Space and Science BS Thread

Bummer.

 

2 Ship failures in a row…. I’m thinking the moon landing via Starship isn’t gonna happen this decade.

Also, IM-2 had a short of nominal landing. Not a banner day for these contractors .

 

IDK, Firefly landed last week and was launched on a Falcon 9.
I'm sure they'll get it sorted soon.

 

In Tim Dodd's live stream (and I think he mentioned it came from Scott Manly) they zoomed in on the aft camera on ship and could see a crack at the bottom of a vacuum Rapter nozzle.

My wondering aloud: did that engine/nozzle RUD and knock out the three sea levels?

 

I agree. Just because it isn’t always smooth sailing doesn’t mean they won’t make progress. Disappointing if it was the nozzle since that’s a lost opportunity to learn more about the new ship iteration and heat shield on reentry. Projections on next flight itineraries are always contingent on some level of success on the current one so to me that pretty much eliminates a catch attempt until flight 10 at best and only if flight 9 goes as well or better than flights 5 & 6. Congratulations on another successful booster catch which is no small achievement in itself. The question now is will there be any additional delay for work on the chopsticks or can we expect another launch in 6-8 weeks?

 

If it was the nozzle, are there implications the upper stage on F9s? Those are also vacuum raptors, correct?

 

Those are much smaller Merlins not Raptors.

 

And run at lower chamber pressure using high grade kerosene (RP-1) instead of methane. I guess we’ll see if things have changed at the FAA after successive RUD’s leading to airline holds/redirects. They had permission to fly while the investigation remained open for the previous RUD. This one doesn’t help.

 

IM-2 is dead
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/after-less-than-a-day-the-athena-lander-is-dead-on-the-moon/

 

There seems to be room for a more stable design whether it’s how the legs are configured or the thrust is directed or both. Upright should be the default position rather than fingers crossed.

 

If the best part is no part than fixing the leaks would obviate the need for fire suppression, especially if it’s inadequate anyway. At best it’s a band-aid to get through a test phase. If there’s a fire, something’s wrong. Fix that. I don’t see a catch attempt even if a fire is “under control”. Still, I think it’s just teething problems with new plumbing designs and it will get fixed but not by adding more suppression measures. Maybe a series of static fires, possibly to a level of failure that can be physically examined might be in order to track down this (or these) gremlin(s). Just saying “This was the problem and we’ve fixed it” might not do the trick. They may have a solution already in the works or they may still need additional data but they’ll need to find it and prove it.

 

This is ship version 2, with version 3 being raptor 3 optimized. Worst case .. the version 2 can't get fixed well enough to fly, and we go straight to version 3.

 

I believe that’s what Manly concluded. The leak both led to fire (glow visible around the perimeter of the engine bay and also in exterior venting) and possibly reduced methane pressure needed to cool the nozzles. In general though, leaks tend to worsen so fires in the attic likely got worse and could have led to a cascade behind the shielding. They cut away from that view before any engines were lost so if the camera survived to see anything they would know. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have some cameras in the attic as well and could possibly see the fire as it progressed.

 

Was able to see Scott's video you're referencing. Would be insightful if the cameras they don't broadcast captured more--suspect they did.

 

I saw a video of monitors in the control room. One of them looked like it was showing clips from many cameras. 15-20 or so. It was a fuzzy video so it swhowed nothing clearly, unfortunately.

 

Bingo! Wish we had the director's view!

 

I don’t know if they’re being dumb asses, deliberately lying or just clueless but it’s pissing me off Crew 10 being repeatedly reported as the rescue mission for Butch and Suni….

 

Probably clueless. Most people don't understand the complexities/intricacies of the space program and space travel.

Remember, some people sue the airlines when they have a turbulent flight...

 

Pretty much everything gets reported with an infusion of drama: weather, science, sports, you name it, it’s not worth getting stressed over. We live in an age of hyperbole.

 

I think it’s just easier to understand for the average idiot. Trying to explain the actual situation takes much more effort.