Watch SpaceX launch mega Starship on its fourth test flight

[toesonthenose]

Source: CNN

SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle ever built has lifted off on its fourth flight test on Thursday. The highly anticipated event is the company’s second uncrewed test of 2024.

Launch occurred at 7:50 a.m. CT (8:50 a.m. ET), and the company is streaming live coverage on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Of the rocket’s 33 engines, 32 lit during launch, according to the SpaceX broadcast.

SpaceX is aiming to mark new milestones this time around, such as showcasing the reusability of the Starship vehicle and surviving the extreme heat experienced while entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/science/spacex-starship-launch-fourth-test-flight-scn/index.html

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I know people hate Musk, I understand why. That being said, please realize that there are many people involved with this project that do not share his political views and focus on the scientific aspect of the mission. Just an amazing launch and mission so far. Another 30 or so minutes and they will attempt to re-enter the atmosphere with the crew (not manned) module.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. And this time

it didn't have an "unscheduled disassembly".

[Eugene]

2. Apparent controlled splashdown after landing burn.

Better still, but still a long way to go.

Partial burn-through on one of the flaps. It was a nail biter.

[toesonthenose]

3. Definite nail-biter.

When they lost signal those couple of times I figured that it was over, only for the signal to reacquire. The amount of destruction fin stabilizer took, and still was functioning at the very end was incredible.
Unfortunately, so many here see Musk as such a monster, and I won't argue that point. But I do root for these missions to always be successful and put my personal disdain for him aside.

[Eugene]

4. It is not just Musk's politics. He has a now firmly established track record of overpromising.

NASA is still depending on Lunar Starship to land astronauts on the moon
by the end of 2026. There is no way in hell that is going to happen,
and NASA has some hard choices to make with Artemis.

[LiberalArkie]

5. I think that Musk before Joe Rogan did one hell of a job picking scientists for the Space X company

and more importantly I think he left them alone to do their job and to innovate to their hearts content.

[Eugene]

6. Musk is an investor and typically an opportunistic one.

He is best at taking credit for the ideas of other ( "founder" of Tesla, "inventor" of the Hyperloop).
When he believes himself to be a real life Tony Stark, the trouble starts.

NASA gave SpaceX a ton of money to deliver a moon lander,
not his quest to be future ruler of Mars.

[LiberalArkie]

7. I guess what I really meant was along the lines that we can be thankful that Musk did not micro manage Space x like

Tesla and Twitter. He seemingly allowed the people he hired when he started Space-X to do their jobs.

I am 76 and I never thought I would see one of those giant rockets take off and return upright and in one piece back on the ground. I don't believe that the concept was ever thought of before.

[LudwigPastorius]

8. McDonnell Douglas & NASA did it 30 years ago. (without the massive advances since then in computer processing speed)

The program was cancelled after an error by an overworked ground crew resulted in a botched landing and fire.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

9. You've seen this before

LA-at 76, you likely have "seen" the concept of returning upright in one piece on the ground. It was a common occurrence on both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon!

[InstantGratification]

11. I was watching that too and it made me wonder

I watched the "everyday astronaut" feed and it was mentioned that they had intentionally left off some heat shields in a few non critical areas. The point being to heavily instrument those spots and collect data on how much heat would penetrate and how much damage it would cause. I thought, what a great way to collect real world data to help validate and refine their simulations, thus making future simulations more useful.

I can't imagine that the flaps were considered non critical though. It seems more likely that the joint between the flaps and the rocket body were just more heat intensive than realized. Thicker shielding there perhaps? Waiting with baited breath for the next test flight.

[Polybius]

10. I don't hate him

His views I don't agree with, but nearly every one of his companies (ok, not Twitter) that he founded or took over has had incredible success.

[sakabatou]

12. It definitely needs a redesign, since one of the flaps almost sheered off