Sweet zombie Jebus…I just read WHY there was such catastrophic damage at the launch pad…NO FLAME TRENCH, NO WATER CURTAIN!!!
It seems Elon, on a guesstimate, decided the most powerful rocket ever built didn’t need any method of deflecting the thrust away from the plain concrete launch pad. He did plan to eventually try a huge steel plate under the rocket, but couldn’t get it done so just launched anyway with NOTHING.
NASA has been using both for over 50 years with success. A flame trench is a reinforced trench designed to redirect thrust horizontally away from ground infrastructure. A water curtain is exactly what it sounds like, a huge curtain of water dropped at ignition that absorbs the initial pressure/heat wave, also minimizing damage to ground infrastructure and lowering initial sound levels.

Why Elon decided he needed neither for the most powerful launch system ever is unfathomable. His launch pad is destroyed and this launch never even came close to 100% thrust. How many times does Elon have to totally screw the pooch as an engineer before they take his drafting table away? He’s playing with public money, somebody stop this insanely poorly implemented boondoggle please.

From the YT description:
Launch to orbit in real time Fuel Burn and Staging of the
1) Saturn V
2) Space Shuttle
3) Falcon Heavy
4) Space Launch System (SLS)
Launching from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

Red = Kerosene RP-1
Orange = Liquid Hydrogen LH2
Blue = Liquid Oxygen LOX

This system is used to reduce extreme heat and energy generated by a rocket launch. On Oct. 15, 2018, the Ignition Overpressure Protection and Sound Suppression water deluge system at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B was tested, sending water about 100 feet in the air. The test is part of preparation for launching our Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1 and subsequent missions.

Modifications were made to the pad after a previous wet flow test, increasing the performance of the system. During launch, this water deluge system will release approximately 450,000 gallons of water across the mobile launcher and Flame Deflector. -yt

MG, that's my point exactly - if it has those applications, invest in those applications.

Technology doesn't care about ethics. It will get developed anyway, regardless of its intended use. As a society, we *should* care about ethics, and allocate resources accordingly.

You want better launch systems, communication networks, medecines? Fine. Invest in science, and science education. Don't invest in weapons on the basis that they may one day have a peaceful use and then pretend that all the death and pain was worth it. That's bass ackwards.