** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

[darkgen]

I wonder if the bay door being stuck open will cause issues like a premature RUD?

Looked pretty flimsy when it opened/closed.

 

[robfosters]

Is it just being sent up and straight back down again?

 

[visibleman]

Looked pretty flimsy when it opened/closed.

Definitely but it was probably a bit of an afterthought and suck-it-and-see test given the rest of their objectives for IFT 3.

Is it just being sent up and straight back down again?

Yes, along with a few tests along the way before it crash lands into the Indian ocean. Given what they've achieved over the last two launches, it's pretty spectacular.

 

[ic1male]

Zoinks, it's falling to bits.

 

[Richard - London]

Looks like parts are falling off starship at the moment.

 

[darkgen]

Fantastic views but it sure does not appear stable at all.

 

[darkgen]

WHOA!

 

[Hodders]

Glowing plasma - that's cool

 

[Richard - London]

Look at the heat build up.

I wouldn't be surprised if launch 4 goes the whole way.

 

[PlacidCasual]

Plasma

 

[Richard - London]

The camera work is amazing.

 

[ic1male]

Lost the telemetry now, has it exploded I wonder

 

[Richard - London]

Lost the telemetry now, has it exploded I wonder

It did seem to be spinning a bit

 

[bliss]

Those plasma shots were incredible! Is that a first? Live streaming cameras capturing plasma?

Have a feeling they've lost the vehicle.

 

[lookitsjonno]

Stunning shots, never seen anything like that before

 

[visibleman]

Looks like on screen telemetry has stopped; fingers crossed it's just a glitch/link down but it's probably gone 'boom'

 

[Deleted User 234324]

There's a comms blackout while reentry takes place due to the plasma build up. Expected time to regain signal is about 5 minutes, if it exceeds an expected time it will likely be due to a RUD.

 

[Feek]

This re-entry period just seems to be taking far too long.

 

[bliss]

There's a comms blackout while reentry takes place due to the plasma build up. Expected time to regain signal is about 5 minutes, if it exceeds an expected time it will likely be due to a RUD.

I always find that when the broadcast team start using words like 'might' & 'hopefully' it means they know things have gone wrong but don't want to say so on the broadcast where possible.

 

[JRS]

Welp, if it came apart on re-entry then that's no real biggie for this flight. Not like they were intending to reuse any assets from this launch. Would have been nice to see the heatshield get a proper test all the way through re-entry, but they still have lots of objectives met.