Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test

Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test by enraged_camel on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:01PM (#25366577)

>>I wasn't sure if the ascent looked OK - no idea if it was supposed to be running on two, then one engine.

I realized that this may have been done to slow down the acceleration to make sure it doesn't go past the 12 km limit. I may be wrong though.

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Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test by endymi0n on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:03PM (#25366615)

I also wasn't entirely sure whether the engine shutoffs were fully intended... at least the sideways acceleration of the Raptors at shutoff looked scary.

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Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test by apendleton on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @09:03PM (#25368649)

As engines shut off, the remaining ones that were still going had to rapidly re-center to keep the direction of thrust aligned with the center of mass of the vehicle, and the ones that had shut off had to move out of their way to make room.

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Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test by Kye on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:24PM (#25366957)

We don't usually see rocket engines cut off in that much atmosphere, but it's probably normal.

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Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test by codeulike on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @06:24PM (#25366942)

I think it was hovering for a while at the top of the ascent.

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