Short Takes – 4-20-23 – SpaceX Geek Edition

Starship Flight Test. SpaceX.com article. Pull quote: “At 8:33 a.m. CT, Starship successfully lifted off from the orbital launch pad for the first time. The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship. As is standard procedure, the pad and surrounding area was cleared well in advance of the test, and we expect the road and beach near the pad to remain closed until tomorrow.”

So what was that? Was Starship’s launch a failure or a success? ArsTechnical.com article. Pull quote: “Fortunately for SpaceX, the company can afford to "fail." It can do so because it has already built three more Super Heavy rockets that are nearly ready to fly. In fact, SpaceX can build 10 Super Heavy first stages in the time it takes NASA to build a single SLS rocket. If the first five fail but the next five succeed, which is a better outcome? How about in two or three years, when SpaceX is launching and landing a dozen or more Super Heavy rockets while NASA's method allows it a single launch a year?”

Highlights From SpaceX’s Explosive Starship Rocket Test Launch. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “Starship didn’t reach its goal of mastering the going-up portion of spaceflight on Thursday, but assuming its builders achieve that goal on the next try, they will still have to sort out the other part of its revolutionary approach: Getting all parts of the spacecraft on the ground safely so they can be reused. It is not clear when SpaceX will schedule its next test flight — Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX suggested it will be several months — but if it follows the same plan as Thursday’s test, it will not include an attempt to land the Super Heavy booster or the Starship vehicle.”

SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas. SeattleTimes.com article. Pull quote: “The Federal Aviation Administration said it would oversee the accident investigation, noting that no injuries or public property damage were reported. The agency also said that until it determines that there is no threat to public safety, Starships are grounded.”

Powerful Blast from SpaceX’s Starship Damages Launch Pad and Wrecks Nearby Minivan. Gizmodo.com article. Pull quote: “SpaceX was forced to destroy Starship at the 3:59 mark of the mission, the result of the rocket entering into a hopeless tumble. The Elon Musk-led company said that, at a bare minimum, it wanted to see the rocket take flight and not cause too much damage to the launch site. It’s still too early to tell, but the acquired footage does point to some harm at the site—such as a gigantic crater that formed directly beneath the Orbital Launch Mount.”

SpaceX’s Starship lifts off successfully, but explodes in first flight. WashingtonPost.com article. Pull quote: “Before the test, SpaceX warned that an explosion — or what it calls a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” — was a likely outcome, given the size and complexity of the vehicle and the fact that it had never flown before. The vehicle is outfitted with an “automated flight termination system” that is designed to blow up the vehicle if it starts going off course.”