The second attempt to launch the Starship spacecraft, created by the company SpaceX, whose owner is Elon Musk, has failed again after an Explosion took place when it tried to complete the landing maneuver after ascending, in a controlled manner, up to 10,000 meters of altitude.
However, SpaceX engineers acknowledge having obtained a great deal of data to improve, since, unlike the first attempt with the SN8 spacecraft, which exploded on impact with the surface, the SN9 “has taken steps forward and only needs work on landing”, as the broadcast commentator John Insprucker admits.
The Starship project is one of the most ambitious of those led by Musk, since He hopes that when it is finally developed, it can take people to Mars, transport passengers around the world, or put satellites in space.
How was the second Landing attempt?
The ship is composed of three engines that run on burning methane. Once it was launched and reached the planned altitude, about 10 kilometers, from the base they turned off their engines so that it would stop climbing. At that moment, the ship began its descent to the surface and led to an explosion.
The descent is controlled by two flaps that are arranged on each side of the ship. In this way the speed would be reduced until the moment in which, already near reaching the final destination, two engines would re-ignite to cushion the fall. Nevertheless, only one could be turned on, according to the BBC Science correspondent Jonathan Amos, so the landing could not be controlled and the ship has exploded on contact with the surface.
Upcoming releases
The company run by the richest tycoon in the world has another SN10 ship ready for a new launch, although on a date still unknown, in order to assess the possible advances in the aviation of these ships.
With this, the Starship project is shown that it’s one of Musk’s company priorities. So much so that communications with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, for its acronym in English) are constant and, even, the latter would have asked try to land a ship on the moon.