SpaceX pulls off unprecedented feat, grabs descending rocket with mechanical arms
- by CBS News
- Oct 13, 2024
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In one of the most dramatic, high-risk space flights to date, SpaceX launched a gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship rocket on an unpiloted test flight Sunday and then used giant "mechazilla" mechanical arms on the pad gantry to pluck the descending first stage out of the sky in an unprecedented feat of engineering.
The Super Heavy-Starship rocket, the most powerful launcher in the world, blasts off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, flight facility.
SpaceX
The Starship upper stage, meanwhile, looped around the planet and re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean as planned, enduring temperatures nearing 3,000 degrees as it descended to a controlled, on-target splashdown.
The spacecraft came through the hellish heat of re-entry in relatively good condition, protected by improved heat-shield tiles and beefed-up steering fins that worked as needed while engulfed in a fireball of atmospheric friction.
But the jaw-dropping first stage capture back at the launch pad, using pincer-like arms more familiarly known as chopsticks, was the clear highlight of the giant rocket's fifth test flight.
Snagging the descending 23-story-tall Super Heavy booster with the mechazilla arms represented an unprecedented milestone in SpaceX's drive to develop fully reusable, quickly re-launchable rockets, a technological tour de force unmatched in the history of earlier space programs relying on expendable, throw-away rockets.
"Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today," SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on his social media platform X.
The 397-foot-tall rocket blasted off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, flight facility on the Texas Gulf Coast at 8:25 a.m. EDT, putting on a spectacular sunrise show as the booster's 33 methane-burning Raptor engines ignited with a ground-shaking roar and a torrent of flaming exhaust.
The Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines, seen during fueling for launch.
SpaceX
Three minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, the Super Heavy booster fell away, flipped around and restarted 13 Raptors to reverse course and head back toward the Texas coast as the Starship upper stage continued the climb to space on the power of its six Raptor engines.
The booster's flight computer was programmed to direct the stage to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico if any problems developed on the rocket or the launch pad capture mechanism.
But no such problems were detected; the flight director sent a required "go" command and the Super Heavy continued toward its launch pad, descending at an angle and then straightening up as it approached the gantry. As it slowly dropped beside the tower, the two mechanical arms smoothly moved in to grab the rocket as its engines shut down.
The remarkable capture, a key element in Musk's drive to achieve "rapid reusability," came as the Starship upper stage was still heading to space and splashdown in the Indian Ocean, simulating a touchdown on shore or, eventually, on the moon or Mars.
Heat builds up on the Starship upper stage as it began its re-entry into the atmosphere. Upgraded heat shield tiles and steering fins endured temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees during the descent, working as planned to protect the spacecraft and guide it to an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX
During the rocket's fourth test flight in June, the extreme temperatures caused significant damage to the Starship's protective tiles and steering fins. Multiple upgrades and improvements were put in place for Sunday's flight to eliminate or minimize any such re-entry damage.
As the Starship re-entered the atmosphere, cameras on the rocket showed the reddish glow of heat building up on the belly of the spacecraft, intensifying as the descent continued. Engulfed in a fireball, the ship's fins stayed intact and the vehicle came through peak heating in good condition.
Moments later, the cameras captured an on-target splashdown followed by what appeared to be an explosion. Given the rocket is not intended to land in water, whatever happened after splashdown was incidental to what can only be called a successful test flight.
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