I would suggest it's somewhere between a redesign and an adjustment.<br />Can we all agree on that? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />There were, as I see it, 3 significant shortcomings in the last test flight (only their 2nd, BTW).<br /><br />1. Sloppy regulation of the shutdown of the first stage engine. This imparted an unacceptable roll, which resulted in:<br /><br />2. Whacking the second stage, which sloshed all the fluids, which led to:<br /><br />3. Unanticipated (whether they should have been or not is a seperate question) gyrations in the COM (Center of Mass) of the 2nd stage. The flight software could not compensate for that; in fact the result was an increasing gyration, rather than a damping, which would be the desired result.<br /><br />I'm not sure problem 1 has been addressed, and don't want to derail my train of thought. Just can't remember what was said about it.<br /><br />Problems 2 and 3 are related, and it appears SpaceX's decision will be to attack it at both points.<br /><br />Extra baffles in the tank should reduce the sloshing. Of course, it will add weight and shift the COM, so the effects can't be predicted precisely, especially when interacting with:<br /><br />The flight software. Obviously, there was a bug that allowed the motion to be increased instead of damped.<br /><br /><br />To me, all these observations and corrections are almost by definitions, results that you would expect from a test flight.<br /><br />If the corrections are properly done, and the customers consider it an operational vehicle, then it will be.<br /><br />Obviously the next flight's customers (and their insurance companies) will be the ultimate arbiter of whether it's operational or not. Such is life in the commercial business <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />For NASA, the customers (We The People) are well insulated from the choices that get implimented. Through Congress and the POTUS, what we (SDC/SPACE "we" that is) want is relegated to the back burner, a <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>