SpaceX Starship Explodes
 

I didn't see this elsewhere on the site - a full pressurization test of the prototype Starship caused it to blow its top yesterday.

- Ed

It looks like it would make a decent silo, if the space trip thing doesn't work out.

Looks like R2D2 when he got zapped in Return of the Jedi!

It looks much earlier than that...more like "Lost In Space".

Thunderbirds are not go.

They've got a real 1950's retro look with that thing.

Looks like an old English Electric Lightning stood on its tail.

Is it April 1st? You don't mean to say he's spent money on that? Christ, does anyone have his email address? I've got plenty of sh it ideas I could sell to him.

TBH they've been nailing the 50s retro look since they started landing rockets on their tails - see e.g. and a sci-fi vs. reality comparison
For me personally it was the synchronised twin booster landings from the heavy that really gave me goosebumps, this was how future rocket ships were meant to be. Starship is just a bit shinier - which may just be that after reusing a few falcons without repainting they've just decided why bother painting in the first place (they don't look all nice and white after the first time).

SpaceX didn't do tail-landing first of course - DC-X beat em by a long way on that, unfortunately that sort of evolved into Blue Origin which isn't so much a 50s retro look as 70s Flesh Gordon, which is not a good look unless you are deliberately doing satire...

Poor old Muskie, what with his Cybertruk fail, wasn't a good day for him...

The Cyber truck fail was the driver's side window being smashed ?

Video I saw had one of the designers throw a large ball bearing at it, right after he hit the cold rolled steel door with a sledge hammer.

Musk produces things instead of just talking about them. I respect him for that.

Did the Cybertruck fail?

No nuclear bomb shelter?

I'm with you on that! The Hyperloop tunnel from his office to LAX is working brilliantly despite the skeptics whining! And the Hyperloop from Moscow to London is so popular that last time I tried to buy a ticket I just couldn't get a seat. And his fantastic submarine that saved all those boys in Thailand! A truly brilliant man who is worthy to be in the same Pantheon as Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff.

Surely that metal cylinder is a containment vessel, rather than anything launchable. Why it has the cartoon tailfins, I don't know, but maybe there's something about wind deflection on the ground. Musk is another self-absorbed, poorly socialised techbro, but he does have some real achievements and isn't a fool.

What a pathetic post. I suggest you read up on some of Musk's achievments, and why the Starship popped its lid.
It was an intentional test to destruction...

Or a water tower. Both Starhopper and the Mk1 Starship prototype (that just failed) were built by a water tower company, on the basis that it's a whole lot faster and cheaper than building it with conventional aerospace techniques.

To everyone complaining about what it looks like - it's a test vehicle, designed to experiment with manufacturing techniques quickly and cheaply and then get destroyed during testing (although not quite this early). Why would they waste time and money making it pretty? SpaceX had already decided not to fly this one and (as far as I can tell) they've also decided not to bother flying its successor - they're moving right on to getting the third prototype built. With that said, the final one is also expected to have a shiny stainless steel finish, on the basis that this works as well as white paint (for keeping it from warming up in the sun) and weighs less.

Oh, I don't think any of us is really complaining. We're just engaging in the harmless fun of tweaking the sometimes-insufferable (and sometimes visionary) Mr. Musk. For reasonable fees, amounts that would have almost no effect on his wealth, I'm sure we'd all be willing to offer nothing but praise and admiration.

I'd rather. Chew. Glass. Would be a very short read, though. His spectacular failures, on the other hand, are a fascinating, if a bit lengthy, story.

Between Paypal, SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has launched three transformative businesses. If that is failure, I'd like to see more of it.