Starship and Musk’s lesson: make mistakes to learn
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Was today’s 20 April 2023 a failure or was it an important experiment for the future? There will probably be a lot of discussion about the launch and subsequent explosion of Starship, the most powerful and largest rocket ever built, on which SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, has been working since 2016. What is certain is that it was an exciting show like few others other spacecraft launches.
The thrill of the launch, then the accident
Stadium cheering during the countdown by the people of SpaceX, a small crowd gathered in front of large screens at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, while Elon Musk stood as No. 1 in the control room.
Boato, literally, when the 40 seconds from the launch were exceeded, the figure at which he had stopped last Monday. Then again heart pounding as the countdown was rewinded to 40 seconds and suspended for a few interminable minutes for further checks, and then off, with a veritable roar from the 33 mighty Raptor engines, maybe 5 less as we shall see, which gave the initial thrust to make the approximately 120 meters of the Starship take off slowly. A truly remarkable show for the majesty of the vehicle.
All went well for the first 3 minutes or so when, at an altitude of 39 kilometers, the second stage, the actual Starship, the 50-metre cargo spacecraft that can carry 150 tons of men and materials, should have detached. But unfortunately it didn’t happen. The first power stage stuck and the rocket literally danced in the sky. At this point, also given that the rocket had veered towards the earth and became potentially very dangerous, it was detonated at a height of 30 kilometers.
Make mistakes to learn
Kate Tice, of SpaceX, the commentator on the live webcast of the flight, had no hesitation and in real time, smiling, said «Getting this far is incredible», and this is also the opinion of Musk who congratulated his stating that today SpaceX has “Learned” a lot, and this is actually Musk’s philosophy, a thousand miles away from that of the agencies: make mistakes to learn.
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