There is some online chatter about the SpaceX launch that indicates the
possible launch anomaly(s) were from the rapid and complete destruction of
the concrete pad under the rocket which sent high velocity chunks of
concrete into the engine bay severing hydraulic lines disabling 6 engines
and the guidance hardware like pumps and associated plumbing.
If true it's possible the flight would have been successful if it only had
a flame deflector.
It's interesting to note that the aforementioned Saturn 5 deflector was
passive in nature, not a steel plate with 1000's of holes flowing high
pressure water.
So simple it's painful.
Ken
On Thu, Apr 20, 2023 at 7:19 PM Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2023, Ivan Vuletich wrote:
One thing I noticed from the videos, is that a number of 1st stage
engines didn't light. Could that have something to do with the failure?
Either they didn't light, or they didn't stay lit. Yeah, it could well be
connected -- at the very least, having some engines out will have meant
slower acceleration, and hence lower speed and denser air at staging time.
Not obvious how that turns into a staging failure, but maybe there's a
connection.
Henry