3 ms·
What is the sudden change in the exhaust plume at occurs here [1] at 149km / 17650 kph? I believe that's squarely in the thermosphere, and there aren't any step
by kortex 3y ago
What is the sudden change in the exhaust plume at occurs here [1] at 149km / 17650 kph? I believe that's squarely in the thermosphere, and there aren't any step changes in temperature/pressure at that point that I'm aware of. It would make sense if that were near the mesopause, but that's around 100km.
Maybe it's something on SpaceX's side of things, a change in the burn profile? Perhaps it's related to losing the Starship about a minute later.
[1] https://youtu.be/w9OsSN2kJrk?t=446 https://youtu.be/w9OsSN2kJrk?t=446
- oliv5900 3y agoAccording to Scott Manleys video, it seems like an oxygen leak. You can see below that from that point onwards, oxygen depletion rate increased. Maybe this lack of oxygen led to the engines flaming out early, triggering the AFTS.
- jdworrells 3y agoI think what you are seeing is a sudden burst of poorly combusted and/or unburned fuel as the engines are cut off. The engine telemetry indicators in the bottom right of the screen show engines off shortly after the plume.
- lutorm 3y agoYeah, this is a good question. It could be from the engines, but nothing should change at that point that I can think of, since it's well before shutdown. It might also start to vent something, intentionally or not. I hope they tell us.