The third high-altitude test of a SpaceX Starship prototype ended with a successful landing on March 3 – and then, moments later, ended with an explosion for the second time.
Although the SN10, as the prototype was called, joined its two most recent predecessors in the fiery great beyond, it was still celebrated as a success because it the first of Elon Musk’s Mars-bound Spaceships prototypes to paste the overflow. On Tuesday, Musk took to Twitter to expand why the SN10 came in a bit too hot, and clarified that was a series of fixes already in the works for the next prototype in the series, the SN11.
The SN10 engine had little thrust due to (probably) the partial intake of helium from the fuel tank, ”Musk tweeted. Impact of 10 m / s crushed legs and part of the skirt. “
In subsequent tweets, Musk confirmed that the intake of helium was likely the result of a overpressure system that had been added to the CH4 main tank to correct an error that had previously occurred with the SN8.
Had autogenous pressure been used, CH4 bubbles would most likely have reverted to liquid, ”Musk wrote Helium in the head was used to prevent the ullage from collapsing from sloshing, which happened on a previous flight. My fault for approving. Sounded good then. “
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Video footage from the launch of the SN10 and subsequent soft landing at the SpaceX test facility Boca Chica, Texas, shows the missile enters for a quick landing before landing at a tilted angle, lights on fireAlmost a full minute later successfully complete the test flight, the missile explodes in a huge fireball.
Musk’s tweet came in response to a series of photos tweeted by a photographer capturing SpaceX employees testing SN11 landing legs to to ensure they are deployed correctly in preparing for its own upcoming test flight. While SN11 is currently on the launch pad in Boca Chica, SpaceX does not still confirmed exactly when the next flight test is scheduled avoid – although some industry experts estimate it could be ready launch so fast like next week