What's happening in space (that's interesting)

[ReptileHouse]

Well, crud. It looked great right up until it didn’t.

[MichaelD]

To be fair, they called it a FLIGHT test. Not a LANDING test. ;p

[AWS260]

Thanks, SpaceX, for the exciting finale!

[Alan_Dunkin]

Holy hell that was amazing. Everything except the nerdy jizz-spewing commentary. Though the landing was perfecto.

— Alan

[Ginger_Yellow]

So what I want to know is if the weirdness around the raptor shutoffs was WAD or not. Seems unlikely, given that the fairing was on fire for a while. I didn’t read up too much on this test beforehand though, so I don’t know what behaviour they were expecting.

[jpinard]

At least the nose is still there lol.

[Romalar]

I was pretty surprised they hit the landing pad. Looks good for their maneuverability in the air, at least subsonic!

[abidingdude]

Ha, that was wonderful to watch.

Joey Roulette (joroulette)

[Zephyr]

@Ginger_Yellow

So what I want to know is if the weirdness around the raptor shutoffs was WAD or not.

I am thinking working as intended as watching another feed, the two engines were gimbaled enough to hover horizontally at apogee. The landing burn seemed excessively green and wondering if it was from a poor fuel mix or the pre-burner they use to help engine startup.

Overall seems like the test exceeded expectations. SN9 looks mostly complete, so hoping it is out on the pad soon and they figure out the issue with the header tank pressure.

[sillhouette]

how it started

@Ginger_Yellow

I think I did jinx it, but somehow it has not blown up

how it’s going

@Ginger_Yellow

Now it blows up. Not bad for a first attempt though.

[Fishbreath]

@Ginger_Yellow

Seems unlikely, given that the fairing was on fire for a while.

The fire may not have been expected, but Falcon 9 frequently crisps a bit then goes out on its own after landing.

@Zephyr

The landing burn seemed excessively green and wondering if it was from a poor fuel mix or the pre-burner they use to help engine startup.

Smart money’s on what the Twitter wags call ‘engine-rich combustion’ caused by the former—an overtemperature condition in the combustion chamber burning away the copper in the engine.

My first thought was the TEA-TEB they use in the Merlins, which burns green when the Falcon first stage reignites its engines, but it turns out the Raptor uses spark ignition.

[Ginger_Yellow]

Scott Manley post-mortem:

SpaceX's Biggest Starship Flight Is A Spectacular Success Even After Crash Landing

[Becoming]

Astronomers Just Found Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through The...

[Alistair]

So Starship SN9, whose predecessor went boom on the landing pad a few days ago, has just fallen against the hangar door and is hopefully being pulled upright by a very big crane.

Starship Stakeout: SpaceX Teams Attempt to Save Starship SN9

Comments suggest a support collapsed, causing the lean.

[YakAttack]

Oops! That sucks.

[Alistair]

Looks like Thunderbirds… Call in International Rescue!

SpaceX Boca Chica - Starship SN9 leaves High Bay before being secured on new mount

[jpinard]

The outside texture of that thing always looks like it’s ready to implode.

[Matt_W]

I’ve been watching this conjunction approach over the last few nights. Closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky in 400 years. And falls on the winter solstice. Expect magic.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn

[Timemaster_Tim]

@Matt_W

Expect magic.

Or dreadfully cloudy skies.

[RichVR]

Guaranteed here. Sure I could break out my telescope, but why?