Does SpaceX document all their tests publicly? Or are we just seeing the successful ones? (If they've all been successful ones, will we see unsuccessful ones if they come in the future?)
Ahh, yes. A little digging shows that these tests are done at their McGregor, TX test site, and McGregor is well within hearing and visual range of the tests.
A launch is completely different from a private short-range test on a closed site.
You could watch a launch live, and they are very public about the timing, purpose, and location of launches before they happen.
The Grasshopper tests (to my knowledge) are not open for public observation, and I haven't seen any media coverage prior to tests, so if there was an unsuccessful test it wouldn't be as obvious as an unsuccessful launch attempt.
My question was whether this is by design, and if there was an unsuccessful test whether they would showcase that as well, in the manner that unsuccessful launches are well documented public 'learning experiences'.
Pretty sure there is no company in the world that would publicly showcase their R&D failures. I think I understand where you're coming from, that you don't want to be misled about the safety and reliability, but it is still in an early testing stage.
I think posting a video of a rocket crashing would be way beyond any reasonable expectation. That's not contributing to any public learning. That's just doing significant damage to your brand with extremely small upside (gaining "honesty" cred with some small subset).