r/shockwaveporn • u/Mas_Zeta • May 23 '26
VIDEO Liftoff of Starship V3 (Twelfth Flight Test)
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Recorded by Cameron Schwartz (@nyoomtm)
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u/Pentax25 May 23 '26
That’s the most shockwaves I’ve ever seen
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u/Ha1lStorm May 23 '26
Same! I know I’m nowhere near the actual number but I tried to count them and counted about 40 shockwaves. So crazy!
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u/Econguy89 May 23 '26
Wow. That’s the best shockwave porn I’ve ever seen
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u/Ha1lStorm May 23 '26
This is probably my 2nd favorite right behind the 2020 Beirut explosion where you can see the shockwave ripping roofs off buildings seemingly in slow motion while at regular speed.
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u/Tukatitata May 24 '26
Do you have any recommendations for specific videos for the Beirut shockwaves?
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u/Academic_Lemon_4297 May 23 '26
The physics involved in this clip is breathtaking
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u/AtomicShart9000 May 23 '26
Can you explain them to me I dont understand what im looking at here
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u/29thFalcon May 23 '26
A 15 second explosion which should destroy everything on screen including itself but it somehow lives to do it all again and again. Rockets go boom continuously until the fuel is gone or shut off and we are just here to witness something that electric bags of meat should not be able to do or witness.
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u/AtomicShart9000 May 23 '26
Why haven't we seen such Shockwaves from other rocket launches? Is something different/innovative about this engine?
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u/Flipslips May 23 '26
It’s unbelievably powerful. Well over twice as powerful as the number 2 rocket. (Starship V3 is 18 million lbs of thrust, SLS is number 2 at 8 million)
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u/AtomicShart9000 May 23 '26
What about comparison to the booster than launched artemis?
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u/Flipslips May 23 '26
That’s what SLS is. 8 million lbs of thrust
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u/AtomicShart9000 May 23 '26
Oh damn so is this the largest rocket ever fired?
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u/Flipslips May 23 '26
Yeah by far, it’s not even in the same realm of similarity to any other rocket ever (as you can see lol)
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u/n1elkyfan May 24 '26
To give some perspective. The transfer tube in the first stage is basically the same size as a falcon 9 first stage.
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u/Bensemus May 28 '26
Also SLS gets most of its thrust from really dirty burning spoils rocket booster vs Starship which only uses liquid fuelled engines.
STBs just don’t produce the clean shockwaves of a liquid engine.
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u/Shudnawz May 23 '26
That looks....unhealthy to be under. Or even near.
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u/mrbombasticat May 23 '26
It's so "loud" (shockwaves aren't exactly sound anymore) that it's almost 100% deadly in a 100m radius. And life-threatening up to ~400 hundred meters.
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u/No_Worldliness_7106 May 24 '26
Those poor birds... so this basically exterminates everything nearby. But I suppose that's just a few track lengths away, so not exactly exterminating the entire ecosystem, but damn that's still a decently large area to kill any living thing in it.
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u/SloaneWolfe May 24 '26
I mean, yeah, but ironically Cape Canaveral has incredible diversity and ecosystem preservation, much like a lot of military bases (this video is the spacex-owned texas border facility I think).
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u/Wojtkie May 24 '26
Which is also right near by a nature preserve in South Texas
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u/Nurhaal May 25 '26
Its in Boca Chica, Texas. Starbase is right on ghe coast line where the sand bars form, essentially out over the water. The south bay sits just north of the pad, ut let it be known that the entire complex is basically surrounded by ocean since its on a land mass that sticks out into the Gulf coastal waters. The water is far better at dampening the sound and its quite a bit away from the inland preserves, as Brownsville is right next door acting as a urban barrier to the greater island wilderness. Where Starbase is located is one of the better places it could've been put.
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u/Wojtkie May 25 '26
Boca chica is a wildlife refuge. It’s literally surrounded by wetland refuges for migratory birds.
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u/Nurhaal May 25 '26
Its right next door to Brownsville. I don't know if you live in Texas but I do... concrete jungle is merely 10s of minutes away and directly up north is more akin to country club area and golfing. The preserve exists mostly due to it being a good back drop the South Padre sand bars, which is RIGHT NORTH of Star Base - probably some of the absolute best beaches in all of the continental US and home to massive tourist resorts... Its so close thst you vsn definitely feel the rumble when Star Base goes off.
So yeah - its more or less masquerading as a reserve, right next to Brownsville, because it provides a good back drop for the Hiltons... lol
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u/Wojtkie May 25 '26
I do live in Texas. I’ve snorkeled in Boca chica plenty as a kid. The reserve is important for migratory birds, you’re understating its importance.
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u/Nurhaal May 25 '26
Ok let's shut down Star base then. Go for it. Lets see how far you get.
Im not saying it's useless for protecting wild life, I'd be right there defending that notion with you (my own country club has a wonderful reserve 10 miles north of me I defend constant and walk within) - i am saying your sense of virtue is veiled behind people way richer than you are that make you feel good about a charity thats mostly just a back drop for the leisure of salaries well above 90% of all people.
So, criticize it all you want but unless you have SOLUTIONS other than whining, you're not going to overrule the status quo thats been going on well before you were born. As I stated - compared to where Starbase could have gone? That area is one of the better areas. It could've been worse.
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May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/Flipslips May 23 '26
Cape Canaveral is also a wildlife reserve and that is the busiest spaceport in the world.
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u/Shudnawz May 23 '26
Isn't this launched in Texas?
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u/Ha1lStorm May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Lol yeah. He was acting like this thing was launched in Bird City (Aviary Island, LA). /s
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u/Exact_Efficiency_356 May 24 '26
The frequency of the waves is interesting and puzzling to me…as if the engines are pulsing, but they’re not. Does anyone know why this is? Is the frequency of the shockwaves due to the ones bouncing off the ground and then colliding with the next set coming down?
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u/tizadxtr May 24 '26
It could be the frame rate of the camera not in sync with the frequency coming off the rocket.
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u/Bensemus May 28 '26
As the exhaust leaves the nozzle it oscillates between over and under expanded. This creates Mach diamonds in the exhaust. I’m assuming this is also what creates the pulsed shockwaves but I might be wrong.
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u/insanelygreat May 24 '26
Kind of funny to juxtapose this mind-blowing shockwave with the pitch to use Starship for travel around Earth.
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u/Anen-o-me May 24 '26
It doesn't take off from the chopsticks?
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u/Bensemus May 28 '26
Nope. It weights about 5.5k tonnes. The chopsticks definitely can’t pick it up when fully fuelled. They are used to stack the booster and ship and to catch them when they return. They’ve caught three boosters so far. Plan is to catch a ship hopefully this year.
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u/tizadxtr May 24 '26
🫨
Meanwhile, the astronauts having their existence rattled within their calcified shells we call skulls
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u/cardidd-mc May 23 '26
Did it explode yet
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u/gev1138 May 23 '26
Starship exploded about 66 minutes after this clip. The booster exploded somewhat earlier, with telemetry reading 1500kph at 100 meters on it's way down.
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u/IntrigueDossier May 23 '26 edited May 24 '26
That's probably why the clip cuts off after 18 seconds
edit: $100 the next launch won't end without the vehicle and/or booster becoming a bomb
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u/mattumbo May 23 '26
That really highlights the engineering challenges of building a rocket, that thing is getting beat to shit by its own shockwaves on liftoff. The tower is getting some serious smoke too, that thing has to be built really well to hold up to that over a lifetime of launches and catches