SpaceX

[G-CPTN]

Apparently a 'disassembly hard landing'.

[CharlieOneSix]

Would you believe it! My internet connection went down a few seconds before the launch......

[TheGreenGoblin]

Would you believe it! My internet connection went down a few seconds before the launch......

Sod's law!

Terminal stages of approach uncontrolled. No close range monitoring of the engines so no chance of comments on what went wrong. Suffice it to say you missed a fireball!

[TheGreenGoblin]

Should have stayed with this stream...

[Boac]

Ah well. It actually looked worse that SN8. Here's to 10

At least it looks as if it crashed in the right place

[TheGreenGoblin]

Ah well. It actually looked worse that SN8. Here's to 10

At least it looks as if it crashed in the right place

+1

[Boac]

Unlike SN8 it never 'erected' (shades of my 'premature elaunchulation'....). Don't think I want to go to Mars on it just yet.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Unlike SN8 it never 'erected' (shades of my 'premature elaunchulation'....). Don't think I want to go to Mars on it just yet.

Not unless you have a death wish.

[TheGreenGoblin]

As ever, Scot, Scott Manley has something sensible to say...

Scott Manley (@DJSnM) Tweeted: This is a slow motion view tracking the skirt, and you can see after the first piece of debris comes off, the second is bouncing around inside the skirt. https://t.co/1clOe9j9p1

[TheGreenGoblin]

[TheGreenGoblin]

Scott Manley (@DJSnM) Tweeted: You can see there's propellent flowing, but the 2nd engine isn't generating thrust: https://t.co/1TglqVmNww

[TheGreenGoblin]

Scott Manley (@DJSnM) Tweeted: One of the engines never lit and there wasn't enough thrust to stop in time: https://t.co/BvkPHGIy5l

[PHXPhlyer]

Another RUD
Oh, Well!
Agree about the "Fan Boy Commentators" on Spaceflight.com

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

No doubt SpaceX will get it right but, you know, that would just be the beginning, because, when you think of it, the landing profile on Mars will be considerably different to landing on Earth, even assuming that the arrival trajectory, and speed, inserts the Starship, sans boosters, into the correct Mars obit.

On Mars the latter part of the the re-entry profile will, in effect, be the equivalent of the earthbound belly flop, and will occur with a large amount of forward momentum while the spacecraft scrubs off significant heat and speed, at relatively low altitude, due to Mars' thin atmosphere, where those small control vanes will still have far less effect than they do in these tests here on Earth, in our much thicker atmosphere at near sea level. The spacecraft will be be heavy with fuel, not only sufficient for the landing burns, but also for the return trip for a rendezvous in Mars orbit. On Mars, entry and landing, the craft will be experiencing vibrations, forces, including that of reduced gravity, which will be very hard to simulate here on earth, and then will have to land with almost pinpoint accuracy on a pre-surveyed site, lest it land in an area where uneven terrain might cause it to topple over due to its narrow base and high centre of gravity, even if the landing is perfect!

As somebody who values his own mangy hide, I would not even think of putting a human into a landing mission in that spacecraft until the landing trick has been shown to work successfully on Mars, 5 times in succession, at least. Even the old Apollo lunar modules had the advantage of thrusters, a low centre of gravity, a squat wide profile, and no need to take atmospheric effects or aerodynamics into account, as well as the fact that the Moon has a gravitational acceleration, 1/6 that of Earth's as opposed to the stronger 38/100 of that of Mars!

Going to Mars will be hard. Landing humans on Mars harder still, and getting humans off Mars and back to earth the hardest part yet. I don't expect to see this happen in the next 15 years at the very least. I hope we can return samples from Mars in the next 10 years though, although the Starship would be sub-optimal for such a mission.

[TheGreenGoblin]

[Boac]

This reminds me of the cartoon that went round the Lightning force eons ago - anyone who experienced the AVPIN engine starter system will know what I mean.

Lander.jpg (29.91 KiB) Viewed 339 times

[TheGreenGoblin]

AVPIN engine starter system will know what I mean.

Back in the day, when men were men and drag racers used rocket engines, "Slamming Sammy" Miller was the rocket man par excellence in the USA, until the US drag authorities banned rocket powered dragsters there because the insurance firms refused to cover events due to to the danger of explosions etc. So he migrated across the pond to the UK where he was a well know figure with his car Vanishing Point which was powered by a lunar module engine, and the officials here used to ask him to refuel well away from the track, lest the car blew up while he was refueling it. The hypergolic Aerozine 50 fuel, and N. 2O. 4 oxidizer (+ high test peroxide), was highly dangerous but provided excellent thrust. It is even more volatile than Avpin.

For quite some time, England had the quickest side-by-side runs in drag racing.

Phenomenal times of 0-60 mph in 0.2 seconds and 0-100 mph in 0.3 seconds were normal for rocket cars. Sammy couldn't buy the rocket fuel in England and had to buy it in Germany. He had to fuel the car in a field about 1/4 mile away from any other cars or spectators! I believe the engine he used in "Vanishing Point" was the same type used by NASA in the lunar module. He had to lie almost flat on his back in the car; otherwise, the incredible acceleration would have caused him to black out. He said that every time he raced the car his nose and ears bled.

As befits a good rocket, or missile man, Sammy left this world in a huge explosion, but not on the track, as he was also an oil man, and was killed in a refinery explosion.



Slamming Sammy Miller



RIP Sammy!

[CharlieOneSix]

My reminiscencies of Avpin from 5 years ago: viewtopic.php?t=827#p35380

[ian16th]

I agree with everything you have just written/said, but my human madness trumps my logic in this, for the moment...

This kind of thing panders to our human delusion of primacy and mitigates against our knowledge and fear of the potential meaninglessness of our lives cast against an uncaring and potentially, and unfathomable, universe!

I revel in this, and bask in the futility of mankind of which I am one...

While all efforts to civilize Africa are going backwards, WTF are we looking off Earth?

[G-CPTN]

I followed a link that spoke of the origin of 'suns' and their longevity depending on size and burn-rate.
It depressed me, as, it seems that all are destined to burn out.

Seeking a possible escape from Earth to Mars is no panacea - the whole Universe is doomed it seems, as in several billion years time there will be nothing left.