Space.com
SpaceX knows how to put on a show.
The company launched the seventh flight test of its Starship megarocket this afternoon from its Starbase site in South Texas. The 403-foot-tall (123 meters) vehicle lifted off successfully and achieved stage separation. And its first-stage booster, called Super Heavy, made it back down to Starbase for a dramatic catch by its launch tower’s “chopstick” arms.
But some eight minutes into the flight, SpaceX lost contact with the Starship upper stage, known as Ship. It’s currently unknown what caused the problem, but one thing is certain: Ship went out with a bang. More
Footage from News4JAX Here
That was some pricey fireworks.
Watched it live, catching the booster was quite the show.
As for Starship itself… The telemetry just kind of dropped out. The only hints we got live were the engines shutting down, and the suspicious fuel gauge reading for the methane tank. I believe the current suspicion is a large fuel leak, possibly leading to engine starvation, followed by automated termination via the FTS. If the RSO commanded it, we’d likely know by now.
KR
Fireworks to be seen next at Trump’s inauguration?
How many taxpayer dollars were involved?
Seeing that heavy first stage come back down under its own power and gently place itself into the waiting arms of its tower, for the 2nd time and thereby proving the 1st wasn’t a fluke, took my breath away. The engineering, construction, and operation of such a thing is almost beyond belief, especially for those of us old enough to remember all those the pre-Mercury blow-ups.
As for the 2nd stage, this was, after all, a test flight.
I suspect a democrat was involved in the destruction.
SAE? I thought we were metric!