Today SpaceX will launch the Super Heavy rocket carrying the Starship spacecraft. This is the third test flight, after the first two attempts ended in a fireball. The big question is: will he break up or not? “At some point, it actually has to work,” says Rob van den Berg, an astronomer at the Sonnenburg Observatory.
SpaceX launches spacecraft into space: 'It should really work'
It is a very important test flight for SpaceX. After previous failures, Elon Musk said that they were just tests, and it was expected that they would explode. Officially, today's launch is also a test. “But at some point, it actually has to work,” says van den Berg.
Read also | Lecture on rockets: from Saturn V to Elon Musk's spaceship
NASA has asked SpaceX to conduct nine successful test flights this year. “This is not only successful according to Elon Musk's definition, but it is 100 percent successful,” says van den Berg. NASA wants to send humans to the Moon from the end of 2026, and a spacecraft is needed to make that happen. “Because this is the device that will land on the moon and will have to take the astronauts down and bring them back with them.”
It should be possible to orbit the Earth
After previous failures, SpaceX has adjusted a number of things. Although the launch and separation of the spacecraft and Super Heavy was successful, things went wrong after that. According to Musk, the fuel problems have now been resolved. “It is now possible, in principle, to fly around the Earth,” says van den Berg.
The spacecraft is supposed to be able to complete this orbit around the Earth within an hour and fifteen minutes. Then the space shuttle lands in the Indian Ocean. The rocket is not yet built for this, so it sinks to the bottom of the sea. “In future flights, the goal is for these two parts to land neatly again and be reusable.”
The missile is “larger than the Dome Tower”
The Starship is 120 meters high, higher than the Dome Tower in Utrecht, and has a diameter of nine metres. Van den Berg describes it as a “large church tower” extending into space. The launch window opens at 1:00 PM Dutch time. They then have until 3:00 PM to launch the rocket.
Read also | There is no evidence of aliens – man-made disks – Mars attracts oceans
“Total coffee specialist. Hardcore reader. Incurable music scholar. Web guru. Freelance troublemaker. Problem solver. Travel trailblazer.”
More Stories
The climate crisis will cost us a lot of money
Moroccan Asma Boujibar receives $300,000 from NASA
The World Health Organization sounds the alarm: measles cases have doubled worldwide