(11-18-2023, 09:27 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(11-18-2023, 08:22 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: SpaceX is launching Starship this morning. Lots of good live feeds available. This is one I watch:

https://www.youtube.com/live/uOI35G7cP7o...DJp4lgLpQo

I watched it on the link you provided.  It's interesting how they dump all that water on the launch pad when they fire up the engines and take off.  I took a tour recently of Cape Canaveral and they explained all that, so I was watching for it.

The water deluge system is for acoustic dampening. The rockets produce acoustic levels so high that reflected waves can actually damage the space craft. It was also that water deluge system for Starship which caused the delay in this second test for a few months while the Fish and Wildlife Service did a study of the impact of so much water release on the local environment. 

As for this test, the 1st stage booster exploded after separation and before it could make its controlled descent. Starship made orbit but it appears the Flight Termination System automatically detonated because it detected out of nominal flight parameters. 

Overall, this was a very successful flight test. Orbit was achieved and lots of good data was collected.

Correction: Sub-orbital trajectory was not achieved but Starship did exceed the Karman line.

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