Starship has suffered its greatest setback in years. Two consecutive explosions have triggered rumors that something is wrong with the latest design improvements of the ship. Elon Musk He has just responded to these rumors in his own way, stating that the world’s largest rocket will be launched to Mars next year.
“Starship will leave to Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus as a load,” wrote the businessman in allusion to Tesla anthropomorphic robots. “If those landings went well, the landings with humans could start in 2029, although they are more likely in 2031”.
The dates are optimistic, but not arbitrary. The launch windows between the Earth and Mars occur every 26 months, when the relative position of both planets allows more efficient trajectories, with a lower fuel expense. The next launch window will open in November 2026.
Spacex plans to send around Five starship not crew to Mars during the next launch opportunity. The ships would arrive on the red planet six months later, shortly before the date planned for Artemis III, the first manned mission to the moon since 1972.
Starship is a fundamental part of NASA’s lunar mission, and in turn the largest public contract, but Musk has said that the moon is “a distraction” and that Spacex’s priority is to colonize Mars, an objective that Donald Trump then adopted, so the future of the Artemis program is uncertain.
Starship 34 filtered image with several less engines for the explosion
Nor is Starship at his best. The 123 -meter high rocket premiered a new version of its second stage, Starship Block 2, in January. The ship has exploded on two consecutive flights since then:
- On flight 7, for “harmonic oscillations” that triggered a leakage of propellants, a motor fire and, finally, the disintegration of the ship
- On flight 8, for an “energy event” that caused the disappearance of several engines and caused the loss of ship’s control to its self -control
The second ruling fired a trail of leaks and rumors that put into question the redesign of the ship. First, a mysterious source leaked an image of Starship 34, that of flight 8, with several missing engines after the explosion.
Afterwards, the same source said that the root cause of the problem had been the same as in the previous flight: vibrations in the tubes that carry fuel and oxygen to the Vacuor Raptor engines (RVAC), a garrafal design failure.
According to this anonymous filter, the vibrations get worse as the tanks are emptied after the separation of stages. When the tanks are full, the liquid helps to cushion the vibrations, but when emptying, the vibrations increase to cause breaks in the pipes.
If so, this problem occurs in the engines compartment, a non -pressurized part of the rocket that Spacex calls “AFT” (or stern) and that could be partially redesigned in upcoming versions of the rocket.
Despite these rumors, Elon Musk said that flight 8 had been a lower setback and that Starship would be ready to fly again next month.
Imagen | SpaceX
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