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Skylon

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Weather looks nice. 2:30 until launch.

Liftoff.

MECO. Sep. Second stage good.

Fairing off.

Nice ground shot showing both stages and fairing halves against dark sky.

Interesting texture of interstate showing up in low sun angle.

Entry burn good.

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On 3/17/2023 at 7:27 AM, Minmus Taster said:

The common joke that "Fusion is always 20 years away" applies well to Starship; "Starships launch is always a month away".

I remember a time, many and many-a ago, when we were saying exactly the same thing about Falcon Heavy.  :sticktongue:
 

On 3/17/2023 at 10:46 AM, darthgently said:

And yet, the milestones are met.  Eventually.  And even late, are still impressive.  +etc

Well said. Let us not forget that barely four years ago the whole place was nothing but a mound of dirt in the middle of nowhere.  I think maybe NASA going all-in and partnering with SpaceX for HLS kinda legitimized the whole process. A lot less seemly to go blowing up rockets willy-nilly even if that does advance things faster. 
 

On 3/17/2023 at 6:14 AM, tater said:

The day my dog takes her heart worm chewy.

is that what the kids are calling it these days? <_<

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1 hour ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

I remember a time, many and many-a ago, when we were saying exactly the same thing about Falcon Heavy.  :sticktongue:

Well said. Let us not forget that barely four years ago the whole place was nothing but a mound of dirt in the middle of nowhere.  I think maybe NASA going all-in and partnering with SpaceX for HLS kinda legitimized the whole process. A lot less seemly to go blowing up rockets willy-nilly even if that does advance things faster. 

More likely they are nervous about an early fail as in an RUD 500 meter up who would wipe out the launch complex and high chase for damaging the construction site. 
First superheavy will do an soft landing on water and SS will reenter over water.  We will then get some disposable SS. The propellant transfer test and a starlink 2 launch, 4th launch might be another reentry test and I assume they started catching first stages at this time. 

Don't think NASA has an problem with blowing up lots of stuff as testing, yes NASA know will not get away with it as politicians will complain. But who cares that an contractor does if paid an fixed price and deliver. And obvious if spaceX was risk adverse they would start landing first stage on landing legs, they might drop them later then landings get routine. 
SS landing get more problematic as it has to overfly land, and unless you launch very southward you will overfly Mexico then landing. 

You could land on some US bases in the Pacific. This require landing legs and recovery would be hard at many of them but you could inspect it and recover stuff. 
 

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Looks like they've attached the Flight Termination System to Starship. Traditionally one of the final steps before launch.

My dad was half my age when Armstrong walked on the moon. He raised me to be a space nut. (Just like him) I told him about this, and he said "Believe it when I see it."

That's out of character for my dad, but after a lifetime of watching the shuttle fleet get mothballed, and the 'chicken wire and tinfoil' Lunar flights end before they really got anywhere, the idea of a Hundred Ton Lift, fully reusable? To him, it's 'reaching a bit too far'.

This, from the guy who watches every F9 launch and landing with me.

Fully reusable, and a hundred tons per launch? It's actually making me tear up, just thinking about the possibilities. I really, REALLY want to see this happen.

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Just now, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Just so long as they have someone on site to record both landings!

We'll know because we'll see the hazards posted.

I'm thinking I will rent a car and drive to TX, then fly back—because I will likely not have enough warning to book a RT flight, unless I hear something.

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1 minute ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Rent a campervan

If I'm alone and driving straight through... I'll get a hotel on the other end. If I have time I'll stop in the middle (it's ~15 hours driving).

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