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No bigger SpaceX-Fan-Boy than me . . . but:
No rational persons will be riding a Starship to orbit and/or return. Ever.
You heard it here first.
Elon has proposed a ride to orbit and return, or even point to point travel around the earth, for as many as one hundred folks in the ginormous Starship. Has no one assessed the psychological aspects?
I've vicariously ridden along on a bunch of Falcon 9 boosters to their retro-rocket landings. And ah . . . most of them are successful. I've seen the hellish reentry plasma doing its level best to convert the vehicle and contents to molten blobs. It goes on for a -very- looong time. Survive that flirtation with hell, then Starship must reignite several engines, do an intense -aerobatic- flip maneuver, and come to a vertical hover. Now a lateral translation over to get snatched out of the sky, mid flight, by giant chop sticks. Survive that: Post Traumatic Stress counseling and a change of undies for all one hundred passengers.
Oh . . . and . . . Starship has -no- launch abort capabilities. Anything bad happens on the pad or during the ride to orbit? . . . Toast.
Giant rockets for big chunks of -stuff- to space.
Yea Starship and other big rockets.
Small rockets with launch abort capabilities for people.
Yea Falcon 9/ Dragon capsule and Sierra Space Dream Chaser.
No rational persons will be riding a Starship to orbit and/or return. Ever.
You heard it here first.
Elon has proposed a ride to orbit and return, or even point to point travel around the earth, for as many as one hundred folks in the ginormous Starship. Has no one assessed the psychological aspects?
I've vicariously ridden along on a bunch of Falcon 9 boosters to their retro-rocket landings. And ah . . . most of them are successful. I've seen the hellish reentry plasma doing its level best to convert the vehicle and contents to molten blobs. It goes on for a -very- looong time. Survive that flirtation with hell, then Starship must reignite several engines, do an intense -aerobatic- flip maneuver, and come to a vertical hover. Now a lateral translation over to get snatched out of the sky, mid flight, by giant chop sticks. Survive that: Post Traumatic Stress counseling and a change of undies for all one hundred passengers.
Oh . . . and . . . Starship has -no- launch abort capabilities. Anything bad happens on the pad or during the ride to orbit? . . . Toast.
Giant rockets for big chunks of -stuff- to space.
Yea Starship and other big rockets.
Small rockets with launch abort capabilities for people.
Yea Falcon 9/ Dragon capsule and Sierra Space Dream Chaser.