Elon Musk's company has rolled the sixth Starship vehicle's 165-foot-tall (50-meter-tall) upper stage out to the launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas for testing ahead of the planned Nov. 18 liftoff.
Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. The vehicle consists of the upper stage — known as Starship, or just "Ship" — and a huge first-stage booster called Super Heavy. When these two elements are stacked, the rocket stands nearly 400 feet (122 m) tall.
Starship has flown five times to date — in April and November of 2023 and March, June and October of this year. During the most recent flight, which occurred on Oct. 13, SpaceX successfully landed Super Heavy back on the launch pad, catching the giant booster with the "chopstick" arms of Starbase's launch tower.
The company will try to repeat this feat on Flight 6. The upper stage, meanwhile, will splash down in the Indian Ocean, as it did on Flight 5.
Go get 'em, Elon !
ReplyDeleteI agree, go get em, Elon! I just ordered myself a 'Super Heavy' from his online store.
ReplyDeleteA friend and I want to see one of these launches, and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to be, is. I'm thinking just to the north side, about 5 miles away. Long drive though.
ReplyDeleteTo watch go to South Padre Island, try the county park on South end of the island. Get There Really Early !! Like 3 in the morning or better yet camp there overnight. ( I have seen 2 launches from there. You get a good view but the best spots are gone fast. ) Or, try from the top of one of the taller condos on the south end of South Padre but those are usually by invitation. Another option may be by boat. They have to follow all sorts of govt rules to keep from getting too close. However, there are usually a few boats that leave from the marina carrying passengers. ( I haven't tried that option yet but probably will at some point. I will miss this launch as I have family responsibilities elsewhere).
DeleteThe differences with this flight are that the Ship is testing some new parts of the heat resistant tiles and the layers underneath them and that the ship will start one of its Raptor engines in space. They've never demonstrated turning one on and off in space. It's also going to be the last flight of the first generation Starships. Six weeks after flight 5!
ReplyDeleteHooray for Elon and SpaceX!
ReplyDeleteside of the ship has a drawing of what appears to be a banana cartoon - has nose art made a comeback?
ReplyDeleteBy the way NASA, how's that muslim outreach going?
ReplyDelete