i'm no elon fanboy (fucking hate the guy) but (most of) the exploding spacex rockets really were a success. they were early in development and aimed to reach a certain stage in the ascent/take-off process, anything extra was just a bonus. these objectives were always made public beforehand

[–] asteriskeverything 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I totally agree and it is always a bit of an eyeroll for me. They need data and these are very high risk goals so yes spend a lot of money on tests they know won't be successful, but they are testing some other aspect.

But also idc, it's fun to laugh at cuz fuck Elon. I've hated him for ages especially when he was put on trumps council. That was the giant red flag he was just another capitalist greedy vain fuck who doesn't give a shit about saving the planet and just smart and lucky enough to realize that's where the money and acclaim was going eventually.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

So, Xitter blowing up was just testing 😅

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Also wanna preface with I’m definitely not a fanboy, but most of those explosions were caused deliberately by remote. Every rocket, SpaceX or otherwise, has a Flight Termination System. Every launch, there is a Range Safety officer sitting in a bunker, watching a live feed with a ‘big red button’ in front of them. It’s their job to self-destruct the rocket if there’s any chance it will crash down on land, or unrestricted areas at sea, to protect people on the ground. They’re also generally more trigger happy when there aren’t people aboard. Most of the problems rockets have don’t actually cause them to immediately explode from arse to end simultaneously.

Edit: I should add, for completeness, that the flight computer aboard the rocket can also trigger the FTS if it decides a crash is unavoidable.

[–] Mr_Blott 3 points 6 months ago

I've seen the build quality and panel gaps on a Tesla so I'm going to take your comment with 77 kilos of salt