Starhopper, SpaceX’s Starship prototype, has reached another milestone. It fired its engine for the first time and according to Elon Musk, CEO SpaceX, the tethered test was a success! Last Wednesday, Starhopper had its engine fired for a time duration of less than a minute. The test was carried out at the SpaceX Boca Chica launch site in Texas.
The documentation from the event shows the Starhopper looking like a shiny bullet that has surrounded by a might ring of fire. Elon Musk, later on, tweeted stating that the test was a success. The tweet read, ‘Starhopper completed the tethered hop. All systems green.’ There is not much information available about the test. However, it is understood that this test is among the many tests that have already taken place and will be taking place.
The other tests of Starhopper include analysis of the fuel tanks’ cryogenic properties, loading liquid methane and liquid oxygen fuels onto the contraption, and removal of the propellant. The Starship is the vehicle that is slated to take humans to Mars and Moon as envisioned by Elon Musk. Starship prototype, Starhopper, was revealed in January 2019.
It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful object has the potential of taking us for deep space travel when you look at Starship. The visual impact that Starship has is thanks to its stainless steel body parts. For those of you who are concerned over the choice of stainless steel as opposed to carbon fiber or titanium, it has been done so that the spacecraft can withstand the heat buildup that it will be experiencing during re-entries. However, it isn’t entirely true that the spacecraft is made from stainless steel; SpaceX engineers are making use of an alloy of stainless steel that enables it to survive the extreme heat buildup. What do you think of Starhopper? Do let us know and be sure to share this amazing achievement of Starhopper with your friends!
