Best #SpaceX#Starship blow by blow on the flight is by Scott Manley. Well worth the watch. He speeds through the boring parts, and gives very good commentary. It is most important to know this is a test flight to find possible issues and confirm engineering choices. Rockets are subject to tyranny of the rocket equation. One has to design light but robust. Starship's method of reentry is also new and never tried before. https://youtu.be/8m0TY6i1Kuo
Starship hit the water, mostly intact, I think the flap made it, and landing burn initated successfully. Wow. It looked like a soft landing. I’m…shocked. I was very prepared to call this flight a failure, or a mixed success. I need to go back through the data, but...I think this was definitely a success.
LOL! Sorry (not really) to be a party pooper, but are we supposed to cheer for #SpaceX each and every time they test a rocket? Whether it explodes on the launch pad, in mid-air, upon re-entry or upon landing? Have we done so with other tests? Like with NASA's tests, which are paid for directly by the taxpayer?
No, we haven't. So then, wake me up when the tests are done with and a usable rocket can fly and transport cargo and people safely to somewhere.
This week's Featured Links post has links to articles about how an update to the Drake equation suggests we may be alone in the galaxy, how Hispanics in South Florida are fighting disinformation, will Musk's Starlink satellites lead to Kessler syndrome, and more.
BREAKING NEWS:
Space debris from SpaceX Dragon capsule crashed on a hiking trail in North Carolina mountains.
...
I guess this is to be expected.
I guess we're all OK with this now.
Until a Starlink satellite deorbits into a Senator's house or SpaceX launch debris falls into Mar-a-Lago, NYC, or Washington, DC, Americans won't care or do anything about this.
The head of six companies, including a major U.S. military communications contractor and a company that puts wires in peoples' brains, wants you to know that he considers filing fraudulent business records to be a trivial matter.
🌠 SpaceX satellites threaten to hide asteroids that pose danger to humanity | Technology | EL PAÍS English
"It’s difficult to say exactly how many asteroids will be lost… but preliminary results suggest that for every five near-Earth asteroids we discover, we lose one solely due to constellation interference. That’s if no mitigation measures are taken”
" DOD: Russia’s use of Starlink will be a ‘continuous problem’ in Ukraine.
The Pentagon and #SpaceX have been working together to shut off Russia’s use of #Starlink."
"#SpaceX satellites threaten to hide asteroids that pose danger to humanity
The International Astronomical Union demands that urgent action be taken against the uncontrolled proliferation of these devices. #Starlink satellites make it difficult to search for objects at risk of impacting the Earth"
“We’ve talked in the past about there being academic evidence, engineering studies. What we are actually seeing now with those satellites in operation is empirical evidence. You see the noise floor on our satellites increase to the degree that services cannot be provided.”
Oh look, another Elon company stiffing its contractors.
“Texas property records show that Hydroz is one of more than two dozen companies that have filed at least 72 liens since 2019 against sites developed by SpaceX and its contractors. Combined, Reuters found, the liens have sought payments totaling more than $2.5 million.”