Why won’t Starship have an abort system? Should it?!
2,799,500
Published 2019-12-16
00:00 - Intro
3:05 - How abort systems work
5:25 - Space Shuttle Safety Margins
10:40 - What Made the Space Shuttle so Dangerous?
16:00 - How Starship Will Differ from the Space Shuttle
21:00 - Engine Reliability
30:25 - Starship Abort Options
34:30 - Do Abort Systems Actually Make a Rocket Safer?
38:55 - How to Improve Rocket Safety Without an Abort System
41:50 - Are Launch Abort Systems Necessary for Human Spaceflight
Article version - everydayastronaut.com/starship-abort
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All Comments (21)
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The fact that we live in a time where two youtubers can have regular engineering conversations on twitter with the head engineer and CEO of a major rocket company is just astounding to me...
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1919: "I'm not going to fly until planes are as safe as cars." ... 2019: "I'm not going to space until rockets are as safe as planes." ... 2119: "I'm not teleporting until transporters are as safe as rockets."
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"Rapid unscheduled disassembly" ... LOL I love that term 😄
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I'd love to see a short video going over these older videos where you address Starship questions/problems, and how they've evolved up to the last successful(ish) landing of SN10.
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“Revert to launch” is the only abort system I need. Okay, after a year, I will finally confirm that this was about KSP, but it can be about SFS as well, if you like :P
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"It's like putting a Cessna inside of a 747 just in case the 747 fails." Boeing, please hire this man.
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38:50 "so only about half a percent of flights would see any benefit from a launch escape system"... my KSP contraption, lets just round that one up to 100%
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"ONLY" 1/2% launches needed an abort? My guy....that's a huge number when you are talking about engineering failures. If 1/2% of airplanes flying out of Houston needed to abort, that would be 3 aborts every single day.
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I needed an abort system for this video... Just watched the whole thing in one sitting and didn't even notice my launch window coming and going (missed my bus).
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*Me in KSP putting an "abort abort abort system" for if my "abort abort system" fails, and at the same time thinking if I need another level of abort systems to save me from possible "abort abort abort system" failures.*
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I'd like to see you revisit this video now that you're going to the moon (unbelievable and congratulations!). You seem to be cool with going to the moon on a largely untested vehicle without an abort system. I'm still not convinced. My main concern is a RUD on the pad given that Raptor is a newer more complex engine, and the vehicle has so many points of failure. Please convince me that Starship is a human-ready spacecraft. I'm sure you wouldn't agree to flying on it otherwise. The illustration in the thumbnail gives the impression that the escape system in the Starship nosecone is possible. Edit - Just watched your dearMoon announcement video and I came to the realization that the only way this particular artistic mission profile could be accomplished is using Starship because of the giant window, as shown in the drawing. I suppose there are inherent risks involved. Imo, seeing you go up on a Crew Dragon would be equally exciting and it does have a viewport and a launch abort system, but would certainly not offer the same ability to grab footage in the same way as if you had the giant cabin space that Starship offers. You could probably fit your van in the Starship with plenty of room to spare! Anyway, congrats again, and godspeed. I'm happy for you. Have been watching from the beginning, and just want to see you return to Earth safely!
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Soviets: puts lots of engines on the N1 rocket Elon: Write that down, write that down!
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Flies away in Cessna "The rest of the passengers didn't like that..." --
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YouTube needs to add a love button so I can adequately show my adoration of the videos from Everyday Astronaut.
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Don’t apologize for the amount of content you include in your presentation... it’s a lot of work and very thorough...I love your in-depth approach!
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Your vids are soooo long, I need to plan time in my schedule to watch them. But they are sooo thorough and filled with knowledge its insane! Keep these vids going and I'll keep a time slot in my schedule to watch them!❤️
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Need escape pods for droids and the secret plans they are carrying.
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Agree or disagree SpaceX should name a Droneship "Flamey end down"
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"The best part is no part. The best process is no process." -Elon
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Revisited this video after SN8's flight. Essentially I still feel there is several things that can happen just in the landing sequence that can justify an abort system. Something that is obviously unique in space flight. Fuel pressure, fuel amount, wind conditions, flap control, engine thrust vectoring, engine relight (especially after a return flight from say Mars or landing on Mars). All of this happening correctly in a few seconds. So I think the nose cone section of Starship should have a push away abort system. So as to limit the size needed to pull away. Yes, starship will loose payload and personal capacity because of extra parts but people wont ride without it.
