SpaceX makes first Starship flight sans explosion
SpaceX pulled it off Wednesday afternoon, finally launching and landing a full-size Starship prototype without an explosion of any sort.
The SN15 prototype blasted off from the company’s Boca Chica launch site at 5:24 p.m. and quickly pierced the low overcast before flying to approximately 33,000 feet, cutting its three Raptor engines one at a time and performing a successful “belly flop” descent. The engines were reignited for the landing sequence and the SN15 came down at the correct speed for a soft landing. The flight lasted 6 minutes and 8 seconds.
It was the fifth high-altitude flight of a Starship prototype. SpaceX founder and CEO had said SN15 contained hundreds of design improvements after the mid-air explosion of the SN11 near the end of an otherwise successful flight on March 30. The SN10 likewise flew successfully on March 3 but came in too fast on landing, damaging the craft, which exploded on the landing pad several minutes after touching down. The SN9 flew and descended fine on Feb. 2 but also came in too fast, destroyed the test vehicle on impact.
“Starship landing nominal!” Musk tweeted shortly after Wednesday’s successful flight.
https://myrgv.com/local/2021/05/05/spacex-makes-first-starship-flight-sans-explosion/
(no more at link)