SpaceX 2nd attempt to launch Starship

[Immortality]

Is the SpaceX Starship a zero emissions vehicle ?
If Musk is going to be the saviour of the planet with EVs, there is something that I don't get with this program. Can't be just for the money.
Cue advert for Wallet Wizard.

Maybe you have missed the "occupy mars" slogan Musk has been pushing for years?

His goal is to get to Mars. He's been saying it for years as he believes we'll kill this planet so we need a plan B.

Starship was always intended to get to Mars, having some govco funding to also be the lunar lander of choice for the Nasa/Artemis program is just a bonus.

If you do the math, SpaceX is doing space rockets a lot cheaper than Nasa and has bought forward the tech faster than Nasa could ever dream at this day in age. Nasa was good post WW2 into the golden age with Saturn 5 but a lot of that was based off the work of one man (some German scientist). Musk has taken over that role but through a private company instead of working for a government.

The big difference is the design/evolution theory/method between SpaceX and Nasa/Boeing etc. Nasa is a govco bureaucracy and never gets anything done as it's a political football with every other President changing the goals. Nasa can't even get it's own astronauts to the international space station, how embarrassing really.

Hell, at the rate Nasa is going, little ol' Rocket Lab might have a new rocket capable of getting man into space before Nasa does. Not bad for a little company from NZ.

 

[Immortality]

I should add, I'm no Musk fan boy, I disagree with a lot of what he does and things he says.

 

[hjtrbo]

Whos money does spaceX spend? $15.3 billion from the US government since 2003. How much tax do those people actually pay. Everything Elon does is pissing in the pool the way I see life. Next you are going to tell us lithium batteries are good for the world.

Pumped hydro is the go. Keeps me in a job at me old "coal clunker".

 

[hjtrbo]

Not bad for a little company from NZ.

Amen to that

 

[07GTS]

the rockets are emissions free as its all just water vapor out the back, same as EV's just dont account for how they are made and its saving the planet

all went well tho and separation was good, looks like the launch area survived, only test yet to do is re-entry see how those tiles go

 

[Immortality]

It was good to see all 33 raptors burning for the duration to hot staging. Hot staging will need some work so it doesn't kill the booster. Now we wait to find out why Starship self terminated but at the point it had enough speed to orbit so even though it ended with RUD it was very much a success.

SpaceX is developing and evolving Starship and the Heavy booster so rapidly that stack that was on the pad today has already been superseded with boosters waiting their turn for test launch.

Hopefully the next launch won't take another 6 months.

 

[07GTS]

yea hopefully the FAA and wildlifes were happy with the area so should be more streamlined now

 

[hjtrbo]

Before I die one of my bucket list items is I want to be as close as allowed to hear and feel a big assed rocket launch in the flesh. They sound epic with a decent set of over-head head phones on (Sony XM3).

 

[Immortality]

Seems there was only minor damage to the launch platform/tower.

Before I die one of my bucket list items is I want to be as close as allowed to hear and feel a big assed rocket launch in the flesh. They sound epic with a decent set of over-head head phones on (Sony XM3).

Star base Texas is probably your best bet now, I think there you are closer than at other launch complexes, PC speakers don't do it justice but that heavy booster seems to have some really intense sound pulses and pops, in slo-mo video's you can see it amongst the clouds of smoke and steam.

There does still seem to be some debris blowing around.

 

[hjtrbo]

There does still seem to be some debris blowing around

The starship had quite a few tiles missing . If it made it to re-entry it would have been interesting to see if it survived.