{"id":790234,"date":"2024-10-13T10:21:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-13T15:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=790234"},"modified":"2024-10-13T10:21:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T15:21:52","slug":"spacexs-mechazilla-catches-a-starship-booster-on-first-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=790234","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX&#8217;s Mechazilla Catches a Starship Booster on First Try"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For the first time ever, SpaceX has followed through on a Starship test launch by bringing back the Super Heavy booster for an on-target catch in the arms of its \u201cMechazilla\u201d launch-tower cradle in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a day for the engineering history books,\u201d SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice said.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s successful catch marks a giant step toward using \u2014 and reusing \u2014 Starship for missions ranging from satellite deployments to NASA\u2019s moon missions to migrations to Mars.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-168874\"\/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Starship launch and Super Heavy landing, 13 October 2024\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e5SvPLT0x70?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The amazing catch took place minutes after Super Heavy lofted Starship\u2019s second stage, known as Ship, into space for the launch system\u2019s fifth test flight. Liftoff occurred at 7:25 a.m. CT (1225 UTC) at SpaceX\u2019s Starbase on the South Texas coast.<\/p>\n<p>Although the primary objective of the test was to have Ship survive atmospheric re-entry and splash down intact in the Indian Ocean, the Super Heavy booster was the star of the show. <\/p>\n<p>Super Heavy is too massive to set down on landing legs, as is the case for SpaceX\u2019s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. Perfecting the Mechazilla catch is an essential part of SpaceX\u2019s strategy for Starship rocket reusability.<\/p>\n<p>The feat required pinpoint accuracy during the booster\u2019s autonomous descent back through the atmosphere. It had to position itself precisely between Mechazilla\u2019s adjustable arms, also known as \u201cchopsticks,\u201d and hover while the mechanism was engaged to secure the rocket. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven in this day and age, what we just saw, that looks like magic,\u201d launch commentator Dan Huot said after the booster shut down its engines and came to rest, hanging on its launch tower.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s test of Starship, which is the world\u2019s most powerful rocket, proceeded according to plan from launch to splashdown. All 33 of the booster\u2019s methane-fueled Raptor engines fired up for launch, and 13 of the Raptors powered the Super Heavy\u2019s return to the pad.<\/p>\n<p>The second stage continued at orbital speeds, on a suborbital test trajectory that rose as high as 200 kilometers (124 miles). An hour after launch, Ship restarted three of its own Raptor engines and made an autonomous descent to its target splashdown point in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>During SpaceX\u2019s fourth Starship test flight in June, the Ship sustained damage on the way down but survived for a splashdown. Ship\u2019s thermal protection system was beefed up for today\u2019s test. <\/p>\n<p>Video views of the rocket\u2019s flaps, sent down to Earth via SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite network, showed heat building up on the control surfaces. Sparks flew off during the descent, but eventually the flaps cooled off \u2014 bringing rounds of applause from SpaceX employees who were watching the feed.<\/p>\n<p>Minutes later, the rocket\u2019s video stream showed Ship making a vertical dive into the water, and then a different stream from a nearby buoy showed Ship blazing as it floated on the surface.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Starship reentry and landing, 13 October 2024\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D-hQ9YkX8UI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhat an incredible end to Starship\u2019s journey,\u201d Tice said.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX founder Elon Musk hailed the results in a posting to his X social-media platform: \u201cShip landed precisely on target!\u201d he wrote. \u201cSecond of the two objectives achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Data from the test flight will be used to fine-tune the launch system for future tests, using Starship hardware that has been stacked up at Starbase. Eventually, SpaceX aims to make the entire system fully reusable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just caught a booster,\u201d Huot said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to start real soon looking at when we can catch a Ship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Starship could be used to accelerate the deployment of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites, and perhaps to provide point-to-point travel between terrestrial destinations as well.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is depending on SpaceX to provide a modified version of Starship that would serve as the lander for crewed Artemis missions,\u00a0beginning as soon as 2026. \u201cAs we prepare to go back to the moon under Artemis, continued testing will prepare us for the bold missions that lie ahead \u2014 including to the South Pole region of the moon and then on to Mars,\u201d NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in\u00a0a congratulatory message posted to X.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX plans to use Starship for missions to Mars \u2014 starting with uncrewed trips that could get off the ground by as early as 2026, and continuing with crewed flights that could bring permanent residents to the Red Planet. Musk\u00a0reportedly envisions building a city on Mars by the 2040s\u00a0\u2014 and Starship is the key to his quest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig step towards making life multiplanetary was made today,\u201d Musk wrote on X.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-168874-670be3e678054\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=168874&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-168874-670be3e678054&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-168874-670be3e678054\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/168874\/spacexs-mechazilla-catches-starship-booster\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time ever, SpaceX has followed through on a Starship test launch by bringing back the Super Heavy booster for an on-target catch in the arms of its&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":790235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=790234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/790235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}