By 
April 21st, 2023
Wait a minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
The cacophony of captions rippling through the various feeding troughs of news regarding the SpaceX Starship’s test launch has been a tad deafening.
While not nearly as loud as the mammoth rocket’s departure, they were as circuitous and apocalyptic as the vehicle’s flight path, such as:
Image credit: SpaceX
“Elon Musk’s prized Starship mega-rocket exploded into a fireball”
“SpaceX giant rocket fails minutes after launching from Texas”
“SpaceX’s Starship breaks apart during test flight”
“SpaceX successfully launches largest ever space rocket – which blows up”
“SpaceX’s uncrewed Starship explodes on launch attempt”
But there have been a few that had punch lines like “Starship Succeeds, in Spite of Failure.”
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
And then there are those that perhaps offer too much warmth and oomph proclaiming “Why Thursday May Change the World.”
Somewhere in all this, reality will find a true trajectory.
Pre-launch, chief SpaceX rocketeer, Elon Musk, tried to temper high-expectations: “Success is far from certain, but excitement is guaranteed.”
Yep, that heart-stopping excitement was indeed surefire.
From SpaceX: “As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” later posting: “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
There were many milestones met by the Starship/Super Heavy Launch – for one, lumbering skyward off the pad and leaving it mostly intact and useful for another day!
Musk and his fellow rocketeers have surely amassed lots of engines-out and in-flight data.
“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming,” once said Wernher Von Braun.
So it’s back to paperwork, analysis, and perhaps more ground-testing.
Whatever the case, in reaching for the stars, there’s always the stoop for reality factor.
Small moves…small moves.
Onward Elon…onward!
Image credit: SpaceX/Inside Outer Space screengrab
For a launch replay, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-test
Posted in Space News
