 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 by Paul Brinkmann Orlando FL (UPI) Mar 03, 2021
Elon Musk's SpaceX notched the first upright landing of the company's deep-space Starship rocket after a test flight early Wednesday evening in Boca Chica, Texas - but the rocket exploded minutes later. A live feed showed the stainless steel rocket soaring above the South Texas shoreline, flipping over and decelerating to a gentle touchdown at a slight angle on the landing pad. But a fire broke out at the base of the rocket, which minutes later collapsed in a fireball, with no immediate explanation from the company. The test rocket, named SN10, flew about 6 miles overhead in the third test for Starship. Two previous test flights also ended in fiery explosions, but those fireballs occurred upon landing. "As we approached the landing pad, we successfully lit the three Raptor engines to perform that flip maneuver," John Insprucker, a principal engineer at SpaceX, said in a live broadcast. "And then we shut down two of them, and landed on the single engine as planned. A beautiful soft landing of a starship on the landing pad in Boca Chica," he said. Earlier Wednesday, SpaceX aborted a launch attempt just as the countdown reached liftoff time. Musk said on Twitter the abort occurred because of a "slightly conservative thrust limit" on one of the rocket's three Raptor engines. That limit was reset. Two previous tests, in December and February, ended with test rockets crashing on the landing pad. During the February test, one of the engines failed to ignite properly, but such failures are not necessarily a setback, according to the company. That's because SpaceX has gathered data about the craft as it tests, Insprucker said. The Federal Aviation Administration found that the December test had violated the company's license and hadn't been approved. Since then, SpaceX investigated the decision to fly in December and agreed to undisclosed corrective actions. The rocket has four flaps or small wings that move to direct airflow and steer the vehicle as it descends, according to the SpaceX test flight description. "All four flaps are [controlled] by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude [orientation] during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location," the company said. A controlled descent of the rocket is "critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth," SpaceX said. The test follows an announcement Tuesday by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa that he plans to take eight private citizens with him on a Starship flight around the moon in 2023. Musk said Tuesday that Starship should be certified for human travel by then and will have reached orbit successfully "many, many times" by then. The test rocket produces about 1.5 million pounds of thrust, just a little less than a Falcon 9 at about 1.7 million pounds. Eventually, Starship would have many more engines and more thrust. Source: United Press International
China's commercial rocket SD-3 to make maiden flight in 2022 Beijing (XNA) Mar 04, 2021 Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3), the third member of China's Dragon series commercial carrier rockets family, will make its maiden flight in 2022, its developer said Wednesday. A four-stage solid-propellant rocket, the SD-3 will be the largest and have the highest carrying capacity among the Dragon series, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. With a maximum diameter of 2.64 meters and a takeoff weight of 140 tonnes, the rocket is capable of sending a payload of 1.5 tonnes to th ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
