SpaceX lost another prototype Starship tank during testing, but this time the explosion was intentional.
The company pushed the limits of the giant tank using super cold nitrogen to see how well it would hold up during an actual launch.
During the cryogenic test, the massive structure breaks, explodes, and collapses, disappearing into a giant cloud of nitrogen.
The test is just one of many that SpaceX has conducted at its Texas site to ensure that its Starship rocket will one day carry humans to Mars and the moon.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has had a good trip with the massive Starship rocket – multiple prototypes have caught fire during testing.
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SpaceX pushed the boundaries of the giant tank using super cold nitrogen to see how well it would hold up during an actual launch. During cryogenic testing, the massive structure begins to rupture, explode, and collapse, disappearing into a giant nitrogen cloud
However, he announced earlier this month that the rocket is the company’s “top priority” from now on.
In a company email, Musk urged SpaceX employees to accelerate progress on Starship “dramatically and immediately,” one week after their historic first manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The launch on May 30 successfully transported NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on a 19-hour trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX conducted the last tank test on Tuesday, which aimed to push the limits of the SN7 prototype until it failed.
The test is just one of many SpaceX has conducted at its Texas site to ensure that its Starship rocket will one day carry humans to Mars and the moon.
Unlike the SN4 prototype that was inadvertently destroyed by a massive fireball, the recent test was to observe how the SN7 would keep the propeller super cool during launch.
However, unlike the SN4 prototype that was inadvertently destroyed by a massive fireball, the recent test was to observe how the SN7 would keep the propeller super cool during launch, Space.com reported.
Earlier this month, Musk was asked on Twitter if this tank would be ‘tested to destruction’ and the billionaire simply replied, ‘yes.’
The company conducted the first test of the SN7 Starship tank last week, but this event did not end in a cloud of nitrogen, something Musk called a “good result.”
“We are developing our own alloy to take this even further,” he added. “Leakage before the explosion is highly desirable.”
Musk was asked on Twitter earlier this month if this tank will be ‘tested for destruction’ and the billionaire simply replied, ‘yes.’
The company first tested the SN7 Starship tank last week, but this event did not end in a cloud of nitrogen, something Musk called a “good result.”
But the firm’s fourth prototype Starship rocket wasn’t so lucky last month.
Prototype serial number 4 vanished into a fireball at SpaceX’s Boca Chica site in Texas on Friday, the engine shortly starting for a pressurized test.
Starship, a 394-foot-tall rocket, is designed to transport humans and 100 tons of cargo to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
The SN4 had passed several important milestones during development, including a pressurization test that had frustrated previous models.
But the firm’s fourth prototype Starship rocket wasn’t so lucky last month. The prototype serial number 4 vanished into a fireball at SpaceX’s Boca Chica site in Texas on Friday, the engine shortly starting for a pressurized test (pictured)
Starship, a 394-foot-tall rocket, is designed to transport humans and 100 tons of cargo to the moon, Mars, and beyond
The massive rocket is the next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle planned by SpaceX, the Musk Center’s ambitions to make human space travel affordable.
Musk envisions that the spacecraft will operate much the same as a commercial aircraft by transporting paying customers to the surface of the Moon and Mars.
Musk previously said that the lifespan of each spacecraft will be around 20 to 30 years, “like an airplane.”
About three Starship flights will launch from Earth per day, or about 1,000 flights a year, and each will have a capacity of more than 90,000 pounds.
By continually transporting people 180 million miles to Mars, Musk predicts 1,000 human inhabitants by 2030 and “maybe around” one million by 2050.
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