AMN: SpaceX’s rocket prototype Starship SN8 exploded on its first attempt landing from a highly anticipated “hop” on Wednesday afternoon.
The rocket launched from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas facility near the Gulf Coast just after 4:30 p.m. CST.
Video posted to social media shows the fiery explosion on impact, just more than six-and-a-half minutes in flight. watch
Leaky bladder.
I found it amazing how that underpowered bloated hunk of over weighted steel floated in the atmosphere and then flipped around like a teenage balleraena right before impact. My brain told me something other than what my eyes saw. Sure it didn’t stick the landing, but it was impressive nonetheless, seemingly defying physics.
Are we all convinced of the utter difficulty of a retro rocket soft landing? This is the best tech of 2020 with ground radars, landing pads, super fast computers, high speed servo systems, and it STILL crash lands.
Now think back to 6 in a row “perfect” retro rocket soft landings on the moon. With none of that tech. Not even a real computer, or anything on the “ground”.
well better to blow-up on a short test hop than on the long haul
lasvegasbrad
Yea but, you’re landing a bazillion pounds on earth, a couple feathers on the moon.
The Moon not be havin as much Gravity…Still a hell of a Feat though.
If You read the Reports it’s “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly”
Problem with fuel control. Better to crash the prototypes now than the service vehicles later.
When you’re heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars whats a failed rocket or two?
But as long as you don’t land it’s good right?
There was almost no expectation it would actually land. That was just going to be a bonus. Watching the live feed yesterday was pretty interesting. There are vacuum engines that occupy much of the open space you see in the base. These have a different expansion ratio, and provide a much higher impulse, but are inefficient in the atmosphere. They were not installed for this flight, so you got quite a good view of the central engine pod that was in use for this test.
I had an gut instinct that told me it was going to crash when it did the rotation and re-lit the engines. There was a green color to the flames, indicating a fuel mixture problem. I’m guessing they got a bubble in a fuel line, or had a pump cavitate.
Don’t let the crash dissuade you. Just a few short years ago, the tests always resulted in the boosters destruction. Now we expect miracles.
they need that landing signal officer on the aircraft carrier waving paddles YOUR COMING IN TOO HOT
When my Petey B’s rocket first launched, it exploded as soon as it landed on my unbleached elastic starfish!
@C.U.E.S.
Dude, you’re too much!
The image looks weird to me at the point of landing and explosion. Like a bad video edit.
@Chasten
Maybe you should lend your unbleached elastic starfish to SpaceX for testing purposes. A little variety would do you a lot of good.
Scientist: Chasten, we have a booster rocket 100 feet long with a diameter of 30 feet. We need you to help test it. Oh, we have lots of KY Jelly on hand, no worries. We know that no rocket is too big for you, right?
That’s the problem with queers (besides all the other stuff); all they have is a “Tab A fits Slot B” kind of one track mind.