NASA has send Artemis I mission into orbit around the Moon• Soon the Artemis III and IV missions will send astronauts to the Moon, and to realize this mission, NASA has chosen SpaceX and it’s fantastic spacecraft: the Starship.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of taking humans to Mars.
As Elon Musk likes to remind us, SpaceX started its adventure with a few people. No great rocket scientist wanted to come and work with Elon so, he became the « chief rocket engineer ».
After a lot of hard work and testing, he won his bit and made SpaceX, a major company in aerospace field.
SpaceX sends satellites, refuels the ISS, sends astronauts into space…
Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are reusable, which greatly reduces costs and makes the company very competitive.
In 2022, SpaceX has made more than 60 launches.
In 2023, it hopes to do more than 100.
While SpaceX uses Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy for its launches, the company developing the Starship, and with it, Elon Musk is going to métamorphose the space field.
For the Artemis mission, NASA will use the SLS and the Orion capsule to bring its astronauts to a « gateway » in orbit around the Moon. From there, they will be transferred to the Starship, which will transport them to the Moon’s surface.
The Starship is a fully reusable heavy launcher with 2 stages. It’s engines are fed by a methane-oxygen mixture.
The Starship should be refueled in low earth orbit by tankers that will allow to go very far. Let’s not forget that the Starship should take us to Mars. Once on the red planet, propellants will be produced from the planet’s water ice and carbon dioxide atmosphere.
In 30 years,NASA has built 5 shuttles. Elon wants to build 5 SuperHeavy Starship this year!
Elon Musk has a singular approach to the situation. He is above all passionate and believes that the best way to succeed is to try. So he applies the following motto: build/ launch/crash/solve problems/start over.
On May 5, 2021, Elon tweeted « Starship landing is nominal ». Elon’s words seem very modest compared to what has just been achieved, because in other attempts, the Starship had caught fire.
This time, the SN 15 climbed to 12 kilometers and then came down using its large body as a brake. The strength of its Raptor engines allowed it to make a soft landing.
The capacity of the Starship makes it extraordinary. It can carry between 100 and 150 tons of cargo. As an exemple, Perseverence, which is on Mars, represents 1 ton.
Starship is the upper stage of Super Heavy. It is 50 meters high and 9 meters in diameter. It is the spacecraft.
Super Heavy rocket is the booster, with a height of 69 meters and a diameter of 9 meters.
The Starship has 33 Raptor engines. ( for more informations and videos of the Starship you can go to SpaceX.com )
On January 7,2023, Elon Musk tweeted: « we have a real shot at late February. March launch attempt appears highly likely ».
And indeed, there is a lot going on at the Starship launch pad in Texas. The increase in production of Raptor engines ( the booster requires 33 engines) proves that things are accelerating. In Boca Chica ( Starbase) the pressure tests of the tanks are accumulating and the Starship ships are lined up next to each other.
On January 12, SpaceX announced « Team are stepping a series of tests prior to Starship’s first flight test in weeks ahead, including full stack wet dress rehearsals and hold down firing of Booster 7´s 33 Raptor engines. »
All these facts bring us closer every day to the first launch, the MOON and of course Mars.
To go to Mars, you will have to launch a lot of Starships, so Elon has come up with an arm to catch the Starship.
« Mechazilla » will be à landing tower as well as a launch tower. Elon has said that SpaceX aims to catch returning Super Heavy boosters with Mechazilla, using the structure’s chopsticks to support the descending rockets beneath their steering « grid fins ». This strategy could significant reduce the turnaround time between launch and landing for Starship.
There is still a lot of work to be done, FAA approvals…before launch but, today the Starship ( spacecraft) called Ship 24 and the Super Heavy rocket ( booster) called Booster 7 are in place on the Starbase launch pad.
A successful Starship launch will be fantastic on our way to Mars.
There is still a long way to go to the red planet, but each day of work brings us closer to this great departure.
WE ARE LIVING THE HISTORY !
