SpaceX Loses Third Starship Prototype

[Peartree]

I apologize if someone already posted this, but I looked and didn't see it anywhere.

A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship space vehicle collapsed during pressure testing early Friday at the company’s facility in South Texas — the program’s third failure during such testing since November — but assembly of a new version is already underway.

The stainless steel cylinder appeared to rupture near its top after filling with super-cold liquid nitrogen overnight at SpaceX’s launch site at Boca Chica, Texas. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, tweeted early Friday that the accident may have been the result of a “test configuration mistake.”

Full article here:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/...-starship-prototype-in-cryogenic-ground-test/

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

They need to hurry up and get this thing working! I want off this planet NOW!

 

[georgegassaway]

IIRC they were "detanking" and messed up the procedure. The top tank was full, while the pressure in the tank below was allowed to drop below the pressure needed for structural integrity. It collapsed.

This is unlike other test failures that were pressure tests, the first to purposely see how high it could get before blowing. The second, I'm not sure if that was intentional or if it failed early (at a lower pressure than expected to make it burst).

In any case this latest one was due to either bad procedure, or some equipment (valve? Sensor?) that allowed it to lose pressure below what it needed to be.

While seeming not quite as flimsy as Atlas was without pressure, this does need to be pressurized at least when not totally empty.

Falcon-9, this ain't.

 

[Nytrunner]

Full speed ahead means sometimes your suspension bottoms out and occasionally you scrape under-bits off on the road

I again wonder where Manley gets his information. Does he have any real sources or is he just speculating and commentating based on his opinion and perception of the event

 

[boatgeek]

In the video, you can see a big ding in the lower tank on the left side about two thirds of the way up before everything goes pear-shaped. I wonder if (a) that was there before the test and (b) if not, if the rocket is going to be able to hold dimensional stability through many atmospheric heating/cryogenic liquid temperature cycles. It might also be a one-time thing as residual stresses from welding the sections together get worked out during major temperature swings.

 

[kuririn]

That's what happens when you try to upscale the Dude.

 

[grouch]

They need to hurry up and get this thing working! I want off this planet NOW!

Not to be a pill but a steam powered rocket appears to be capable of getting you off this planet.

 

[boatgeek]

Not to be a pill but a steam powered rocket appears to be capable of getting you off this planet.

But would you hit the turtle on the way down?

 

[grouch]

More than likely.