XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.space, alt.politics
XPost: alt.politics.usa

I've seen varying accounts.

Looks like the booster DID complete its run and
separate, but after that things went poorly for it
and self-destruct was required.

There was also an apparent problem with the winged
upper stage, though it did make it 90% of the way
to planned orbit. It also self-destructed.

However this flight went much better than the last
test - "almost" there.

This is the SpaceX approach ... fly, let it go boom,
analyze and fly again. These vehicles are chocked
full of sensors. This was the approach for the Falcon9
and now it's been the most super-reliable booster
we've ever had - AND reusable.

Now Musk is "political", and no friend of either the
far left or far right or censors and makes that very
clear. I sometimes wonder about sabotage ...

NASA/SpaceX originally had visions of flying Starship
to the moon and back as a proving mission in 2024.
Clearly that is not going to happen. Starship still
needs a lot more work. Hey, it's *big* and with
36 booster engines is *complicated*. No doubt lots
of little issues, including vibration, that need
to be addressed.

NASA has Artemis to get to the moon - but it's mostly
just a "fat Apollo" and can carry just a few more
people and weight. Despite some claims nobody is gonna
go all the way to Mars and back in the thing. Artemis
returns US/western ACCESS to the moon, and that's a
good start, but something much larger will be required
to DO much of anything useful there.

Remember that China also claims to have lunar, even
Martian, ambitions and can spare the cash (and lives)
to accomplish that. There may be a bit of a 'space race'
here ... and do NOT discount the possibility China will
CLAIM parts of the moon if it puts people there no
matter what those olde-tyme "rules" say. NASA/ESA
really should make a point to put the first bootprints
in that ultra-valuable area of the south pole.

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