rocket landing off of Hawaii

[TomK]

Anyone else find it odd that the employee in the video is driving a pickup truck and not a Tesla?

Not really. Perhaps they need a pickup truck for their work or they have a choice as to what they drive.

---

Rendering of splashdown:
https://twitter.com/ercxspace/status/164...61248?s=21

Elon Musk’s comment: 
“Unlikely for early ships to splashdown intact. Getting to orbit at all on first try would be a major win.”

Let’s hope he also considers aiming the rocket a major win.  Maybe we DON’T want to see it from Puna!

 I guess if they get their angles wrong then we might want to start worrying but remember the thing can be detonated at the touch of a button.

[terracore]

Anyone else find it odd that the employee in the video is driving a pickup truck and not a Tesla?

I remember the memes of Musk watching laid off Twitter employees leaving in the Teslas he sold them.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

but remember the thing can be detonated at the touch of a button.

That's true.  And credit where credit is due, Musk has also blown up plenty of rockets even without a button.  He can even self destruct social media sites just be clicking send on his computer.

[TomK]

True, but at least SpaceX has a sense of humor and knows that things don't always go right at the beginning.

https://youtu.be/ambXDKFZhN8

I'm still amazed, though, when they get their boosters to land so precisely these days, especially three of them in one go.

https://youtu.be/HVqWEoyiaBA

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Starship launch (for splashdown north of Kauai) has now been delayed from Monday to April 20th.  Video shows something falling inside the launch tower - - not the 2 flashing lights, the dimmer glow moving from top to bottom.  Someone suggested it was a tool that fell, which happens more often you would think around rockets, even with Air Force maintenance workers in nuclear missile launch silos.  Occasionally with serious consequences.  You can look it up.

https://twitter.com/drchriscombs/status/1647237360185163776?s=21&t=ZxIwT9vFRzV0OPZdpsUeWw

[TomK]

Well, just speculating, but whatever fell down was likely not part of the rocket, it was much warmer than anything else.

PS. I'm aware of the minuteman incident.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

PS. I'm aware of the minuteman incident.

Yes! That's one.  My nephew in the Air Force worked maintenance in missile silos for a few years.  Some of his stories would not fit your image of what occurs there.  One of his crew started crying when they had to work past 5 PM to finish up a procedure, because you know, it's a nuclear tipped missile that has to be ready to launch.  I really wish he had said "are you crying?  Are you crying? There’s no… there's no crying in nuclear maintenance!"  Another crew made some minor electrical mistake in a control room and the entire place incinerated, fortunately after all evacuated.  $23 million in damage.  No serious injuries which is why it wasn't news.

Hopefully Starship is OK and on track for launch, I hope all goes well!

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I noticed there are conflicting launch dates, it’s possible Monday is still a go.
Here’s a direct link:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/...light-test

[TomK]

I misremembered, it wasn't a Minuteman but a Titan II nuclear-tipped missile accident. For those curious, one of the videos about it is here:

https://youtu.be/qLS0ho8gWPE and short version: https://youtu.be/smQvR_VD7yw

[kalianna]

It might never get here. From Elon Musk:

“I guess I’d like to just set expectations low,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a Twitter “Spaces” event for his subscribers Sunday evening. “If we get far enough away from launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don’t blow up the pad.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/world/sta...index.html