Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX rolled out its new Starship rocket to its launch pad just five days after its predecessor exploded.
Images have emerged showing SN11, the newest prototype of the spaceship, being hoisted onto the launch pad on Monday by a large crane at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas site.
SN11 will explode in the coming days, after which it will rise to an unknown height and hopefully land without exploding in a fireball like its predecessor SN10.
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SpaceX’s new Starship SN11 is still attached to the crane after it was moved to the launch pad for testing in Boca Chica, Texas on Monday afternoon, March 8, 2021.
SpaceX plans to send humans to Mars using a two-stage spacecraft consisting of the Starship (the passenger compartment) and the Super Heavy rocket booster – but it is testing a long line of prototypes first. Shown, SN11
SpaceX’s new spaceship SN11 will explode in the coming days, after which it will soar to an unknown height and hopefully land without exploding
SpaceX plans to send humans to Mars with a two-stage spacecraft consisting of the Starship (the passenger compartment) and the Super Heavy rocket booster.
However, the company has some work to do to complete construction of the $ 216 million Starship formerly known as ‘BFR’ at SpaceX’s Texas development site.
Starship SN11 – short for ‘serial number eleven’ – follows SN10, which exploded 10 minutes after the ‘soft landing’ on Wednesday last week.
SpaceX Starship SN10 explodes after landing on South Padre Island, Texas, March 3, 2021 in this photo taken from a social media video
SpaceX’S new Starship SN11 seen here, still attached to the crane after moving to the launch pad
SN11 (pictured) has a similar design to SN10, which exploded shortly after landing last week
Starship SN11 is seen at sunrise on March 9 at SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica, Texas with a Kobelco crane
On the right, a very early prototype known as Starhopper, turned into a communications tower, with SN11 on the left
The spaceship was designed as a long-lasting payload and ultimately a passenger spacecraft in SpaceX’s proposed mission to Mars. Shown, SN11
During what was its first high-altitude test flight, the SN10 flew six miles into the air, hitting its altitude mark in the process.
SN10 flew, turned and landed without crashing and burning like the previous SN8 and SN9 prototypes.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk praised the rocket when it landed “ in one piece, ” but returned to Twitter after it exploded about 10 minutes later, saying, “ RIP SN10, honorable discharge. ”
Some sources speculate that the landing legs attached to the base of the SN10 were not deployed, causing the missile to overturn and crush the pipes with methane.
This resulted in an impressive orange fireball that sent SN10 back into the air as if it were just a cylinder of paper.
Later, Spot – the yellow four-legged robot dog from Boston Dynamics, renamed Zeus by SpaceX – was spotted inspecting the crash site.
SpaceX returned to the site the day after Starship serial number 10 (SN10) exploded 10 minutes after the ‘soft landing’ and they brought some help – Zeus the robot dog
Suitable for indoor or outdoor use, the robot can map its environment, detect and avoid obstacles, climb stairs and open doors.
It can be tasked with locating hydrocarbon leaks, inspecting equipment, taking mechanical measurements, and completing inspections in areas potentially too dangerous for human workers.
The robotic dog, which is equipped with cameras and sensors, may be used to explore environments that no human SpaceX worker can withstand.
WHAT IS ELON MUSK’S ‘BFR’?
The BFR (Big F *** ing Rocket), now known as Starship, will complete all missions and is smaller than the one Musk announced in 2016.
The SpaceX CEO said the rocket would make its maiden voyage to the red planet in 2022, carrying cargo only, followed by a manned mission in 2024, and claimed other SpaceX products would be ‘cannibalized’ to pay for it.
The rocket would be partially reusable and could fly directly from Earth to Mars.
Once built, Musk believes the rocket could be used for travel on Earth – he says passengers can get anywhere within an hour.
