much stronger and more capable if he chose to.

I REALLY wish those two guys would have gotten their act together before producing that video. I couldn't sit through an hour of them dealing with computer issues and video problems.

OKCAg2002 said:

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SpaceX is just incredible. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the first flight. That looks like nothing even happened. Absolutely remarkable engineering achievement.

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I agree it's impressive…but it's not like they magically improved their failed design or anything. Just actually tried this time

CharlieBrown17 said:

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OKCAg2002 said:

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SpaceX is just incredible. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the first flight. That looks like nothing even happened. Absolutely remarkable engineering achievement.

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I agree it's impressive…but it's not like they magically improved their failed design or anything. Just actually tried this time

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Iterative Design, how does it work?

RED AG 98 said:

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CharlieBrown17 said:

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OKCAg2002 said:

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SpaceX is just incredible. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the first flight. That looks like nothing even happened. Absolutely remarkable engineering achievement.

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I agree it's impressive…but it's not like they magically improved their failed design or anything. Just actually tried this time

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Iterative Design, how does it work?

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I think they made some dumb mistakes on stage 0 initially, but also half expected the whole vehicle to explode on the pad so it maybe wouldn't have mattered. There's actually very limited commonality really between 'booster 4, ship 20' and what will be launched next. The same is true with how the thrust is handled at the tower.

Realistically, no booster even half that size has attempted to flip to relight and engage in a boost back for recovery. Yet, on the first such attempt it very nearly worked, regardless of the bang/RUD. As Scott Manley indicated, that was likely 'just' fuel slushing causing some problems with steady flow of methane/oxygen to the engines. Similarly, the oxygen leak seems to have been a cause for the sudden drop right at the end of powered flight of O2 levels in the 2nd stage, and that…probably created a combustible situation as well.

The plumbing challenges, and as well heat shield will need to be resolved/worked on. It will be interesting what they roll out, and when, for the next launch.

I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

For those looking for that extra special holiday gift...

https://shop.spacex.com/

I see some cool toys available for that special lady (or adventurous, open-minded man) in your life. Batteries not included.

bmks270 said:

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I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

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Why was it a bad decision? The data they gain from watching it blow up and getting to that level is far more valuable than not launching it.

jt2hunt said:

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bmks270 said:

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I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

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Why was it a bad decision? The data they gain from watching it blow up and getting to that level is far more valuable than not launching it.

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It created delays making it slower, and the repairs cost more money in the long run. It creates extra work and burnout for employees. It also is terrible PR and damages relationships with locals, and with regulators. You can rationalize it, but it was objectively a bad decision.

"Slow is fast and fast is slow"

If you are driving a dozer!
We agree that slow is fast!

jt2hunt said:

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bmks270 said:

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I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

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Why was it a bad decision? The data they gain from watching it blow up and getting to that level is far more valuable than not launching it.

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Elon knew the pad would have to be demoed to install the deluge system. He could have delayed the flight 6 months and hire someone to do the demo, or he could launch and take care of the demo himself.

I don't know how you can be posting on a SpaceX thread and hold the belief that slow is actually fast. The kind of mentally that results in them launching off a questionable pad is the same kind of mentality that has them launching this rocket in the first place.

Just because a saying is memorable does not mean that it is universally true. Paralysis by analysis is another common saying for a reason too.


Was launching a mistake? Sure. How consequential was that mistake? They delayed their second test by months. Maybe. Depends on how long it takes to demo, construct, and launch not once, but twice.

This guy thinks the next investigation will be at least as long as the first one because of the nature of the explosions. Everybody can have an opinion I guess. He thinks the booster exploded possibly because of a design flaw.

SpaceX attempted to launch another Starship on a suborbital flight yesterday, and like the first one seven months earlier, it blew up again.

This would be a good time to talk about using rapid iterative development in the aerospace industry.

A thread. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/nuWYPof3nr

— Christopher David (@Tazerface16) November 19, 2023

And he posted a pic of starship instead of the booster and the booster explosion was 100% FTS initiated. I guess Elon has plenty of haters.

That guy is beyond obsessed with hating anything and everything that Elon touches.

For fuel stability at the flip and relight I wonder if they could relocate the header tanks to footers at the base of the ship and eliminate the need for a long down tube to the turbo pumps.

Or are the header tanks an addition that wasn't included on Ship 21?

bmks270 said:

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jt2hunt said:

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bmks270 said:

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I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

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Why was it a bad decision? The data they gain from watching it blow up and getting to that level is far more valuable than not launching it.

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It created delays making it slower, and the repairs cost more money in the long run. It creates extra work and burnout for employees. It also is terrible PR and damages relationships with locals, and with regulators. You can rationalize it, but it was objectively a bad decision.

"Slow is fast and fast is slow"

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I don't agree with you on this, net, but I do think it's a valid point Zach Golden and others have made, over the pat 6 months relative to the damage from IFT1 at the site causing/contributing to an extended delay to the 2nd attempt this month.

Some of that stuff was a mistake, period (and perhaps driven by his ego/emotional desire to launch "420" around that date), as even a nominal 'in between' attempt at a diverter trench/deluge system would have prevented some of the environmental/regulatory approval stuff, and as well…today they've had GSE improvements on hold for months pending IFT2 which could have been implemented if the delay hadn't been so long.

bmks270 said:

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I think a lot of people knew the pad would be destroyed on test flight one but Elon ignored them. Elon makes bad decisions occasionally.

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I don't think Elon made a bad decision there. I just don't think he wanted to delay the launch while upgrades were being made.