--- title: "This “Can Crusher” Might Be the Weirdest SpaceX Flex We’ve Ever Seen" description: "For a company whose whole job is rocketry, SpaceX sure is good at flexing its might — as video of its \"Can Crusher\" test equipment proves." date: "2022-09-09" modified: "2022-09-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-can-crusher-flex" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "rockets" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # This “Can Crusher” Might Be the Weirdest SpaceX Flex We’ve Ever Seen ![For a company whose whole job is rocketry, SpaceX sure is good at flexing its might — as video of its "Can Crusher" test equipment proves.]() *\Image: NASASpaceFlight\* ## Crushed For a company whose whole job is badass rocketry, SpaceX sure does flex — as new footage of one of its ground-based monstrosities, known as the "Can Crusher," demonstrates yet again. In a video posted to Twitter, *NASASpaceFlight* managing editor Chris Bergin showed SpaceX's "Can Crusher" testing apparatus, a brutally colossal gadget designed to test rockets by squeezing them with incredible force. The Can Crusher in this video was seen rolling down the Boca Chica, TX base as it heads to test components for [Starship B7.1](), which SpaceX is currently working on assembling. https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1568233721010049024 ## Compacted Bergin's video is the latest glimpse we've gotten of this arachnid-esque Can Crusher, but it's [not the first time]() we've seen it either [at SpaceX]() or [elsewhere](). As the name suggests, the spaceflight industry's can crushers are giant compactors that, in essence, do the same thing that aluminum can compactors do to empty soda cans — except these operate on a much larger, and much more dangerous, level. "Place a soda can on the floor in an upright position and then stand on it -- gradually applying weight -- until the can ripples and collapses," [a NASA post from 2011](), when the agency undertook the world's largest can crusher test at the time, reads. "It's similar to what a team of NASA engineers will do to an immense aluminum-lithium rocket fuel tank in late March; their hope is to use data from the test to generate new 'shell-buckling design factors' that will enable light-weight, safe and sturdy 'skins' for future launch vehicles." In essence, can crushers like those used by NASA and SpaceX are meant to simulate the force of takeoff and test to make sure rocket components are ready for the stress of the entire ordeal. While [NASA's original can crushers]() look a lot like their smaller, consumer-grade counterparts, the one employed by SpaceX is as next-generation as the company's rockets. Those "tentacle"-looking things are actually spread out like bungees during testing to secure whichever part is being stress-tested, as previous renders show. Though can crushers have been a big part of pre-launch rocket testing for more than a decade, we don't often get to see that part of the action — which is why this video of the deflated equipment being rolled around on the launchpad looks all the weirder. https://twitter.com/Bl3D_Eccentric/status/1471537185593737229 **More on SpaceX:** [*SpaceX Tested Starship's Engines and Accidentally Caused a Large Fire*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()