SpaceX's Starship SN1 prototype appears to burst during pressure test

[Admin]

SpaceX's latest prototype for its massive Starship rocket appeared to burst during a pressure test late Friday (Feb. 28), blowing apart.

SpaceX's Starship SN1 prototype appears to burst during pressure test : Read more

 

[Anonymous010]

"Appeared" to? Come on, guys, this isn't a court of law where nothing actually happened until there's a jury verdict. The video speaks for itself - that prototype is done. It's a shame, but it's not really surprising. When Musk unveiled it for the first time, it didn't look good - it already had dents in several places and the welding job didn't look professional.

 

[Deryk Houston]

It's quite possible that this happened because it was only a "Test". It very likely was pushed to the breaking point deliberately. I'm sure this would lead to some interesting and useful data... as has been done before for collecting data. I know that if I was testing something, I'd sure like to know if I just "squeezed" past the thresh-hold of safety or if it passed by a wide margin.....especially if it was me who was going to be putting my backside into that rocket seat

 

[ChrisA]

SpaceX is zero for two on these pressure tests. The Mk1 blew up and now SN1 blows up. Neither was intentional. One does NOT test a reusable tank to failure on the first test. A reasonable approach is to sneak up on the limit and go a little more each time.

My total guess on the root cause is that SpaceX is pioneering a cheap manufacturing method where they just hand weld stainless steel and it is not working well for them Slight imperfections are going to be a problem. Apparently this process they used is hard to inspect for quality

I can't believe this is a miscalculation by the engineers. It has to be a manufacturing quality problem.

 

[Deryk Houston]

SpaceX is zero for two on these pressure tests. The Mk1 blew up and now SN1 blows up. Neither was intentional. One does NOT test a reusable tank to failure on the first test. A reasonable approach is to sneak up on the limit and go a little more each time.

My total guess on the root cause is that SpaceX is pioneering a cheap manufacturing method where they just hand weld stainless steel and it is not working well for them Slight imperfections are going to be a problem. Apparently this process they used is hard to inspect for quality

I can't believe this is a miscalculation by the engineers. It has to be a manufacturing quality problem.

 

[Deryk Houston]

Space X actually did say this about .......the Mk1..... “The purpose of today’s test was to pressurize systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected."
So my guess still holds that this test did the same.
Testing to the max. It's very interesting and I'm sure they will learn a lot and make the changes that are needed to make it perfect.