SpaceX continues to pave the way for space exploration! On Wednesday, December 9th, the Starship SN8 prototype completed its first successful high-altitude flight before being swept up in flames. “Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD,” Elon Musk tweeted, “but we got all the data we needed!” During the test flight, the spacecraft intentionally belly flops sideways and reorients itself upright moments before the explosive landing (which was not intentional, but also not unexpected). “Mars, here we come!!” Musk added shortly after. The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket are fully reusable, designed to take humans and cargo outside of Earth’s atmosphere, to Mars, and beyond! Click the links below to watch the full launch and learn more. |
- Image Credit: SpaceX