Space news, rocket launches and ISS docking

[yesterday 2,044]

Whoops spoke to soon, must make a note to watch for more than 5 mins :)

[fraufruit 42,699]

I wonder how much that little boondoggle cost?

[yesterday 2,044]

Guess it's pocket money to Musk

If this rocket works after some more tries, Musk will be in a position to make a lot of money on this, bring down the cost of space technology is something I support and think it is within the capacity of his engineers. Unlike FSD which I think will fail.

This is only try number 2

[MikeMelga 7,346]

The first stage had serious issues in maintaining attitude after the hot stage separation, because the second stage kicks in, and gives the first stage a spin, which pushes fuel around, turns off the engines, and eventually destroy the ship.

Why the second stage was destroyed was a bit more puzzling. No more info so far, the ship initiated the automatic self destruction just a few seconds (5sec?) before reaching orbit.

This was a great incremental test. All engines worked on the first stage, the pad survived, the hot staging worked for the second stage (not for the first) and the second stage almost reached orbit.
Weird as it sounds, the self destruct mechanisms were also validated. These improvements were mandatory by the FAA.

This will work, and when it does, just for deploying starlink network will pay itself off very quickly.
And no, it's not Musk's money. Investors are paying for it.
This will be the start of the most valuable company in the world, mark my words. In 15 to 20 years, SpaceX or whatever spawns from it will be the most valuable company in the world.

I would say the next flight will probably be a repetition of this one. Then mid to end of 2024 they should be able to eventually recover the first stage back on pad.
Recovering the second stage will be much harder.

[Krieg 15,112]

From the news:

> engineers believe an automated flight termination command was triggered to destroy the rocket, though the reason was unclear.

Maybe the rocket's FSD disengaged.

[MikeMelga 7,346]

My "sources" have no concrete information on the flight termination. Seems engines were running perfectly fine, but something triggered the self destruction.
Could just be going off-track, which is a valid reason for self-termination.

One more detail, launch pad was inspected and it seems to be in very good condition. No refurbishing needed.
Still, some debris flew around and hit some tanks. This was also visible on the live video.