The Commercial - and now general space travel - Thread (No Politics Allowed)

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SpaceX Starship launch today. No matter the outcome, should not disappoint!
!
 
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Elon at the controls this morning...

090718muskpot1_1920x1080.jpg
 
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Elon at the controls this morning...

090718muskpot1_1920x1080.jpg


I think his head is spinning...along with that rocket...
 
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Well, at least it cleared the tower.
Would've loved to see more...but hey. Still a win.
 
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Well, at least it cleared the tower.
Would've loved to see more...but hey. Still a win.

As someone who grew up with NASA launches that presented as very professional (if not subdued), I will say that the cheering from the crowds, and incessant positivity from the "hosts" is a little grating...

I suppose being a private company, there's a need to PR spin everything, setting the bar incredibly low to ensure that a claim of success can be made.

Seeing it as a "win"? Sure I guess you can call it that, but to me that sort of smacks of a "everyone gets a trophy" sort of mentality. People shouldn't be afraid to call something a failure - you can learn from failures, often much more than you do from a success.
 
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Well, to be fair, they never planned for any part of that rocket assembly to make it back in one piece lol. Or at least recover any of it.
No, it did not complete the stage separation as planned, but better to figure that out now, rather than have the failure happen when it really matters.
Like you said hopefully a learning experience - and in my opinion, any new information gained counts as a win!
 
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What's with all the 馃槻 screaming ?
I don't remember NASA & IBM engineers screaming when Saturn V vehicles launched!
 
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Well, to be fair, they never planned for any part of that rocket assembly to make it back in one piece lol. Or at least recover any of it.

That seems to contradict what the hosts were saying...they specifically said that the booster would separate and then descend back for recovery.

No, it did not complete the stage separation as planned, but better to figure that out now, rather than have the failure happen when it really matters.

Yes, certainly you want to be sure it actually works before you put people on it - that's obvious.

Hopefully a learning experience - and in my opinion, any new information gained counts as a win!

 
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That seems to contradict what the hosts were saying...they specifically said that the booster would separate and then descend back for recovery.

I didn't hear them say that.
I only mentioned it because I remember reading that they did not plan to recover.
"SpaceX won't attempt to recover either Booster 7 or Ship 24 on the coming test flight, but that will change as the Starship program continues to develop."
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-launch-many-issues-elon-musk

Maybe they meant that was the plan for future flights....
 
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Makes the achievements of the 1960's space program all the more remarkable.
 
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Also read the wildlife refuge down range is suffering with Elongigatrash.