Musk see: Watch SpaceX's latest Starship rocket explode while trying to touch down
- Reference: 1612308152
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/02/spacex_starship_explodes/
- Source link:
All eyes were on the craft after its predecessor, the SN8, [1]exploded during touchdown in December in Boca Chica, Texas. You can watch today's detonation in the video below. The accident occurs after six minutes into the flight (skip to 11:51 to see it burst into flames).
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[3]Youtube Video
Like the previous launch, SN9 was also a high-altitude flight test. The vehicle got ten kilometres (32,800 feet) into the sky before shifting to a near-horizontal position to descend but, unfortunately, it exploded in the air before it could flip the right way up and touch down.
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Let's just say not an ideal landing ... the SN9's explosion Source: SpaceX. Click to enlarge
It's not clear what caused the rapid unscheduled disassembly this time. It's possible the rocket suffered the same mishap as SN8, considering how similar both launches unfolded. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blamed SN8’s blowout on low pressure in the rocket’s fuel tank that caused it to meet the ground at a faster-than-desired velocity.
Rules? Pah
It has also emerged SpaceX asked the FAA for a waiver to exceed the limits of US federal public safety regulations during the SN8 launch. The regulator declined to issue the waiver, and SpaceX went ahead anyway with the fateful experiment.
As a result of that non-compliance, as the FAA put it, the agency demanded SpaceX carry out an investigation of the explosion and make changes to its public safety procedures in light of the failure. Those changes were approved by the regulator, and SpaceX was allowed to launch its SN9 craft.
SpaceX Starship blows up on landing, Elon Musk says it's the data that matters and that landed just fine [6]READ MORE
“The FAA determined late Monday that SpaceX complies with all safety and related federal regulations and is authorized to conduct Starship SN9 flight operations in accordance with its launch license,” a spokesperson for the watchdog told The Register .
The SN9 test was delayed by the FAA from January 28 to today as a result of SpaceX launching the SN8 without the necessary waiver, a postponement that made Elon Musk do an impression [7]on Twitter of his rockets.
Starship is classified as a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle, it’s supposed to be reusable, and performs two fuel burns to propel itself into orbit and beyond. The long-term goal is to ferry colonists and their cargo to Mars.
SpaceX also won a [8]near-billion dollar contract – split between itself, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, and Dynetics – to fly astronauts to the Moon for NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission, due to take place sometime this decade, hopefully.
Tech CEO and three plebs to fly in SpaceX's first commercial flight to space
For a more short-term goal, SpaceX hopes to run commercial flights to space by the end of the year by putting people inside its Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon rocket. The mission, dubbed [9]Inspiration4 , will require four amateur astronauts to learn how to fly the spacecraft and operate in zero-g conditions.
The first person in the Inspiration4 crew will be billionaire Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of payments processor Shift4 Payments. Issacman, who is qualified to fly military jets, said he will be donating the other three seats to chosen members of the general public. Inspiration4 will be blasted into space from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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SpaceX was not immediately available for comment on today's explosion, and Musk has said he's taking [11]some time off Twitter. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/spacex_starship_launch_fiery_end/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_science/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YBot6AiaV3PDgwBbZk-z0wAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zZ7fIkpBgs&feature=emb_title
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_science/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YBot6AiaV3PDgwBbZk-z0wAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/02/02/spacex.jpg
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/spacex_starship_launch_fiery_end/
[7] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354862567680847876
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/01/lunar_lander/
[9] https://www.spacex.com/updates/inspiration-4-mission/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_science/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YBot6AiaV3PDgwBbZk-z0wAAAFA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1356524205374918659
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I have to assume that SpaceX is pretty lucky not to have the book thrown at them for launching in violation of the licence after being explicitly told not to.
They didn't launch in violation of anything. They wanted the waiver, they didn't get it, so they stuck to the extant rules for the launch.
"so they stuck to the extant rules for the launch"
That's not the way the FAA tells it. In an email to the media, the agency stated:
"Prior to the Starship SN8 test launch in December 2020, SpaceX sought a waiver to exceed the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety regulations. After the FAA denied the request, SpaceX proceeded with the flight.
"As a result of this non-compliance, the FAA required SpaceX to conduct an investigation of the incident.
"All testing that could affect public safety at the Boca Chica, Texas, launch site was suspended until the investigation was completed and the FAA approved the company’s corrective actions to protect public safety. The corrective actions arising from the SN8 incident are incorporated into the SN9 launch license."
This non-compliance is the reason why a January 28 test of the rocket was delayed, and why Musk [1]went off on one on Twitter about it.
C.
[1] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354862567680847876
Never mind the landing
How about that take off!
Did not explode in the air
"unfortunately, it exploded in the air before it could flip the right way up and touch down"
Did you not watch the video? It explodes on contact with the ground.
Re: Did not explode in the air
Definitely hit the ground, also the commentary said they would ignite two engines to break and rotate, looks to me like the second one failed to fully ignite, there was brief burst but not clean then just the one engine so I assume it didn't slow sufficiently then it was still at an angle.
They may need to rethink that relighting sequence as there is not enough time to ignite another engine should one fail, would be better to light three engines initially then kill one to reduce power and maybe get it upright earlier, all seems to be cutting it a tad fine.
Re: Did not explode in the air
Turn it off, and turn it on again. But earlier next time, okay?
Ummm...
It appears only one engine successfully refired, and even that one didn't seem up on cam.
Looks like the second engine didnt start properly, though I am no rocket scientist... Pity - appeared to be good up to the end. Of course its the end that matters!
Maybe it needs a clunk tank
Model aeroplanes and I suspect some proper aerobatic ones are fitted with a small tank containing a weighted (clunk) flexible pipe which alwsys gets fuel from the deepest bit on the tank regardless of orientation. Maybe the SNxes suffer from the fuel taking too long to settle at the notional bottom of the tank and the motor is trying to burn gas rather than liquid fuel. Presumably it would need the same arrangement for the oxidant.
I don't suppose Elon will ever read thisthough.
SN10
"Landed" a bit close to SN10. Hope there was no damage.
Asleep on the job
The countdown person missed the 10 second mark and then had to rush the countdown to catch up.
Billionaire rocketman
When I first heard about the pay for seats plan, I figured it would be something like three professionals and one tourist. Recent general media reports make it sound like four tourists.
"Issacman, who is qualified to fly military jets ..."
Thanks for that detail, ElReg, missing from other reports. It makes me feel a *little* better about the planned mission. Still, what about the other three warm bodies, do they have any qualifications? Or will the rocket be relying mostly on the perfected self-driving technology?
Tesla: Data Survivalists.
I think that is a good corporate logo; and maybe replace the anonymous-eyebrow-nose logo with an exploding spaceship.
Flesh Gordon (Icon)
Whenever I see these ships, this quote springs to mind from the above!
Dr. Flexi Jerkoff: [Looking at his rocket ship] Fortunately I was able to complete the design before the Sex-Ray took effect.