SpaceX flight testing in South Texas

[ORAC]

https://x.com/CSI_Starbase/status/1859074034698183118

An interesting thing I noticed, but didn't think much of at the time...

During the pad avoidance maneuver, the chopsticks seemed to take quite a beating (per usual).

After Starship cleared the tower the chopsticks began closing to perform the automated health checks. The ended up opening up again a few minutes later which did not happen during flight 5. This the time period where the issue was detected.

Since the road opened crews have been on the chopsticks performing inspections.

Note: You can also see the before and after of the lightning tower damage. I doubt this truly played a part in triggering the abort but its possible it was a factor.

Here is the Official statement from SpaceX:

​​​​​​​"Following a nominal ascent and stage separation, the booster successfully transitioned to its boostback burn to begin the return to launch site. During this phase, automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt."