Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by krisoft 899 days ago
It sounds like you are talking about generalities. I am talking about a very particular issue: they launch rockets and stages of the rocket by design fall back on populated areas.

These are not accidents. Sometimes in the US, or elsewere, an airplane falls on your house. This is not that case. The rocket in these videos didn’t “go wrong”. (Altough sometimes they do go wrong and then they cause even more devasation.)

Some engineer in some non-descript office did a briefing. It went something like this “We will launch the rocket at X. The first stage will land somewhere in the indicated area on the map. It will contain Y kg nitrogen tetroxide, and Z kg hydrazine. Ok?” And their bosses said: “ok”. That is the problem.

> The effort they have put in to reduce pollution in their cities.

I know nothing about that and therefore i will not comment on it. I know about rockets, that is why i commented on that. But do post when you have sources so we can all learn.

1 comments

Why are you so sure they are not accidents? Accidents can happen again and again. We recently saw a lot of train derailings in the states
> Why are you so sure they are not accidents?

Because it is inherent in the technology. Lower stages of a multi stage rocket separate and fall off as they run out of fuel. Where they fall is the question of where the launch site is and in which direction the rocket is launched.

> We recently saw a lot of train derailings in the states

A derailing is not the right analogy. That is an anomaly. Something which is not supposed to happen, and people are acting to prevent it. If you want a rail analogy this is like a train crossing a bridge between station A and B. It will keep happening because it is designed to happen. It is inherent in the design.