Space and Science BS Thread

https://x.com/spacex/status/1837167076340863419?s=46

 

https://x.com/rgvaerialphotos/status/1837713676595282373?s=46
Huh, didn’t know Elon bought the new head of hair by then..

 

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1838027461268750727?s=46

 

I wanna know where the thrust puck went.

 

Yeah, the whole thing didn’t hold together

 

Nice, so they did get some flight articles to tear apart and check out.

 

Between a steam explosion below and rapid decompression above it was probably a sight to see. Lack of recent use might be why there’s anything left of the outer nozzles at all.

 

Water is not that much softer than concrete at the speeds that booster was going when it hit the water...

 

I thought it had slowed for the virtual catch before impact so assumed it was the superheated lit nozzles that were at issue besides the out of spec fire.

 

It wasn't doing 1000mph, but with that much mass it would have been like a car wreck hitting the water. With all that sand in the engine nozzles it looks to me like it hit the bottom with some force. Rewatching the video of it's descent it also looked like it had an engine malfunction in the final stage of the descent. But IDK

 

Obviously I’m just guessing but now that they recovered this chunk maybe more will follow. There should be something left of the thrust puck even if it’s mangled.

 

It had lowered it's speed to zero at less than a meter above the water. Not sure of the math on this but it would still not be too much force. Listening to CSI Starbase in his livestream he speculated that SpaceX triggered the FTS after landing, which we didn't see in any of the camera views.

 

It just hit the bottom with weight. Empty the thing still weighs 100tons.

 

I wonder what the depth of the water was at the landing sight. The Gulf can range from very shallow to very deep 5000'+. The picture certainly makes it look like it hit the bottom with some force.

 

Once the tanks got ruptured it probably accelerated as it sank so up to a point deeper = faster. If the weightier pieces broke off early they would hit harder than mere tank sheeting.

 

I would imagine they picked a spot less than 200' deep to make recovery easier. But I would have expected them to recover the pieces much sooner than they did. Something more like a few weeks vs a few months.

 

I believe that NSF looked up the depth and it was 180', however it does look like it sank a bit into the muck at the bottom. Probably why the only cut off the aft section and left the tank sections down there.

 

Could be limited on maximum tonnage or size to bring up Was this the only piece brought up? If it sank into muck they’d need to cut sections away to free it up but if it didn’t then it was either already separated or they cut it loose to enable the lift. Still, where is the thrust puck and middle 13? Interesting that all of the visible engine shielding is missing as if it got blown out from the inside.

 

It was definitely cut, as you can see the straight line at the "top" of the section. The thrust puck? Who knows. I also don't know if it was the only piece brought up as this was the only picture Elon tweeted. I'm sure the barge will be extensively photographed when it comes into the port.

 

At ~ half the cost Spacex Crew Dragon 9 - Boeing Starliner 0… Boeing was supposed to be able to provide additional orbital boost capability but so far nada. I’ve wondered before how many other promising ideas have been squandered by aerospace companies profiteering off contracts rather than finishing tasks.