by SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket, the world’s most powerful rocket, on its second test flight this weekend, and while the vehicle may have met an explosive end, it’s a sight to behold.
Amazing photos and videos from SpaceX, Space.com, newswires and the public show the spectacular show of the second Starship test launch, which SpaceX launched early Saturday (November 18) from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.
In a major milestone for SpaceX, the rocket’s two stages successfully separated. The Super Heavy booster exploded shortly thereafter, and the Starship’s upper stage detonated before the launch burn was completed. However, SpaceX praised the success of the second test flight, which reached space and flew higher, longer and further than the first launch in April, and will now study the flight for any improvements which is required to make the next address.
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“It was incredible to see a Starship launch in person,” Space.com’s Josh Dinner said of the scene.
Dinner photographed the Starship launch from Cameron Country Amphitheater on South Padre Island, where many spectators had gathered long before sunrise to pick a great spot to watch the launch.
“Even from 5 miles away, you could see the sheer power from the engines as it cleared the launch tower,” Dinnéar said. “It was massively impressive.”
Related: NASA chief congratulates SpaceX on explosive 2nd Starship launch test
Photojournalist Timothy A. Clary with the news agencies AFP and Getty Images also took amazing photos of the Starship launch, including close-ups of the rocket’s takeoff and liftoff just before the stage separation.
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Some of the most amazing early photos came from SpaceX itself, showing the unique moment of stage separation, which tested a hot-stage technique – something new for Starship on this flight – in which the upper Starship fired its engines before pulling away it’s free. of the Super Heavy first stage booster.
SpaceX and Dinner also shot some audio footage of the Starship and the Super Heavy together, which together stand nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall, as they soar over the Gulf of Mexico.
Shortly after stage separation, the Super Heavy booster exploded in what SpaceX called an “unscheduled rapid disassembly.” The company will now work to understand what caused this failure after the warm-up stage and how to avoid it on the next test flight.
All over social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, onlookers and photographers seemed thrilled to witness the Starship launch test.
But some of the most impressive images came after the launch, when photographers were able to visit the launch pad and report it in good condition.
During SpaceX’s first launch test on April 20, the Super Heavy booster carved a huge crater under the pad, requiring extensive repairs. For the second flight, SpaceX installed a water deluge system and a protective metal plate to protect the pad.
“Looks like the pad at Starbase is in good shape after this morning’s Starship launch!” photographer John Kraus wrote on X. “The road to the beach is open.”
Here are some more ideas from photographers.
Some of the spectators watching Starship’s second test flight included people who had not only flown in space before, but had actually flown on SpaceX rockets.
Sian Proctor, who launched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule into orbit in September 2021 on the private Inspiration4 mission funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, congratulated the entire SpaceX team on the launch.
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“Congratulations to everyone at SpaceX for continuing to make history in advancing humanity to the Moon, Mars and beyond!!” Proctor write on X.
SpaceX engineers are now tasked with understanding why the Starship vehicle deployed itself using its flight termination system just before completing the launch burn. The company has said it will also study the explosion of a Super Heavy so that future iterations of the vehicle can be returned to Earth for reuse, as it and Starship are supposed to do.
“Honestly, it’s been a very successful day even though we had an unscheduled quick disassembly of the Super Heavy booster and the Ship,” SpaceX quality engineering manager Kate Tice said during the live webcast. “That’s great. We got so much data, and that will help us improve our next flight.”
NASA has picked SpaceX’s Starship to land astronauts on the moon on the Artemis 3 mission, which the agency hopes to launch by 2025 or 2026. SpaceX, meanwhile, has traveled around the moon on Starship sold to commercial customers, such as the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. , and hopes to use the vehicle for deep space flights to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
