Skip to main content

SpaceX: Mars ship prototype explodes after first intact landing

 

SpaceX: Mars ship prototype explodes after first intact landing

Elon Musk’s last two prototypes reached similarly high altitude, but crash-landed in fireballs

US-SPACE-SPACEX<br>This screengrab made from SpaceX's live webcast shows the Starship SN10 prototype during the second attmpted test flight of the day at SpaceX's South Texas test facility near Boca Chica Village in Brownsville, Texas, March 3, 2021. - An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded on the ground on March 3 after carrying out what had seemed to be a successful flight and landing. (Photo by Jose ROMERO / SPACEX / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /SPACEX " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by JOSE ROMERO/SPACEX/AFP via Getty Images)
02:00
SpaceX's Starship SN10 rocket launches, lands, sits there, blows up – video
Agencies

SpaceX’s futuristic Starship looked like it aced a touchdown Wednesday, but then exploded on the landing pad with so much force that it was hurled into the air.

The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success. Two previous test flights crash-landed in fireballs.

The full-scale prototype of Elon Musk’s envisioned Mars ship soared more than six miles (10 kilometers) after lifting off from the southern tip of Texas on Wednesday. It descended horizontally over the Gulf of Mexico and then flipped upright just in time to land.

The shiny bullet-shaped rocketship remained intact this time at touchdown, prompting the SpaceX commentator John Insprucker to declare, “third time’s a charm as the saying goes” before SpaceX ended its webcast of the test.

But then the Starship exploded and was tossed in the air, before slamming down into the ground in flames.

There was no immediate comment from SpaceX on what went wrong. But Musk looked on the bright side in a tweet: “Starship 10 landed in one piece! RIP SN10, honorable discharge.”

He added: “SpaceX team is doing great work! One day, the true measure of success will be that Starship flights are commonplace.”

The last two prototypes reached a similarly high altitude in December and February, but slammed into the ground at Boca Chica, Texas, and exploded.

Each of these last three test flights lasted six and a half minutes.

A first orbital Starship flight is planned for year’s end. Musk has said he intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the moon with the Starship in 2023.

Maezawa on Wednesday called for eight applicants to join him on the trip.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SpaceX launches world’s first ‘amateur astronaut’ crew to orbit Earth

SpaceX launches world’s first ‘amateur astronaut’ crew to orbit Earth Launch marks biggest advancement so far in space tourism as Elon Musk’s company conducts first chartered passenger flight 01:58 SpaceX makes history with first all-civilian crew launched into orbit – video Alexandra Villarreal  and agencies Thu 16 Sep 2021 19.11 BST SpaceX has launched the world’s first crew of “amateur astronauts” on a private flight to circle Earth for three days. Wednesday night’s successful launch marked the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It’s the first chartered passenger flight for Elon Musk’s space company and the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with a crew that contained no professional astronauts. “It blows me away, honestly,” the SpaceX director, Benji Reed, said on the eve of launch from Nasa’s Kennedy  Space  Center. “It gives me goosebumps even right now to talk about it.” Leading the flight is Jared Isaacman, 38, who made his fortune with a payment-pro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson may try to beat Bezos to space: report

  Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson may try to beat Bezos to space: report By  Will Feuer June 10, 2021  |  7:15am  |   Updated Enlarge Image Virgin Galactic reportedly hopes to send Sir Richard Branson on a test flight to space over the July 4 weekend. Virgin Galactic MORE ON: SPACE Bidding on a space flight with Jeff Bezos hits sky-high price Dante’s Divine Comedy to float among the stars China moves rocket to launch pad ahead of sending first crew to space station Telescope detects hundreds of mysterious radio bursts from faraway galaxies The billionaire space race is heating up. Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson is reportedly weighing how he can beat Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to space next month. Bezos, who has a net worth of about $191 billion,  announced on Monday  that he and his younger brother will be among the passengers on Blue Origin’s first crewed flight to the edge of space on July 20. On Tuesday, a  source told ...
Post a Comment
Read more

From a Supersonic Jet to a Tourist Spaceship: How Virgin Galactic Could Change Travel as We Know It

  From a Supersonic Jet to a Tourist Spaceship: How Virgin Galactic Could Change Travel as We Know It The new business jet could travel from New York to London in 90 minutes BY  MICHAEL VERDON         Virgin Galactic Aerion and Boom, the two front-runners in the revived supersonic-aviation race, could have some serious competition if the speed of  Virgin Galactic ’s new Mach 3  business jet  matches the company’s projection of 2,300 mph. (How fast is that, exactly? Try New York  to London in 90 minutes.) The renderings of the delta-wing design show a sleek profile, with an interior that will hold  up to 19 passengers. Virgin is working with Rolls-Royce, which developed the original Concorde’s engines, on a new design intended to reach Mach 3 using sustainable aviation fuel, and recently passed a Mission Concept Review with NASA–– a first (though  very early) step toward FAA certification. “We believe that high-speed commercial ...
Post a Comment
Read more