SpaceX Starship Test Program

[EnlightenedMint]

That was nuts, almost had it.

 

[Purslane]

Almost had it!

 

[Chakoo]

Damn... it came down too fast to have enough time to fully decelerate.

 

[CarbonCrush]

came in too hot

 

[GYODX]

Amazing to watch. I'm sure they got a lot of good data out of data, explosion notwithstanding.

 

[nekkid]

So damned close!

 

[JonnyDBrit]

The rapid turn is definitely workable, it's a matter of slowly the descent fast enough as to not get ye stock KSP result

 

[m_shortpants]

what an incredible achievement. that was one of the craziest things ive ever seen

 

[Foltzie]

RUd!

 

[The_Inquisitor]

" This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle's three Raptor engines perform, and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle, including its body flaps, to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 will also attempt to perform a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size. "

So, flip maneuver failed I guess haha.

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It did flip. But came in wayyyy too fast.

 

[Oozer]

That was way closer than I thought it was gonna get. That was great.

 

[Old Man Spike]

They got all the way to the ground target, impressive.

 

[Hootie]

oh sheeeeeeit!!

 

[DrForester]

🐋

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[Kodama4]

damn that was so close...they fired up the engines too late

 

[SnakeXs]

O.O

 

[StuKen]

Looked like only 2 engines fired back up for the landing

 

[stumblebee]

That ruled

 

[Tygre]

Absolutely incredible!

Easily a 90+% success.

SN8 is dead, long live SN9!

 

[piratepwnsninja]

I think this is actually a better result than they expected, no? I mean, best result is it all worked, but I think they expected a crash?

 

[Man with Knife]

.

 

[Twenty7kvn]

Damn that re-ignition and reorientation was fucking amazing to bad they couldn't stick the landing.

 

[Last_colossi]

That was awesome.

 

[Tacitus]

Might be that one of the engines failed to reignite? Looks a bit off in the video feed.

 

[Volimar]

I'd love to be as happy about anything as this NASA guy is about watching the rocket launch.

 

[Kinthey]

The most elegant bomb I have ever seen

 

[Ra]

That was freaking INCREDIBLE holy shit.

 

[Deleted member 14568]

THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!

 

[Cjdamon042]

Definitely looked like they just came in too quick, not enough time to slow down. But they were on target and it looked like it was straight, so still really impressive. That was great to watch, especially how quickly they manage to rotate it.

 

[MrKlaw]

Not bad for a first go. I have no idea if the engines were supposed to go out in sequence like they did? Didn't seem to be landing with three engines but I guess the computers would attempt to start the burn earlier to compensate?

 

[Fiction]

That was impressive as hell.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

That was amazing to see.

 

[Orbis]

Seems like that went better than I expected tbh, I expected it to roll out of control when it reached max altitude.

 

[NPVinny]

I knew about a minute before it touched down that it was coming in too fast for it to land safely, but honestly that footage could be used in a movie or something.

 

[Gustaf]

only 2 engines ignited for the landing, maybe that was the problem?

 

[Green]

It went up, it went down, and it did indeed land on its ass. Just a little bit too hard.

Well done.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Also of note is that they got it to a point where it didn't completely disintegrate from the impact itself; it seems much more the compression from landing too fast

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I think this is actually a better result than they expected, no? I mean, best result is it all worked, but I think they expected a crash?

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I think so. I mean it executed belly flop perfectly.

 

[GulAtiCa]

That was a really good test run

 

[m_shortpants]

What's the purpose of the belly flop like that, as opposed to a standard Falcon 9 style entry? More maneuverability ?

 

[cakely]

That was absolutely amazing, lithobraking and all.

 

[s_mirage]

Almost! Good going for the first attempt.

 

[Hrothgar]

It did hit the pad right in the center!

 

[SnakeXs]

I think this is actually a better result than they expected, no? I mean, best result is it all worked, but I think they expected a crash?

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This was a stunning result. Multiple engine thrust use, aerodynamic fall was great, made its way back to the pad and had some last second engine issues. Data. So much data. Nobody is upset at this. Fuck. Incredible.

SpaceX's camera work was also fantastic. Engine camera, flight camera, external body cameras. Gorgeous.

 

[onadesertedisland]

Insane the amount of human ingenuity that just did that. An accomplishment for mankind.

 

[Damaniel]

Looks like it went to plan (more or less) until the very end. At least it came down (roughly) in the right place, even if it came in too fast.

As for why the engines cut off? I assume that was to keep the rocket under the ceiling they were cleared to fly to.

It may have crashed, but it was anything but a failure. The next one should perform much better.

 

[Tacitus]

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Speaking of Adams, I never had a proper mental image for "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.", but the footage of the Starship gliding through the air really felt like it.

 

[Tempy]

Amazingly stable until the ending, but at least the boom was spectacular.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Yeah when I saw it turn and saw the ground below I knew there was no way it would land, but it didn't come crashing straight down.

Looking forward to the next one, that was amazing!

 

[NunezL]

What's the purpose of the belly flop like that, as opposed to a standard Falcon 9 style entry? More maneuverability ?

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This a second stage, not a first stage like the falcon boster that lands. That means it's going to be in orbit around earth at around 28000 km/h and it needs to shed that velocity during reentry. The belly flop is to maximize the surface area of the vehicle and brake with the air friction.