Excellent video from Everyday Astronaut:





There is a hint here that SpaceX might be suffering from scope creep, or moving the goalposts: They started out by trying to reduce launch costs by re-using the rocket over and over. But now, their goal seems to be to reduce launch costs by minimizing the amount of fuel they are burning during the landing maneuver. That's great if it works, but if minimizing fuel burn means you destroy the rocket 75 percent of the time, then you've lost sight of your original goal: Re-usability.

It also got me thinking... This belly flop maneuver is inherently dangerous for any astronauts that might be on board:

- If the engines malfunction... you die.
- If you run out of fuel... you die.
- If the rocket doesn't rotate correctly... you die.
- If your timing isn't perfect... you die.
- There are no parachutes to save you.
- There are no wings to glide it to the ground.

Watching these videos again and again, my instinct is screaming to get the astronauts the hell out of that rocket before it does that landing maneuver! Terminal velocity is low - they can eject, parachute to the ground. That way, whether the rocket lands successfully or not, the astronauts survive. Maybe SpaceX could put a crew dragon capsule on the top, so it could detach and safety bring astronauts back to Earth. Again, the Starship would perform the landing maneuver unmanned. I don't think this is safe to carry astronauts during landing.

NASA abandoned the Space Shuttle because a capsule is safer. Starship has no parachutes, and doesn't even glide. In my estimate, it is not even as safe as the Space Shuttle, whether it eventually succeeds in landing or not. It will only be "safe" for unmanned missions.

Let's not get caught up in the novelty, engage in group think, and forget the lessons from the past. Safety is paramount and must be factored into the design.