Starship #4

Today's launch window for SpaceX's rocket was 7am-9am Central, and Starship #4 took off around 7:50am. For some reason, this launch didn't shake our house nearly as much as the previous launches using up to 33 rocket engines. Maybe Musk added some new mufflers? Whatever the reason, the launch was much more tolerable than the previous launches. Hopefully that trend will continue. 

It was pretty foggy and cloudy up to the launch time, so we could not see anything: no flames, no rockets, nothing. But we could sure hear it. The rumbling and crackling got louder and louder, then started to fade. Not sure if the people on the southern tip of the island at Isla Blanca could see the launch or not, but it was nothing but a gray screen here.

We had been watching the SpaceX official site's coverage of the countdown via YouTube. But with about T-minus 2:00 or so, with excitement rising, the feed switched to a months-old replay of Elon Musk hawking crypto-currency in front of a crowd at Boca Chica. They inserted a crypto sales pitch with 2 minutes left in the countdown! I'd already seen some of this garbage - "this offer is good today only!" and "you can double your investment, instantly!" - so I scrambled to find another feed. Fortunately I found one with :30 seconds left in the countdown. 

I felt like I was being scammed.

And this time, the launch and most of the flight went flawlessly. I can't say I get as excited as the Musk bros at all this, but it's fascinating in its own right. I just wish Musk wasn't such a dick.