[ad_1]
SpaceX has attempted to conduct the first high-altitude flight test of its Mars-bound Starship spacecraft.
Starship SN8 was ready to take off after days of delays, but when the countdown reached zero, there appeared to be a problem with one of the engines. SpaceX cleaned up the launch, but could try again on Wednesday.
“Raptor automatically aborts in T-1 second,” SpaceX tweeted.
The 12.5 km test of the SN8 spacecraft marks an important milestone in Elon Musk’s ambition to send the first humans to Mars by 2024.
Before the flight test, Musk had said there was only a one in three chance that it would succeed.
The goal was not to demonstrate a successful working spacecraft, SpaceX said, but to test certain aspects of the latest Starship prototype.
“This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle’s three Raptor engines function to the vehicle’s overall aerodynamic input capabilities (including the body flaps) to how the vehicle manages the thruster transition.” stated SpaceX on its website. before launch.
“SN8 will also attempt a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size.”
Starship has drawn considerable buzz, with nearly 150,000 people tuning in to a live broadcast of the latest attempt.
