SpaceX’s Starship completes fourth test flight despite last-minute hitch
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On Thursday, SpaceX's massive Starship accomplished its fourth testing flight, even though it had a last-minute issue when some of the rocket's flap broke apart upon re-entry.
The highest point of the Starship, a rocket with unprecedented power, was capable of carrying out a managed descent to touch down on target in the Indian Ocean according to the plan.
The recent triumph of the flight is a big advancement for the wealthy SpaceX creator, Elon Musk. His goal is to construct a space vehicle that can transport people and goods to the Moon and even farther distances.
The progress of Starship may lead to another era of advancements in space exploration and utilization, similar to the significant reduction of transportation expenses achieved by SpaceX's Falcon launcher.
Starship's initial reusable version is predicted to have the capability of transporting up to 150 tonnes to low Earth orbit, which is over two times the capacity of the Falcon 9.
Nasa is also counting on Starship to transport human beings to the Moon, as a component of the American space agency's Artemis scheme. The forth mission of Starship took place on the same day as Boeing's competing Starliner, which had been greatly postponed, carried two astronauts for the initial crewed trial trip to the International Space Station.
Musk shared on his X social media platform that although there was a damaged flap, the Starship managed to achieve a successful soft landing in the ocean. He congratulated the SpaceX team on their impressive accomplishment.
On Thursday morning at 7:50am local time, a rocket measuring 121 meters was launched from its base at the company's Starbase located in southern Texas. The rocket was carrying 10 million pounds of propellant and was powered by 32 out of its 33 Raptor engines. The rocket's stage, commonly referred to as the "super heavy booster," separated from its base at an altitude of around 70 kilometers only three minutes after take-off. The rocket then successfully landed in the Gulf of Mexico.
The section of the spacecraft above the lower part, which is commonly called the "ship," completed its journey, and it is being considered as a means of transportation for NASA astronauts to reach the Moon in the future. It flew as high as 200km above the planet. 49 minutes after it was launched, it started to descend into the Earth's atmosphere, which is the same point where the previous test flight failed. The temperature in this area can go up to 1,400C, according to SpaceX.
When the ship was positioned around 56km above our planet, one of its flaps - which are vital for steering and for executing a safe landing - started to come apart. Despite this, the flap was still somehow able to work effectively even as more pieces fell away. The vessel then descended and touched down in the Indian Ocean as intended, just over an hour after it was launched.
Following Starship's unsuccessful flight in March, where it reached an altitude of 65km before it failed, SpaceX made a number of modifications to the hardware and software in order to achieve their aim of a secure return for both of the stages.
The latest launch of Starship had been flying for nearly an hour before it went missing. In 2023, there were two earlier test flights that resulted in explosions.
Coming test flights will seek to demonstrate that the stages are reusable, much like Falcon 9. In the coming months, SpaceX plans to carry out a minimum of three additional test flights.
Commending SpaceX for their successful flight, the head of NASA, Bill Nelson, commented on X, "This achievement brings us one step nearer towards the goal of bringing mankind back to the Moon with the help of Artemis – setting our sights beyond to Mars!"
