And we have liftoff

[LupusDei]

I’ve seen The Incredibles so even I know big rockets need diversion trenches. It’s a major plot point.

Problem is, they have very limited space at their Texas pad and the ground isn't even ten meters over the water table. So, even though the rocket dug quite a trench spontaneously, it's not quite what they really can do there. (While it's technically possible to build into the groundwater, that has own can of worms.)

At their new Florida pad they are installing a water deluge system (that spray massive amounts of water unto/into the exhaust, making it easier to manage), but in Texas they neither have readily freshwater source (we talk millions of gallons; saltwater is nasty and would leave dozens of tons of salt behind upon evaporation) nor obvious options of drainage that wouldn't threaten federally protected wildlands.

They might get away with just actively cooled armoured diveverter(s) and that's what they're likely intend to build there. Rumour is, they had already designed the thing and even had some parts on site... just decided to not wait for it and see how it goes without any mitigation.

A rocket motor with thousands of tons of thrust is just a nuke detonating in slow motion.

Yup, the rocket was lifting out of an active volcano of own making. Folks going over the replays allegedly have spot a chunk of something (likely concrete) five meters across briefly hovering hundred meters in the air alongside the rocket. Fun is, it's not one big engine either, but an array of engines in several concentric layers. In between those there's practically guaranteed to be upward suction zones. That thing was shot rocks and dust at, at energies equal to tank guns, and it still somehow flew for over four minutes, albeit leaking oxygen and hydraulic liquid...

 

[Grendelpuppy]

I’ve seen The Incredibles so even I know big rockets need diversion trenches. It’s a major plot point.

I need to rewatch THE INCREDIBLES.

There actually are rocket systems that do not use diversion trenches. However; they are smaller rockets with very robust launch structures such as missile submarines. Most of them now use cold launch ejection.

 

[Bray123]

The Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly of the Spacex Mission proved one thing anyway.

Elon is capable of destroying something quicker than Twitter.

 

[Dribble]

^^^
Wrong - wildly inaccurate, in fact.

But, continue...



Hilariously-specious argument. Seriously, do you know anything about space programs or travel?

Meanwhile, people like you - and even NASA - said for years that no one would ever be able to land a rocket vertically, much less re-use it afterwards. SpaceX has since done it over 185 times.

I know way more than you. But continue idolizing a grifter company. Let's go to Mars. Let's go back to the moon.

Did you know we discovered stem cells grow faster in space? This will "revolutionize" cancer treatment. We can harvest a cancer patient stem cells...send them to space...get the desired number we need...bring the cells back...and re-inject them into the cancer patient sooner.

Then...we look at how much sooner...we save roughly one month over doing it on Earth...and then factor in the cost of getting the cells into space and back. Makes total sense....

 

[Dribble]

1959....
What's that noise? Beep beep beep. Oh my God...Russia put a satellite in space. Can we do that? Nope...not even close. Here is a blank check...let's figure this shit out.

1961...
Ham took flight. Suborbital...but since that's what our first man would do...makes total sense

1969
Man on the moon.

 

[LupusDei]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1650415733325590528

Okay, so China is going full Starship with its Long March 9. Two test launches ~2033 and aiming for full reusability with the two-stage variant.

 

[RoryN]

I know way more than you.

*pat pat*

Okay.

But continue idolizing a grifter company.

Dumb take. SpaceX is currently the most successful rocket company on the planet. It's a fact, not a grift.

Your Elon hate is making you look bad. I can't stand him either, but I'm not letting my bias obfuscate science. Do better.

 

[Dribble]

https://qz.com/the-faa-let-spacex-launch-starship-without-the-usual-pa-1850368386

For our dumb ones sucking Elon's false promises

 

[Dribble]

Ever wonder why the contracts went to Musk and not the dozen other companies that applied? Ever look into why? Nah....didn't think so.

 

[Lazaran]

https://qz.com/the-faa-let-spacex-launch-starship-without-the-usual-pa-1850368386

For our dumb ones sucking Elon's false promises

When good but potentially dangerous tech (SpaceX, Twitter, etc) is co-opted by a sociopath like Musk, bad things are bound to happen.

Ultimately, cutting corners WILL lead to massive death in the SpaceX “Starship” program.

It took a while for the Space Shuttle program to suffer a catastrophe from cost saving decisions, and I’d imagine SpaceX will follow a similar trajectory.

Of course, with the hyper ambitious sociopathic nature of SpaceX’s “leader”, I imagine the catastrophe will come sooner and be fat more spectacularly tragic than the Space Shuttle disasters.

*resigned nod*

 

[RoryN]

Ever wonder why the contracts went to Musk and not the dozen other companies that applied? Ever look into why?

...um, because none of the other companies had the track record of success SpaceX had when they applied? Why would NASA use them?

The most viable one, Blue Origin, just had a major rocket failure on a production vehicle, not a test article (e.g. Starship).

Also, the court looked into this already. They dismissed.

Ultimately, cutting corners WILL lead to massive death in the SpaceX “Starship” program.

I agree with this if corners are cut. It's a high level of ambition, and it will definitely come with a lot of risk if execution isn't excellent. (See Tesla's failures.)

Sadly, it's not going to matter much though because, by the time Starship is carrying massive amounts of people, there'll be an elementary school shooting every week, and no one will pay it any mind.

 

[Dribble]

When good but potentially dangerous tech (SpaceX, Twitter, etc) is co-opted by a sociopath like Musk, bad things are bound to happen.

Ultimately, cutting corners WILL lead to massive death in the SpaceX “Starship” program.

It took a while for the Space Shuttle program to suffer a catastrophe from cost saving decisions, and I’d imagine SpaceX will follow a similar trajectory.

Of course, with the hyper ambitious sociopathic nature of SpaceX’s “leader”, I imagine the catastrophe will come sooner and be fat more spectacularly tragic than the Space Shuttle disasters.

*resigned nod*

Exactly. It is so obvious. And sadly...preventable

 

[Dribble]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/29/1166...3, the K-12,alone, not including the shooters.

74 dead this year alone. 84 incidents this year alone. At the time this article was written...that is one gun incident per day.

 

[butters]

FAA says 'not so fast' to musk

“Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval,” Musk, the chief executive officer of SpaceX, tweeted on Tuesday shortly after the rocket was loaded onto a booster in South Texas. But the FAA on Wednesday said it was still investigating, shutting down the notion of a speedy approval. “The SpaceX Starship mishap investigation remains open,” the agency told Ars Technica. “The FAA will not authorize another Starship launch until SpaceX implements the corrective actions identified during the mishap investigation and demonstrates compliance with all the regulatory requirements of the license modification process.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...1&cvid=e4956c7f708b4d3385fae10568810522&ei=28

i am in awe of the types of technology under development (not just by spaceX), but it's good to see there's someone still exercising control over his ambitions. musk let loose with no-one watching he doesn't run roughshod over rules, regs and decency (at least in space, after all he's doing as he pleases on twitterx) is a recipe for disaster.

 

[RoryN]

FAA says 'not so fast' to musk

The FAA will bow to SpaceX - again - soon. (They should never have let the first launch go with the pad in the previous condition it was in.)

And this is why: everyone is betting on the Starship spacecraft for the future of space travel; NASA ain't cutting it. I assure you that, this morning, NASA is having an internal crisis - this is the news they were dreading:

NASA’s mega moon rocket is ‘unaffordable,’ according to accountability report​

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/world/nasa-gao-report-sls-moon-rocket-scn/index.html

Pretty much all the budget problems listed here are solved with a working Starship. That's why it's already part of the Artemis program.

I'm in full agreement with you about controls and concerns over the technology and letting it go unchecked; it's a legit problem. But this train has left the station...unless it hits Houston and blows up a bunch of people.

 

[jaF0]

The Afrikkaner/Russian Collaborator must be jettisoned.

 

[RoryN]

The Afrikkaner/Russian Collaborator must be jettisoned.

Already has been. He's used SpaceX as his piggy bank recently, but just about everyone else there is working independently of him. He's mostly only a company spokesperson now - I expect that too will be winding down soon.

 

[Lazaran]

The Afrikkaner/Russian Collaborator must be jettisoned.

•
The recent revelation that Musk denied the Ukrainians the ability to use Starlink to target Russian ships that were indiscriminately raining missiles down on civilians is quite disturbing.

Musk claims he worried about Russian "escalation", when Russia was already escalating.

JFC

SAD!!!

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

The recent revelation that Musk denied the Ukrainians the ability to use Starlink to target Russian ships that were indiscriminately raining missiles down on civilians is quite disturbing.

Or is it just disturbing that the only world-wide high speed internet service is run by a private company not an international consortium?

 

[gtnlynn]

NASA and the IG revealed today that the SLS program is not affordable. We told them the same thing almost 10 years ago, but the people in charge refused to listen, as usual.

 

[jaF0]

We told them ...

You got a mouse in your pocket?

 

[gtnlynn]

You got a mouse in your pocket?

Nope, just lint

 

[Dribble]

Go back to the start of this thread. I called it. Why are people surprised Musk supports Putin? Not like he ever hid it. He is nothing but a grifter

 

[Lazaran]

Or is it just disturbing that the only world-wide high speed internet service is run by a private company not an international consortium?

Both.

Slavs Ukraini

 

[RoryN]

FAA investigation finished:

FAA closes investigation of SpaceX's Starship rocket launch mishap, 63 fixes needed​

https://www******.com/faa-closes-spacex-starship-mishap-investigation

Most, if not all, of those fixes are already done.