SpaceX

[Marno]

Since the dawn of space flight chemical engines were prone to violent catastrophic explosion.

5 decades later, they still use the same volitile substances and failure prone methods to launch things into space and still do not get it right everytime.

[propstrap]

Booster 15 static fire was over the weekend, and Ship 34 is on the pad now for it's static fire.

Which would imply the next flight is intended in the next 2-4 weeks.

Still need FAA to sign off on the accident report and mitigations, but given Musk's new-found influence, this may happen quite quickly. (Although with Boeing still hanging over their heads, they may at least try to look like they are not bowing to external pressure.)

[CharlesDavis]

Since the dawn of space flight chemical engines were prone to violent catastrophic explosion.

5 decades later, they still use the same volitile substances and failure prone methods to launch things into space and still do not get it right everytime.

SpaceX uses methane/Oxygen, which is quite different to the fuels of 50 years ago

[Patrick AL]

An impressive long duration static fire of Ship 34:



That should be the end of the ground test campaign, and the start of pre-flight prep!

[markII]

Target Flight 8 launch date now 26 Feb:

[markII]

And pushed back to Friday 28th...

Flight 9 paperwork is also starting to show up, with tentative plans for a ship catch, and potential re-flight of Booster 14.

[Dan the Man]

https://www.spacex.com/updates/ :

...Contact with Starship was lost prior to triggering any destruct rules for its Autonomous Flight Safety System, which was fully healthy when communication was lost. The vehicle was observed to break apart approximately three minutes after loss of contact during descent. Post-flight analysis indicates that the safety system did trigger autonomously, and breakup occurred within Flight Termination System expectations.

The most probable root cause for the loss of ship was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system. The subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship’s attic area and resulted in sustained fires.

Immediately following the anomaly, the pre-coordinated response plan developed by SpaceX, the FAA, and ATO (air traffic control) went into effect. All debris came down within the pre-planned Debris Response Area, and there were no hazardous materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality. SpaceX reached out immediately to the government of Turks and Caicos and worked with them and the United Kingdom to coordinate recovery and cleanup efforts. While an early end to the flight test is never a desired outcome, the measures put in place ahead of launch demonstrated their ability to keep the public safe.

SpaceX led the investigation efforts with oversight from the FAA and participation from NASA, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the U.S. Space Force. SpaceX is working with the FAA to either close the mishap investigation or receive a flight safety determination, along with working on a license authorization to enable its next flight of Starship.

As part of the investigation, an extended duration static fire was completed with the Starship flying on the eighth flight test. The 60-second firing was used to test multiple engine thrust levels and three separate hardware configurations in the Raptor vacuum engine feedlines to recreate and address the harmonic response seen during Flight 7. Findings from the static fire informed hardware changes to the fuel feedlines to vacuum engines, adjustments to propellant temperatures, and a new operating thrust target that will be used on the upcoming flight test.

To address flammability potential in the attic section on Starship, additional vents and a new purge system utilizing gaseous nitrogen are being added to the current generation of ships to make the area more robust to propellant leakage. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine, reducing the attic volume and eliminating the majority of joints that can leak into this volume.

Starship’s seventh flight test was a reminder that developmental progress is not always linear, and putting flight hardware in a flight environment is the fastest way to demonstrate how thousands of distinct parts come together to reach space. Upcoming flights will continue to target ambitious goals in the pursuit of full and rapid reusability.

[Snitch]

And delayed to Monday...

[heisan]

Expletive. Launch window opens at 01h30... Highlights for me tomorrow morning.

[Patrick AL]

Next attempt tonight. Stream starts at 01h00 for targeted launch at 01h30:

[media]https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1lPKqMQbAWLKb[/media]

[GrahamW]

The booster was caught but Starship went BOOM - R.U.D.

[jimdavis]

R.U.D. ??? Another TLA?

jim

[GrahamW]

R.U.D. ??? Another TLA?

jim

RUD (acronym): In some technical contexts, RUD stands for "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly," a humorous engineering term for an explosion or failure (e.g., used by SpaceX).

[rainier]

Call me a pessimist but I don't think this is quite ready for Mars yet

[heisan]

R.U.D. ??? Another TLA?

jim

RUD (acronym): In some technical contexts, RUD stands for "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly," a humorous engineering term for an explosion or failure (e.g., used by SpaceX).

Just have to love the euphemisms:

Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines

'energetic event' == Big BOOM