CatastrophicFailure

Year 8, Day 28... 'Twas the night before [nonspecific solstice celebration], And all through the Space Center, Not a creature was stirring, Not even a-- JIMINY JUMPED-UP CHRISTMAS, DID YOU GUYS SEE THE SIZE OF THAT THING?!? Holey flarp, that thing had teeth like THIS! Somebody call an exterminator! Dangit, Vlad, I've told you not to leave food lying around like that, it attracts... creatures! Anyways, the crew continues to push on towards Rald's north pole. The low plains have given way to middling midlands, driving them back into their suits... ...so thankfully we can't see Jencine in those awful shorts anymore. Hey! You.... ...'ve got to be kidding me.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Always figured Musk for more of a Mac guy myself...

“Make haste slowly.”

Musk himself has been pretty frank about the risk involved. I think everyone really expects a successful launch, but this is the maiden flight of what is essentially a brand new launcher (massive core redesigns). There are simply things they can't simulate on the ground with any real accuracy (transsonic flow around 27 engines for one, IIRC). It's going to be a significantly riskier flight that most SpaceX flights, and most rocket launches in general because of the unknowns. So no, I don't think now is really the time to push the FH's lifting limits to the extreme. I think it's wise to stick to a low-mass, low-stress payload to verify the thing actually works once, then go pushing the limits. RocketLab's first launch attempt had no payload at all, as I recall. Just instruments.

Given the ambivalence about the thing even making it off the pad, now does not seem to be the time to push the envelope any further. $10 says they tried, but Bezos told them to go pound sand.

The whole thing is the "silliest thing imaginable" There's a significant chance the entire discussion is moot anyway cuz the car won't get high enough for any of it to matter.

Speakers have big magnets in them. With no power coming thru the lines to produce motion (speakers are really linear electric motors), that magnet will damp out any vibrations almost instantaneously (cuz a speaker would sound like crap if it didn't stop speaking when the current stopped).

Not could, will. Even the radio won't be able to keep cool very long. Any electronics on the car won't last more than a few minutes, I'd wager. The rest of the car won't stay pristine very long, either. But by that point, it won't matter. They won't be able to keep contact with it for more than a few hours, anyway.

First we’re going to see fit checks and tanking tests, I think. Wouldn’t be surprised to finally see the beast make its way to the pad this week.

And if it misses, you suddenly have a significant quantity of aerosolized kerosene in possibily the worst place for a fire on earth, and lots of sparks. The big challenge is keeping the fragile engine bell pointed the right way, a heat shield on the “nose” of the stage would be extremely unstable with the heavy engine at the back.

That close to the front of the second stage plume, tho?

Actual question: in all those videos of the launch, what were those little puffs that could be seen in the plume, that would then spread out? Like here: that little puff that kinda looks like an eye...

It’s a good bet they’ll be measuring most/all those things anyway, if in slightly more mundane ways. This remains his greatest UFO ever... and would have been far more terrifying in the sky.

Oy. Y’all are like, “Eagles...” “Hamilton...” “Arrangement for Lute...” ...and here I am with this unholy union of the Devil Went Down to Georgia and an accordion jammed in my brain. Then imagine my suffering surprise when I googled and found out it actually exists! like... a lot! Won’t post the vid here because Language!, but search “the devil went down to Texas” on YouTube. Or better yet, don’t. Save yourself. hmmm... I wonder... Fire on the mountain, run boys run, Kraken’s in the house of the rising sun... Dangit. Now I’m curious. GWAR medley, maybe?

That video is incredible! Is the big puff there stage separation or is that the break in the contrail? Yup, that’s gonna freak so many people out.

Missed the whole thing, and out of likes already. Fart on a Pringle. dat @Ultimate Steve setup doe...

I had not seen that before! I am totally stealing that... for... stuff....

Surprising... they kept the windshield... Look out, space bugs!

“you’re gonna need a bigger boat screen.” they’ve already got the boat, so...

Maybe the nosecone itself isn't necessary for the data, maybe just the effective "shortening" of the booster is enough to learn what they need to. But if this is the case, it's adding in an unusual (and untested) separation event. From what I know of the F9 design (little), separating the interstage after booster separation is a non-trivial thing...

Hmm. Would a composite interstate survive a soft water landing and inevitable tip over, even if the rest of the stage doesn’t? Perhaps they plan to recover just that one bit?

Stupid mobile. All night I thought y'all were talking about that engine photo posted a page or two back. I was like, "why would they put a camera on an engine...?" ...taken with one huge grain of salt...

Two meters?! That’s impossible, even for a— er, wait a sec... Seems to me that kinda terminal accuracy has been around for a couple of decades, just with slightly more intentional explosions. There’s a reason SpaceX cozied up to the Air Force, after all. What’s a little data and technology sharing between friends business partners, after all? No but really, of all the challenges with a clamp landing, I think the accuracy is the least of them at this point. What about that big silly roomba thing? Is there one on the west coast? Does anyone know where JRTI even is, in the first place? Or perhaps... SpaceX is scrapping plans for the BFR and going bigger... like Sea Dragon bigger... and this booster will be scouting locations for a secret aquatic base to support it...

It’s your sense of hearing running away.