SpaceX flight testing in South Texas

[ORAC]

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https://x.com/AI_EmeraldApple/status...209201509?s=20

The main failure of flight test 12 is actually a sign of how insanely powerful the Raptor 3 engine is.

During "most engine cutoff," that extra power from the booster and the upperstage engines during the hotstage separation pushed the booster to flip sideways at 44 degrees per second, or 0.77 rads/s. Nominally, it should flip up instead of sideways more slowly.

That rotation was WAY too fast in the wrong direction with added axial rotation, causing an estimated 2.2 g outward force at the nose of the booster, causing massive sloshing for the propellant. That caused gas ingestion, engine explosion, and cascading failure for the boostback. This led the booster to an uncontrolled fall at terminal velocity.

I think for the next flight, they are going to have to change the gimbal profile for the MECO to reduce rotation and counteract the upperstage engine push, increase the coast time to allow propellant to settle, and stagger the relight more slowly with 2 engines per 3-4 seconds or so.

This won't need many hardware changes, mostly software changes, so the next launch will probably be sooner than expected... classic too much of a good thing problem.