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Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

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Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rocketry is one of the single hardest things to do right. Their goal is to always go a bit further than last time as, by inches, you approach the goal. And this one went wayyyyy further than the last one. That alone makes it a huge success. Obviously not as big a success as going all the way in one go would have been, but nobody was really expecting that (even if we might secretly have been crossing our fingers anyho…

I get that it’s hard. But there’s no such thing as a “successful failure“. That’s a bullshit marketing term used to keep people hyped up about the project. I wouldn’t mind them cheering if they reach their main goal but I’m pretty sure their main goal wasn’t to have the rocket Blow up on both stages.

Of course there is. You need to collect a certain amount of information before you get it working. If the test collects a good amount of information, it's a success, even if the rocket explodes.

It would have been a failure if they didn't get any further than their last launch.

Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyday Astronaut was able to reconnect to their robo-cam and pan over the launch area. No damage visible. Not only did the cameras at the launch pad survive, they didn't even get their tripods knocked over.

There does appear to be a large dent in one of the large tanks (LOX?) near the launchpad.

that happened during the first test I believe

Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#185

Second stage lost, looks like the flight termination system did its job. Unknown as to why yet. Going to be very very interesting to see the data that's released from this as well as all the higher quality video/stills that surface.

Good trivia question: Is this the first rocket launch to have two separate RUDs?

Do second stage failures on other rockets, where the booster is a guaranteed rapidly-scheduled-destruction count? :P

Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#186
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does have a positive spin, and that is a good thing. I did check your comments and you seem to have a negative spin on most of your comments. Maybe their tone is not compatible to yours. But gross and delusional seem wrong considering what they have accomplished so far. Their work is inspiring and deserves the praise and positivity.

Heh, I generally agree with you. But you really do need to wonder how much of the "SpaceX" cheering is staged/prompted. For example, they let out a big cheer from the SpaceX employees right after Starship RUD'd (try t+8:30). But the interleaved shots of their actual control center shows far more restraint. Certainly no overly disappointed looks, but Elon's face looks quite measured. Though of course, even the most ne…

I think the charitable interpretation is that the SpaceX employees are just happy their work is coming to fruition, while Elon is annoyed we're not on Mars yet.

Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that it’s hard. But there’s no such thing as a “successful failure“. That’s a bullshit marketing term used to keep people hyped up about the project. I wouldn’t mind them cheering if they reach their main goal but I’m pretty sure their main goal wasn’t to have the rocket Blow up on both stages.

Of course there is. You need to collect a certain amount of information before you get it working. If the test collects a good amount of information, it's a success, even if the rocket explodes. It would have been a failure if they didn't get any further than their last launch.

It’s not hard to collect information. And you really think they wouldn’t spin this as a success, if they didn’t get further than the last launch?

The problem is, there’s a lack of humility, and no one knows what it’s like to be humble anymore.

Re: Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central Time

#190

- Starship got just below orbit - Booster destroyed during hot staging - SpaceX reporting that destruct system fired on upper stage towards end of burn all in all a pretty good result: clean launch and separation, good performance on the booster during ascent (no engine mishaps this time)

I can't wait for the next one. How many tests are we expecting? 7-8? Seems to be too long! I wish we had the spirit of the Apollo.

> I wish we had the spirit of the Apollo

Careful what you wish for. The Saturn test program peaked at 3 tests / year (unless you want to count the separately tested launch escape system for the crew capsule), and the fully stacked Saturn V was only tested twice (in 1967 and 1968) before crewed missions.

For all its speed, Apollo was not a SpaceX-style rapid iteration program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_missions#Uncrew...

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