Thread

1. holt62 · 1790592705 · focus · HN ↗

   What an incredible feat of engineering, even if it doesn't make orbit. Just getting that much mass off the pad is mind-boggling.

   1. GuB-42 · 1790599792 · focus · HN ↗

      It certainly is, but my mind is more boggled by the Saturn V that did it 60 years ago. Space launch technology feels like it had a 30 year gap, as in, nothing significant happened between the Space Shuttle and the Falcon 9. And now, we are just catching up. Not just SpaceX, there is also Blue Origin, Rocketlab,... and everything that's happening in China.

      An by the way, the whole point of Starship is not just doing it, it is doing it cheaply (by space standards). The whole reusability thing is part of it, and so is the "assembly line" approach that lets SpaceX treat their experimental rockets like fireworks. If the goal was just to lift a lot of mass off the ground, it is not even a great design, reusability in particular is costly in terms of payload capacity.

      1. Schiendelman · 1790603949 · focus · HN ↗

         The reusability is what made the rest of these investments possible. Musk is annoying, but you have to give him credit for it.

         1. bakies · 1790621525 · focus · HN ↗

            Could just give credit to the engineers working on it

            1. Schiendelman · 1790634754 · focus · HN ↗

               Sure, but the engineers didn't decide on and fund that priority.

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