I was out in the Laguna Madre south of Port Mansfield and could hear the roar of the rocket during lift off from where we were. Couldn't see any of the lift off or subsequent explosion due to distance and cloud cover. We were approximately 25 miles away, hard to imagine how loud it must have been around the end of South Padre Island. Neat stuff that an individual could accomplish this.
Now looking at possible pad damage and fires. Not unexpected.
How much damage might be expected?
Despite the destruction in the air, there was also quite the show on the ground at Starbase. The launchpad was absolutely destroyed by Starship's powerful Super Heavy rocket. So much thrust was generated from the rocket's engines that the concrete pad was pretty much obliterated, sending chunks of rubble flying more than a quarter mile away and destroying a Dodge Caravan in the process.
In almost perfect synchrony, two major chunks of debris collide with the minivan. One particularly pesky rock contacts the hatch, caving in the D-Pillar. As soon as the impact happens, the minivan lurches forward due to the force of the collision. The rear-most windows are blown out, along with at least one of the taillights, and the liftgate is turned into nothing more than twisted metal.
A second less obvious chunk isn't seen impacting the van, but it is seen exiting through the front bumper along with an explosion of fluid (presumably coolant from the radiator). By the end of the video, a pool of liquid has amassed under the front of the car.
Several smaller pieces of debris make contact with the van during the launch. A few pieces even hit the expensive-looking gear mounted to the top of the van and nearby cameras set up to film the launch.
The Dodge was parked in a lot off of Boca Chica Boulevard, around 1,400 feet away from the launch pad. Despite being behind a wall and positioned more than a quarter mile away from the launch site, the van and other surrounding camera gear were clobbered by crumbled rock.
And that's not even the farthest that chucks of rock traveled. In another video posted by SpaceX, you can see chunks of concrete splashing far off into the waters of nearby Boca Chica beach. A quick check on Google Maps estimates that some of the debris was slung around 2,000 feet away from the launchpad.
Fortunately, as far as we can tell, the van was unoccupied. All people are required to evacuate the area when a launch occurs due to the possibility of danger—debris or otherwise. That means that all of the cameras peppered around the lot are controlled remotely, and rightfully so, considering the huge chunks of stone that were sent flying at who-knows-how-fast-speeds managed to damage the van so catastrophically.
The Super Heavy rocket is not only SpaceX's most powerful rocket, but it's also the tallest, most powerful rocket the world has ever seen. The 33 main engines collectively generated just under 17 million pounds of thrust, around twice the output of NASA's SLS rocket used with the Artemis program. It's no wonder that a bit of carnage was seen at liftoff, given its impressive specs.
As for the Orbital Launch Mount—well, it looks like Starship did some excavating underneath it. The launch site's concrete slab was turned into rubble by the force of the rocket's engines and dug a crater.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches classified Space Force satellites, nails landings video posted to YouTube on Nov 1, 2022 "A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the USSF-44 mission for the US Space Force on Nov. 1, 2022. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida."
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SpaceX has three launches scheduled for this upcoming week: Two Falcon 9s and a Falcon Heavy. Plus both NASA and PRIVATE manned launches this year.
The Starship launch did extensive damage to the pad. Musk is saying they'll launch another one in "a month or two" but engineers are not nearly as sanguine. They have been quoted as needing a year to fix the pad and prevent future damage.
SpaceX has three launches scheduled for this upcoming week: Two Falcon 9s and a Falcon Heavy. Plus both NASA and PRIVATE manned launches this year.
The Starship launch did extensive damage to the pad. Musk is saying they'll launch another one in "a month or two" but engineers are not nearly as sanguine. They have been quoted as needing a year to fix the pad and prevent future damage.
I would surmise that ha the pad not crumbled under the massive pressure from those engines, that this flight could have achieved all its goals. I can guarantee that damage was done to those engines on liftoff due to debris, yet it sill managed to clear the tower. They lost vector control about 60 seconds in, but the spacecraft showed itself to be durable in the 10 seconds of hell at the launchpad. They'll need to build a fire diverter and go again.
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News blurb said they can't reach bedrock for the pad or the water table is high or something like that. Showed pics of the pad area under engines. Concrete blown completely away , rebar looked like spaghetti. They did mention about the need for flame diverter stuff like others have said.
Almost like they need to drive some serious pilings under the reinforced concrete before they even pour it.
Like it had nothing but sand under it for a base?? And the pressure from lift off bulged it downward into a soft base then started the scouring effect concentrated in the bulge and then under the bottom of the concrete outward.
Lotta brownish color in that lift off footage. Sand????
Launch pad failure seems to have caused alot of problems..
News blurb said they can't reach bedrock for the pad or the water table is high or something like that. Showed pics of the pad area under engines. Concrete blown completely away , rebar looked like spaghetti. They did mention about the need for flame diverter stuff like others have said.
Almost like they need to drive some serious pilings under the reinforced concrete before they even pour it.
Like it had nothing but sand under it for a base?? And the pressure from lift off bulged it downward into a soft base then started the scouring effect concentrated in the bulge and then under the bottom of the concrete outward.
Lotta brownish color in that lift off footage. Sand????
Launch pad failure seems to have caused alot of problems..
Don't know... Just speculation on my part...
It's on an Island.
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