Posted on 01/23/2019 5:27:10 PM PST by BenLurkin
Full Title: SpaceX's giant rocket ship was blown over and damaged by powerful winds in Texas — and Elon Musk says repairs will take weeks
"I just heard," Elon Musk, the company's founder, tweeted, confirming on-the-ground reports that the vehicle was no longer vertical.
He added: "50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair."
A SpaceX representative independently confirmed to Business Insider that the top portion of the vehicle — called the fairing or nosecone — had fallen over because of high winds. The representative declined to comment further.
SpaceX's facility is at the southern tip of Texas. A local resident, who asked not to be named, said winds were gusting at about 50 mph for much of Tuesday and picked up early Wednesday.
"From about 2 to 5, it was nothing but rattling and metal and trees breaking. It felt like a hurricane," the resident said. "Everything SpaceX did to get ready for this storm worked against them. It looked like they blocked the wind coming from the southeast, but the winds shifted in the night and came from the northeast — and that sucker went flying."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“Hello, Snake Farm Insurance claims department? You’re not gonna believe this, but.....”
“”I just heard,” Elon Musk, the company’s founder, tweeted, confirming on-the-ground reports that the vehicle was no longer vertical.”
lol... That stuck me funny.
struck
D’oh!
“Everything SpaceX did to get ready for this storm worked against them. It looked like they blocked the wind coming from the southeast, but the winds shifted in the night and came from the northeast — and that sucker went flying.”
...
That’s because the winds were actually stronger yesterday afternoon and coming from the south. They shifted between 4 and 5 in the morning and that’s when the fairing came down.
https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KBRO.html
It’s first hopper test flight was a Fail than
It gets windy in South Texas? Dang, who coulda seen that coming?
People are going to fly into outer space in that thing?!
The wind in Texas doesn’t blow, it just sucks.
A little bondo and some some duct tape will fix it right up.
*ping*
People are going to fly into outer space in that thing?!
...
Nope. It’s a test article to test the engines, and practice landings. It shouldn’t go higher than 15k feet.
I’d have hoped that 50-60mph winds would have been planned for. They aren’t THAT extreme or unusual.
Folks I’m telling you this ship, nor anything resembling it will ever fly.
Stainless steel. And a marginally plausible BS story as to why this material was selected.
The ship weighs many tons more than it would if modern materials were used.
At half the weight and far superior heat resistance,and cold resistance, titanium is the only material that is remotely plausible.
I am beginning to think Musk’s latest rocket is a scam. The design looks like a WW-II era V-2 and if a 50 mph wind knocks it down and obviously damages it severely I have doubts it would survive even a sub orbital hop. The photos of the damaged rocket seem to show it is nothing more than a hollow shell.
Thanks fieldmarshaldj. Fell over? Without warning? This particular hopper should be dubbed the Dennis.
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