Space and Physics
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SpaceX has finally managed to land one of its Starship, the next-generation space vehicle that is expected to eventually bring passengers into space orbit and ultimately to the Moon and onto Mars. The official video shows the spacecraft, Serial Number 10 (SN10) lifting-off from the ground, in Boca Chica, Texas, conducting a high-altitude test, before coming down to the ground and landing safely. But unfortunately, the vehicle didn’t remain unharmed.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The previous two high-altitude Serial Number 8 and Serial Number 9, exploded on landing. For SN10, the situation appeared to be different although a fire was present at landing, the vehicle pulled off a successful landing maneuver but minutes later the whole thing went kaboom!
While the road ahead for Starship is still long, the prototype successfully executed in-flight maneuvers. This vehicle is expected to take Japanese online fashion retail billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and 8 other people around the Moon in 2023. Musk also thinks that it will be ready to get to Mars by 2026. However, many remain skeptical whether these deadlines can be achieved. For now, we will have to wait and see.
