Is the Starship Mk1 more structurally sound than it looks? From a first glance and having no knowledge of its design, it looks like an empty soda can that would deform at the slightest disturbance. And the way it crumpled in the video doesn't seem far off from what I would expect.
SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
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Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#22Is the Starship Mk1 more structurally sound than it looks? From a first glance and having no knowledge of its design, it looks like an empty soda can that would deform at the slightest disturbance. And the way it crumpled in the video doesn't seem far off from what I would expect.
Rockets are actually pretty easy to poke holes in. They're meant to keep stuff in, not out. A dropped torque wrench blew up a Titan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_...
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#23Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#24Is the Starship Mk1 more structurally sound than it looks? From a first glance and having no knowledge of its design, it looks like an empty soda can that would deform at the slightest disturbance. And the way it crumpled in the video doesn't seem far off from what I would expect.
Rockets are actually pretty easy to poke holes in. They're meant to keep stuff in, not out. A dropped torque wrench blew up a Titan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_...
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#25Is the Starship Mk1 more structurally sound than it looks? From a first glance and having no knowledge of its design, it looks like an empty soda can that would deform at the slightest disturbance. And the way it crumpled in the video doesn't seem far off from what I would expect.
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#26And that's why they are testing it.
If they pumped it until it explodes it would be a kind of test (also called experiment) where it makes sense.
If you design something with a margin of safety, then pump it to working pressure and it blows, then it means you made a mistake. If you made a mistake it shows you don't know what is necessary to design a rocket (yet).
Seriously, they don't build skyscrapers or bridges and leave for 5 days to see if they topple to prove the design was correct.
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#27I don’t know the specifics of this particular setup, but aren’t pressure vessels usually tested hydrostatically. Water, for example, can be pressurised without actually compressing, and therefore doesn’t undergo rapid expansion when a failure occurs. There may be reason that precluded pressure testing with a fluid tough.
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#28And that's why they are testing it.
Depends on what kind of test that was supposed to be. If they pumped it until it explodes it would be a kind of test (also called experiment) where it makes sense. If you design something with a margin of safety, then pump it to working pressure and it blows, then it means you made a mistake. If you made a mistake it shows you don't know what is necessary to design a rocket (yet). Seriously, they don't build skyscrap…
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#29And that's why they are testing it.
Depends on what kind of test that was supposed to be. If they pumped it until it explodes it would be a kind of test (also called experiment) where it makes sense. If you design something with a margin of safety, then pump it to working pressure and it blows, then it means you made a mistake. If you made a mistake it shows you don't know what is necessary to design a rocket (yet). Seriously, they don't build skyscrap…
Re: SpaceX's Starship Mk1 just blew off its bulkhead in a pressurization accident
#30And that's why they are testing it.