Space giant
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX is readying a 395-foot high, 30-foot wide rocket nearly twice as tall as the Qutab Minar and large enough to hold a boxing ring to take cargo and crew on interplanetary missions. Capable of carrying 100 tonnes to low earth orbit, it will be the biggest rocket ever built, beating Saturn-V, which took men to the moon in 1969. The rocket, code-named SuperHeavy, comprises two parts a lower booster and an upper ‘Starship’, which will separate and cruise to other planets.
SpaceX is testing the rocket now. Last week, the eighth such test took place from its launchpad in the Boca Chica Beach, on the southeastern edge of Texas, USA. The rocket rose 12.5km and turned flat, descended to the base and turned again vertically before exploding into a ball of fire. The explosion was not as per plan, but it did throw up enough data for subsequent launches.
Locals share impressions of Starship launch
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Locals share impressions of Starship launch
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WATCH | A jaw-dropping video shows Elon Musk s Starship prototype belly-flopping, exploding Dec 10, 2020, 07:03 PM
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SpaceX s Starship prototype serial no. 8, or SN8, falls toward a remote camera shortly after launching from Boca Chica, Texas, on December 9, 2020. The 16-story vehicle belly flopped, flipped upright, and then exploded upon landed. a 16-story prototype of its Starship rocket system on Wednesday.
Despite the explosive landing of the vehicle, called Starship SN8 (serial no. 8), SpaceX founder Elon Musk hailed the ambitious test as a big success.
SpaceX placed a robotic tracking camera at SN8 s landing site to record the vehicle careening back to Earth in a skydiving-like belly-flop maneuver.