Generally it kept the pointy end pointed toward space long enough to not kill anyone. Pad was fubar'd, which was a source of much drama.
It's hard to answer the whole success question though. SpaceX has a very bend it and send it approach to R&D, they've had a hard time with starship and the powers that be, mostly because of the scale of the whole operation.
They got some useful data, but, they didn't get to do all the things they wanted/planned to do, so, failure, but, a useful one. If you remember, they smashed a few falcon 9's into the ground before they landed one. That model might not be tenable with something the size of starship, but, only because the powers that be would much rather you not blow up moon capable rockets as a habit.
Are they right, are they wrong, not really an important question for regual saps like us to be concerned with. All the spaceX fans in the world have no chance of moving the needle there any more than the spaceX haters do.
I think at least most can agree, however, rockets are cool, and, watching them fly or not in 4k on youtube for free is a good thing.
It's hard to answer the whole success question though. SpaceX has a very bend it and send it approach to R&D, they've had a hard time with starship and the powers that be, mostly because of the scale of the whole operation.
They got some useful data, but, they didn't get to do all the things they wanted/planned to do, so, failure, but, a useful one. If you remember, they smashed a few falcon 9's into the ground before they landed one. That model might not be tenable with something the size of starship, but, only because the powers that be would much rather you not blow up moon capable rockets as a habit.
Are they right, are they wrong, not really an important question for regual saps like us to be concerned with. All the spaceX fans in the world have no chance of moving the needle there any more than the spaceX haters do. I think at least most can agree, however, rockets are cool, and, watching them fly or not in 4k on youtube for free is a good thing.