Biggest setback to the Starship program was the damage to the engine test facility. That facility is the only one Space-X has to test Starships on a stand. Assume a 6 to 12 month delay while it's rebuilt.

I wouldn't say I am getting good at Balatro. I would say I suck a lot less now then I did when I started playing.

Prez wrote on Jun 21, 2025, 22:42:
I'm finally starting to get good at Balatro.

...and thus the final secret prophecy of the Apocalypse was fulfilled.

Oh FFS Trump; don't blow up the world yet - I'm finally starting to get good at Balatro.


Seriously though I'm concerned about all of the US troops stationed in the Middle East as they are prime targets now.

The Apollo missions took place at a different time in a different climate. It was essentially a race to prove that the Soviets weren't in fact more advanced than us. I'll leave it up to you to decide how important that was but at the time it was viewed extremely important by our government. Apollo was essentially done as the swiftest program possible while still being as safe as humanly possible. The trouble was, the Soviets had shown that things like safety were not that important, giving them the distinct edge. So while I wouldn't classify the American space program as reckless or rushed necessarily, it was under duress. Things like the early mishaps during America's space program were far more understandable in my view. There's no reason whatever to rush now. After the two Space Shuttle disasters the US Space program had to do some serious attitude adjustment because disasters like these were absolutely unacceptable. Looking deeper into both disasters shows clear deficiencies. I am saying this as a long time salty dog bubble head, where it was absolutely unacceptable to have a dive to surface ratio of anything less than 1. 95% still meant that you were dead. I guess that's what is bothering me about this. After, the Scorpion and Thresher were lost, the USN adopted a zero tolerance policy when it came to safety, and a USN submarine has never been lost again despite operating in conditions that make space travel look like a jog in the park. Blastoff and reentry being the obvious exceptions, when forces and the like can exceed even the most severe oceanic conditions.

Apologies if I made a bad assumption, but your language suggested to me that you were unaware NASA rockets had blown up on launch pads during testing. Men even died during tests, and yet the Apollo missions still happened.

This was a test. The test may have failed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they won't learn something from it. They do the tests for good reasons. It makes no more sense that astronauts would avoid SpaceX rocket now because of this test than it does to have assumed the Apollo astronauts would have refused their missions.

I think lots of people underestimate how willing astronauts are to take risks. Heck, lots of them were (surviving) fighter test pilots, and those planes had lots less testing. NASA does have an acceptable crew loss rate they use for decisions, and it isn't zero. I'm pretty sure that most astronauts would take a flight with a 10% estimated loss, way above NASA's rate.

I don't think anyone is landing on the moon anytime soon, at least not from the US.

Mr. Tact wrote on Jun 21, 2025, 17:49:

Prez wrote on Jun 21, 2025, 16:20:
Would any astronaut ever want to be inside of one of Space-X's rockets?

Did you know all three crew members of Apollo 1 were killed during a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test? Spaceflight is a dangerous activity. Humans are not perfect. There will be mistakes made and people will die. It is unavoidable. That said, obviously every single precaution should be and usually is taken.

Thanks captain obvious. Yes I know of the mishaps of space travel throughout history.

I meant going forward. Did you watch that explosion? I have watched closely all of the manned launches. There are inherent dangers with space exploration that can be mitigated, but never eliminated. But a rocket exploding on the launch pad can NEVER happen. Someone somewhere fucked up.

Prez wrote on Jun 21, 2025, 16:20:
Would any astronaut ever want to be inside of one of Space-X's rockets?

Did you know all three crew members of Apollo 1 were killed during a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test? Spaceflight is a dangerous activity. Humans are not perfect. There will be mistakes made and people will die. It is unavoidable. That said, obviously every single precaution should be and usually is taken.

Sure, but there's a big difference between a ship in flight with crew exploding and a test rocket exploding with no reported injuries. There have also been several Falcon 9s that exploded and they have since been used successfully for crewed missions after that.

I don't know if you are old enough to remember the Challenger disaster, or if you have looked into it at all. But that incident put America's space program on full stop. Just when it found its footing again, Columbia happened. There's zero tolerance for preventable errors in American space programs yet they happen still. Maybe it still happens at the same rate and it's just more available for people to see.

I don't expect them to be crewed until they have a proven track record with this ship like they did with the Falcon 9. I doubt the explosion of this test vehicle will be much of a deterrent in the future once they have that track record with the ship.

I meant going forward. Did you watch that explosion? I have watched closely all of the manned launches. There are inherent dangers with space exploration that can be mitigated, but never eliminated. But a rocket exploding on the launch pad can NEVER happen. Someone somewhere fucked up.

Prez wrote on Jun 21, 2025, 16:20:
Would any astronaut ever want to be inside of one of Space-X's rockets?

SpaceX has already done 16 crewed missions.

Would any astronaut ever want to be inside of one of Space-X's rockets? That explosion was incredible. From the image of the launch site it's impossible to tell that a huge spaceship had been sitting there - the destruction was that complete.

I don't care about Elon Musk; he's too stupid to do anything except throw money at different things. I care about the exploration and eventual colonization of extraterrestrial bodies though. And this is an absolutely massive setback. If there was any chance of colonization of the moon in my lifetime, that's obliterated now. The rest of you will revel in the egg on the face for Musk, while I am extremely sad for what this means for America's space program. This is terrible.

I've been a bit less regular reader of the forums the last few months, and just learned of Redeye9's passing. My deepest condolences to his loved ones, and people here who knew him. Sad news to me. Seeing the various names of all you regulars here is a joy, knowing that we all share this passion for gaming going-ons, and of course, mainly Quake 1 related news. I hope you all live long lives and eventually telefrag the final boss.