Quite the laser retro-reflector bounce back.

https://gizmodo.com/nasa-vikram-laser-communication-moon-lander-lola-1851181346?utm_campaign=Gizmodo&utm_content=&utm_m edium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=I wAR1E87O-aOKJVshTqGl_9Tne4uskxzPum8L_uIh-hdMlyBoGZ5Aj3ZGss5k

Lunchtime launch........

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W08HLn1Owgk" title="Watch Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Cygnus cargo ship to space station" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Live coverage from NASA's Kennedy Space Center as a new crew prepares for launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule Endeavour. Liftoff from pad 39A, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, is scheduled for Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 10:53 p.m. EST (0353 UTC Monday).

Aboard the Crew 8 mission are NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. They are embarking on a six-month tour of duty aboard the orbiting outpost.

The crew will head to the launch pad around 7:40 p.m. EST (0040 UTC) to board the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Commentary will be provided by Will Robinson-Smith from the Spaceflight Now news bureau at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pdyis00_Mww" title="Watch live: SpaceX and NASA launch crew to the space station" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That was a good one! :)

Here are the official causes of the 2nd Starship flight.

Thinking of the dynamics of all these things happening @ 28,000 mph is fascinating stuff.

https://spacenews.com/faa-closes-investigation-into-second-starship-test-flight/

Heads up for the west coaster's here, there's supposed to be a launch out of VB this afternoon at @2PM.
I'm hoping the clouds are sparse enough we might see it down here in the OC.

This is a cool, unique perspective, https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/sci/space-capsule-reentry-video.html

pretty damning report TBH.

1 filter getting plugged on 1 engine, and it results in LOS. there are 33 in the first stage, and 6 in the second. how many of you would roll the dice?

i have no doubt that with enough money and time, starship could work. but why bother when we already have SLS that actually works, and has already put artemis in lunar orbit?

Thanks for the link.
We'll probably get cloud cover but might luck out.

T minus 18 minutes......

Watch live coverage as SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket with 23 second-generation Starlink internet satellites. Liftoff from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 9:25 p.m. EDT (0125 UTC) on Wednesday, Mar. 13. The first-stage booster, making its 19th flight, will land on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas about eight and a half minutes into the flight.

The mission, designated Starlink 6-43, will be the 25th Falcon 9 launch of the year.

<iframe width="720" height="405" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dte8ohF3enM" title="Watch Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Last night's Falcon 9 (Starlink 6-44) here in Florida (previous post) was delayed until tonight.

Starship Orbital Flight Test 3 however went up this AM at Starbase, Boca Chica Beach, Texas.......

<iframe width="718" height="404" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NWM1NQ1tZEU" title="LIVE: SpaceX attempts third Starship launch" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

EDIT: Signal lost on the booster landing....said not all the raptor engines fired and they lost the booster.....at 1100 KMPH & 0 altitude on the telemetry not surprising. Stay tuned....

My Dad was in wiring engineering and test for the Saturn V. I remember building balsa wood models of the lander, and having a 3' tall toy Sat V. Stunning how far we've come in 50 years.

watching the video its pretty clear they had a fuel leak from staging on wards that put the rocket into a spin (thruster), and they tried to slow the spin by moving the fins (lol), but with a spin like they had, there is no chance to do rocket refire test and reentry in any real way. reetntry in this way ... is free as they say lol.

this strategy of launching before working out the basic bugs is really failing them. they had major fuel leaks in the second launch too.

no reason to a lunch a half a billion dollars before you get the hose clamps to seal. no one cares if you can open the doors (lol), if you have holes in the thing and fuel leaking out everywhere so you can't stay on course.

its really quite pathetic, esp when NASA already has orbited the moon with artemis 1 on the SLS. and dont kid yourself, this isnt musk burning his own money up, we paid 3 billion for starship, and its largely gone (over 2 billion spent already), and have nothing to show for it. a fantastic waste of resources. maybe the raptor engines are useful to someone later on ...

For better or worse, this is how the Soviet Union did their program as well. Plus, when the Starship is reusable it will be a 30 to 50 million per launch of 100t to LEO instead of the 2.2 billion per launch that the SLS is.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/03/thursdays-starship-flight-provided-a-glimpse-into-a-future-of-abundant-access-to-space/

I am not really a fan of Musk, but SpaceX is doing a pretty good job at throwing test articles up there and making progress on each launch.

As they say, Space is hard.

yeah, after they spend insane money on trying to get the thing to work, it might, sometimes, only cost a a hundred million a launch.

but like, its not there, and it wont be there untill they launch it dozens of more times. i mean stuff they claimed to have sorted out, still didnt work. like the first stage just you know, not landing. if the first stage doesn't land, MOST of the cost savings isnt there. who cares if the empty tin can of a shell lands and can be reused if the 33 raptor engines hit the ocean at mach 2? that was the expensive part, and the part that they claimed works great. and the empty tin can still didnt land either.

the thing with SLS is it works. and its largely already paid for.

so any comparison for future costs, is just not true. starship doesn't work, and wont work, and be safe for humans, for dozens of launches. so far, while SLS is expensive, it does a thing. starship is going to be even more expensive to develop, and still doesnt do the thing. so it has a zero return. none. zero.

space is hard. thats why software program management doesnt work for its development. you dont launch with known problems, and then wonder why it didnt work and call it a success.

Analysis has shown the two of the three engines on the heavy booster didn't sustain operation to simulate a soft landing on the ocean surface and it broke up because of that.
That beast was under control until that time.

The comparison of capabilities fully justifies what is being done. The ROI is real.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/sls-vs-starship

Would be good to see an updated analysis of ROI. That article is from March 2022.