And now for something with a little more pep in its step: Space Exploration Technologies Corp, more commonly known as SpaceX, launched a test flight of its 'Starship', a fully reuseable spacecraft that's 'the tallest and most powerful space launch vehicle to have flown'.
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/qXnGXXZP5k
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023
As when SpaceX launched a similar test flight last April, when some of the ships rockets didn't fire properly and the ship began to tumble forcing a manual detonation from mission control, this launch was terminated before the rocket was able to complete its planned flight which would have brought it down safely off the coast of Hawaii. However unlike the last test this one lasted much longer and got much deeper into the mission, providing valuable data that will be used to refine the engineering and work towards a reliable rocket that can be used for missions to space and then reused again.
Starship off to the stars pic.twitter.com/oe4kqs4aFt
— 𝙺𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚔 🤠 (@kimbal) November 18, 2023
The reviews are in for the aesthetics of the launch, and on that front at least it's a hit!
This launch with the sunrise in the background was one of the most beautiful I've seen in my life. The Starship represents hope. Thank you very much, Elon, and the SpaceX team; that was incredible.
— Feli𝕏 The Memelord (@FelixMemelord) November 18, 2023
Goosebumps ❤️🔥
— Elif Anderson (@elif_ander81264) November 18, 2023
Absolutely amazing! pic.twitter.com/6KjOGt2TlS
— Shield Maiden Io (@maidensheildio) November 18, 2023
Elon Musk has been open about his aspirations to extend humanities presence beyond the Earth, having been quoted in the past as saying 'I would like to die on Mars... Just not on impact'. It looks like he may be one step closer to achieving his wish today.
Elon is really going to take humans to Mars, keep doubting https://t.co/aVMmwi88dh
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) November 18, 2023
What 33 ENGINES look like from Starbase Mission Control! WOW!!! https://t.co/msexC2qqNQ
— Nathan Commissariat (@CommiNathan) November 18, 2023
Fantastic to see the first launch into space of the vehicle that will return people to the Moon in the coming years! https://t.co/0uoql26tYl
— Ryan MacDonald (@MartianColonist) November 18, 2023
Elon Musk later quote tweeted a breakdown of the launch that was produced by Twitter's AI, called 'Grok':
Accurate real-time Starship flight summary from Grok! https://t.co/iVhvwGOFxM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2023
Despite everything else going on it's good to reminded that sometimes things can go right, even in this day and age. Again although this launch didn't go off without a hitch this will be invaluable in the further development of the platform and, perhaps, the further chances of man reaching outwards from the confines of the Earth.
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