Falcon Heavy & Starman
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN references it for launch footage and the atmosphere of the first Falcon Heavy flight, including the center core landing failure.
What it is
SpaceX's recap of the Falcon Heavy debut launch, with side booster landings and a Tesla Roadster with Starman sent into orbit.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2020 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Recommends trothamel · 2021-07 · on “SpaceX will soon fire up its Super Heavy booster for the first time”
[this video] is my favorite way to watch that launch, just because of the way it integrate the people watching. We haven't had the crowds since the Space Shuttle stopped watching, and DM-2, Crew-1, and Crew-2 all happened during the pandemic - so this shows the old excitement.
Recommends Robotbeat · 2022-12 · on “SpaceX caps 2022 with record-setting 61st Falcon 9 launch”
This video showing kids’ reaction to the Falcon Heavy inaugural launch is pretty fun. The dual-landing is absolutely insane. Straight up science fiction. [this video]
Cites clutchingstraws · 2020-02 · on “SpaceX first stage landing failed for Starlink-4 launch”
This is accurate. More good examples of this passive-safety landing procedure in action were in the Heavy demo flight and the CRS-16 mission. The Heavy demo center core failed to relight two of the three engines needed for landing, and plunged right into the water off the side of the landing barge ( [this video] ). CRS-16's booster had a hydraulic failure of the grid fins but still had engine and RCS control, so it was able to make a soft water splashdown at the last second (dramatic video from the booster's perspective is here: [LINK] ).
Cites orangecat · 2020-12 · on “Upcoming test: SpaceX Starship high-altitude flight”
Unfortunately we didn't get good imagery of that particular catastrophe The best footage I've seen is at 1:10 in this video: [this video]