Kilham5
E*POWAH Elite World Champion
In this age of mediocrity that we live in, it is so refreshing to see a tiny glimmer of relief in pioneering science.
SpaceX and Elon's gang as well as NASA, and other countries doing their thing.
First test flight of Starship just ultimately failed.
(Which, true to form is the only bit the BBC and rest of media focuses on)
But so impressive what they achieved and learned.
Looks to me like they ran the test on only three of the designed six engines.
So they probably sacrificed redundancy for the test.
If you look at the footage in those final seconds, it looks like only two of the three engines re-ignited for the final burn. Perhaps it just didn't have enough thrust to slow down enough before meeting the pad.
But they will be immensely satisfied the aero worked, the final flip worked and they got it back to the pad.
Just a real shame that one engine appears to have failed to re-ignite.
Edit: Zimm provides the answer
SpaceX and Elon's gang as well as NASA, and other countries doing their thing.
First test flight of Starship just ultimately failed.
(Which, true to form is the only bit the BBC and rest of media focuses on)
But so impressive what they achieved and learned.
Looks to me like they ran the test on only three of the designed six engines.
So they probably sacrificed redundancy for the test.
If you look at the footage in those final seconds, it looks like only two of the three engines re-ignited for the final burn. Perhaps it just didn't have enough thrust to slow down enough before meeting the pad.
But they will be immensely satisfied the aero worked, the final flip worked and they got it back to the pad.
Just a real shame that one engine appears to have failed to re-ignite.
Edit: Zimm provides the answer
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