Posted on 01/19/2020 10:04:19 AM PST by IndispensableDestiny
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX just took a giant leap forward in its quest to launch astronauts. The private spaceflight company intentionally destroyed one of its rockets on Sunday (Jan. 19) as part of a crucial test of its new Crew Dragon capsule's launch escape system.
The uncrewed test, known as an in-flight abort (IFA) test, is the last major hurdle SpaceX needed to clear before Crew Dragon can begin to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Originally scheduled to launch on Saturday (Jan. 18), the unpiloted crew capsule was grounded for 24 hours due to unfavorable weather conditions at both the launch site and the Crew Dragon recovery zone, the Atlantic Ocean just off the Florida coast.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
I assume the crew capsule landed safely?
yes but the windows broke
Perfect test and they lead with the rocket self destructing which was expected! Idiots don’t have a clue!
Damn Windows always breaks. Shoulda used Linux.
Saw the SpaceX livestream on YouTube, was good stuff.
Lol!
I cannot find any evidence to indicate damage to the capsule. Do you have a link? Or was this a joke?
One, that the booster remained relatively stable in flight. I had expected that as the capsule pulled off to one side or another the brief asymmetric drag would cause the coasting booster to tumble and immediately break apart. With the main engines shut down the only potential control would be coming from the cold gas system and maybe the grid fins (if they deployed them). With the 2nd stage still attached the cold gas and fin systems would be poorly placed to control orientation (ie. near center mass) I wonder if they let the autopilot continue to try to keep the vehicle (booster) oriented even after shutdown and separation? Either it did an amazing job or maybe the shape is nominally stable even in unpowered flight. (some vehicles are not) Maybe with a full 2nd stage up front and a nearly empty 1st stage out back it is nominally stable.
The other surprising thing to me was that it didn't rip apart immediately. I figured if it didn't tumble and break apart that the supersonic airflow (even that high in thin atmosphere) would rip apart the now non-aerodynamic exposed 2nd stage. It looks like that's eventually what happened, but it took several seconds before something failed. I figured the collar walls would've peeled back, causing stress and a failure of tank, and from there catastrophic structural failures and boom, propellant and oxidizer coming together. Amazing it stayed intact for those few seconds. Nice though, that means the capsule was even further away from the big fireball. I wonder if there were shock and/or heat effects from fireball?
What do you mean the windows broke?
Suggestion: ignore him.
I think this was a joke about windows breaking on the ground due to the shock wave of the explosion. When a joke has to be explained it kind of loses its impact.
That makes even more sense. Still not funny, though.
On a side note, as a youngster I used to blow up my own rockets on purpose. (wink wink)
The joke was a reference to the Tesla pickup truck rollout.
You couldn’t pay me to ride on one of those things.
Not for a million bucks.
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