SpaceX, Elon Musk’s American space company, is trying to launch the most powerful rocket ever built today.
Musk himself downplayed expectations for the spacecraft’s launch, telling a private audience on Twitter that the test was more about gathering critical data.
Here’s everything you need to know about the launch, including how to watch from the UK.
When will SpaceX launch?
The two-stage rocket ship, standing 400 feet above the Statue of Liberty, is scheduled to launch from the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas, during a two-hour launch window ending at 8:00 AM ET (1:00 PM BST).
However, on Sunday evening, Musk said it was “more likely” that the flight would be delayed than Monday. SpaceX has backup launch windows on Tuesday and Wednesday around the same time.
Earlier Sunday, SpaceX tweeted that launch teams were continuing to prepare for the flight, closely monitoring forecasts for possible wind shear conditions that could cause a delay.
When the launch takes place, you can watch it live here and on the SpaceX YouTube channel.
What can we expect from the launch?
The test mission—whether or not its goals have been fully achieved—represents an important milestone in SpaceX’s quest to return humans to the Moon and eventually Mars, and is a central goal of NASA’s revitalized space program to integrate spacecraft.
But SpaceX faces serious challenges when it comes to launching a spacecraft that, if successfully launched, would instantly become Earth’s most powerful rocket.
“Success is not something to be expected,” Musk told a private audience on Twitter Sunday night, saying that at best there will be important data on how the spacecraft ascends into space and how it returns to Earth.
“Perhaps tomorrow there will be no success,” he said. “It’s just very fundamentally difficult.”
Both the lower-stage Super-Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship cruise ship that will launch them into space are designed as reusable components that can fly back to Earth for a soft landing—a maneuver unheard of for the smaller Falcon has become commonplace. SpaceX 9 rocket.
But none of the stages will be restored for the first space test flight, which is expected to last no more than 90 minutes.
Over the past few years, prototypes of the Starship cruise ship have made five subspace flights up to six miles above the Earth, but the Super Heavy booster has never left the ground.
In February, SpaceX tested the booster by firing 31 of 33 Raptor engines for about 10 seconds while the rocket was vertically attached to the platform.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved the first test flight of the fully assembled missile system last Friday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle ahead of the long-awaited launch.
If all goes according to plan on Monday, all 33 Raptor engines will fire simultaneously to propel the spacecraft into a flight that will almost complete a full orbit before re-entering the atmosphere and flying at supersonic speed in the Pacific Ocean for about 60 hours. miles from the northern Hawaiian Islands.
After separating from the spacecraft, the Super Heavy Booster is scheduled to embark on a controlled return flight before diving into the Gulf of Mexico.
The spacecraft’s flaming entry over the Pacific Ocean will test its ability to aerodynamically steer itself, using large flaps and a heat shield to withstand the intense friction of falling through the atmosphere.
“The ship flies like a meteor,” Musk said. “This is the first step in a long journey that will require many flights.”
He added that more super-heavy boosters are already on deck at Boca Chica for future test flights.
By design, the Starship rocket is almost twice as powerful as NASA’s own space launch system, which debuted in an unmanned flight into orbit in November, and NASA’s Orion cruise ship on a 10-day trip around the world. back.
Source: I News
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