Terrible title. This should have been reported as a major accomplishment... in the title. Many people won't read the article, and without doing so they would never know that this was a win.
SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
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Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#402Anyone reading the headline could easily be misled: this was a massive success. Some context: - This was the first "integrated test" of the Starship space craft with its booster - The whole thing together was 120 meters tall - It will be one order of magnitude larger than the current largest rocket in terms of carrying capacity (~150 tonnes if it needs to return the booster, 250 if it doesn't) - There's 5 more of the…
As a SpaceX fan reading through the post-launch analysis, this was definitely more of a success than the headline applies, but 'massive' is a stretch. Most commentary I'm seeing put it at a C or B-. It's true that there was a number of areas where the risk is now retired, but three engines out at launch with three more dropping out along the way hints that their engine design still isn't as reliable as it needs to be, several years and several engine test campaigns later.
SpaceX doesn't have a test stand where they can static-fire the booster at full power or duration, which feels like an interesting gap in their usual 'hardware-rich, test-often' iterative approach. I'm betting we see something like that roll out soon.
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What good is freedom of thought and speech if one cannot exercise it? This is what I describe as the “worse is better” model of freedom. As if the only way we can measure freedom is by counting how many extremely awful things occur in the world and concluding that more awful things is a clear indicator that we have more freedom. Is this a uniquely American concept?
Karl Popper wasn't, strictly speaking, American: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Society_and_Its_Enemi... The underlying theme is that a non-optimal system that nevertheless minimizes chances of tyranny and/or violence is better than say a society ruled by philosopher kings. So it's not so much that "more awful things is a clear indicator that we have more freedom", but rather that a system that takes it upon…
The dichotomy isn’t that we either laud the amount of bad things happening or stamp out freedom with tyrannical government. That’s precisely the ludicrous “worse is better” model I was criticizing.
And I’m fairly aware of Popper. I largely share his views, particularly those in The Open Society and Its Enemies and The Logic of Scientific Discovery. I don’t think he would point to, for instance, high murder rates as an indicator of freedom in a society or a preponderance of pseudoscientific theories as an indicator of freedom in a scientific community.
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#404Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Flight Termination System is controlled by the Range Safety Officer. And yes, it was pretty clear from the way the two stages exploded that it was the RSO activating the FTS.
By "Flight Termination System" I meant some automatic process, if such a system exists. It might just be a big red button at this point (since the goal is data collection). or maybe it's a very generous flight envelope, but the tumble took it far enough off course that it tripped.
That would be an Autonomous Flight Termination System, which does exist (and is used on many newer rockets including Falcon 9) but I'd bet that a human pushed the button in this case.
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
Part of SpaceX company culture. All their launches are cheer-heavy. Even mission control gets rowdy at times.
I remember I think it was when they first landed the booster successfully, there was a big "USA! USA! USA!" cheer from mission control. I thought that was a bit of an ugly look myself.
What's wrong with cheering the name of the country which has allowed and fostered such a project to exist?
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#406People want to see 100% success in all things. But that isn't very economical. Compare the SLS to Starship. SLS has had a 100% success rate. One launch, one success. But it costs $2B per launch (and climbing) and has taken 12 years to get here. Plus, it's stealing pieces of the Space Shuttle, which was developed in the 70s over a long period of time. Starship will launch a half a dozen "failures" before they achieve…
I wonder how quickly they can iterate?
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
One or two engines looked like they actually exploded in flight, it just kept going like nothing happened. Absolutely amazing.
It was great to see that they seemed unconcerned about 3 engines not lighting on launch. That's the sort of redundancy Starship is going to need to succeed in the way SpaceX are aiming for.
Well they already had a 1 engine out capability on F9, so scaling that ratio to Starship would be 3.6 engines, so it may be that it was in tolerance.
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#408People want to see 100% success in all things. But that isn't very economical. Compare the SLS to Starship. SLS has had a 100% success rate. One launch, one success. But it costs $2B per launch (and climbing) and has taken 12 years to get here. Plus, it's stealing pieces of the Space Shuttle, which was developed in the 70s over a long period of time. Starship will launch a half a dozen "failures" before they achieve…
Well said. On the other hand, the SLS — having a launch escape system and not requiring sophisticated acrobatics in order to reach land safely — is totally the ship I'd rather be on.
I disagree. SLS is hard-limited to a small total number of launches. Starship is going to get into the hundreds soon enough. By that point Starship will legitimately be safer and more reliable than SLS will ever be able to accomplish, so I'd pick it.
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#409Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 ro…
Elon also plays a big role in engineering. He has stated many times that most engineering decisions go directly through him. His title at the company is Founder and _Chief Engineer_
Ok could we maybe get a second opinion?
Re: SpaceX Starship rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
#410One of the new graphics that showed up on the dashboard was that of the engines lit. There were at least 2 on the outer ring that were fed from TO, and a few more winked out during the flight. I’m curious how many off engines the system tolerates. How many do they anticipate regularly? I’ve never noticed if Falcon 9s periodically run as a Falcon 8 or 7? All and all, ‘‘twas an awesome sight. Kudos to all those cheerin…
At least 6 seemed to be off
I think I saw at least one in flight engine relight. If true that's a capability I haven't heard about before.