3 ms·
Well, RIP that Starship. Does anyone understand/have theories on what failed? All I can find is that it had an RUD between liftoff and first stage separation.
by profile53 3y ago
Well, RIP that Starship. Does anyone understand/have theories on what failed? All I can find is that it had an RUD between liftoff and first stage separation.
- stetrain 3y agoLooks like either it started tumbling before it was intended, or the second stage failed to separate as the booster intentionally flipped for its boostback burn. With fins up top, the combined Starship and Booster stack is sort of like a dart flying fins-first. In theory controllable with thrust vectoring, but with some inherent instability.
- verdverm 3y agoTank pressure issues is my guess, it was one of the reasons for the hold @t-40 You can see the rocket sliding horizontally early in the flight, then 5 engines out before another few just before the uncontrolled spin, which was likely the result of having too many engines out, being unbalanced, and the controls trying to maintain course. It looked off to me from the get go, it had more tilt than it should have off the pad and then looked to correct itself slightly, but then only got worse, as you know by now.
- profile53 3y agoThanks, that makes sense. Didn’t realize how many engines failed but when you look at T+1:22, it looks like 7 engines are already out.