The long awaited SpaceX launch may have ended in a spectacular explosion but engineers broke the Champaign out anyway. It’s what they like to call a “successful failure.” They weren’t expecting orbit at this stage of the game, Elon Musk is thrilled that the launch pad is intact and the craft managed to endure the maximum stress load of the mission before the guidance system failed.
Explosion was intentional
The spectacular explosion over the Gulf of Mexico, south of Texas wasn’t as much of a catastrophe as it seems. Engineers on the ground pushed the self-destruct button to blow it up after it started tumbling.
According to the SpaceX press release, they activated the “flight termination system” to end the first test flight of their Starship module and Super Heavy rocket booster.
The “Starship” spacecraft stands nearly 400 feet tall when mounted on it’s custom designed “Super Heavy” booster rocket. That makes it the “biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.” Equipped with an astonishing 33 engines, the rocket was told to self-destruct “as it veered off its planned course.”
This is not a render. This is not a simulation. This is @SpaceX’s first integrated test flight of #Starship with the Super Heavy booster, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. This #slomo is from our 8k tracker shot by @considercosmos. pic.twitter.com/srxmuStn2N
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) April 21, 2023
The explosion was impressive but there wasn’t anybody on board and there wasn’t a commercial payload. “Obviously this does not appear to be a nominal situation,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker quipped during the live broadcast.
The bad news, the statement notes, is that the “vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude and began to tumble.” The explosion wasn’t an accident. As a safety precaution, “the flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.”
The good news is that “the vehicle had climbed to the highest apogee of any other in its fleet to-date.” Elon Musk noted on Twitter that he was thrilled that his rocket was well clear of the pad before it blew up. That, he notes, would have been a catastrophe.
Previous try scrubbed
The entire flight lasted about four minutes from ignition to explosion. What was left of the rocket fell harmlessly into the water. Some of the aquatic life might be perturbed but no humans were injured.
Observers note that “a previous attempt on Monday had been scrubbed due to a frozen booster valve.” It isn’t clear if that same issue played a role in Thursday’s spectacular failure.
As it happened live, SpaceX broadcasters described the explosion as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” You could call it that. Despite the unforeseen outcome, they aren’t upset with the overall results.
The Starship launch yesterday was the biggest step towards Mars ever. Can’t believe I got to witness it yesterday with my daughter. Very excited about where we are headed. pic.twitter.com/Fij6TBYnDc
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) April 21, 2023
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and we learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems today that will help us improve on future flights of Starship.”
Elon backed that up with another tweet. The company, he tapped out, “learned a lot for the next test launch in a few months.” When they pushed the ignition button, Musk was giving “50–50 odds that the spacecraft would reach orbit.”
The explosion wasn’t the best outcome but still, as NASA administrator Bill Nelson commented, every “great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test – and beyond.“
