April 20, 2023

SpaceX Starship Launch: Success or Failure?

The April 20 launch of SpaceX's Starship was eagerly awaited and riveted viewers to their screens amid cheers from the launch team and spectators.

Some say the fact that the rocket blew up and the launch pad was torn up means that the mission was a failure. 

Not so! Elon Musk humorously refers to catastrophic destruction of his spacecraft as "rapid unscheduled disassembly," or "RUD," but SpaceX learns a tremendous amount from such failures. 

Hold that thought, and we'll first go through the four minutes of the launch and flight.

Watch the Video of the Launch!

At T-0, the engines lit and gradually built up thrust. The spacecraft very slowly cleared the pad and rocketed away. 

But the moment the thrust hit the ground, it broke up the cement underneath and dug a huge crater under the launch pad. Enormous clouds of dirt, cement and debris engulfed the rocket and damaged many nearby tanks and other infrastructure. It appears from videos that the force of the dust cloud might have pushed the rocket slightly. 

Due to the absence of a flame trench to safely divert the exhaust, and the absence of a water 'deluge' system to dampen sonic and shock waves, there were no means to limit the damage to the pad or damage to the rocket from flying debris. Virtually all other rocket launches use such systems.

It's possible this debris may have damaged some of the engines and other parts of the rocket.

However, the rocket roared to the heavens, reaching about 25 miles above earth. Along the way it passed a key hurdle, the "Max-Q" point of the maximum dynamic forces on the spacecraft. It continued unfazed.

Along the way, at least six engines failed, causing a loss of about 20% of its thrust. Several bright flashes were observed in the flame plume, possibly when engines or hydraulics failed.

At the point where the second stage was supposed to separate and fly to splash-down near Hawaii, the staging did not occur, and the complete rocket 'stack' was observed to rotate several times, perhaps due to an imbalance of remaining engines or loss of thrust vectoring. Then at the 4-minute mark, it was commanded to self-destruct via the autonomous self-destruct system, designed to prevent an out of control rocket from endangering others.

That's what everyone saw. Now let's look at what went RIGHT.

Elon Musk's low expectations for a completely untested rocket was just hoping it would at least clear the launch tower. Starship aced that!

The SuperHeavy booster flew for four minutes, in spite of several engines failing. The only test in advance had been a seven-second 'static fire' of the engines. 

By contrast, the Artemis SLS rocket core stage was fired for about two full minutes at NASA's Stennis Space Center's test stand, and tested again briefly at the Kennedy Space Center. 

The rocket held together for about three complete spins, experiencing high G-forces.

The autonomous self-destruct system did its job.

So what's that mean?

SpaceX now has terabytes of data to help discover what worked flawlessly or partially, and what failed. 

They learned the hard way that they need a flame trench and a water deluge system. Both at Boca Chica and at the Kennedy Space Center. There's a reason NASA designed launch pads 39-A&B to be as robust as they are.

NASA may over-test, and SpaceX may under-test--but learn via "RUDs." Each method can provide similar data. 'Build-fly-crash-build-fly-crash-build-fly-succeed' method can result in more rapid advancement, whereas the more risk-adverse NASA may take many years longer to arrive at the same eventual result. Because of the lessons learned from the few failed Falcon-9 launches at the beginning, that rocket system may have the best safety record of any launch system.

All this proves the aviation and space industry maxim, "why we test." And from failures come solutions.

'Success' for testing an entirely new spacecraft, that is more powerful than any other rocket in the world, isn't necessarily fully completing the intended flight to Hawaii. Just proving that the massive SuperHeavy booster could fly was a success.

Elon Musk offered the possibility of another launch in a few months. Due to the extent of the damage at the pad, that might be an optimistic estimate, but it's likely that one or two Starships will fly before the end of the year.

Musk congratulated the SpaceX team and declared the test launch a success.

Photo credit: SpaceX

April 18, 2023

Starship Launch Rescheduled for April 21 or Between 23rd and 28th

Get ready to watch the next launch attempt of the SpaceX Starship, now scheduled for the following launch opportunities: April 21, 23-28. Likely sometime between 8:00 and noon Eastern Time.

Check back for updates. As always, launches can be delayed for technical reasons, as well as bad weather or even boats offshore.

Launch coverage at SpaceX.com will begin about 45 minutes before the launch. Various space news sites will have independent coverage starting earlier.

SpaceX Viewing link: https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-test

Starship flight mission profile


Photo credit SpaceX

April 14, 2023

Possible Starship Launch April 17

Possible SpaceX Starship launch on Monday, 8:00-11:00 AM ET. 

Watch live at http://SpaceX.com




Photo credit SpaceX

February 21, 2023

Starship Launch--Soon!


Scheduled for mid April, currently April 17-21, the world's largest rocket ever will be fueled and ready on its pad. Millions around the world will watch online, as well as perhaps the greatest gathering of people near SpaceX's "Starbase" launch and construction facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The mighty Starship and the Super Heavy booster will launch to orbit, travel three quarters of the way around the earth, and Starship will descend near Hawaii, for a planned gentle splashdown in the ocean.

If successful, we may see a full orbital mission this summer, followed by test flights to refuel a Starship in orbit, and later, an uncrewed landing on the Moon. Because this is the very first test of this rocket, it could go wrong in a spectacular way. But that's what testing is all about, and the lessons learned will make the spacecraft safer.

This is indeed the most powerful rocket ever built. It dwarfs the Artemis SLS rocket and even the mighty Saturn V that took Americans to the Moon. 

Starship will be used in combination with NASA's Orion and SLS for Artemis III and later crewed lunar landings. The Starship crew ship would be outfitted to land American astronauts on the Moon.

Be sure you watch the launch! SpaceX.com and many space news sites will offer coverage and updates on the schedule.

Learn more about Starship:
spacex.com/vehicles/starship



Photo credits SpaceX

November 23, 2022

Artemis At The Moon

The incredible Artemis rocket launched to the Moon on November 16, and has begun to orbit the Moon to spectacular results.

During its journey lasting until December 11, Artemis will fly low over the landing sites of Apollo 11, 12 and 14, and fly from a low of 81 miles above the lunar surface to a high of 52,000 miles above the Moon. So far, the spacecraft is performing 100% perfectly, and success in this unmanned mission will help advance plans for Artemis II in 2024 which will fly around the Moon with astronauts aboard, and for Artemis III in 2025 where for the first time in fifty years, Americans will again land on the Mon, making history for a new generation. 

Future missions will prepare for a permanent crewed base on the Moon.


Artemis on the launch pad

Artemis and the flame trench



Closeup of Artemis and the launch tower


Liftoff of Artemis to the Moon!

The four main engines

Rocket contrail illuminated by the Moon

Photos credit: Art Harman Save Manned Space.com

August 16, 2022

Artemis to the Moon! Aug 29

Mark your calendar for August 29 at 8:33 AM EDT for the spectacular launch of Artemis I, the 42-day uncrewed NASA mission to the Moon. Backup dates for weather or technical issues will be on September 2 and 5.

If you've never watched a rocket launch in person--or if you've seen many, consider going to the space coast in Florida to see and hear the launch. The launch will be carried all over the news and social media, and at NASA.gov/live

This will be the greatest 'shakedown' mission ever, which will set the stage for launching American astronauts first to lunar orbit on Artemis II, and then in Artemis III to land on the Moon perhaps by 2025 for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Read NASA's detailed 124-page booklet with all the facts on the rocket, spacecraft and the incredible test mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orion_reference_guide_0.pdf 

The complete system for Artemis III will include the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft to launch our astronauts on Orion, which will then rendezvous with a SpaceX Starship spaceship that will carry the crew to and from the Moon. Following their time exploring the Moon, the astronauts will transfer back to Orion for the return to Earth and worldwide acclaim.

Follow Save Manned Space:

(Photo courtesy NASA)