The third time it might be magic.
Test test
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has expressed regret over the tests of his space company’s Starship rocket.
The latest two models Blazing During their first trips, in December and early this week.
One of the main causes of the explosions: the sequence of events that the spacecraft had to go through as it descended in order to first correct itself and then provide enough thrust to not be crushed by the rapidly approaching Earth.
It is a very difficult maneuver. Earlier in the day, Musk admitted We were so stupid that we couldn’t light just two engines to provide enough thrust for landing. By design, the Starship only requires two Raptor engines to make a smooth landing.
Foolish Mistake
Igniting the three prototype SN9 Raptor missile engines as soon as they approached the ground would have provided fewer points of failure during Tuesday’s test flight. In other words, three-engine lighting will allow it to choose the two engines needed for a smooth landing.
respond to SpaceX enthusiast Tim Dodd, Known as Everyday Astronaut, on Twitter, Musk admitted what happened. Musk replied, «It was foolish to not start three engines and shut down one engine immediately, as we need two engines for landing.»
Fortunately, this change can be applied to SN10. According to musk.
Going to Mars
SpaceX has its work cut out for it. Developing an orbital missile capable of sending 100 passengers to Mars is a huge undertaking.
But while the explosion appears violent and devastating, engineers can gain a lot of insights into what went wrong.
“We got a lot of good data, and the primary goal — to demonstrate vehicle control for subsonic reentry — sounded very good, and we’re going to benefit a lot from that,” John Insbrucker, lead integration engineer at SpaceX said during the SpaceX launch webcast on Tuesday.
More about the spacecraft: Elon Musk breaks the silence during the spaceship crash: «We were so stupid»
