¶Popping the top off at Max-Q. Every time you watch a live stream of a launch you'll likely hear something like “vehicle is experiencing Max-Q”. This is the moment during ascent when the rocket experiences the most aerodynamic pressure. Simply put, Q is the pressure created by the rocket running into the atmosphere really, really fast, and Max-Q is the maximum of this pressure, occurring as the rocket accelerates while in the dense parts of the low atmosphere. (Mathematically, it’s the maximal value of q = ½ρv^2, where ρ is the local air density and v is the rocket’s velocity.) SpaceX’s upcoming In-Flight Abort (IFA) Test recently completed its static fire ahead of a launch scheduled for NET 1/18 at 8:00 am EST and will demonstrate Max-Q in a potentially dramatic fashion (unlisted SpaceX animation of the upcoming mission events). During the launch, the abort sequence for the Crew Dragon capsule will be triggered by a loss of thrust event when the booster’s 9 Merlin 1D engines are shut down just as the rocket hits Max-Q. Crew Dragon will then propel itself away using its eight (redesigned and less likely to explode 🤞🏼) SuperDraco thrusters. Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 booster and second stage, now sans-Crew Dragon, will be traveling at ~250 m/s with a suddenly much less aerodynamic profile. A similar test was conducted by Blue Origin on New Shepard back in 2016. However, Falcon 9's Max-Q is 50%-100% greater than that of New Shepard (21-28 kN/m^2 vs 14 kN/m^2) and both Falcon 9 stages are expected to be fully fueled, with only ~30% of the first stage’s 400,000+ kg of LOX and RP-1 expended. If Max-Q triggers breakup and ignition occurs, the result could be a seriously rapid and fiery disassembly. (Numbers for this item come from the awesome flightclub.io: New Shepard flight 4 data & SpaceX DM-1 data.) | 
