the essential
SpaceX had to give up trying to catch up with the first stage of the Starship megarocket which took off yesterday, in the presence of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
The sixth test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket took off at 4 p.m. local time (10 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, November 19, from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Under the eyes of Donald Trump, SpaceX had to give up trying to catch its first stage with mechanical arms, failing in this complex maneuver which it had nevertheless succeeded in last month.
Also read:
VIDEO. SpaceX succeeds in catching part of its Starship megarocket in flight, an unprecedented and spectacular first
The largest rocket in the world
Starship is made up of the Super Heavy first stage (70 meters high) and, above it, the Starship spacecraft (50 m), which by extension gives its name to the entire launcher. SpaceX aims to use what is the largest and most powerful rocket in the world to colonize Mars. The development of the spacecraft is also closely monitored by NASA, which is counting on it to bring its astronauts back to the Moon.
WATCH: @ElonMusk gives President Donald Trump a lesson about SpaceX Starship
“It’s using its entire body as a brake, and then it’s using these flaps to control its position – to try to achieve roughly a 70 degree angle.”
TRUMP: “Is that controlled by computer or by man?”
MUSK:… pic.twitter.com/xzZdEvjGjy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1858990535823769857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A theoretically reusable rocket
After propelling the ship, Super Heavy detaches from it and begins its descent. In October, rather than ending his journey in the sea, he had succeeded in an unprecedented maneuver.
Slowed down using retrorockets, he returned to his launch pad and, just before hitting the ground, mechanical arms installed on the launch tower – nicknamed “wands” – closed around him and immobilized.
But this time, SpaceX announced shortly after takeoff that the criteria were not met to attempt this operation, and Super Heavy ditched in the Gulf of Mexico where it disintegrated.
Trump is from the Musk
During the October test, the rocket gained a new admirer in the person of Donald Trump. In his victory speech on presidential election night, he described watching the rocket being caught and feeling like he was “in a movie.”
“I called Elon. I said: Elon, was that you? He said yes. I said: […] Can Russia do it? No. Can China do it? No. Can the United States do it besides you? No,” the president-elect gushed. “I said: that’s why I love you, Elon, that’s great.”
A banana on board
The development of Starship is being carried out vigorously by the company, launching prototypes without cargo, in order to quickly correct the problems encountered in real flight situations. SpaceX, however, revealed that it was carrying cargo on board for the first time on Tuesday: a banana.
On Mars in two years
“The first Starships to Mars will take off in two years,” recently said Elon Musk, known for his very optimistic predictions. “If these landings go well, the first crewed flights to Mars will take place in four years.”
An objective shared by Donald Trump, who wants these missions to take place before the end of his mandate.
