Starship exploded again, why are people cheering this time, is it about to colonize Mars?

SpaceX's next-generation heavy-lift rocket Starship was launched from Texas on the 26th at 18:30 Central Time (7:30 AM Beijing Time on the 27th) for its tenth test flight.

The rocket eventually disintegrated upon landing in the Indian Ocean, but the on-site SpaceX engineers still cheered and celebrated.

The reason is that the core objective of this test flight was not a successful landing, but rather a series of key technology verifications, including simulated satellite deployment, engine relighting in orbit, and new thermal protection tests.

Starship successfully released eight simulated satellites for the first time, demonstrated secondary ignition of the Raptor engines in orbit and achieved stable thrust, and the attitude control and heat shield performance during re-entry into the atmosphere were significantly improved. This means that after multiple previous failures, SpaceX has finally crossed an important technical threshold.

Although Starship still could not be fully recovered, SpaceX considers this flight a success because the development philosophy of Starship has always been rapid trial and error and rapid iteration.

For a rocket that is the largest and most complex heavy-lift rocket, relying solely on calculations and ground testing cannot solve all problems; real flight data must be accumulated. The core data obtained from this test flight, including high-temperature heat flow, engine performance, and attitude control, lays the foundation for the next phase of reusable and in-orbit refueling experiments.

The engineers' cheers are a recognition of the speed of iteration.

However, this does not mean that we can go to Mars immediately.

Starship is just the first step in the plan to colonize Mars, which is to solve how to transport enough supplies and personnel there.

Next, SpaceX still needs to complete a series of major breakthroughs, including in-orbit fueling, long-term life support, energy and habitat construction on the Martian surface.

Even if all the technologies proceed as expected, the first manned Mars mission will not take place until the mid to late 2030s, and establishing a stable Mars outpost may not happen until after 2040, and this is only the most ideal scenario.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841579554411652/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.