This was from a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg. It was a Starlink mission. The ice crystals were caused by an oxygen tank link in the second stage. The leak caused the second engine burn to fail and the satellites were left at 135 kilometers, where atmospheric drag will cause them to deorbit and burn up in a fairly short period.
I would note that the booster functioned perfectly and successfully landed. The problem was SOLELY in the second stage. SpaceX is grounded for the moment, but I am pretty confident that the investigation will be brief, the problem will be addressed and SpaceX will return to flight in a few weeks, if not days.
Even with this failure, SpaceX is still the most reliable spaceflight provider in history by far.
I mean, the haters will point out every little hiccup or failure because that’s what drives them and their pathology, but still tremendous progress for humanity - true progressivism!
The engine actually disintegrated at the beginning of the second burn. The second stage is totally out of control. At its current altitude, it will stay in space for a few days at most. Typically, the second stage burns up completely on entry, so there is little risk of debris impact.
The satellites will not last much longer. They did successfully separate from the second stage, but don’t have enough fuel to make it to their planned orbits. But they are small and will burn up with no chance of debris touching down.
Eight billion costumes aren’t required. Only the capsule recovery crew needs them to pull that off. Surely enough of the costumes from the most recent movie sequel should still be available. What a great joke that would be if they came home on April 1.
I think he’s talking about the Tim Burton movie starring Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch.
To give that Trainwreck some credit, the ape costumes in it were fantastic. That’s the only thing good about it even though I love the movie because it was the first PG-13 movie I saw by myself in theaters when it came out.
I revisited it recently and everything you said still holds true. The ape makeup stlll looks terrific, but it’s such a badly written movie and Wahlberg was miscast.
Successful launch and satellite deployment, but Booster 1062 toppled upon landing.
23 successful flights (a record) and 22 successful landings.
From a flight dynamics standpoint, looked like it touched down at a normal speed and orientation. The only guess I can really offer at this point is a faulty landing leg. A couple of commentators have also offered that it most likely was a landing leg failure.
While I generally don’t go down this path, in this case, it is clearly politically motivated.
We KNOW what ■■■■■■■ happened. There is ZERO danger to the public from this issue of a booster toppling. It is an inconvenience and financial loss to SpaceX only. NO reason for a flight stop.
The second stage booster issue I could understand, but not this.
In any event, the investigation should take three to four days at most. Any FAA stoppage beyond that just incurs further suspicion.
