this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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143
Second SpaceX Starship launch ends with explosion. What happens next? (www.nationalgeographic.com)
submitted 1 year ago by jeffw to c/technology
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[–] NeoNachtwaechter 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I guess it's the good old 'fail fast' strategy.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

It actually is, and it worked pretty well in this case. The first launch was pretty pre mature, they could have gotten more data out of if they had taken a little more time. But this one was pretty much the sweet spot of getting into the interesting parts of fight, but not waiting for diminishing returns.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes. Like, they literally corrected everything that went wrong in the first test. And it only took 7 months.

  • launch pad blown to shreds -> fully intact water suppression system

  • Engines exploding on takeoff -> all engines on both the booster and ship operational on first ignition

  • stage separation failed -> HOT staging successful

  • Self-destruct system didn't destruct fast enough -> self destruct happened immediately

The next launch will probably focus on the fail points of this launch. That is, re-lighting the engines on the booster after turnaround. And whatever caused the starship to go off course (?) and activate the self-destruct.

meanwhile Boeing discovers some valves were stuck, takes half a year to fix it only to discover they're still stuck, gonna need another half a year... oh wait, we took too long trying to fix it, we gotta completely replace them, that'll be another year...