I expected it to blow up at Max Q, honestly. And fact that it didn't break apart during those unanticipated flips is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that put both vehicles under.

I actually thought it would explode as it was doing its first 'spin.' Not sure how it survived that, or the second one. They aren't designed to survive that type of centripetal stress.

Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly is an OUTSTANDING phrase. LMAO

From two years ago:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1313952039869788173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Narrator: It was.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wild Rover 2 war zone footage with audio. Good stuff! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpaceX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starbase?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starbase</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starship?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starship</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Superheavy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Superheavy</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y8loOualXR">pic.twitter.com/Y8loOualXR</a></p>&mdash; LabPadre (@LabPadre) <a href="https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1649068688853671940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. <br><br>Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.<br><br>Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months.</p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649523985837686784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Quick cruise by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starship?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starship</a>’s launch pad to asses the damage. <a href="https://t.co/vInP7s6EZ5">pic.twitter.com/vInP7s6EZ5</a></p>&mdash; Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) <a href="https://twitter.com/StarFleetTours/status/1649485136684109825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tank farm <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ouch?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ouch</a> <a href="https://t.co/vrAqWcBMIQ">pic.twitter.com/vrAqWcBMIQ</a></p>&mdash; Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) <a href="https://twitter.com/StarFleetTours/status/1649486432820514827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I kind of love that Starhopper is going to just sit there and take all of this abuse. It'll be a great reminder someday of all the work that went into getting the real thing done.

So that's about six months in non-Elon time.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023...-or-a-success/

What could not be immediately discerned from the ground is that a handful of the Super Heavy first stage's 33 Raptor engines failed in the early moments of the flight. After about two minutes, more engines failed. Before the end, when the rocket reached a peak altitude just short of 40 km, as many as eight engines appeared to have gone out.

As you said DaFace, that's not a good number.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What it’s like to feel the world’s most powerful rocket, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starship?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starship</a>, from only 8km [5 miles] away!!! It shook our studio like crazy! Watch the door �� It wasn’t horribly loud, but it was thunderous &amp; earth rattling. It. Was. Amazing! Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@spacex</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a>! Slow mo coming! <a href="https://t.co/cSZVKltdDN">pic.twitter.com/cSZVKltdDN</a></p>&mdash; Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) <a href="https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1649141793508716583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Watching live when they showed this shot I thought this don't look right.

How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking.

The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled.

Sounds interesting, do you have a link to an article or something about it?