If they were a bit more concerned with look at what has worked thus far with regards to launches (at this point there is a wealth of data to look at from decades of previous launches) and Musk was not interested in making a dumb middle school joke, things might have gone better…
They should have used what we know works…
SpaceX could have prevented the damage, but it disregarded building better launch infrastructure, says Eric Roesch. He is an environmental compliance specialist who blogs about SpaceX. For one, he says, the company did not invest in proven launch infrastructure, like a flame trench, which diverts most of the thrust of the rocket.
Well he is a genius, unlike those dumbasses at NASA… I mean, are they all billionaires! Didn’t think so! QED!!! /s
Thanks, I have some reading to do about this. I remember reading about how many feet of concrete a Saturn IV rocket would vaporize per launch, but I haven’t thought about it since
Not at the expense of the Earth, though; it’s the only planet we have, despite rich White dudes’ egomaniacal fever dreams of conquering the entire universe.
Personally, I do believe that we can have an environmentally sustainable space program… Musk and SpaceX aren’t remotely at the forefront of that, though…
You know… I’ve often thought about how Star Trek focuses on unified geo-cultures as the measure of readiness for interstellar travel (when thinking about culture at least)… it’s kind of funny how every planet they arrive at generally speaking has a global culture, and the only time you see real difference is when you have conflict… it’s a little reductive (okay, a lot reductive). But I think it may hit on a point that Roddenberry wanted to highlight. It’s not that we need a singular geo-culture, but we need to be able to see our collective well-being as interconnected without eliminating difference in order to be able to create a space-faring civilization. It’s a bit pie in the sky and all that, but I think it bears thinking about - how sorting out our shit down here will make going to space more possible, not less. We are clearly not at that point at all…
Take a look at any of the hundreds of live streams of the launch. The birds came back within minutes. It’s easier to see in the 31 engine static fire a couple of months ago since that disturbed a giant flock, but it also happened at the launch.
The same Gulf of Mexico where endangered sea turtles and sea birds live?
ETA:
Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack. Between the shifting sands, scavengers, and tidal ocean, dead animals are going to be difficult to find in that area. They really can’t rule it out.
Regarding sea birds, I guess you’re unfamiliar with the ecology of migration. Events like this can cause generations of migratory birds to shift their migration routes to less ideal areas with a severe effect on their survival. This is established science since we first figured out paving over wetlands to develop real estate has a catastrophic effect on migratory species decades ago.
Similarly playing Russian Roulette has risk, but the outcome is expected so people with sense don’t play. Fortunately we interviewed 100 people who have played Russian Roulette before and they all survived so sure, fire away!
Giant metal water cooled plate with channels In it…so a plate with water dumped on it or a water tube boiler style furnace wall? (Pipes with water in it) because on one hand you will need one hell of a water cannon to penetrate the 15 ft (radius) cylinder of rocket engine exhaust to cool the center of the plate and on the other hand the ASME is going to have some thoughts (linear feet of boiler standards and regulations) for the design specifications of “just put the water IN the steel, not ON the steel”
I just have a FEELING there’s a reason flame diverters are a thing
For those who are interested, here’s video of a test of the water sound suppression system for Ares, giving a clear view of how a properly designed launch pad works:
Good thing that it exploded and landed in chunks small enough to quickly decelerate in the water rather than land as a giant rocket in one piece as was the original plan and happens for every other rocket.
Then maybe it’s a good thing that the presence of a rocket testing facility will prevent the private land within a 5 mile radius from being paved over and turned into vacation homes. This is Texas, there aren’t many other ways to stop development, and this is an area of the country very popular with snowbirds (the human variety).
we should locate every launch site inside a nature preserve. and really, we might as well put a bunch of nuclear power plants in there too. otherwise, we might use that land in some less harmful way. ( err… in some more harmful. yeah… umm… that’s what i meant. )
musk is a genius for being the first to realize this!
although… if starwars taught me anything, it’s that the only real way to preserve nature is to encase it in carbonite.
and we’d better get started quick before it all disappears.
You’re still not getting this. The problem isn’t the launch facility in itself. The problem is Space X (thanks to Elno) is being irresponsible in how they are using it. Only a dozen or so posts have pointed this out so far.
