SpaceX Orbit Largest Spacecraft In History also SpaceX Destroy Largest Spacecraft In History.

Scott Manley
14 Mar 202419:25

Summary

TLDRSpaceX's third Starship and Super Heavy test flight on Pi Day marked a significant milestone, with the vehicle achieving orbit and demonstrating improved performance over previous flights. Despite challenges with weather, engine relight, and control issues, the flight provided valuable data and stunning footage, highlighting the progress and potential of the Starship program.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy had their third test flight on Pi Day, March 14th, coinciding with the company's 22nd birthday.
  • 🌬️ The launch was delayed due to weather concerns, specifically high wind speeds predicted to reach 37 knots at 3,000 ft.
  • 🎉 The goal for the flight was to improve upon the second flight, where the booster exploded and the Starship failed to reach orbit after an engine fire.
  • 🔥 The first key milestone was successful hot staging, where the engines on the booster relit after separation.
  • 🛬 The booster was intended to perform a boost back and descent for a soft landing, but it experienced issues with engine relight and control during re-entry.
  • 🌍 Starship continued downrange into a lower inclination orbit over Africa, heading towards a landing in the Indian Ocean.
  • 🧪 On its partial orbit, Starship conducted several tests including opening the cargo door, performing a cryogenic propellant transfer, and attempting to relight the engine.
  • 📸 The onboard footage from the flight provided unprecedented views of the launch and ascent, thanks to multiple, redundant Starlink antennas.
  • 🛰️ Starship successfully reached orbit, becoming the largest spacecraft ever launched, albeit in a slightly suborbital trajectory.
  • 🚫 The final on-orbit test, relighting the engine, did not occur due to unexpected vehicle rotation that may have interfered with the process.
  • 🌊 The flight concluded with Starship losing attitude control and experiencing a less than ideal re-entry, with debris seen being blown off before loss of signal.

Q & A

  • What was the significance of the date chosen for SpaceX's third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy?

    -The third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy by SpaceX was performed on Pi Day, March 14th, which is also the company's 22nd birthday. The date was chosen likely due to its relevance in mathematics and as a nod to the company's founding anniversary.

  • What was the primary concern that delayed the launch window?

    -The launch window was delayed primarily due to weather concerns, specifically the strong winds with speeds predicted to reach 37 knots at 3,000 ft, which could have posed a risk to the launch and flight safety.

  • What were the main objectives of the Starship's flight?

    -The main objectives of the Starship's flight included successful hot staging, booster relight, boost back and descent through the atmosphere for a soft landing, performing a cryogenic propellant transfer test, and attempting to relight the engine for a precise landing in the Indian Ocean.

  • What was the outcome of the hot staging and the booster's performance?

    -The hot staging was successful, with all engines on the booster relit after the first stage separation. However, the booster did not perform as expected during the descent, losing control and failing to relight the engines for a soft landing, resulting in a loss of contact at zero altitude.

  • What was the significance of the Starship reaching orbit?

    -The Starship successfully reaching orbit, albeit in a slightly suborbital trajectory, marked a significant achievement as it became the largest spacecraft ever launched into orbit. This was a step forward for SpaceX, demonstrating progress from previous flights.

  • What issues were observed with the Starship's heat shield during re-entry?

    -During re-entry, it was noted that the Starship did not maintain the correct attitude for the heat shield to function optimally. Additionally, debris was seen being blown off the top of the vehicle, and there was a concern that the plasma generated during re-entry might not be effectively managed due to the spacecraft's orientation and potential heat shield damage.

  • What was the fate of the Starship after its re-entry?

    -After re-entry, the Starship experienced a communication blackout due to the plasma generated by the intense atmospheric friction. The last signals indicated that it had lost a significant speed but the final outcome was not detailed in the transcript.

  • What were some of the technical issues encountered during the flight?

    -Technical issues included the asymmetric shutdown of engines, potential problems with the propellant, a door that may not have fully opened, attitude control failures, and issues with the reaction control thrusters during the final descent.

  • What were the unique aspects of the Starship's flight that were tested or observed?

    -Unique aspects included the multi-play redundant Starlink antennas for onboard footage, the stratified clouds seen during ascent, the performance of the grid fins during the booster's descent, the spacecraft's roll around its axis, and the live footage of re-entry through the plasma phase.

  • What can we expect from the upcoming Starship flights?

    -Upcoming Starship flights may include as many as six flights this year, with improvements and adjustments based on the learnings from the previous flights. Future tests will focus on addressing the issues encountered, refining the spacecraft's performance, and potentially achieving a fully successful flight.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 SpaceX's Starship Test Flight Summary

This paragraph discusses SpaceX's third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy on Pi Day, March 14th. It highlights the launch delay due to weather concerns, specifically high wind speeds. The goal was to improve upon the second flight, where hot staging was successful but the booster exploded, and the Starship failed to reach orbit. The focus was on the hot staging, the booster's return and descent, and Starship's trajectory into a lower inclination orbit over Africa, leading to a landing in the Indian Ocean. The flight included various tests such as opening the cargo door, performing a propellant transfer test, and attempting to relight the engine. The summary confirms that SpaceX achieved more successes than the previous flight, with all engines lighting up on liftoff and successful stage separation, although not all goals were met.

05:02

🌬️ Booster's Atmospheric Entry and Control

The second paragraph delves into the booster's atmospheric entry and the challenges faced. It contrasts the booster's entry without an entry burn to the Falcon 9 booster's approach. The primary control mechanism during this phase is the grid fins, which initially seemed to control the descent but later appeared to become unstable. The booster experienced a roll oscillation, and the engines failed to relight, resulting in a loss of contact. The paragraph also discusses the Starship's successful ascent to a near-orbital trajectory and the breathtaking footage captured during this phase, including the first view inside the nose cone and the outgassing of excess propellant.

10:04

🔄 Starship's On-Orbit Tests and Re-Entry

This section covers the Starship's on-orbit tests, including the planned engine relight, which did not occur as expected. SpaceX attributed the failure to an anomalous rotation that may have interfered with the relight process. The paragraph then describes the Starship's preparation for re-entry, noting the continued rotation and the difficulty in maintaining the correct attitude for entry. It discusses the potential reasons for the observed debris脱落 and the challenges in maintaining attitude control. The summary also touches on the hope for live footage of the re-entry process and the eventual loss of communication due to plasma interference.

15:06

📈 Analysis of Flight Data and Future Outlook

The final paragraph provides an analysis of the flight data, focusing on the stage separation and the changes made from previous flights. It discusses the potential adjustments to the timing and throttle settings of the booster. The summary also examines the final descent into the ocean, suggesting that the use of outer ring engines indicated a failure. The paragraph concludes with anticipation for the fourth flight, discussing the possibility of multiple flights this year and the remaining challenges for SpaceX, such as catching boosters and in-space refueling. It ends with a hopeful note for future test flights and the continued learning process for Starship development.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡SpaceX

SpaceX is a private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. In the context of the video, SpaceX is conducting the third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy, marking a significant step in their space exploration endeavors.

💡Starship

Starship is a spacecraft and space launch vehicle being developed by SpaceX. It is designed to be a fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. In the video, the Starship's performance during its third test flight is analyzed, including its ascent, in-orbit activities, and re-entry.

💡Super Heavy

Super Heavy is the booster stage of the SpaceX Starship system. It is designed to support the Starship spacecraft during launch and return it to Earth after missions in space. The video details the Super Heavy's performance during the test flight, including its successful hot staging and boost back maneuvers.

💡Pi Day

Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi), observed on March 14th (3/14 in the month/day format). SpaceX chose this date for the third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy, possibly as a nod to the mathematical and engineering precision required in space exploration.

💡Hot Staging

Hot staging is a critical phase in the launch of a rocket where the main engines relight after the initial ascent to continue propelling the rocket and its payload into higher orbits or space. In the video, the success of the hot staging is one of the key milestones that SpaceX aimed to achieve during the Starship and Super Heavy's test flight.

💡Boost Back

Boost back is a maneuver in which a rocket booster returns to Earth after delivering its payload. It involves the booster flying backward and using its engines to slow down before re-entering the atmosphere for a controlled descent. The video describes the boost back of the Super Heavy booster and its intended return path towards Earth.

💡Re-entry

Re-entry refers to the process of a spacecraft or object returning from space and passing through the Earth's atmosphere to land on the surface. The video discusses the Starship's re-entry phase, during which it was expected to perform a belly flop maneuver and test its heat shield at high speeds.

💡Heat Shield

A heat shield is a protective layer designed to withstand and dissipate the extreme heat generated during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. It is crucial for the safe return of spacecraft and their occupants. The video highlights the importance of testing the Starship's heat shield during its re-entry to ensure its effectiveness against the intense plasma and heat.

💡Orbit

An orbit is the curved path that an object takes around a celestial body, such as a planet or star, due to the balance between its velocity and the gravitational pull of the body. The video discusses the Starship reaching a suborbital trajectory, which is close to but not exactly an orbit.

💡Attitude Control

Attitude control in aerospace refers to the orientation and stabilization of a spacecraft or rocket. It is essential for ensuring that the vehicle maintains the correct orientation during ascent, in-orbit activities, and re-entry. The video notes issues with the Starship's attitude control during its flight, particularly during the re-entry phase.

💡Plasma Blackout

Plasma blackout, also known as ionization blackout, occurs when a spacecraft re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds, causing the air around it to ionize and form a plasma. This plasma can block radio communications with the spacecraft. The video describes the Starship experiencing a plasma blackout during its re-entry, which is a critical phase where communication with the vehicle is typically lost.

Highlights

SpaceX performed the third test flight of Starship and Super Heavy on Pi Day, March 14th.

The launch was delayed due to weather concerns, specifically high wind speeds predicted to reach 37 knots at 3,000 ft.

The goal was to improve upon the second flight, where the booster exploded and Starship failed to reach orbit.

The first milestone was the successful hot staging, where the engines on the booster relit after shutdown.

The onboard footage from the flight provided multi-angle, high-quality views of the launch and ascent.

During the ascent, a few tiles were missing from the heat shield, but it seemed like an improvement from previous flights.

The stage separation was successful, with all engines on the first stage relighting, unlike the previous flight where the booster exploded.

The booster's trajectory was similar to Falcon 9, but it did not use an entry burn, instead relying on the grid fins for control.

The booster experienced a roll oscillation during its descent, which might have been intentional or due to performance exploration.

The Starship successfully reached orbit, becoming the largest spacecraft ever launched, albeit in a slightly suborbital trajectory.

The spacecraft experienced a door failure during the test of opening the Pez dispenser cargo door.

The propellant transfer test between tanks was announced but its success was not confirmed.

The final on-orbit test, relighting the engine, did not happen as planned due to an anomalous rotation.

The spacecraft's rotation and attitude control issues persisted throughout the entry phase, affecting the heat shield performance.

Debris was seen being blown off the vehicle during entry, indicating potential issues with the heat shield and attitude control.

The communication blackout due to plasma during re-entry prevented live footage of this phase, a first for spaceflight.

Despite the issues, the flight was considered successful, setting new records for SpaceX and the US launch vehicle capabilities.

The fourth flight is anticipated with potential improvements and continued learning from these test flights.

Transcripts

00:04

hello it's Scott Manley here as you

00:06

probably heard by now SpaceX performed

00:08

the third test flight of Starship and

00:11

super heavy on Pi Day March 14th why do

00:14

people love Pi I don't know it's

00:16

irrational it's also transcendental and

00:19

it's also spacex's 22nd birthday the

00:22

launch window was supposed to open at

00:24

7:00 a.m. but this was delayed uh as

00:26

many of us feared including myself due

00:28

to the weather the was uh there were

00:30

some serious concerns with the winds

00:32

with the speeds predicted to reach 37

00:35

knots at 3,000 ft spacex's goal was to

00:38

be more successful than they were on

00:40

flight number two where but they

00:43

successfully hot staged but the booster

00:45

exploded and the Starship failed to

00:48

reach orbit after an oxygen dump caused

00:50

a fire in the engine bay and ultimately

00:53

a vehicle failure so the first thing we

00:55

were watching out for was the hot

00:56

staging to make sure that the engines on

00:59

the booster relit successfully after

01:01

they didn't do it on if2 and then we'd

01:04

be watching the Boost back and The

01:05

Descent through the atmosphere hopefully

01:07

to a soft Landing meanwhile Starship was

01:10

going to cons continue downrange

01:12

following a slightly different

01:14

trajectory into a lower inclination

01:16

orbit which would carry it over Africa

01:19

and then into a landing in the Indian

01:21

Ocean during this partial orbit it would

01:24

perform a number of other tests it would

01:26

open the Pez dispenser cargo door it

01:28

would perform a cryogen genic propellant

01:30

transfer test between tanks inside and

01:33

it would attempt to relight the engine

01:35

and that would actually mean that the

01:37

place that it touched down in the Indian

01:38

Ocean wouldn't be certain because they

01:41

would have to perform this maneuver and

01:43

finally we all hoped it would get to the

01:45

re-entry phase where we'd actually

01:48

finally get to see the heat shield the

01:50

belly flop maneuver at Mark 25 and so I

01:54

can tell you now that SpaceX absolutely

01:56

achieved more successes than on its

01:59

previous flight

02:00

definitely a step forward albeit they

02:02

didn't get all the successes that they

02:04

wanted right away straight after liftoff

02:07

the first thing we did was we looked at

02:09

that engine diagram and we saw all

02:11

engines lit and saw this Drone footage

02:14

again showing this flying wonderfully

02:16

through these clouds and unfortunately

02:17

that meant a lot of the fans who are

02:20

over in Bach chica did not get a great

02:23

view of this there was fog right up till

02:25

launch and uh yeah that was a problem

02:29

but we did get a lot of onboard footage

02:32

the onboard footage from this flight was

02:34

absolutely your Chef kissed perfect we

02:37

got so many great views and a big part

02:41

of this was just having multiplay

02:43

redundant starlink antenna on the side

02:46

of both the Starship and the booster I

02:48

particularly love this moment where it

02:50

ascends through a cloud layer just it's

02:52

it's great seeing these stratified

02:55

clouds just whipping by you in a rocket

02:58

I wish my plane climbed that fast then

03:00

again I'm glad I'm not footing this fuel

03:03

Bill around that time by the way it

03:05

would have been passing through Max Q

03:07

maximum aerodynamic pressure from the

03:09

starship's point of view we do see a few

03:12

tiles missing but it seemed like an

03:14

improvement again on previous flights I

03:17

think this is my favorite camera by the

03:19

way because it sticks out on one of the

03:21

fins so it stands a reasonable distance

03:23

away from the edge of the rocket you can

03:25

actually see the surface so anyway at

03:27

this point it's getting up high we're

03:29

going to play this at four times regular

03:31

speed it's we're we're not worried about

03:33

any structural failures at this point it

03:35

is just ascending getting faster what

03:38

we're really concerned about is when

03:40

stage separation happens so yeah the

03:42

plan is here you have to shut down a

03:44

bunch of engines but not all of the

03:46

engines and then once you're stable you

03:48

have to light the engines on the second

03:50

stage and have them fly apart and once

03:52

they are sufficiently far apart you

03:55

relight the engines on the first stage

03:57

as it heads back to home this time they

04:00

got all those engines lit on the first

04:03

stage if you remember during the

04:04

previous flight the engines were failing

04:07

we saw all sorts of puffs of smoke as

04:09

engines started to die and eventually

04:11

the booster exploded now this was

04:14

officially blamed on stuff that was

04:16

clogging propellant filters uh I we

04:19

don't know what that stuff was it could

04:21

well be bits of the inside of the tank

04:23

from fuel slash but until SpaceX uh

04:26

tells us otherwise we don't know in this

04:28

case however it is boosting backwards

04:30

reducing the velocity while the altitude

04:33

increases and eventually it will be

04:35

going backwards towards home not quite

04:38

all the way home just far enough that

04:39

they can show that this boost back works

04:41

now then the thing to watch for is the

04:43

shutdown of the engines and it seems

04:46

rather asymmetrical to me I'm not sure

04:48

if that's bad Telemetry but if it isn't

04:51

that asymmetric shutdown would seem to

04:53

imply there was some problem it's not

04:55

clear what so anyway Starship continues

04:57

downrange but for the booster it

04:59

trajectory is very similar to what we

05:01

see for the Falcon 9 booster so we would

05:03

largely consider that to be a solved

05:05

problem one big difference is the

05:08

booster uh does not use an entry burn

05:11

it's going to hit the atmosphere at full

05:14

speed and take all that Force because

05:15

it's designed to do this from day one

05:18

the primary control mechanism during

05:20

this phase will be the four large grid

05:22

fins and you can see one of them on the

05:24

left screen that is the booster and you

05:26

can see the grid fin so we're going to

05:28

return to normal speed now below 50 km

05:30

descending at 1 km/ second and still

05:34

picking up speed here you can see the

05:36

grid fins begin to try to control but

05:39

very quickly it looks to me as if the

05:42

control sort of begins begins to get

05:45

unstable and you know truthfully I think

05:47

what they're probably doing is exploring

05:49

the performance of these fins or these

05:51

grid fins because this is a regime that

05:53

they've never actually tested in so

05:55

they'll be actuating it and recording

05:57

details and their control laws right the

06:00

logic may not be correct but anyway look

06:02

we're at 30,000 ft we're descending

06:05

still at multiple times the speed of

06:07

sound just watch those Cloud layers flip

06:10

by but very quickly the booster seems to

06:14

pick up some kind of roll oscillation

06:15

also check the condensation clouds down

06:18

around the bottom it's trying to relight

06:20

the engines they don't all come up and

06:24

we just lose contact with it at zero

06:26

altitude so look clearly the engines

06:28

didn't start there's a couple

06:29

possibilities one is that when they shut

06:31

them down there was a problem and that's

06:32

what we saw during the the Telemetry

06:34

showing the the sort of weird asymmetric

06:36

touchdown it's also possible that the

06:39

Motions of the vehicle just again caused

06:41

fuel SLO caused something to get you

06:43

know become a problem and they just

06:46

couldn't relight those engines because

06:47

the propellant was sitting in the wrong

06:49

place but you know what was in the right

06:50

place it was Starship which about 8

06:53

minutes later successfully made it to

06:55

orbit becoming I believe the largest

06:58

spacecraft ever launched it into orbit

07:00

now technically okay it's not exactly in

07:03

orbit it was slightly suborbital but it

07:05

had so close to orbital energy that

07:08

anybody that tries to split those hairs

07:10

is just you know some weird SpaceX hater

07:14

SpaceX deliberately chose for this

07:15

flight to not quite go to orbit for

07:18

safety reasons and uh you could easily

07:21

have got there and yeah yeah we then had

07:23

uh you know good 40 minutes of beautiful

07:27

footage from this it would come and go

07:29

over time but uh yeah some of the

07:32

footage from this was absolutely

07:34

breathtaking the footage would come and

07:36

go as you know the live links were

07:38

established and dropped there was

07:40

probably a lot of complicated stuff

07:42

going on but yeah the spacecraft uh

07:44

initially it seemed to you hold this

07:47

attitude and we saw a lot of outgassing

07:50

and that would be consistent with

07:52

dumping the excess propellant remember

07:53

they had done this on a previous flight

07:55

and it had caused a failure so dumping

07:57

it after they got to orbit would make

08:00

some sense but one of the most

08:02

interesting bits of footage uh from the

08:04

orbit came it was just a clip very early

08:07

on before they tested the door it was

08:09

our first camera view inside the nose

08:12

cone of Starship and what I see here is

08:15

clouds as if there's an atmosphere still

08:17

in there right it's not like if it was

08:19

in a vacuum and I think that while this

08:21

isn't designed to be airtight it was

08:23

sufficiently pressure tight that there

08:25

was still some pressure in here when

08:28

they were ready to open the door and so

08:30

remember this is like a little like a

08:32

letter box that opens up and you see

08:34

when they open that do you see what I'm

08:35

seeing here right when that thing slid

08:38

up just a little we had the atmosphere

08:41

just blow out through that what's also

08:44

interesting is because that is a very

08:46

thin sliver with light coming through

08:48

you get one of those sort of laser light

08:51

smoke machine kind of effects and it

08:53

looked a bit like water when I first saw

08:55

or a liquid and I thought this must have

08:57

been inside the propellant tanks but no

08:59

it's an optical illusion what I'm also

09:01

seeing though is that door doesn't look

09:04

like it fully opened I mean it's really

09:07

hard to tell because of the the camera

09:09

angle but we saw this happen later in

09:11

the flight as they were supposed to be

09:12

closing it I think the door failed and

09:16

it could be that there was just too much

09:18

atmosphere held inside the vehicle when

09:20

they tried to open it and that caused

09:22

some problems you know the space shuttle

09:24

early flights they actually had problems

09:26

with payload bay doors too so it's not

09:28

unprecedented

09:29

so anyway moving onwards the next test

09:31

that was supposed to happen was the

09:33

crowen propellant transfer and well we

09:36

heard announced we heard them mention it

09:39

we saw confirmation but honestly there

09:41

wasn't any clues as to how successful

09:44

this was whether it worked or not and

09:47

whether the rolling of the spacecraft

09:50

was part of this process this is

09:52

something that happened is it began to

09:54

roll around its axis and that could

09:56

absolutely be intentional we don't know

09:58

what they planned attitude was but um

10:01

obviously Apollo's program they used

10:03

that for thermal control space shuttle

10:05

didn't do that on the other hand the

10:07

final on orbit test was supposed to be

10:09

relighting the engine and that was going

10:11

to be performed autonomously if the

10:14

conditions were correct and when the

10:17

time rolled by we didn't have any video

10:20

we didn't have any uh Telemetry that

10:22

suggested it happened and SpaceX said

10:24

yep it didn't happen they're not telling

10:27

us why the engines didn't light but say

10:30

that attitude that the rotation the

10:32

spinning was uh somehow anomalous that

10:35

could have interfered with an engine

10:37

relight so now fast forward a couple of

10:40

minutes and they're getting ready for

10:42

entry and the thing is still rotating

10:45

it's not really got rid of the roll

10:48

around its primary axis and I think and

10:51

so whether that rooll was part of the

10:53

flight plan or not I'm pretty sure it

10:56

shouldn't be rolling at this portion of

10:58

the flight plan because it's supposed to

11:00

be getting into its you know uh belly

11:03

flop attitude for entering the

11:05

atmosphere and if it's rotating around

11:07

its axis like this it's not controlling

11:10

that as much as it's great that it's

11:13

giving us these amazing images uh I I

11:16

think they'd much rather have the

11:17

vehicle in the correct attitude we were

11:20

really eager to see whether the heat

11:23

shield would perform especially given

11:25

that we saw a couple of tiles missing

11:26

but the majority of tiles were still

11:28

there

11:30

however I don't think we got to see a

11:32

proper heat shield test because I think

11:34

the vehicle didn't maintain attitude

11:36

control correctly indeed we get to a

11:39

point where um we start to see debris

11:42

getting blown off the top of the vehicle

11:44

and I'm wondering is that coming out

11:47

from underneath the heat shield has it

11:48

been trapped there is this perhaps uh

11:51

stuff getting blown off by attitude

11:53

control jets like why didn't this come

11:55

off during the initial Ascent is my

11:58

question because we start to see fairly

12:01

substantial chunks of stuff coming off

12:03

if you remember this uh camera is

12:06

sticking out on the end of a fin it's

12:08

actually quite a long way from the

12:11

vehicle so you don't get that effect of

12:13

really tiny debris looking bigger than

12:16

it should actually be at this altitude

12:18

of 100 km or so we should start to see

12:21

the effects of atmosphere pulling away

12:24

light things like say broken tiles for

12:27

for example you'll also notice the fin

12:30

is working left fin just like left shark

12:32

Doesn't Know It dance moves uh this

12:34

spacecraft is upside down it's not

12:36

presenting the heat shield right it's

12:38

the non-heat shield side is currently

12:41

facing the the air flow and so I watched

12:44

this and it's coming around with a heat

12:46

shield side down I was like hope it can

12:48

stop that spin right because it's now in

12:51

roughly the correct attitude for entry

12:54

if it can just hold this it can make it

12:57

through but un fortunately it was not to

13:00

be you see yeah we get a moment where

13:03

those fins appear to be working but the

13:05

roll is continuing it's high enough up

13:08

that it's just not getting any Control

13:10

Authority from those uh winglets it

13:12

really needs the reaction control

13:14

thrusters to be doing something but

13:16

we're not seeing it we saw so much gas

13:19

getting dumped earlier in the flight but

13:20

it's not happening now has it run out is

13:23

it you know they talked about using IG

13:25

gas do they need to upgrade the reaction

13:28

control thrust yeah again this is now

13:31

heading upside down we actually see like

13:33

a puff of something there was that

13:36

reaction control Thruster firing again

13:39

now uh yeah looking backwards along its

13:41

Trail it's upside down and it's headed

13:44

into the atmosphere and I think I can

13:46

begin to see a small hint of of a glow

13:50

here right we're starting to hit the

13:54

plasma you know portion of this flight

13:56

at Mark 25 the atmosphere is slamming

13:59

into this vehicle and it is compressing

14:02

and the compression is heating up the

14:05

air to the point that it turns into a

14:08

plasma the electrons are disassociated

14:10

from the nuclei and that will start to

14:14

get in the way of communications and so

14:16

that's why we've never really seen

14:18

re-entry footage like this live think

14:21

about it this is something we've never

14:23

seen coming live from a

14:26

spacecraft we expect at some point that

14:28

the Communications would drop because

14:30

that plasma is getting in the way of

14:32

communications and Starship would

14:35

somehow have to send a signal back

14:37

through it now you'll notice by the way

14:38

that the roll seems to have reversed but

14:40

now it appears to be pitching with its

14:43

ass pointed down range and so instead of

14:47

that hot Plasma impinging on the heat

14:49

shield it's going to start going into

14:51

the engine bay into various you know

14:54

sensitive parts of the vehicle that's

14:56

why you have to maintain attitude

14:57

control we didn't know how long we would

14:59

get live footage from this we were

15:01

getting Telemetry via the tedris system

15:03

and we were getting footage via starlink

15:06

and you'll you'll notice by the way that

15:07

the speed is really still not decreasing

15:11

it's actually still increasing even

15:13

although you've got all this violent

15:16

heating going on the air density is

15:18

still really low it's not enough to

15:20

actually slow the vehicle down so it

15:23

just has to endure this kind of heating

15:25

that is obviously um doing a number on

15:28

the space C there was a real hope that

15:30

we might actually get live footage all

15:33

the way down because Starship is big

15:35

enough that it actually punches a hole

15:38

through the atmosphere wide enough that

15:40

you can send a radio signal back through

15:42

that hole and so it is possible that we

15:45

could get this perhaps in a future

15:46

flight but not on this one there are

15:49

essentially two ways where you have a

15:51

Communications blackout due to plasma

15:53

the first is that yeah plasma gets hot

15:56

electrons flowing around they're conduct

15:58

Ive they interfere with radio waves and

16:02

the signal can't get out the other is

16:05

where your Communications equipment gets

16:08

hit by the atmosphere and turns into a

16:11

plasma and can no longer communicate and

16:13

that is an all together more permanent

16:16

kind of plasma blackout and it's a kind

16:19

that Starship experienced on its first

16:22

full reentry the last signals we got

16:25

suggested that had lost uh 1,000 kmph of

16:28

its 27,000 km hour that it needed to

16:32

lose so again an objectively successful

16:35

flight setting new records for space

16:37

flight the US now has a launch vehicle

16:40

that could easily put hundreds of tons

16:42

into orbit if they don't mind expanding

16:44

it I mean SpaceX apparently has quite a

16:47

few boosters to spare on the other hand

16:49

some basic things apparently didn't work

16:52

that door didn't look right uh the

16:54

attitude control failed and didn't get

16:56

through re-entry so we never really got

16:58

to know how good that heat shield is I'm

17:00

looking forward to flight four but I

17:03

actually want to rewind to the stage

17:05

separation because I predicted that they

17:07

would make changes to the timing and I

17:09

want to look at this in detail again so

17:12

I've synchronized if 3 at the top if2

17:16

down below and you'll watch the ignition

17:19

and the shutdown of the engines sequence

17:21

now the timing of this is slightly

17:23

different the new Telemetry doesn't show

17:25

the big change in the velocity of the

17:27

spacecraft so is that just something

17:29

that was actually just an artifact or

17:31

have they changed the staging sequence

17:33

because the timing is the same the only

17:35

thing I think they could change is

17:37

perhaps the throttle on the booster

17:39

instead of going to 50% they might go

17:41

higher you'll also notice that on if3

17:44

the uh staging happened about 3 seconds

17:47

later so they get a bit more oomph out

17:49

of that booster this time and yeah

17:51

taking a look at the final descent into

17:53

the ocean I'm pretty sure it's supposed

17:56

to use the three Center engines here and

17:58

then then somehow decides to use some

18:00

engines from the outer ring and that

18:02

probably indicates that something failed

18:04

Especially since one of them shut down

18:07

so you know the booster at this point is

18:09

just oh yeah I'm going into the Gulf

18:11

really fast I hope there are some other

18:14

photographs or imagery there were a

18:16

bunch of planes out there including

18:19

Jared isman I think flying around in a

18:21

in a jet to get some cool footage I

18:24

don't know if we'll get to see that but

18:26

it would be pretty cool if we did and so

18:28

now let's look forward to fourth flight

18:31

we're told that there could be as many

18:32

as six flights this year uh and that

18:35

would mean that we'd want the next

18:36

flight within a couple of months the

18:38

previous flight was 3 months dropping it

18:40

down to two months would make sense and

18:42

hopefully getting a bit closer to an

18:45

actual successful an unequivocal

18:47

successful flight and then of course

18:50

they have to then figure out how to

18:51

catch the boosters how to refuel in

18:53

space how to land it there's still a

18:55

whole lot of things for SpaceX to learn

18:58

about Starship through these awesome and

19:00

spectacular test flights I'm Scott

19:02

Manley fly

19:04

[Music]

19:10

[Music]

19:23

safe

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