3 ms·
Yes, as after it leaves the atmosphere and achieves that 98% of orbital speed, its trajectory wouldn't change much even if it exploded - its engines are turned
by oskarkk 1y ago
Yes, as after it leaves the atmosphere and achieves that 98% of orbital speed, its trajectory wouldn't change much even if it exploded - its engines are turned off after ascent that takes ~9 minutes, then it free-falls for an hour to the other side of the Earth. They target a spot in the Indian Ocean near the west coast of Australia (it's coming from the west). In case of explosion debris would fall to the ocean sooner, farther to the west from Australia. More dangerous part of the flight is ascent (when it gains that speed), as its ground path is near some Caribbean islands, and it can cause problems like on flight 7:
> Around three minutes later, Ship 33 exploded over the Turks and Caicos Islands, causing debris to litter the Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. While no injuries were reported, the debris caused minimal damage to infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, and prompted airspace closures in the region for over an hour. The FAA ordered SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into the breakup, grounding Starship until the inquiry was complete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_flight_test_7#Mission_outcome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_flight_test_7#Mission...
- indoordin0saur 1y agoIt's fully orbital speed but the trajectory is steep enough such that it'll come back down in the Indian ocean whether they maintain control or not.
- oskarkk 1y agoTechnically, the trajectory of the last couple of flights is a transatmospheric orbit, meaning that if the Earth didn't have atmosphere, it would be an actual orbit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatmospheric_orbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatmospheric_orbit