SpaceX Starship takes off on March 14th
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SpaceX’s third and most ambitious Starship test flight appears to have been at least partially successful today, as it reached space, conducted fuel transfer tests, and traveled farther and faster than ever before. It looked like. However, the spacecraft failed to make its planned landing and appears to have either self-destructed or burned up in Earth’s atmosphere.
After launching from SpaceX’s property in Boca Chica, Texas, the first and second stages separate cleanly and the first stage (the booster that lifts the craft during the first part of its journey) descends to land at sea. started. SpaceX ultimately intends to recover and reuse both stages, but these early test flights are slated for a safer, easier water landing for both.
The first stage steered itself downhill, but seemed to struggle to slow its fall as intended and appeared to hit the sea at breakneck speed.
The second stage reached an altitude of approximately 230 kilometers and successfully opened and closed the payload door as a test. It was also possible to swap fuel from one tank to another as an experimental first step toward eventually refueling from one spacecraft to another. This is essential for long-range missions.
However, during reentry, the spacecraft reached such high temperatures that live video showed glowing plasma around the surface, and both video and telemetry data were lost.
The spacecraft was scheduled to attempt to reignite its Raptor engines, something never before done in space, in order to re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled manner at about 27,000 kilometers per hour. However, the relighting portion of this mission was omitted by the company, and the spacecraft was subsequently lost.
A view of SpaceX’s Starship taken nine minutes into the mission.
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US Federal Aviation Administration permission granted In preparation for the test flight on March 13th, the day before the scheduled launch date, tweeted SpaceX said it “met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”
starship It is the most powerful rocket ever made. The 121-meter-long ship consists of her two stages, a booster and a spacecraft, both of which are designed to be reusable to keep costs down and allow quick turnaround between flights. I am.
Starship heated up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere after a flight of approximately 47 minutes, leading to the loss of the spacecraft.
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Today’s announcement marks the company’s third Starship announcement. In the first test in April last year, the first and second stages exploded before they separated, and in the test in November, the upper second stage reached space, but , which self-destructed when it stopped transmitting data, following the explosion of the first stage. Immediately after separation.
The ultimate goal of this project is to land humans on the moon and later on Mars.
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