In a turn of events straight out of a sci-fi thriller, Elon Musk, while casually playing Diablo IV (because who doesn’t want to slay some demons while the fate of a rocket hangs in the balance?), inadvertently broadcasted a conversation that would make any space enthusiast’s heart race. Apparently, during a gaming session, Musk let slip a discussion with a SpaceX engineer who revealed just how close the latest Starship test flight came to a spectacular failure—one second away, to be precise.
Imagine Musk’s gaming stream: the lights dimmed, the battle music blaring, and in the background, a voice pops in, casually dropping bombshells like they’re mere side quests. “I want to be really upfront about scary shit that happened,” the unnamed engineer said, almost nonchalantly. As Musk smashes through demons, this engineer explains that a misconfigured component was the ticking time bomb that could have sent the booster crashing next to the launch tower—no biggie.
“Wow,” Musk replied, as if the fate of his rocket was just another level in his game. “Yikes.” Yeah, we get it, Elon. Yikes, indeed.
But wait, there’s more! Right before the booster’s descent, a skin cover—whatever that means—ripped off at the exact wrong moment, just as the landing burn was kicking in. “We wouldn’t have predicted the exact right place,” the engineer lamented, which makes you wonder what the odds were—winning the lottery or having a rocket almost self-destruct on landing?
SpaceX had set ambitious goals for this flight, dubbed IFT-5—catching the booster with those oversized “chopstick” arms like a toddler trying to catch a balloon. Spoiler alert: they actually pulled it off. Who knew that amidst all this chaos, Musk’s gaming might double as a live-action commentary on rocket safety?
So, what have we learned? Even the most meticulously planned missions can flirt with disaster, and apparently, a healthy dose of post-flight data—dubbed a “butt load” by the engineer—awaits the SpaceX team to analyze what went wrong and right. Next time you’re gaming, just remember: it’s not just about slaying dragons; it’s also about saving rockets from crashing into the ground. Yikes, indeed!
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