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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

Von Braun said that they learned more from a launch failure than they did from 10 launch successes.

This is an example of something that they never would have learned from a successful launch.

That's much less convincing for the FTS in particular, which needs to be reliable even (or especially) in early testing. Since you expect everything else to go wrong, you need to be able to stop it from going wrong on top of people.

Von Braun knew that you can't have a giant rocket deployed like a blowtorch onto concrete structures. He knew that without ever trying it.

To be fair, Von Braun and parts of his team had a huge amount of experience from many years of testing experimental smaller rockets at Peenemünde (the museum is great) and other places.

You can find footage of V-2 test launches where the entire test article comes falling/crashing down into the countryside.

I would also assume that approvals for risky launches or going hard on gear was a bit easier to get during a war time weapons research operation, so they presumably had their cowboy years.

> You can find footage of V-2 test launches where the entire test article comes falling/crashing down into the countryside.

Absolutely. Here are some of the test footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YFU4KaJSSc

(not really fancying the music, but couldn't find one without.)

The concrete launchpad that SpaceX built has already withstood forces greater than any rocket in Von Brauns lifetime and every other rocket that has ever flown.

The successful half-thrust Starship test applied more force than the Saturn V or SLS in development do at full thrust.

People quick to criticize the spaceX pad conveniently ignore this fact, as well as the fact that SpaceX knew it was not reusable and was already planning to upgrade it.

If Von Braun actually thought what you claim, he has already been proven wrong.

> The concrete launchpad that SpaceX built has already withstood forces greater than any rocket in Von Brauns lifetime and every other rocket that has ever flown.

"withstood"

I'm not sure what you are getting at. The half-thrust test had very little damage and was more force than every other rocket on the planet.

Von Braun knew that if you didn't ask questions, your government might just give you Jewish forced labor for your rocket plant, which you'd gladly accept.

Von Braun also knew that if you built missiles for the power-hungry US military, they'd conveniently forget the fact that you were a Nazi.

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