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SpaceX Starship Launch of SN8 (#8)

Bluto

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Bluto

Bluto

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What an outstanding thing to see! This thing is immense, and flew to 12.5 Kilometers, Skydived/Belly Flopped down, flipped to upright, and touched down exactly on the landing pad (albeit, a bit to hard). This led to an RUD (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly); basically, it went "Boom"! 

So much data obtained and technologies proved.

SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing | Space
 

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CincySportsFan

CincySportsFan

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7 minutes ago, Bluto said:

It makes total sense to me that they would use techniques that have been in use by skydivers for decades: use their arms and legs to stabilize their freefall.

It may make sense...but to see it achieved...another story.  I wonder how easy it is to correct if/when something does go wrong.

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theguru

theguru

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1 hour ago, Bluto said:

What an outstanding thing to see! This thing is immense, and flew to 12.5 Kilometers, Skydived/Belly Flopped down, flipped to upright, and touched down exactly on the landing pad (albeit, a bit to hard). This led to an RUD (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly); basically, it went "Boom"! 

So much data obtained and technologies proved.

SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing | Space
 

Elon says it was a success. 

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Bluto

Bluto

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2 minutes ago, theguru said:

Elon says it was a success. 

Absolutely, it was. I was thrilled with all of the techniques that it demonstrated. I've watched the video above (with the 3 different views) several times, and I am amazed at how responsive the controls are/were.

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theguru

theguru

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Just now, Bluto said:

Absolutely, it was. I was thrilled with all of the techniques that it demonstrated. I've watched the video above (with the 3 different views) several times, and I am amazed at how responsive the controls are/were.

I know right, the progress being made is amazing. 

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Bluto

Bluto

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7 hours ago, SnottieDrippen said:

So, out of complete ignorance I ask, did the third thruster burn out on ascent? Would it have provided enough thrust to prevent the bumpy landing?

The burn out occurred at the end of the descent, and only due to low fuel pressure (per Elon Musk).

The video I posted has 3 views, including the engine area, and you can verify what I'm about to post.

During ascent all 3 engines were shut down one at a time. SpaceX was doing tests on how the vehicle responds in different situations. Normal, losing 1 engine, losing 2 engines, and finally the descent after the 3rd engine cuts off. The rocket was only going up 8 miles, and they had a lot of testing to get done on the way up.

When each engine shuts down, it gimbals (moves) out of the way of the remaining engines in order to allow them to change their angles, to keep the rocket upright.

At the end of the descent, all 3 engines re-light perfectly, but the ship just ran out of fuel/fuel pressure, leading to a hard landing, and subsequent RUD (Rapid UN-planned Disassembly, which was cool!).

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SnottieDrippen

SnottieDrippen

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11 hours ago, Bluto said:

The burn out occurred at the end of the descent, and only due to low fuel pressure (per Elon Musk).

The video I posted has 3 views, including the engine area, and you can verify what I'm about to post.

During ascent all 3 engines were shut down one at a time. SpaceX was doing tests on how the vehicle responds in different situations. Normal, losing 1 engine, losing 2 engines, and finally the descent after the 3rd engine cuts off. The rocket was only going up 8 miles, and they had a lot of testing to get done on the way up.

When each engine shuts down, it gimbals (moves) out of the way of the remaining engines in order to allow them to change their angles, to keep the rocket upright.

At the end of the descent, all 3 engines re-light perfectly, but the ship just ran out of fuel/fuel pressure, leading to a hard landing, and subsequent RUD (Rapid UN-planned Disassembly, which was cool!).

Yeah, the engine cam was where my eyes stayed trained. I wondered if they were shutting off intentionally or if I was watching a failure. Thanks for clarification.

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Bluto

Bluto

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2 hours ago, SnottieDrippen said:

Yeah, the engine cam was where my eyes stayed trained. I wondered if they were shutting off intentionally or if I was watching a failure. Thanks for clarification.

To me, the cutoffs were too regular and clean to be failures. I also know that testing/data was paramount to SpaceX. I have to believe that engineers much smarter than me were testing as many various conditions that they could simulate during that short flight.

But I could be wrong!

Also, wasn't it fascinating to see how much motion the engines were capable of?!

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SnottieDrippen

SnottieDrippen

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17 minutes ago, Bluto said:

To me, the cutoffs were too regular and clean to be failures. I also know that testing/data was paramount to SpaceX. I have to believe that engineers much smarter than me were testing as many various conditions that they could simulate during that short flight.

But I could be wrong!

Also, wasn't it fascinating to see how much motion the engines were capable of?!

Yes! At first I thought they were just wiggling, but it all started to make sense eventually. Those folks are super smart over there.

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