RUD - rapid unscheduled disassembly

[lordlundar]

No disrespect to Elon, but that acronym has been used in hobby rocketry for a long time. It's similar to a golfer yelling "fore" or a lumberjack yelling "timber". If you hear someone yelling it, you need to find cover.

So question, Are they yelling "RUD!!!" or are they yelling "RUN!!!"?

[Brotoro]

Right up there with "CATO," Catastrophe At Take Off, which refers mainly to various, er, "failings" on or near the launchpad.

'Cato' is not an acronym. Cato is short for 'catastrophic failure.' It's only in more recent decades that people who heard it mistook it to be an acronym and made up the 'catastrophe at take off' thing.

[SAI Peregrinus]

'Cato' is not an acronym. Cato is short for 'catastrophic failure.' It's only in more recent decades that people who heard it mistook it to be an acronym and made up the 'catastrophe at take off' thing.

CATOBAR: Catapult Assisted Take Off, Barrier Arrested Landing.

Or, for the new recruits, Catastrophe At Take Off, Barely Achievable Landing.

[s1l3nt_c0y0t3]

Just so everyone knows, that's a joke. "Ruddy" is a minced curse of "bloody". Which is an actually curse word in Britain and parts of the Commonwealth. It's like saying frick instead of .....

[SlabGizor117]

I like Rapid Unplanned Disassembly better, and I was pretty excited to hear Elon say that after mentioning KSP in his AMA, under the assumption that the KSP community had made that term up. Thanks a lot, party pooper...