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SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

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Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#91

Post by a4isms »

eisvogel wrote: post #53
tjpnz wrote: post #24

Parts falling off, engines going out, something getting inside the interstage. That ship was an absolute fighter.

I was thinking this as well... It spiraled seemingly forever without failing, while they hoovered telemetry off of it, until pressing the big red button. Massive fault tolerance at play. SpaceX is awesome in so many ways. Thanks Elon.

Perhaps you mean, "Thanks Gwynne Shotwell."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwynne_Shotwell

I think HN understands the difference between a charismatic leader who is good at laying out a vision and generating a tremendous amount of hype around it (like Steve Jobs) and someone who is an expert at actually realizing a vision (Steve Wozniak, Tim Cook).

They may both be necessary for success, but if you are praising the rocket's engineering, you're praising the person who works tirelessly to manifest the vision.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#92

Post by version_five »

soco wrote: post #48
simondotau wrote: post #6

Success was defined as the rocket leaving the launchpad. Suggesting that this test “failed” is at best a mischaracterisation.

The irony is that we're all "fail fast" until something actually fails fast.

The people who say that are usually talking about designing a landing page that doesn't get enough signups or something.

You can really tell if a company has a culture of embracing failure if they're cool with you blowing up a spaceship.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#94

Post by bushbaba »

elil17 wrote: post #30
haunter wrote: post #8

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1wcilQ58hI&t=2920s (the cheering is actually really funny cause the launch was already a success)

I get that it is a successful test based on the goals they set out, but the cheering seemed staged to me. If that was my rocket, I'd be very upset that it came so close to total success but didn't make it. Maybe everyone at SpaceX is just super emotionally mature

It’s smart PR. Most the public audience won’t realize how each of these steps is a huge success in of itself.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#95

Post by Someone »

simondotau wrote: post #6

Success was defined as the rocket leaving the launchpad. Suggesting that this test “failed” is at best a mischaracterisation.

That’s the message they choose to use externally. I would guess they had somewhat higher hopes internally, and would have been at least somewhat disappointed if it had exploded just after clearing the launch pad.

Whether they’re truly happy with this result probably will depend on their analysis of what went wrong.

If they can find the cause and it’s easy to fix, they’ll be a lot happier than when they can’t figure out what went wrong, or when they can figure it out, but preventing it requires a huge redesign.

But yes, this is the nature of rocket building. Things do get boom fairly easily.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#96

Post by TheJoeMan »

koliber wrote: post #47

Congrats on hitting the test goal. The double speak is funny though: > SpaceX call this a rapid unscheduled disassembly What would a regularly-paced scheduled disassembly look like?

RUD is an "industry term" :) https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10022/who-coined-t...

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#98

Post by risyachka »

ravenstine wrote: post #65
simondotau wrote: post #6

Success was defined as the rocket leaving the launchpad. Suggesting that this test “failed” is at best a mischaracterisation.

Even if this is true, it's going to get more and more difficult to explain away rocket explosions as succeeding the more decades we put between us and the dawn of the Space Age. If SpaceX is still blowing up rockets in 2033, it's going to become a PR problem, especially as the MSM further turns its back on Musk.

No, it won't.

It is obvious that every new rocket that was built from ground up will fail a few times before it is released.

This is not a "production build". And you don't need to explain anything when your "test build" fails, it is obvious some will.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#99

Post by mauvehaus »

koliber wrote: post #47

Congrats on hitting the test goal. The double speak is funny though: > SpaceX call this a rapid unscheduled disassembly What would a regularly-paced scheduled disassembly look like?

There'd probably be more wrenches and less fire involved for one thing. In the near-term it would also likely be done on the ground.

Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas

#100

Post by the_third_wave »

I suspect they'll install a larger water inundation system before the next launch of Superheavy seeing how as debris seems to have damaged a number of the first stage engines. Maybe a flame tunnel as well but at least something to keep the sound pressure and heat from breaking up the concrete under the launch platform which sets free debris which in its turn causes damage to the rocket and the launch facilities.
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