The successful powered landing of SpaceX's Starship SN15 on May 5 is a huge leap forward in space exploration. It must be sci-fi. Huge rockets landing softly on earth. Elon Musk has done it all in less than 10 years. He has developed a single reusable launch system capable of lunar and Mars landings and returns, and hypersonic earth travel.
Reviewing the launch and powered landing: 1 minute
The shiny stainless steel Starship itself stands 160 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. It is being designed as a long‑duration cargo and passenger‑carrying spacecraft. As a second stage, it will sit atop the 220-foot SpaceX Super Heavy booster with 16 million pounds of thrust supplied by 37 Raptor engines, and be capable of sending 200+ ton payloads including cabins for 100 people to the Moon and Mars. Short videos below discuss the interior of Starship, a brief overview of its development and test flights, and long term plans out to the end of this decade.
The success of these plans obviously depend on our ability to the solve the problem of the adverse effect of two-year space flights, e.g., brain swelling, cardiovascular impact, and loss of bone mass.
Starship on the Moon_______________Starship on Mars
Inside Starship. 5 minutes
Development and Plans 2019 - 2029. 12 minutes
Reviewing the launch and powered landing: 1 minute
The shiny stainless steel Starship itself stands 160 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. It is being designed as a long‑duration cargo and passenger‑carrying spacecraft. As a second stage, it will sit atop the 220-foot SpaceX Super Heavy booster with 16 million pounds of thrust supplied by 37 Raptor engines, and be capable of sending 200+ ton payloads including cabins for 100 people to the Moon and Mars. Short videos below discuss the interior of Starship, a brief overview of its development and test flights, and long term plans out to the end of this decade.
The success of these plans obviously depend on our ability to the solve the problem of the adverse effect of two-year space flights, e.g., brain swelling, cardiovascular impact, and loss of bone mass.
Starship on the Moon_______________Starship on Mars
Inside Starship. 5 minutes
Development and Plans 2019 - 2029. 12 minutes