On Thursday January 16th, SpaceX conducted another test flight of its Starship rocket, but the mission ended in destruction after a spectacular attempt to catch the booster back at the launch pad.
(AP News)The company described the vehicle’s demise as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” noting that the spacecraft’s six engines sequentially shut down during its ascent. Contact with the rocket was lost just 8.5 minutes into the flight.
“The 171-foot-tall (52 meters) spacecraft exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near the Turks and Caicos islands around 8.5 minutes after launch, creating a spectacular sky show witnessed by many people in the area, ” according to space.com
Designed as an enhanced version, this latest Starship was slated to traverse the Gulf of Mexico from Texas in a path similar to prior test missions, aiming for a near-loop around the globe. To test satellite deployment, SpaceX loaded the craft with ten dummy satellites.
Just a minute before the unfortunate incident, the company successfully employed the launch tower’s massive robotic arms to catch the returning booster, a remarkable achievement only done once before. As it descended, the booster hovered above the launch area until it was captured by the mechanism affectionately known as chopsticks.
The excitement of this successful catch quickly shifted to disappointment for both SpaceX and the onlookers gathered at the southern tip of Texas.
“It was incredible to witness the booster land, but we’re naturally disappointed about the ship,” commented Dan Huot, a spokesperson for SpaceX, explaining that it would take time to analyze the available data to understand the malfunction. “This is what happens during a flight test with an experimental vehicle.”
Launching in the late afternoon from Boca Chica Beach near the Mexican border, the 400-foot (123-meter) rocket was intended to enter daylight halfway around the globe over the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, the shiny, retro-inspired spacecraft never approached such a distance.
This recent demonstration featured several improvements over the previous models, including a set of practice satellites, which were the same size as SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites and, like the spacecraft itself, designed to disintegrate upon re-entry.
Eventually, Musk hopes to launch operational Starlink missions using the Starships before progressing to other satellite types and, ultimately, crewed missions.
This test marked the seventh flight for what is touted as the world’s largest and most powerful rocket.
NASA has already reserved two of these Starships to facilitate crewed moon landings later this decade.
Musk’s ambitious vision extends further, with hopes for Mars exploration.
The clip below is of space debri flying back into Earth’s atmosphere.
Ref; https://apnews.com/article/spacex-elon-musk-starship-e165e81ed2350ce684c7ed8d9357d7ba
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